The 2014 NCAA football season kicks off on Thursday and, as always, there is plenty of intrigue leading into Division 1 in the post-BCS world. Cheap Air Jordan Shoes . Here are five storylines to follow as the season gets underway: 1. The BCS is dead: The system still isnt perfect and not exactly what everybody wants to see, but its better than the BCS. No longer will teams vie for only two spots in the BCS Title game, but now four teams will be eligible to compete for the College Football Championship in a semi-final playoff format. Bowl season will still exist, but rather than have the title game conclude the bowl schedule, two bowl games will act as de facto semi-finals. Those bowls will come from the six games that were previously designated as part of the BCS series and will rotate every year among the Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Cotton Bowl, Peach Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl. This season, the two semi-final bowls will be the Sugar and Rose Bowls. The four participants in these semi-finals will be selected from a committee made up of 13 members, including former United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The criteria for selection into the semi-finals will take into account much of what was previously considered for the BCS Title game, but the NCAA notes that the new format would not preclude multiple teams from the same conference to appear in the two semi-finals and that AP Top 25 rankings will not be considered. A week after the semi-final bowls, the National Championship Game will be played on January 12, 2015 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. 2. Jameis Winston and a second Heisman: Defending Heisman Trophy winner Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston is the early betting favourite to claim this years trophy, but he certainly has his work cut out for him and will enter rarefied air if he can do so. Only one man in the trophys 78-year history has claimed two awards, Ohio State running back Archie Griffin (1974 and 1975). Though history might not be on Winstons side and the redshirt sophomore, whose offseason was plagued with a sexual assault complaint and a pair of shoplifting incidents, would much rather help coach Jimbo Fisher and the preseason top-ranked Seminoles retain their national title than claim individual glory, the 20-year-old might have the best chance to do what the likes of Roger Staubach, Tim Tebow and Johnny Manziel couldnt. Perhaps not as deep as last years squad, Winston will still have many of the same weapons at his disposal this season, including WR Rashad Greene and RB Karlos Williams, and the Seminoles are expected by many to perform up to last years highs. That said, the field is stacked with potential Heisman candidates this year and, if Winston cant surpass or even equal his impressive numbers from last season, voters will likely look elsewhere. If not Winston, then who? Quarterbacks Marcus Mariota (Oregon) and Brett Hundley (UCLA) chose not to enter the 2014 NFL Draft to return to their respective schools and will give Winston the most competition on the pivot front. There are no shortage of running back candidates, including Duke Johnson (Miami), Ameer Abdullah (Nebraska), TJ Yeldon (Alabama), Mike Davis (South Carolina), Melvin Gordon (Wisconsin) and Todd Gurley (Georgia). 3. Academic fraud hits Notre Dame again: The Fighting Irish went on a run unforeseen by most two seasons ago, going 12-0 through the year only to be humbled in the BCS Title game 42-14 by Alabama. Though key players like LB Manti Teo, TE Tyler Eifert and safeties Zeke Motta and Jamoris Slaughter moved on to the NFL, hopes were still high around South Bend that the team could try to replicate the previous years high. That, of course, was before starting quarterback Everett Golson was suspended for the season after being deemed academically ineligible last May. Golson later admitted to cheating on a test as the reason for his suspension, but Brian Kellys Irish struggled with Tommy Rees at quarterback and the team finished a disappointing 8-4, falling well short of expectations. Golson was readmitted to Notre Dame and Kelly once again installed him as his starting QB, but academic infractions have reared their ugly heads again, this time with four players, including three starters. Suspended for Week 1 against Rice are starters CB KeiVarae Russell, OLB Ishaq Williams and WR DaVaris Daniels. Danielss absence will be felt most, as the junior was to be a key weapon for Golson and was last seasons leading receiver. While the probe investigating the quartet has yet to be completed and theres a chance that all four could return at some point this season, a second academic scandal in two years has taken some lustre off of the storied institution and there could be program-wide penalties to follow. It will be interesting to see how Kellys charges can cope with what could be a season-long black cloud hanging over the Irishs heads. 4. Taking the reins: There are a number of new coaches at high-profile institutions this season and, when it comes to a big program, theres never any grace period. After 15 seasons, six Big 12 titles and a national championship, Mack Brown was shown the door at Texas. Taking charge of the Longhorns will be Charlie Strong, who spent the last four seasons at Louisville. Known for his commitment to defence and a no-nonsense approach, Strong will look to reignite a Longhorns program that has been in decline since losing the 2009 BCS Title game to USC. Speaking of the Trojans, Southern California hopes to have found its long-term successor to Pete Carroll. The Lane Kiffin era, which came nowhere close to Carrolls reign, ended with a thud just five games into last season when the former Oakland Raiders coach was dismissed from his post. Assistant Ed Orgeron did an admirable job in guiding the team to a 6-2 finish, but was never really considered for the permanent position. Steve Sarkisian, after five seasons with Washington, returns to the Trojans as the man given the task of restoring USC back to prominence. Sarkisian has eight years of experience coaching at various positions with the school, including acting as offensive coordinator under Carroll. Carroll even saw Sarkisian as his successor with the Trojans. Though, Sarkisian was greatly influenced by the now Seattle Seahawks coach, he brings his own style back to USC with a no-huddle offence and a 3-4 defence. Bill OBrien did an admirable job at Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal and the dismissal of Joe Paterno, but with OBrien now coaching the Houston Texans, James Franklin assumes control in Happy Valley. Franklin already seems to have good rapport with sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg and, with the end of NCAA sanctions on the horizon, the Nittany Lions are looking at what could be a top-three recruitment class next season. Also of interest is Bobby Petrinos return to Louisville seven years after his very acrimonious exit from the Cardinals. 