Football 2020

Word is the Big Ten is canceling football for this year. Pac-12 also. But, a lot of Big Ten teams want to play ball anyway. Either the presidents of the schools voted to play -- Iowa and Nebraska -- or the coaches have expressed desire to seek all options -- Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State -- that might include playing in another conference.

Well, the solution is simple. The SEC, ACC, and Big 12 are, as of this writing, playing football this fall. So, divvy up the Big Ten teams and play ball.

The ACC has already added Notre Dame, and is playing a 10-1 schedule, with 10 conference games and one out of conference game. Big 12 is going 9-1, since they only have 10 teams. And the SEC is going 10 game conference only.

Ohio State has expressly said they'd play in the SEC. So, fine. Add them, bringing the total to 15. And, the other Big Ten teams that want to play can play with the Big 12.

This would need some changes to be made. First, expand the Big 12 to 10-1. Next, expand the SEC to 10-1. That accomplishes the goal of having the Big Ten teams a place to play and teams to play. It also brings back some rivalries that have been called off.

The SEC-ACC matchups of Georgia-Georgia Tech, Florida-Florida State, Kentucky-Louisville, and South Carolina-Clemson would be back. Ohio State (SEC) could still play Michigan (Big 12). Texas and Texas A&M could return, as could Oklahoma-Nebraska (a Big 12 conference game again). Arkansas could play one of their old Southwest Conference foes. And some other pretty interesting matchups could happen.

After the season, have the three conference champs and one wild card team (gotta give the CFP committee something to do) could pick a team. Heck, this might be a good time to expand the playoffs, since so may bowls will get lost by the other conferences bowing out. Make it eight, or better yet, 16 teams.

If the Big Ten gets all huffy about their teams playing anyway, they can kick them out. Then the new alignment permanent and the Big Ten could go shopping for teams from the MAC to get their membership back up. Or just pick up one team to make up for the five they lost and actually be Ten teams again.

Will this happen? No. Should it? Better than no football.

Gone Bowling

Georgia Southern vs Eastern Michigan
Photo: Mickey Welsh / The Montgomery Advertiser

I went to a football game this past weekend. And it was great.

The Raycom Media Camellia Bowl was in Montgomery, Alabama this past Saturday night, and I was one of the 17,710 people in the stands. I was there supporting the Georgia Southern Eagles as they took on the Eastern Michigan Eagles. And the Eagles won! Which Eagles? Well, I'm happy with the outcome, if that helps.

Georgia Southern has only been to two bowl games. They started up football -- restarted, actually, after program was halted during World War II -- in 1981, hiring Georgia Defensive Coordinator Erk Russell to start the team. Starting from nothing -- literally, Georgia Southern College (at the time) had to buy a football from the K-mart across from the college to have one for their first press conference announcing the hiring of Russell -- they started play in 1982, and in 1985 were Division 1-AA (now FCS) national champions. Georgia Southern won a total of six 1-AA national championships before transitioning to 1-A/FBS in 2014. They ended their FCS/1-AA era beating Florida. Have you ever seen videos and images making fun of the University of Florida for the two players blocking each other? That was the 2013 game against Georgia Southern.

After their coach left for Army -- Jeff Monken led Army to 10 wins this season -- they hired Willie Fritz to lead them into their first year in FCS/1-A. Georgia Southern won the Sun Belt Conference championship, and the next year, went to and won their first bowl game. However, the coach left for Tulane. The next two seasons were tough, with Georgia Southern falling to 5-7 in 2016 and 2-10 in 2017. They fired their coach mid-season last year, and promoted the interim to head coach for this year. Under Chad Lunsford, they improved from last year's 2-10 to a 10-3 record this year, including the win in the Camellia Bowl. Why the biggest turnaround in 2018 college football didn't get him considered for coach of the year honors is, well, baffling to me. But, hurray for Brian Kelley, I guess.

