Of course everyone knows Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III both went one and two in the 2012 NFL Draft, but that also leaves Stanford and Baylor depleted along with other impact players being drafted from the teams. There were four total players from Stanford drafted all in the first two rounds including tight end Coby Fleener also being drafted by the Colts reuniting Luck with one of his favorite targets. Five total players from Baylor were drafted including star wide receiver Kendall Wright going to the Titans in the first round. 

There were no first round picks from Florida, Florida State, or Miami for the first time since 1980. The state of Florida is usually a well known pipeline for pro players starting from high school to college into the draft. The first player to be drafted in 2012 from a Florida college was cornerback Josh Robinson from Central Florida in round three with pick 66 of the Minnesota Vikings. The first from the big three was defensive end Olivier Vernon from Miami at pick 72  drafted in the same city by the Miami Dolphins.  North Alabama cornerback Janoris Jenkins, former Florida Gator, was drafted in round two with pick 39 by the St Louis Rams. 

1st Round Breakdown of Players Drafted by Conference:
SEC: 9
Big 12: 5 
Pac 12: 4
Big Ten: 4
ACC: 3
Big East: 2
MWC: 2
Ind: 2
C-USA: 1

This draft will be remembered by the first round trade frenzy. The 19 overall trades executed in the first round (three of which happened last year, involving Atlanta, New Orleans and Oakland) were the most in the NFL since the 1970 merger, and in that season there were only 26 teams in the league. The St. Louis Rams originally had the number two overall pick, but they traded down to six well before the draft to the Washington Redskins for multiple picks. Rams traded down again to 14 after they missed former Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon which was picked up just one selection before by the Jacksonville Jaguars as a result of a trade from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Rams also missed out on wide receiver Michael Floyd from Notre Dame by one pick which was selected by the Arizona Cardinals. Three out of the first five selections by the Rams were former FCS players leaving many fans wondering who they are, but St. Louis did get a hoard of players for Griffin.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Indianapolis Colts are top of many draft class ratings. The Steelers drafted two much needed offensive linemen while the Colts had the top pick along with drafting some offensive weapons for him. 

The Arkansas Razorbacks have had a wild offseason including a head coach involved in a scandal leading to termination and multiple players arrested on various charges. Then there is new head coach John L. Smith. He wasted no time making proclamations with the first being a pledge for a national title run. 

"Nothing is going to slow down. In fact, we're going to speed up. Our expectations are that we're going to battle and fight for a national title."

However, since his proclamation there were three more player arrests including wide receivers Marquel Wade, Maudrecus Humphrey, and tight end Andrew Peterson. Wade being the most prominent of the three and was expected to be a hot target at wide out for quarterback Tyler Wilson. These arrests add on to three others that occurred in April and March before Smith took the position. 

With a mixed head coaching background and a bad stint at Michigan State, Smith was presumably hired as an interim to keep continuity in the program for this season since he was recently an Arkansas assistant coach. However, it is obvious that one thing will change in Arkansas and that is the brashness combined with a quirky exuberance that Smith exhibits publicly compared to the constrained commentary style by former coach Bobby Petrino. 

Smith has been known for various tirades and stunts including slapping himself at a post game press conference. Hopefully for Razorback Nation, Smith at age 63 can fully utilize his chance for redemption with the opportunity to coach a title contender and bring them to the next level that many thought Petrino was on his way to doing. 

John L. Smith comes into a situation with seemingly full support by players and people within the program. Twitter approval was acknowledged shortly after his hire with tweets from Knile Davis and former Razorback Ryan Mallet, current New England Patriots back up quarterback. 

With top returning talent and John L. Smith now as coach, could this finally be the Year of the Hog not the Elephant or Tiger? Arkansas is trying for it and the fans still have hope. But a disappointing season and too many losses would just be another slap in the face. Either way, Smith should make it an interesting season.    

John L. Smith's meltdown against Ohio State in 2005
John L. Smith Slap

(Post Updated June 4, 2012)

This year's NFL Draft has a couple of the highest rated quarterbacks in recent years being Stanford's Andrew Luck and Baylor's Robert Griffin III. I know nearly everyone keeps banking on pro success for both players, but the contrarian side of me keeps wondering what if one of the two become an NFL bust. Yes, I actually mentioned the names Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III in the same paragraph as NFL bust. Nothing really stands out as significant bad marks on either, but I'm just pondering the possibility and I cannot help thinking that at least one of the two are bound to underachieve. 

As it has gotten closer to draft time, a report came out that states two NFL scouts claim that Griffin is selfish, but that is the first report of that type I know of and of course he has rejected the claims. However, it may come out in the bigger lights of the NFL if in fact that is an actual characteristic of his. The only real worry I see on the surface about RG3 is that he played in a spread system in college rather that a pro style form. There is no doubt he can throw the ball, but playing under the center in a completely different system may take time to become acclimated. 

