AP College Football Top 25 Poll Week 4

Nissan continues its collaboration with ESPN The Magazine to sponsor the ESPN Gridiron Blowout Tour. This year’s tour provides college football fans with the ultimate tailgating experience through a number of fun interactive activities and an opportunity to win a trip to see famed football legends at the most prestigious individual awards ceremony in sports - the Heisman Trophy Presentation. An estimated 1,000,000 fans will attend the tour locations across the country.

The 10-city ESPN Gridiron Blowout Tour visits college football marquee match-ups where fans can watch ESPN college football coverage in the Nissan Lounge, a viewing space equipped with comfortable couches and flat screen televisions. Fans also get to play games and even get the chance to win an all-expense paid trip for two to the Heisman Trophy presentation - a reception for esteemed Heisman recipients and candidates as well as key members from the Heisman Foundation and National Football League.

As sole presenting sponsor of the Heisman Trophy, Nissan invites fans to log on http://www.theheismanvote.com where they can cast their vote for their favorite college football stars. Last year, a staggering 16,183,682 fan votes were cast to dictate the fans’ one vote for the Heisman. Computer voting kiosks also will be displayed at the ESPN Gridiron Blowout Tour so fans can easily access the site at tour stops. Additionally, in-game Heisman Trophy vignettes that highlight Nissan’s involvement in college football and feature the history of the Heisman Trophy, will be showcased alongside the Heisman Trophy itself, giving fans access and the opportunity to have their picture taken with the most venerable trophy in sports.
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After a season of chasing, Southern California is again the team being chased. And that’s just the way coach Pete Carroll and the Trojans like it. For the third time in the past four years, USC begins the college football season No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25.”It’s exactly where we hope and expect to be,” Carroll said. “It’s a symbol of what we’re all about.”

Southern California received 62 of 65 first-place votes and 1,622 points from a panel of media members. USC easily outdistanced No. 2 LSU in the poll released Saturday. The Tigers received two first-place votes and 1,511 points. They haven’t started a season ranked this high since 1959, when they were preseason No. 1.

No. 3 West Virginia received the other first-place vote. The Mountaineers have never been ranked higher in the preseason. No. 4 Texas and Michigan round out the top five, and defending champion Florida is sixth.

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Rivals College Football Minute

Notre Dame Football 2007 Irish QBs In Action

Tom Lemming’s Top 5 Wide Receiver Recruits 2007 Class

Fenway Sports Group (FSG) today announced a twelve year extension of its sports marketing relationship with the Boston College Athletics Department. Terms of the new contract extension were not disclosed.

FSG, which began its partnership with Boston College (BC) in 2005, oversees a comprehensive sports marketing program for BC designed to enhance and extend the regional and national profile of BC Athletics. The multi- faceted program includes building out the school’s network of regional media partners, forging new regional and national corporate sponsorship relationships and national fan activation programs.

“A key marketing mission of Boston College Athletics is to raise awareness for our teams and our athletes on a regional and national level,” said Gene DeFilippo, Boston College Athletics Director. “This awareness allows us to forge new relationships with corporate brands and connect with our extensive and loyal alumni base across the country.

“In two short seasons, Fenway Sports Group has made our mission a reality by working closely with the Athletic Department to design and implement a strategic program that has become a model in the industry. We are pleased by the progress and look forward to working with FSG in the years ahead as we extend this relationship through 2019.”

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DALLAS — Hoping to get the Cotton Bowl back on college football’s national stage, the board that oversees the game voted Tuesday to move it to the new Dallas Cowboys stadium starting in 2010.

Cotton Bowl Athletic Association chairman Bruce Gadd declined to reveal details of the contract with the Cowboys, but said it will last more than a decade.

“This is one of the most important decisions in the 71-year history of the AT&T Cotton Bowl,” Gadd said in a statement. “Moving the Classic preserves the Classic’s legacy and, at the same time, secures its future as one of college football’s best postseason bowl games.”

Backers want to get the Cotton Bowl into the Bowl Championship Series mix and make it the future location of a national title game.

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