Sports Illustrated columnist Stewart Mandel tackles the ten issues
that confound college football fans
If your heart beats faster on Saturday afternoons as your team takes the
field, this book will give you new insight into the fanaticism and chaos
that characterize college football today. Stewart Mandel takes a
provocative, hard-hitting look at the hot-button issues: the
controversial BCS; the polls and their largely arbitrary rankings; the
ego-inflating recruiting craze; cheating and recent scandals; the huge
pressures and salaries heaped on coaches; the Heisman hype-fest; the NFL
draft; the clunky conference expansions; privileged Notre Dame, college
football's greatest juggernaut; and the proliferation of bowl games.
You'll get behind-the-scenes insights on how the issues evolved and why
some are almost impossible to resolve.
You'll see how tradition, politics, and money influence college football
today. You'll discover that, while the rules of the game are hard and
fast, the rules governing college football are blurred and pliable. And
you'll find a book that's as entertaining, passionate, and
thought-provoking as the game itself.
"Stewart Mandel writes about college football's major controversies with
a wit and depth of knowledge that will impress even the most obsessed
fans. And because he's both fair and objective, there is something in
this book to infuriate nearly everyone." --Warren St. John, author of
the bestselling Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer: A Road Trip into the Heart
of Fan Mania
"In a book dripping with sarcasm, Stewart Mandel plays tour guide on an
interesting ride through the college football nuthouse." --Bruce
Feldman, author of Meat Market and senior writer for ESPN the
Magazine