Some of Andrew Luck's only noticeable bust factors are the possible expectations by some that he will be the next Peyton Manning and that he is coming off a college career where he faced very little scrutiny which we know can be much different in the NFL. Maybe everything is too good about Luck, but if there is anything, it would come out after a couple bad seasons.

Also worth noting, injuries are a possibility for any NFL player and bad injuries early in their career could lead to bust not necessarily at fault of the player. I would guess that most people think that Griffin has the higher chance of bust, but Luck will be under the most pressure. Debate has already started as to who will have a better season and they may always be linked whether it be through failure or success in the eyes of spectators (think Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf).

Arkansas played their spring game this past weekend and the offense lit up the field with the Red team led by quarterback Tyler Wilson winning 65-0. Wilson looked sharp completing 31 of 41 passing for 467 yards and three touchdowns in front of a Spring game record crowd of 45,250 Razorback fans in attendance. Tight end Chris Gragg and wide receiver Coby Hamilton were some of his favorite targets that should make for an explosive combination with Knile Davis which rushed for over 1,300 yards and had 14 total touchdowns in 2010 returning in the back field this Fall. Davis had an ankle injury before last season, but has reportedly ran 4.33 seconds in the 40-yard dash this Spring. Arkansas just announced Monday that they hired interim coach John L Smith which is a former assistant coach at Arkansas and previous head coach at Michigan State and Louisville. 

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame took the field for their Spring game on Saturday. The defense which was the Gold beat the Blue offense 42-31. The quarterback position appears to still be a toss up at this point with four QBs playing for the offense with former starter Tommy Rees 7 of 14 for 84 yards with a pick. Notre Dame has a couple of good running backs coming back this fall with sophomore George Atkinson III having an impressive performance by rushing 15 times for 124 yard along with three catches for 54 yards. Cierre Wood which is projected to be the leading running back this Fall also had an 8-yard TD run, but Atkinson III ran strong and should see the field. The Irish defense is solid, but the offense turned the ball over six times which is a problem that will need fixed by later this year. 

The Big Ten also continued it's Spring football games with the Ohio State and Penn State games combining for 141,000 fans in attendance with 81,112 for the Buckeyes and 60,000 for the Nittany Lions. Urban Meyer as expected had Ohio State looking good this Spring and used the game to get plenty of passing reps for his QBs with 55 passes compared to 36 rushes (16 by QB). Quarterback Braxton Miller led the Scarlet to a 20-14 victory over the Gray with a mixed performance. Wide receiver Mike Thomas had a huge game with 12 receptions for 131 yards.  Despite the controversy over the past year at Penn State, the fan following showed up strong to watch the new era under coach Bill O'Brien. The defense defeated the offense 77-65 in a modified scoring system. No quarterback had a strong showing with one of the previous starters Rob Bolden just 7 of 14 with three interceptions. Last season's other starting QB Matt McGloin completed 6 of 13 passes for 105 yards with a touchdown plus an interception and back up Paul Jones was 6-of-15 for 113 yards with a touchdown and an interception. 

Keep up with the College Football Universe Blog and Facebook page for more Spring updates and other college football information. 

YouTube Videos:
Notre Dame Spring Game Highlights 2012
Ohio State Spring Game Highlights 2012
Penn State Head Coach Bill O'Brien Talks Quarterbacks

Coming from an Arkansas fan, I couldn't care less about what Bobby Petrino did at Atlanta and Louisville as far as the lies, because that was more about him just avoiding the situation when getting a new job. Yes, it was not good of him to do that either.

But what he did at Arkansas however went well beyond his past lies. His lies combined with a mistress while using his coaching position to give her an advantage as well as $20,000 turned it into a scandal and disgrace for Arkansas. When I first heard about Jessica Dorrell involved in the accident and the initial reports came out, I knew that it was going to unravel into a scandal warranting Petrino's termination just by simply connecting the dots in the reports. I believed before Long's press conference about Petrino's departure that he deserved termination. 

He will eventually get another job for the winning records he puts together, but without a doubt he did not deserve a second chance at Arkansas. Sooner or later, he will get a chance from a team willing to get wins over the possibility of a scandal or humiliation for the program.

According to ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski, "Somebody is going to offer him another coaching gig. A good one, too, either as an NFL assistant or college head coach. The reason is obvious. Of all the eternal truths in sports, none is more dependable than this one: If you can win games, you can find a job."

How soon will he be back? It will have to be enough time for his critics and detractors to calm down and forget about it some as well as time for Petrino to get his life in order, but he will always have those against him. He seems to gather more and more opposition with each coaching job.

