The Watch List for the 2008 Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been released by the Football Writers Association of America. The Nagurski Trophy is presented annually to the best defensive player in college football and is sponsored by the Charlotte Touchdown Club.

According to the press release:

"The Charlotte Touchdown Club will hold the 2008 banquet on Sunday, Dec. 7, at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte. For the eighth straight season, the FWAA will also pick a Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week beginning with games on Aug. 30 and running through the middle of November. And a Bronko Nagurski Legends Award winner will also be selected from the FWAA's 1967 All-America team.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been presented since 1993 and is awarded in memory of the legendary Nagurski, a former All-America lineman at Minnesota in 1927-29 and a star for professional football's Chicago Bears in the 1930s."

This year's watch list includes eight players from Big 12 schools, led by Oklahoma, which places three Sooners on the list. The Big 12 players on the Nagurski Watch List are:

George Hypolite, Colorado

Joe Mortensen, Kansas

Ian Campbell, Kansas State (pictured at right)

William Moore, Missouri

Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri

Auston English, Oklahoma

DeMarcus Granger, Oklahoma

Nic Harris, Oklahoma

Since its inception in 1993, three Big 12 players have won the Nagurski Trophy. Oklahoma defensive back Roy Williams took home the award in 2001. The Big 12 then had back-to-back winners in 2003 and 2004 in Oklahoma's Derrick Strait and Derrick Johnson from Texas.

Austin Wuebbels a redshirt freshman offensive lineman for Missouri was arrested on suspicion of possession of less than 35 grams of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of alcohol by a minor and false identification. The arrest occurred early Sunday morning after Wuebbels was pulled over by Columbia police.

"At 2:56 a.m., Wuebbels was pulled over for speeding in South Columbia at the corner of Southampton Drive and Executive Drive. While an officer prepared to issue a warning, a second officer noticed Wuebbels grabbing for something underneath the dash, Lt. Dianne Bernhard said.

That's when the officers found marijuana and a pipe. They also determined Wuebbels smelled of alcohol and discovered he was carrying a false ID and had beer in the car. After he was taken to the police station, Wuebbels successfully passed a sobriety test."

Passing the sobriety test ought to count for something, but it certainly won't eliminate the four misdemeanors Wuebbels accumulated before the night was over. At last check, Gary Pinkel and the he university had yet to issue a statement concerning the situation. Wuebbels had been practicing at the No. 2 right guard spot during spring practices.

Wuebbels' troubles only add to what has been a miserable off-season in terms of injuries and arrests. Two other players have also been arrested since the end of last season, and both were dismissed from the team. John Stull was arrested in January for felony possession of drugs, while Marquis Booker was arrested last month on suspicion of the unlawful use of a firearm. These incidents have allowed the Tigers to jump to an early lead on the off-season's most least coveted prize, the Fulmer Cup.

Without a scholarship and without notoriety, hundreds of walk-ons are doing their best to carve out a spot on Division IA rosters. Spring practices, which take place without graduating seniors, and before the bulk of incoming freshman arrive, promise plenty of reps. If local media outlets are to be believed it seems a host of walk-ons are serving notice this spring in the Big 12.

At Oklahoma, tight end Trent Ratterree is living out his boyhood dream as he tries to earn the #3 spot on the TE depth chart.

"I'd been an OU fan all my life," Ratterree said. "I dreamed of it my whole life."

He came to Norman at 215 pounds and was thrown into Jerry Schmidt's boot camp.

"It's tough physically," Ratterree said. "Nothing can get you ready for Schmidtty."

But Ratterree got through it and was rewarded; he suited up for home games last season.

"I never felt, like you see in 'Rudy,' where they were pushing him around," Ratterree said. "They never made me feel like a low-down walkon. You're treated really good here."

"Rudy" was also mentioned at Missouri, where 5-foot-7, Titus Wonsey is trying to find a home in a crowded Tiger backfield. His efforts have not gone unnoticed by head coach Gary Pinkel (pictured at right).

Few players had a better season in 2007 than did Missouri's Jeremy Maclin. After all, Maclin gained 2,776 all-purpose yards, which was an NCAA Division I-A single-season freshman record, and was also the fifth-most ever by any player in a season in Division I-A history. He made just about every All-American team possible and gave Big 12 defensive coordinators and special teams coaches constant headaches. Now comes word that Maclin is only getting better as spring practices resume in Columbia.

"Jeremy Maclin is a lot better player right now than he was a year ago," [Missouri coach Gary] Pinkel said yesterday after the Tigers scrimmaged for nearly three hours on Faurot Field. "People go, 'Wow, how can that happen?' Well, Brett Favre was a heck of a lot better player his eighth year as a starter than he was his first year."

I'm not sure Pinkel's analogy makes a whole lot of sense, but certainly players do generally get better over time. In the case of Maclin, however, you have to wonder if he might be nearing some sort of ceiling effect? There just doesn't seem to be that much room for improvement when you look at his statistics. So, what is Coach Pinkel seeing on the practice field?

His 1-on-1 routes, he's improved dramatically," Pinkel said. "I also think that's where he's got to be demanding on himself for perfection because that's how good he can be. No single guy should ever be able to cover him. ...

"Last year was his first year, and we forget that sometimes. His work habits were good, but they weren't like Will Franklin's. They weren't like" Martin "Rucker's. Now, they're like they're supposed to be."