5. Can SEC domination be stopped?: Florida State claimed a national title last season for the ACC, but in the 16 years of the BCS era, nine national titles were claimed by Southeastern Conference schools, including seven of the last 10. With seven SEC representatives in the preseason AP Top 25 (Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Mizzou) the SEC can once again stake its claim as the best conference in Division 1, but can it produce a champion? Of the title contenders, Nick Sabans Crimson Tide has the most favourable out-of-conference schedule, while Auburn will play a good Kansas State team and South Carolina has a date with Clemson. It will be, of course, the conference schedule that decides who comes out alive from the SEC, but one loss in the conference wont necessarily preclude a trip to the Sugar or Rose Bowl. The same scenario could play out in the Pac-12, who have six teams of their own in the preseason AP Top 25 (Oregon, UCLA, Stanford, USC, Arizona State and Washington), where one of the most competitive seasons in years appears to be on tap out west. Prediction: Alabama, UCLA, Oklahoma and Georgia are the four College Football Playoff teams with the Crimson Tide claiming their fourth national championship in six seasons and 20th overall. TSNs NCAA football coverage kicks off on Thursday with Wake Forest taking on Louisiana-Monroe on TSN2 (7pm et/4pm pt) and #18 Ole Miss hosting Boise State on TSN3 (8pm et/5pm pt) Wholesale Air Jordan . Berkman almost left the game last off-season before signing with the Texas Rangers. He then had another injury-plagued season and was limited to 73 games. Cheap Air Jordan Retro . The Austrian ski federation said Morgenstern was "conscious and well responsive" and his condition would be monitored in the intensive care unit of a Salzburg hospital for the next 72 hours. The federation said it was "way too early" to judge Morgensterns chances of competing in Sochi, and that an update on his condition was not expected before Monday. http://www.airjordanscheaponline.us/ . Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed.Conor McGregor has insisted that he has not retired and still wants to fight Nate Diaz at UFC 200. The UFC featherweight champion tweeted on Tuesday that he planned to retire young and was promptly pulled out of his July rematch against Diaz - but has now revealed that his message was a promotional tool to save him from American media obligations.Full statement is below: I have become lost in the game of promotion and forgot about the art of fighting. Conor McGregor I am just trying to do my job and fight here. I am paid to fight. I am not yet paid to promote. I have become lost in the game of promotion and forgot about the art of fighting. There comes a time when you need to stop handing out flyers and get back to the damn shop. Fifty world tours, 200 press conferences, one million interviews, two million photo shoots, and at the end of it all Im left looking down the barrel of a lens, staring defeat in the face, thinking of nothing but my incorrect fight preparation. And the many distractions that led to this. Nothing else was going through my mind. It is time to go back and live the life that got me this life. Sitting in a car on the way to some dump in Connecticut or somewhere, to speak to Tim and Susie did not get me this life. Talking to some lady that deep down doesnt [care] about what Im doing, but just wants some sound bites so she can maybe get herself a nice raise, and Im cool with that too, Ive been giving you all raises. But I need to focus on me now. Im coming for my revenge here. I flew an entire team to Portugal and to Iceland to make my adjustments in preparation and fix my errors I made with the weight and the cardio prep. With the right adjustments and the right focus, I will finish what I started in that last fight. Nate Diaz beat Conor McGregor last month I will not do this if I am back on the road handing out flyers again. I will always play the game and play it better than anybody, but just for this one, where I am coming off a loss, I asked for some leeway where I can just train and focus. Cheap Air Jordan Authentic. I did not shut down all media requests. I simply wanted a slight adjustment.But it was denied. There had been 10 million dollars allocated for the promotion of this event is what they told me. So as a gesture of goodwill, I went and not only saved that 10 million dollars in promotion money, I then went and tripled it for them. And all with one tweet.Keep that 10 mill to promote the other bums that need it. My shows are good.I am facing a taller, longer and heavier man. I need to prepare correctly this time. I cannot dance for you this time. It is time for the other monkeys to dance.I must isolate myself now. I am facing a taller, longer and heavier man. I need to prepare correctly this time. I cannot dance for you this time. It is time for the other monkeys to dance. Ive danced us all the way here. I am facing a taller, longer and heavier man. I need to prepare correctly this time. I cannot dance for you this time. It is time for the other monkeys to dance. Conor McGregor Nates little mush head looks good up on that stage these days. Stuff him in front of the camera for it. He came in with [nothing] to do that last one. Id already done press conferences, interviews and shot the ads before [Rafael dos Anjos] pulled out.Im doing what I need for me now. It is time to be selfish with my training again. It is the only way. I feel the $400m I have generated for the company in my last three events, all inside eight months, is enough to get me this slight leeway. I am still ready to go for UFC 200. I will offer, like I already did, to fly to New York for the big press conference that was scheduled, and then I will go back into training. With no distractions.If this is not enough or they feel I have not deserved to sit this promotion run out this one time, well then I dont know what to say. For the record also - for USADA and for the UFC and my contract stipulations - I AM NOT RETIRED.As it stands, McGregor remains withdrawn from the UFC 200 main-event against Diaz. Also See: McGregors UFC ultimatum Why did he retire? 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