The win in Montgomery wasn't easy, though. Eastern Michigan, despite a 7-5 record, was a tough opponent. Other than a 15-point loss to Army, the other four losses were all by a touchdown or less, with two coming in overtime. They could have easily been 9-3, and possibly 11-1. And they played with a lot of heart and a lot of guts. They took the lead with 3:33 left in the game, on a fourth-down pass for a touchdown. However, they couldn't stop Georgia Southern from driving down to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired.

It was the only Division 1-A/FBS bowl game that was close. So far, easily the best bowl game, but there are a lot of bowl games left. Still, it will be one of the best of 2018.

I was happy to make it to Georgia Southern's bowl game, and thrilled with the win. But, I was thoroughly impressed with the team from Eastern Michigan. This was only the fourth bowl game in that school's history, and it had to be a heartbreaker. Kinda like the season has been for them: close, oh so close, but not able to finish.

If they get a couple of breaks, they could be champions of the MAC next year, if the team continues to play like they did this season and this past weekend.

I'm still thrilled with Georgia Southern's win. And I know that another game against Eastern Michigan would be a tough one. But, if it came next year as a rematch, but between two conference champions, well, that would be just fine with me.

College Football Playoff 2018

I do this every year, and I'm doing it again this year. I'm telling you what the NCAA FBS Subdivision (what I still call Division 1-A) playoffs would look like if they did it right.

All 10 conference champions should be in a playoff. They won their conference, and that should mean something. A place in the tournament is a suitable reward for accomplishing that goal

Keeping in mind that limiting it to the conference champions leaves out some really good teams that are better than half of those conference titleholders. So, add the six best teams, as determined by a committee -- just like the CFP is done today -- to the tournament. Have #1 host #16, #2 host #15, and so on. Losers in the first round still get an opportunity to go to a bowl game.

The winners would advance to the next round, with the highest surviving seed hosting the lowest surviving seed, and so on. That leaves four teams left, and those teams would meet up New Year's, just like the CFP does today. The difference is, the final four got there by winning a playoff game, not solely by a committee vote.

Seeding, to me, should be the conference champs first -- similar to how the NFL does division champs first -- with the Wild Card teams rounding it out. This year, for example, Georgia didn't win their conference, but are considered one of the best by the CFP. They would be in the playoffs, but behind Northern Illinois, for example, since NIU won their conference.

Some won't like putting NIU and UAB above Michigan, but they won their conference. Besides, putting all ten conference champs higher will make for some better games. I mean, which is a better game: Alabama playing NIU or Penn State? App State playing Clemson or UAB?

Here are the seedings, listing the teams, the conference championship if applicable, record, and CPF ranking (or other as noted):

• Alabama (Southeastern) (13-0) (#1)
• Clemson (Atlantic Coast) (13-0) (#2)
• Oklahoma (Big 12) (12-1) (#4)
• Ohio State (Big Ten) (12-1) (#6)
• Central Florida (American) (13-0) (#8)
• Washington (Pac-12) (10-3) (#9)
• Fresno State (Mountain West) (11-2) (#21)
• Appalachian State (Sun Belt) (10-2) (#30 Coaches)
• Alabama-Birmingham (Conference USA) (10-3) (#34 Coaches)
• Northern Illinois (Mid-American) (8-5) (--)
• Notre Dame (12-0)(#3)
• Georgia (11-2) (#5)
• Michigan (10-2) (#7)
• Florida (9-3) (#10)
• Louisiana State (9-3) (#11)
• Penn State (9-3) (#12)

This gets everybody that can make a case for being included a chance to prove it. Whoever wins out from that pool of teams is worthy of being called national champions.

Bring back ties

I'm not trying to make a fashion statement, although I regularly wear ties. I want them to bring back ties. Not the necktie, but tie ball games.

I'm primarily talking about college football, since the professional game is a bunch of whiny millionaires that aren't fit to carry Jim Brown's or Johnny Unitas' shoes. I don't care what those clowns do.

