First College Football Game

College football: All-star game could move to Hi Corbett

Tucson is aggressively pursuing a college football all-star game in its quest to replace spring training baseball, city and game officials said Monday.

The Eastham Energy College All Star Game, formerly known as the Blue-Gray Football Classic and Inta Juice North-South Game, will announce in the next week whether it plans to move to Hi Corbett Field. Spokesman John A. Gray confirmed Monday that the nationally televised game could leave Tempe, where it was held in January after two years off.

Game officials visited Tucson and met with city councilman Paul Cunningham last month.

"If we move the game, it'll be to Tucson," Gray said.

The addition of a football game would mark another creative departure for Hi Corbett. The city-run baseball stadium drew more than 8,000 fans for its first-ever Major League Soccer tournament, the Tucson Desert Cup, this spring. Organizers believe college football would be embraced the same way.

The game in Tempe drew a crowd of 6,954 in January.

City officials are also trying to lure Notre Dame's rugby team to town for a nationally televised game against the University of Arizona. There will almost certainly be a second annual Desert Cup next spring, with the possibility of at least one MLS team relocating its training camp to Tucson in the future. The Arizona Wildcats' baseball team is also pursuing a full-time move to Hi Corbett starting in March.

The all-star game "is something Tucson could adopt as its own," Cunningham said.

The Eastham Energy College All Star Game pits college seniors against each other in a showcase designed to boost players' NFL draft stock. The game is generally considered third on the postseason pecking order, behind the Senior Bowl and the annual East-West Shrine Game. UA running back Nicolas Grigsby played in January's game.

Hi Corbett's baseball field would be reconfigured for football, with the field running from the first base dugout to the left-field wall. Game organizers would place portable bleachers along the sidelines and install cocktail tents throughout the stadium.

"It'd be something special for the economy, and it would do a good job of boosting Tucson's profile," Cunningham said. "It's exciting that we could be able to host 100 or so future NFL-ers and 100 to 300 pro football scouts. Any city, if given the opportunity, would jump at it.

Golden Nugget Lines for 2011 Marquee Games!

PhilSteele.com is a pure college and pro information site. There is no gambling information on this site. Any mention of the point spread of a game is to let you know who was favored and expected to win when the games were played.

Every year I do about 300 radio shows and a popular question this time of year is “Who do you think will be favored when XXX and XXX meet?” This is asked by callers and the hosts of the radio stations. I can always speculate during June but there is a casino in Las Vegas that is the first to put out some lines on the upcoming games for the 2011 season.

As you know gambling in Las Vegas is legal and the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas has had their numbers up for a week or so. Below is a list of all the marquee games that the Golden Nugget has posted for the upcoming year. Open is the opening line that they first put out and the Current has a number in it if it has changed since the open. The HOME TEAM IS IN ALL CAPS. This information is posted for news matter only.

One thing that jumped out to me right away was that defending National Champ Auburn is currently an underdog in EIGHT games for the upcoming season! Also it is interesting to note that several of the big line movements involve the same teams in Michigan, Georgia, BYU and TCU.

Thanks for Golden Nugget Director Tony Miller for stepping out on a limb to release the first college football lines in Las Vegas, and also kudos to one of his Supervisors, Aaron Kessler, for putting in the long hours prepping the formula that the GN used to come up with the numbers. Finally, thanks to Keith Fridrich for letting me know that the Nugget had these lines up and sending me a copy. Next time you are in Vegas, give the Nugget a look.

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