Arkansas Blog

It's too bad that we'll never know which schools UA gave Nathan permission to transfer to after encouraging him to seek greener pastures. It's incredible that UA gets to pick where an athlete is allowed to transfer and can block him from going to any school it wants. Seems a little unAmerican.

Speaking of football, given that Utah (13-0) totally dominated Alabama, it seems that the BCS is crumbling away this year. Is the best one loss team USC, Texas, Florida, or Oklahoma?

Unlike some kids who desire a transfer, Dick wanted to be eligible to play next year, and to do that, he had to drop down to an NCAA subdivision league like the Southland Conference. UCA should be a perfect fit for him, as it was for former Hog, Zac Clark, who finished with a phenomenal record at UCA. I predict much the same for Dick.

We'll know the best one-loss team Thursday night. After watching Texas squeak past Ohio State last night, I don't think it's the Longhorns. And while 13-0 Utah may have beaten season-long overrated Alabama, it's not in the class of Florida, Oklahoma, USC, Texas, et al. I'd love to see play-offs take the place of the BCS which is obviously flawed. Don't think it's gonna happen any time soon, though.

The BCS is crumbling this year. The BCS needed Alabama to beat Utah, and Alabama failed miserably. USC certainly dominated Penn State in a battle of one loss teams. This is a year crying out for a playoff.

Texas beat Oklahoma soundly at a neutral location. I'm not convinced that Oklahoma is even the best team in the big 12. Florida got the big boost to the championship by beating Alabama. Why then is it that Utah's big win over Alabama is chopped liver. Florida lost to Mississippi in the Swamp.

So Durango, do you think UA should get to pick which schools Dick is allowed to transfer to? It happens all the time at big football schools.

Yep, then-No.4 Florida lost to unrated Mississippi in the Swamp, as did then-No.18 LSU in Death Valley, as did then-No.7 Texas Tech which had beaten then-No.1 Texas. Crazy stuff, this game called football. And even crazier, the BCS.

I don't know, Severus: From everything I've read, Dick (not the UA) made the decision to move to a lower-classified league. If what you're suggesting is true, why could not the UA have dictated that Mustain, too, (for one example) move to a lower league rather than transferring to USC?

Unrelated transfer story at the link shed some light for me. Disgruntled University of Miami QB Robert Marve was specifically denied permission to transfer to LSU, Tennesee and Florida, among others, in light of UM claims that Marve's representatives had reached out to those schools in mid-season. Miami stopped short of accuing those schools of tampering. It is good to know there is an appeal process when permission is denied.

Anyway, I have *zero* inside information when it comes to UA, durango, but your comment about Dick being the one who made the decision looks about right to me from the outside. If Dick wasn't pushed out, then the decision to leave looks like it was all about PT, and the destination looks like it was all about not sitting out a year. If the reports are true that Dick considered historically black Texas Southern University out of the SWAC, then its clear to me the main thing for him was to play a lot and throw a lot.

(I find it hard to believe the Hogs would discard a quarterback proven solid, if not stellar, in the SEC fires just because Mallett is on deck. Sure, Mallett was proven in the Big 10 fires at Michigan, but any QB is one hard sack away from missing the next game or the rest of the season. Nathan Dick was a long way away from dead weight at UA.)

On the BCS....shades of unbeaten Auburn in 04, unbeaten Boise State in 06, Utah in 08. . . seems like there is always justifiable grumbling, but the flawed BCS rolls on. Maybe we'll see a BCS-plus-one-someday. I don't have a playoff plan, but I hear there are some good ones out there.

I don't know the details of Nathan Dick's deal, but there was a completely different athletic administration in place when Mustain transferred. That would explain any differences.

To clarify: I don't mean to suggest any tampering or non-compete concerns in Dick's case -- only that the colleges in general may be given some authority to restrict transfers in light of such concerns.

I agree with it all, Severus, except "Texas beat Oklahoma soundly at a neutral location" part.

Couldn't agree with you more, TAP, about Nathan Dick not being dead weight at the UA.