As we approach the end of the 2014 calendar year, we’re looking back at the top 50 stories in college football for the year. Today, we look at No. 15-11.

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NO. 15 – What’s Up With The Traditional Powers?

Coaching turnover at major football programs is a constant in college football today. In the last two seasons, we’ve seen head coach openings at Michigan, Penn State, Florida, Nebraska, USC and Texas.

What does this mean? One might speculate on a few things. First, does it show the rise of non-traditional powers? Baylor, TCU, even Oregon might come to mind. Secondly, it shows the rising pressure of winning at all top programs. The stakes are high for these high paid coaches and if you can’t deliver consistent winning after a few seasons, you’re going to be out.

Don’t feel bad for ousted coaches, however. Will Muschamp had a soft landing with having more than six million still owed to him from Florida along with a $1.6 million salary from Auburn for his new defensive coordinator gig.

Or, there’s always the Bo Pelini route of calling your former boss every variation of female genitalia you can imagine.

NO. 14 – Treon Harris Ups & Downs

True freshman quarterback for the Florida Gators, Treon Harris, got his opportunity mid-year as starter Jeff Driskel’s struggles continue into 2014. After coming into the game against Tennessee on the road at Neyland, Harris led a comeback to get the victory. Hours later back in Gainesville, Harris was involved in an incident that would result in a rape accusation.

It was an ugly story that resulted in Harris getting suspended, but the accuser eventually dropped the case. Fans and media got an interesting look into the story as the Treon Harris police statement became public.

It seemed like yet another example of Muschamp being snake-bitten at Florida… A promising quarterback’s season gets derailed by a rape accusation. Harris would be reinstated, but the early momentum was already lost.

Moving forward, new head coach Jim McElwain will likely have an open QB competition with veteran Driskel, Harris and red-shirted Will Grier.

NO. 13 – Josh Shaw’s Ankle Injury

Maybe the strangest college football story since Manti T’eo’s fake girlfriend, USC’s Josh Shaw was praised back in August for sacrificing his own body when he jumped off a balcony to save his young nephew who was struggling in a pool. Days later, the story would be revealed as a complete lie. Instead, it appears that Shaw did injure his ankle by jumping off a balcony, but instead of doing so to save someone, he was running from police.

So what happened? From the Los Angeles Times:

On Aug. 23, after the annual Salute to Troy barbecue on campus, one week before the season opener against Fresno State, Shaw went home to meet [girlfriend Angela] Chilton, whom he has dated for more than seven years. They started arguing and Chilton ran out of the apartment and disappeared down the hall.
“We just got into an argument just like every couple does,” Shaw said. “Was it loud? Yes. Was it overly loud? I don’t think so.”

Shaw remained in the apartment until he heard noise below his balcony. He walked outside to see police cars pulling up on the street. Shaw and Chilton adamantly deny the argument ever became physical — “I would never, ever hit a woman,” Shaw said — but he worried about appearances.

“We were not on good terms when she left, I thought she had somebody call authorities. I was thinking the worst,” he said. “If she did say anything, I’m a black man with dreadlocks, and with everything going on in the country at the time, all that stuff in St. Louis [Ferguson, Mo.] … in my mind, I’m going to leap from the balcony so authorities did not see me.”

Oops.

NO. 12 – Mike Slive Retires

Mike Slive’s tenure as the SEC Commissioner is quite impressive. He led the conference through the golden age, BCS era where the SEC dominated college football with seven straight BCS titles. He oversaw the expansion which brought in Texas A&M and Missouri and the launching of the highly lucrative SEC Network.

We sat down back in July with Slive to talk about all of the above and more:

Slive announced that he’s on the way out and will retire on July 31, 2015. Next year’s SEC Media Days in July will likely be quite the Slive celebration.

NO. 11 – Rise and Fall of Kenny Trill

When Texas A&M quarterback Kenny Hill lit up the South Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia on opening night of the 2014 season, Kenny Trill was born. His 511 passing yards broke the single game passing record for Texas A&M. Johnny Manziel who?

Hill was launched into the Heisman discussion, and he led the Aggies to as high as a No. 6 ranking in the polls.

Then, the season and Kenny Trill fell apart. The Aggies never looked as good as they did against South Carolina (who went on to have a very ugly season). After three bad losses mid-season, Hill was suspended for two games and quarterback Kyle Allen took over. Hill would not play for the rest of 2014.

At least Hill still has that Kenny Trill trademark, right?

What’s Next?

As we continue our countdown, we break into the top ten college football stories of 2014. Stay tuned.