In college football, we need more ties. It complicates things, and nobody is happy with it. So, why do I want them to bring back ties? Because that's life.

Sometimes, you win, sometimes you lose. And sometimes nobody wins. That's life.

Sure, it'll cause some inconvenience. And now that they have a mini version of a playoffs in Division 1-A -- they still need to have a 16-team playoff, not this 4-team thing -- it will be necessary to break those tie games through the semi-finals.

What about the title game? Well, if it ends in a tie, we have co-champions. That's how life is sometimes. Nobody wins. Even in the most important things, sometimes there's no winner.

Then there's the fact that there is no limit on the number of overtimes. The players have fought hard for 60 minutes, and are being asked to put themselves at risk even longer for a game. Sure, they want to win. Everyone wants to win. But sometimes, nobody wins.

Put a limit on the number of overtimes, you say? Well, if a tie is okay after, say, four overtimes, why not after three? Or two? Or one? Or none, since ties are okay?

So, how to implement this? Well, I'm for just doing it. Unless it's a playoff game before the finals, then a tie is a tie.

Conference championship game? A tie is a tie. Co-champions.

But what if the game determines who plays in the Porcelain Bowl? Let the Porcelain Bowl invite one of them. Or pick somebody else.

Of course, that won't happen. But they could allow ties in non-conference games as a start. How likely is that? Well, when there's games like Alabama playing Sister Mary Margaret's School For Wayward Girls, it's unlikely. But imagine how excited Wossamotta U would be if they managed to play Ohio State to a tie. For them, not losing is a win.

There have also been some great tie games. There was the Harvard-Yale 29-29 tie. The Notre Dame-Michigan State 10-10 tie. The Notre Dame-Army 0-0 tie. The Army-Nave 21-21 tie. Classic games all.

And, with all that football does teach some of the players -- those with enough character to pay attention -- is that sometimes, you just don't win. Sometimes, nobody does. But you have to accept it.

Yeah, I'd like to see the tie brought back to college football. It's a life lesson that's important. It's frustrating. Nobody is happy. But sometimes that's life.

37 years

Did you watch the Rose Bowl? Are you missing the Sugar Bowl? Yeah, I'm a fan of college football, and you know that I am watching the Rose Bowl (overtime). I wanted to watch Georgia get a chance to play for the national championship, so, after spending the weekend fighting a cold, I watched the Rose Bowl.

Why did I care about Georgia winning? Maybe being from Georgia has a little to do with it. I haven't been allot to go to a lot of college games involving the Bulldogs over the years, but 37 years ago, I managed to make it to two games. I mentioned back in November about the 1980 Georgia-Florida game, the first UGA game I went to. The second? The 1981 Sugar Bowl, which was at the end that Georgia's magical 1980 season.

I lucked out and got four tickets. I took my girlfriend, her brother, and some chaperone her folks sent along. Stayed at a cousin's apartment in New Orleans, went to the game, and had a good time.

Wow. 37 years ago.


[The YouTube]

I am so ready for that 37 year drought to end.

How the 2017 College Football Playoffs should be

The college football season has concluded and the playoffs begin. Okay, there's still the Army-Navy game (Go Black Knights) but they play it way too late. But that's another rant for another day.

Division III, Division II, and Division 1-AA playoffs are underway. But Division 1-A regular season and conference title games are now done -- except the aforementioned Army-Navy game -- and we know who the conference champs are and who's in the playoffs. What we don't know yet us who should be in the playoffs. But we're about to fix that.

Here's how the playoffs should work. We've covered this before, regularly since 2006 in fact. But, here's a recap of how the Division 1-A playoffs should be.

