College football never sleeps: News on Fiesta Bowl, Chizik, Pryor and more

These are all recent college football news items. They are true.

1. Robert Shelton is resigning as president of the University of Arizona to become the executive director of the troubled Fiesta Bowl.

Shelton will make $455,000 a year plus incentives for the bowl, which had an opening when John Junker was fired earlier this year after an internal investigation uncovered some outrageous and apparently illegal stuff.

The Fiesta Bowl's reputation is in tatters. Shelton doesn't appear to be some world-weary character looking for easy handouts as he veers toward retirement. I mean, he's a physicist who has worked with NASA.

The 12-member BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, which included Shelton, imposed a $1 million fine on the bowl in May for financial irregularities and for allowing employees to make potentially illegal campaign contributions.

Now I can feel a little better about accepting the Insight Bowl's  (owned by the Fiesta Bowl) free Tostitos in the bowl's hospitality room at the media hotel.

2. Oregon star cornerback Cliff Harris was cited early Sunday morning for driving 118 mph at 4:30 a.m. on a stretch of I-5 in Oregon.

It was a rental car, paid for by a female U. of Oregon employee. The woman says Harris paid her what she paid Hertz for use of the car.

The question remains: How are teams supposed to keep with Oregon when the Ducks have that kind of speed?

3. Now-former Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor has hired agent Drew Rosenhaus to represent him.

Rosenhaus also has these clients: Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco, Plaxico Burress.

Comment: Rosenhaus has an interesting life.

4. Last week, Auburn gave Coach Gene Chizik a pay raise to $3.5 million a year. That's better dough than he was making at Iowa State.  Which is like saying Dirk Nowitzki played better fourth-quarter basketball in the NBA Finals than LeBron James.

"We believe that we have the best coach in college football," Auburn Athletic Director Jay Ja­cobs said.

Which would indicate Jacobs also thinks he has the best coach in Alabama, something that won't play too well in Tuscaloosa, where Nick Saban rules.

But Auburn is the defending national-champion, after all. Bama hasn't won it all since 2009.

5. Fire up! Here is USC defensive coordinator Ed Orgeron in a funny promotional spot for Trojans football.

6. I got a new refrigerator today.

It's energy-efficient. Too bad I'm not.