A weekly look at conquered favorites and other notables picking up the pieces of shattered ambition.

There are no answers. But we'll fire that one coach anyway. There's not much left to dissect about the agony in Michigan. Ann Arbor is beyond disillusion. The Wolverines scored 42 points against Purdue, easily their best offensive game of this historically wretched season, and that still wasn't enough to beat a first-time starting quarterback who'd spent most of the year at running back, and who's not even guaranteed to start next Saturday for a hopeless team under a lame duck coach who has no incentive whatsoever to return to senior Curtis Painter. That is, even Purdue doesn't think Justin Siller's that good, but the redshirt freshman completely shredded Michigan for the Wolverines' fifth loss in a row. So even if it's too late to do anything about hiring Rich Rodriguez, defensive coordinator Scott Shafer has no such security:

Here is what I know: Rich Rodriguez is not going anywhere, even if Michigan loses its final three games by 50 points each. He will be back for 2009 ... and 2010 ... and probably beyond.

Here is what I think: A team like Michigan, with all its pride and history, cannot go 3-9 or 2-10 and have everything stay the same.

And, with that said, there is an obvious candidate to be scapegoated - and it's Scott Shafer.

Commence scapegoating! The usually patient MGoBlog's progressive frustration with Shafer has boiled over into the closest Brian Cook will come to saying, "Fire the bum!" -- "... the inbox is filled with emails asking whether Shafer needs to go. [...] I can no longer say so for certain" -- and Maize 'n Brew puts the loss 'squarely on Shafer's shoulders' (in context, "a less effective Ron English" is the insult of the week).

Maybe they can bring in a JUCO coach until the younger guys come around. The Wildcat Web sites are all but done with Ron Prince after Kansas State's fourth loss in five games -- and the third of those four in which KSU's defense gave up at least 31 points in the first half en route to 50-plus for the game -- at Kansas, but Jason Whitlock says a new coach won't solve much bigger problems in Manhattan. And the big man's not afraid to name names:

There’s a crisis of leadership at Kansas State. I could see it most clearly when I reached the K-State sideline early in the fourth quarter. Back over my left shoulder were Kansas’ beautiful, brand-new practice facilities. Ahead and off to my left were Mark Mangino’s new offices and football complex. All around me was a stadium packed with excited Kansas fans.
[...]
[KSU president Jon] Wefald is on a farewell tour; he’s retiring at the end of the school year. No one I know can understand why [AD Bob] Krause was tabbed to lead the athletics department.

Why would TCU’s Gary Patterson take the K-State job? Wisconsin’s Brett Bielema has a right to feel insulted that his name is even being gossiped about.

Many K-State fans want Prince fired. Who is going to hire his successor? And who would be foolish enough to apply for the job given the current leadership void?

Whitlock insists he's no Prince apologist, but he's not exactly easy on the players, either: gargantuan scout favorite Josh Freeman has turned the ball over 13 times in three games against the Jayhawks, including a goal line fumble Saturday that "defies reason or explanation"; Freeman's supporting cast is "midmajor"; and his "tiny receivers" can't catch. The outrageously JUCO-heavy recruiting class has been a bust, With Freeman eligible for the draft after this season, the writing is on the wall:

Again, the problem is there are no good solutions for 2009. Without a president in place, a legitimate athletic director and a concrete plan, no promising, intelligent coach would take the K-State job.
[...]
The more prudent move might be to do nothing for one year, install a school president, develop a serious game plan for improvement and forbid Prince from recruiting more than two or three jucos this offseason.

Let me repeat: I am not pleading for Ron Prince’s job. Sometimes you have to swallow your medicine and absorb the beating you earned. If you rush in with a quick-fix solution, you might prolong the beating.

Ron Prince in '09: Because it could get even worse! But only barely!

Optimism abounds. Bo Pelini says it's no time to overreact, so Corn Nation decided to look on the bright side of Nebraska's 62-28 loss at Oklahoma:

After giving them 28 points ... we played fairly well.

Yes, after the Huskers spotted the Sooners a four-touchdown lead less than six minutes into the game by committing three turnovers in their first five offensive snaps, they did alright. Only got outscored 34-28 the rest of the way, in fact, though not even most of the press on hand in Norman noticed: they were too busy watching Texas and Texas Tech. Maybe they'll also fail to notice that Nebraska's 5-4 and might need to win two of its last three against Kansas, Kansas State and Colorado to avoid missing a bowl for the second year in a row.

Elsewhere in Disillusion: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Mark Bradley compiles all the times he was wrong about Georgia. ... Texas still sees a light at the end of the BCS tunnel. ... And Wisconsin's athletic department is giving away tickets to the season finale against Cal-Poly following the Badgers' fifth loss in six games.