Alabama is again reloaded full of talent for the 2012 season. The Crimson Tide led the Yahoo Rivals Recruiting Rankings for 2012 and new highly rated running back T.J. Yeldon was impressive in the spring game leading the White team to a 24-15 victory over the Crimson. He had 88 yards rushing and 91 yards receiving in front of 78,526 fans in attendance.  Returning starting QB AJ McCarron was 29 of 42 for 304 yards, but was intercepted three times on the losing end for the Crimson. Alabama brings back just five starters on defense, but they recruited strong with nine 4 stars and one 5 star just on defense according to Yahoo Rivals. Sophomore linebacker Adrian Hubbard had a beast of a game with seven tackles including three sacks and four tackles for loss totaling 42 yards for loss. 

Florida State has plenty of talent as well with 18 starters returning and another highly rated recruiting class. The Seminoles have the sixth ranked recruiting class for 2012 according to Yahoo Rivals. The Garnet led by last year's back up QB Clint Trickett defeated the Gold 35-20. Last season's starter E.J. Manuel was the quarterback for the Gold and was inconsistent throughout finishing with 28 of 51 for 255 yards and two touchdowns, but he was sacked three times and threw two interceptions with one being a pick-six. For the Garnet, Trickett threw a 70 yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage on a long ball to Greg Dent. He completed 12 of 23 passes for 173 yards and added another touchdown pass in the third quarter. The other back up QB Jacob Coker completed 8 of 11 for 137 yards. 

Brady Hoke appears to have Michigan on the right track in his second season as head coach of the Wolverines after leading them to a 11-2 record last season and bringing in the seventh ranked recruiting class for 2012 according to Yahoo Rivals.  They also bring back 16 returning starters with an experienced defense and their star QB Denard Robinson returning. He did not see much playing time in the Spring game so that they could give the back ups more playing time. Thomas Rawls, no. 2 running back behind Fitzgerald Toussaint, had a good outing with 39 yards on nine carries with a pair of touchdowns.  The Blue team defeated the White 17-0, but the Blue was offense only and the White was defense only. The defense had a solid outing including sophomore cornerback Blake Countless' interception of back up QB Devin Gardner on his first pass of the day. 

LSU's Spring game was not televised, but there were approximately 33,000 fans in attendance according to LSUSports.Net. Junior QB Zach Mettenberger which transferred from Georgia led all passers completing 14 of 25 for 270 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. One of his scores was a 49 yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr at the beginning of the second quarter. Mettenberger is a long range bomber, but according to Michael Moraitis of Bleacher Report, he is not the Tigers' QB of the future. However, it appears he will be the starter for 2012 and he has a much stronger arm than the quarterbacks from last season. It will depend on his decision making ability in order for him to be successful. The Tigers have 14 returning starters and brought in the 18th ranked recruiting class according to Yahoo Rivals which is their lowest recruiting rank since 2005. 

There will be another Spring game update posted on the blog after April and make sure to check out the CFU Facebook page for videos and posts on other spring games.

Teams that already played Spring games:
ACC-Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wake Forest. 
Big 10- Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, and Purdue, *Nebraska’s Spring game was cancelled due to the weather. 
Big 12- Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas, and Texas Tech.
C-USA- East Carolina, Houston, Memphis, Rice, Southern Miss, Tulane, Tulsa, UCF, and UTEP.
MAC-Temple
Independents- Navy, Army, and BYU.
Big East- Cincinnati, Louisville, Pitt, and USF
MWC- Boise St, Fresno State, and San Diego State. *Air Force did not schedule a Spring game.
Pac-12- Arizona, Colorado, Stanford, and USC. Cal did not schedule a Spring game.
SEC- Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt/
Sun Belt- Arkansas State, FAU, Middle Tennesse, and Western Kentucky. 
WAC- Louisiana Tech, San Jose St, and Texas St. 

Teams that have not played their Spring games yet:
ACC- Georgia Tech, Maryland, NC State, and Virginia Tech.
Big 10- Michigan St, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, and Wisconsin.
Big 12- Kansas, Kansas St, Oklahoma St, and West Virginia.
C-USA- Marshall, SMU, and UAB.
MAC- Akron, Ball St, Northern Illinois, and Ohio. 
Independents- Notre Dame
Big East- Rutgers, Syracuse, and Uconn.
MWC- Colorado St and Wyoming
Pac-12- Arizona St, Oregon, Oregon St, Utah, Washington, and Washington State.
SEC- Arkansas, Mississippi St, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.
WAC- Idaho and New Mexico St.

YouTube Videos:
Alabama A-Day Spring Game Recap 2012

Garnet defeats Gold 35-20 in 2012 FSU Spring Game

Michigan Spring Game Highlights 2012

LSU Spring Game