With the College World Series in full-swing, and the temperatures rising, it only means one thing: we’re getting closer to college football returning to our televisions. Which is never a bad thing.

Something to help us with the off-season blues? College football’s preseason watch lists. These lists invoke debate by people on the internet who think they are the greatest mind in all of sports and only their lists are the correct ones. So not only do the lists cause something to pass the off-season time, they cause humor.

The NCFAA (National College Football Awards Association) plan to start a 12-day release of 21 awards selected by the association. So starting on July 9th, they will release a new list daily till the week of July 20th. Each list will be released at 9:00 AM CST, starting with the Maxwell Award and ending with the Walter Camp Player of the Year.

The preseason award lists will be released as followed:

Somewhere in between all the conference realignment talk yesterday and Oklahoma President David Boren’s new power position, the Oklahoma Board of Regents decided to give Sooners head football coach, Bob Stoops a raise.

After Saturday night’s huge win against Florida State, Stoops’ record became 131-31. Oklahoma decided to reward him by giving him a seven year , 34 million dollar contract extension. He was last given an extension in 2009. Coach Stoops salary for this year will stay at $4.875 million, but by the end of his contract will be making close to $5.15 million. So roughly, he will be making an additional $75,000 a year. He will also recieve bonuses each year that he stays at Oklahoma.

Athletic Director Joe Castiglione also received a raise yesterday. His $915,000 salary will be increased by $165,000 for the next seven years. Are the BOR giving them raises because things are more expensive on the West Coast?

 Also announced yesterday, the Sooners were awarded  the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Team of the Week.

Press release from the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) in Dallas:

DALLAS (FWAA) – A big-play offense and a defense that came up with three takeaways and six sacks enabled the Oklahoma Sooners (2-0) to earn Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week honors for games of the weekend of Sept. 17. The top-ranked Sooners scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to overcome No. 5 Florida State, 23-13, in Tallahassee.
The game’s key play came from its standout quarterback-receiver tandem of Landry Jones and Ryan Broyles.
Facing third-and-12 in a tie game midway through the fourth quarter, Jones hit Broyles down the middle for 22 yards, and Jones found Kenny Stills for a 37-yard touchdown on the next play for what became the winning touchdown. Stills finished the day with seven catches for 125 yards.
“I’m proud of the character we showed in the fourth quarter,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. “When the stadium is against you and the momentum is going the other way, we seized it back.”

 The Sooners take on Missouri this coming Saturday in Norman. Will the Chase for 8 continue?