Now that's scary. With a Heisman finalist quarterback in Chase Daniel returning, along with a wealth of talent on the offensive side of the ball, Maclin just might continue to break records. As he progresses look for the Tigers to really separate themselves from the rest of the Big 12 North.

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel was scheduled to throw out the first pitch for the St. Louis Cardinals' Opening Day game on Monday. A delay in his return flight from Florida, however, forced the Tigers to go to their bullpen. As a result, it was quarterback and Heisman Trophy finalist Chase Daniel who got the call along with his battery mate wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned for Daniel.

The crowd gave a standing ovation to Daniel and one of his favorite wide receiver targets, Jeremy Maclin and in a nice touch, Daniel brought out a ball he was more accustomed to throwing...a football.

It certainly couldn't have been the pressure of throwing in front of a bunch of people, or the fact that the weather conditions weren't ideal, both of which Daniel is used to, so I'm going to blame the fact that Daniel BOUNCED the pitch/pass into Maclin from 60 feet 6 inches on standing on the mound.

So Daniel's pitch/pass missed Maclin and apparently rolled to the backstop eliciting boos from the Cardinal faithful. I don't expect many incompletions like that between the two this fall.

Interestingly one local writer went as far as to have a major league scout give his appraisal of Daniel's pitching prowess.

His analysis after the jump.

What a long, strange trip it has been for Gary Pinkel and the Missouri Tigers. Pinkel began his career in Columbia with a rather pedestrian 37-35 record. Because of that Pinkel, spent quite a bit of time riding a warm seat. But all that changed following last year's 12-2 breakout season.

So how far has Pinkel come? He's now reached ceremonial first pitch status, on Opening Day, no less!

"Pinkel, the 2007 Big 12 Conference co-Coach of the Year, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch for Monday's game. It is not currently known what kind of pitch the former tight end will be going with, but his repertoire reportedly consists of a slow ball, a slower ball and something resembling an eephus pitch.

The FieldTurf 2007 National Coach of the Year will also appear for a stint in the broadcast booth as guests of Fox Sports Net Midwest for the Cardinals telecast. Pinkel is scheduled to appear in the top of the third inning for the game with FSN broadcasters Dan McLaughlin and Al Hrabosky."

I don't know what kind of pitching repertoire Pinkel actually possesses, but it seems his he lobbed his biggest curveball at college football fans who assumed he was a dead man walking years ago.

Or should I say yooooouuuuuuTubesDay? Cultural phenomena meets man in animal suit . . . go!

Former USC, Arizona, Tulane and Missouri coach Larry Smith died Monday, succumbing to leukemia and lymphoma.

Smith coached for the greater part of two decades, compiling a 143-126-7 (.531) career record between 1976 and 2000. He is fondly remembered at Arizona for starting the first five of a ten-game win streak against rival Arizona State.

He also coached USC to within two games of the national championship in 1988 before falling to Notre Dame in the season finale and Michigan in the Rose Bowl. The Trojans finished with a 10-2 record that year.

Smith left football after the 2000 season, retiring to Arizona. He spent the last two years as an analyst for an Arizona television station.

Here's why athletic directors are frowning this morning...

We've been saying it for years: snowballs are just a gateway weapon to screwdrivers and knives: Two Utah football players and a recruit they were hosting at a university-sanctioned party are recovering after being attacked by knife- and screwdriver-wielding assailants on Friday. The escalating factor in the scuffle? A snowball.

Freshman defensive end Paul Kruger (same name as his father), junior defensive lineman Greg Newman and Kruger's younger brother David, a recruit who plans to sign with the Utes next month, told the men to "shut up" and "get out of here." Kruger's father said Newman threw a snowball at the car during the exchange and the occupants then got out of the vehicle.

As mentioned in the article, the Deseret News obtained all the information about the attack from the father of one of the victims. That's not so great if you're looking for unbiased information (Paul, he explained, then ran over to the men and said, "Look this is not worth getting into a scuffle over."), but awesome for things you'll never hear east of the Continental Divide (Kruger's father said Meredith (he couldn't recall her last name) saved his son's "bacon" by immediately calling 911 for an ambulance when his blood pressure began to drop).

It's a good thing that Charlie Weis and Notre Dame are still able to recruit the nation's top talent out of high school, even after an awful year in South Bend, because the players they already have on the roster just keep leaving. The latest is sophomore cornerback Munir Prince.

Prince has decided that South Bend just isn't the place for him, and he's going to start over at Missouri.

Munir Prince (above), a reserve cornerback from St. Louis, has left Notre Dame and is transferring to Missouri.

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis confirmed the departure, and [Prince's high school coach] Pat Mahoney confirmed the pending arrival.

Obviously, as with any player transfer, Prince is going to have to sit out the 2008 season. When he's able to play again in 2009, he'll still have two years of eligibility left.

Prince is the fifth member of the 28 in his original sophomore class to have left Notre Dame. He was also the first recruit to verbally commit to Notre Dame after Charlie Weis took over the program. Prince was originally a running back in his freshman season before being converted to cornerback this past season.

With all the players the Irish had ahead of Munir on the depth chart, Prince didn't see much time on the field and only recorded three tackles this season. With news that Terrail Lambert has applied for a fifth year of eligibility, and Darrin Walls also returning for 2008, odds are that Munir wasn't going to see much playing time next season either.