While I usually handle catching up on news in the Roundup, quite a lot has happened over the weekend and yesterday. Plus, I wanted to comment more than just a sentence or two to these stories.

So here are four headlines that will dominate the rest of the week.

1) Bob Diaco Will Be on Everyone’s Coaching Wishlist

Probably the only downside to being undefeated is that other teams want to mirror your success — by snatching away the coaches that go you there. Hell, we did that very thing to Cincinnati not too long ago in order to get Brian Kelly here.

It’s no secret that Bob Diaco has been not only a major catalyst to our elite defense, but also on the recruiting trail. He will no doubt be at the top of wishlists of many schools; in fact, he’s already been linked to Boston College (with an interview no less) and Cal — I’m sure they won’t be the last ones.

However, I wouldn’t worry about this at all. I don’t think Diaco is going anywhere.

He has a chance at a national title and pretty much any school is going to want a coach hitting the recruiting trail and have more than just a month to get their next class together. Plus, I have a feeling Diaco knows he could hold out for a better job and/or a solid raise at ND.

So why interview with anyone else? The better question is “why not?” Gives him a glimpse of what to expect and it could also drive ND into action to kick his salary up. There is no downside at all for him.

As far as it causing major distractions, I have a feeling more players are worried about their upcoming finals than how this will affect their bowl practices. There is well over a month to prepare for Alabama (who also has a coach that people want) and I would expect this to all be settled before too long.

UPDATE 12/4 2:30PM: Ok so now the coaching carousel has gone mad. Bert Bielema will leave Wisconsin for Arkansas and I’m now very nervous that one of those better jobs I mentioned is now WIDE OPEN for Diaco.

2) Te’o Continues His Hardware Collection, Named Heisman Finalist

We have already covered Te’o’s Butkus win, but that wasn’t the only piece of hardware he received yesterday.

Te’o also won the Nagurski Award (best defensive player). And if that wasn’t enough, he was named one of three Heisman Finalists, meaning he will be heading to New York on Saturday and hopefully receive the most prestigious individual award in college football.

3) By the Way, Heisman Voters Suck

Early returns have shown that voters have actually left Te’o off their ballots. Now, I can understand not thinking Te’o should win, but completely off the ballot?! A couple voters have also left Manziel off their ballots, which makes no sense either.

There was even a first place vote for Monte Ball.

I give up. There is no logical explanation for this.

4) The Irony of Anger towards NIU’s BCS Bid

Yeah, I get it. There are likely better teams that could take NIU’s spot, especially in the SEC, but all those conferences have no one but themselves to blame.

Each BCS conference just had to have their automatic BCS bids. They also had to have a separate BCS Title game beyond the four BCS bowls. Many of them also just had to have a conference championship game as well. And we can’t have one conference running the BCS show, so make sure only two teams max from each conference can get bids.

As a result, rules had to be in place to give non-BCS teams a shot, lest possible anti-trust lawsuits rear their ugly heads (and with the kind of money thrown around, it was definitely a possibility). So to “appease” them, a near-impossible scenario was created. Should a non-BCS conference champ be ranked in the top sixteen AND above a BCS conference champ, they get in.

Then the dominoes started to fall.

Ohio State and Penn State found themselves under sanctions, allowing for unranked Wisconsin to sneak into the B1G Championship and pull not just an upset, but total destruction of Nebraska. The Big East had no dominate team, with each school having at least two conference losses. Florida State even had a bit of a scare to Georgia Tech whom got into the ACC title game due to sanctions against Miami and North Carolina.

And of course, Notre Dame ruined everyone’s party by going undefeated. Meaning, unlike past years, only one conference lost their tie-in (SEC) to the title game. So everyone got to keep their precious conference tie-ins, no matter how bad those champions were.

Of course, with two awful conference champs, this left the door wide open for Northern Illinois to actually make the impossible BCS scenario.

Want to rage? Direct it in the direction of the conferences that put these rules in place to allow it.

The post Four Headlines Dominating This Week: Diaco, Te’o, Heisman, and the BCS appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

This is quite a milestone for us, and considering that we aren’t connected to a blogging network, have struggled through growing pains like server moves, redesigns, and crashes, this is simply awesome — especially considering we have a full month to go in 2012!

I would like to personally thank all of our staff for all of their hard work on the blog and behind the scenes. This doesn’t happen without their dedication.

I would also like to thank anyone that has ever linked us, shared our work, or suggested to people that they come drop on by. Of course huge thanks are in order to NDNation, One Foot Down, The Subway Domer, and Inside the Irish for consistently linking our work through their sites and Twitter. A special thanks to the Strong and True blog as well for coming into the blogging game in all their official glory and showing us some link love as well.

Of course, there are loads of others that have shared our work, and they are too numerous to name. Trust me, it’s very appreciated.

And finally, a thanks to the Loyal Readers that continue to come here every day to read our work and talk Irish football with us. I can’t thank all of y’all enough. It’s just going to keep on getting better from here!

The Roundup

The coaching carousel has started. One Foot Down has a good overview to get you caught up.

Happy trails, Monte Kiffin. I have a feeling USC fans are wishing a different Kiffin is leaving though.

There is one other game of musical chairs going on. The ACC needed a replacement for Maryland and they found one in the Cards.

Law & Order: Teabagging. Remember that Alabama idiot that put his junk on the face of a passed out LSU fan? Well, he’s about to enjoy two years of prison. Want a do-over there, buddy?

You realize there is going to be a drug test right? Here’s a suggestion, Honey Badger, lay off the weed so you don’t screw this up too.

We can never have too many #HEISMANTI posts. Here’s a fantastic (and long) piece that John Walters put together for UND.com.

Put These Games on Your Radar

#2 Alabama vs #3 Georgia, SEC Championship, 4:00pm EST, CBS -Pretty simple, future scouting of ND’s future opponent. Should be a great one.

#11 Oklahoma @ TCU, 12pm EST, ESPN/WatchESPN – Should be a good start to the day and if OU wins, they could win the Big XII title if…

#18 Texas @ #6 Kansas State, 8:00pm EST, ABC – …Texas manages to pull this game off.

And a special, FRIDAY game:

#21 Northern Illinois vs #17 Kent State, MAC Championship, 7:00pm EST, ESPN/WatchESPN – Thought I was going for the Pac 12 Championship didn’t you? Nah, we’ve seen that game already, settle in for some MACtion and possible BCS hilarity. If Kent State wins, they might actually find their way into a BCS game as well.

Predictions

Closest to the Pin – Week 12

Well, the regular season is over and Twibby takes the last win coming scarily close with his 22-13 prediction. Only one more to make, but until January, here are your standings:

Bayou likely has the title in hand; however, an exact prediction by either Biscuit or Twibby will mean a tie for first.

The Beer

I know Biscuit hates when I tap into my Texas roots and suggest a Shiner beer, but I’m going to do it anyway.

With Winter now upon us, the ever so delicious Shiner Cheer is available once again. If you can get this, I cannot recommend it enough:

This brew is easily my favorite Shiner seasonal. I’m usually not a fan of sweet brews, but this is an exception. Peaches and roasted pecans are the major players here and they are delicious.

Plus, this is definitely a season full of cheer: a shot at the title and a basketball team off to a great start.

P.S. If you are a current student right now, I hate you so much, you lucky bastards.

The post Friday Roundup: The “One Miiiiiiiiiiillion…” Edition appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.