There should be a 16-team tournament. The field would be the 10 conference champions, and the six best teams that didn't win a conference. This allows the conference championship to actually mean something. In college football, winning the conference should mean something. Whether it's the Southeastern Conference or the Sun Belt Conference, whether the Big Ten or the Mountain West, winning your conference should be important. Win it, and you're in it. As for really good teams that didn't win their conference, or independents that aren't in a conference, the best of those fill out the field, much like the "Wild Card" teams do in other leagues and other sports.

The 10 conference champions get the top 10 seeds. May people who otherwise like my plan really don't like this. But, it's how the "Wild Card" system works in most leagues. In the NFL, in 2010, the 7-9 Seahawks won their division and, as a result, were a 4th seed and hosted the 5th seed wild card 11-5 Saints. In 2014, the 7-8-1 division champion Panthers were 4th seed and hosted 5th seed wild card 11-5 Cardinals. This goes back to the conference championship being important. You not only get an automatic spot, you get a higher seeding.

The higher seeds host the lower seeds in the first round, which would be played the week after the championship (December 9 this year). The losers of those matchups would be bowl-eligible. These should be eight good teams, and most bowls would love to get those consolation bowls.

The second round would be the weekend before Christmas (December 23 this year). The eight surviving teams would square off, again higher seeds hosting the lower seeds.

The third round has the four remaining teams, who would meet on New Year's Day, much as the current CFP currently does it.

The National Championship would be the following weekend, much as is done currently.

That's a workable plan. There is no perfect plan, but this is the best plan.

This Year's Field of 16

First, let's look at the ten conference champions (Conference, Team, Overall record, CPF or Coaches ranking):

Atlantic Coast Conference: Clemson (12-1) (1)

Big 12 Conference: Oklahoma (12-1) (2)

Southeastern Conference: Georgia (12-1) (3)

Big Ten Conference: Ohio State (11-2) (5)

Pac-12 Conference: Southern California (11-2) (8)

American Athletic Conference: Central Florida (12-0) (12)

Mountain West Conference: Boise State (10-3) (25)

Conference USA: Florida Atlantic (10-3) (28 C)

Mid-American Conference: Toledo (11-1) (29 C)

Sun Belt Conference: Troy (10-2) (30 C) / Arkansas State (7-4) (Unranked)
Note: Troy and Arkansas State are co-champions, and none of the tie-breakers prior to coin-flip apply.

Next, let's look at the six highest-ranked teams that did not win a conference title:

Southeastern Conference: Alabama (11-1) (4)

Big Ten Conference: Wisconsin (12-1) (6)

Southeastern Conference: Auburn (10-3) (7)

Big Ten Conference: Penn State (10-2) (9)

Atlantic Coast Conference: Miami (10-2) (10)

Pac-12 Conference: Washington (10-2) (11)

The First Round Games

Washington at Clemson
Miami at Oklahoma
Penn State at Georgia
Auburn at Ohio State
Wisconsin at Southern California
Alabama at Central Florida
Troy/Arkansas State at Boise State
Toledo at Florida Atlantic

Summary

All of these should be good games with the possible exception of the Alabama/Central Florida game. But, UCF is the only undefeated team left standing. And who better to get the chance to prove they deserve a spot other than against Alabama. I didn't plan that matchup, but that's how it worked out. And maybe UCF is really deserving. This would answer that question, wouldn't it?

The SEC and the Big Ten would each have three teams making an appearance. The ACC and Pac-12 would have two. All the other conferences have one.

As always, there will be some who don't like it. They're wrong. This playoff system handles all the concerns. If your team didn't make it, you should have won your conference. Or taken one of the six slots if they didn't. This has the best teams, and makes the conference championships mean something.

It would work.

Georgia Florida

I went to the Georgia-Florida game today. It wasn't the first one I went to. I took my oldest grandson today. It was his first Georgia-Florida game.

My first Georgia-Florida game? 1980. Georgia was undefeated and ranked Number 2 going in to the game. Number 1 Notre Dame tied Georgia Tech that day, meaning with a win, Georgia would be ranked Number 1 for the first time in my life.

I managed to secure tickets to the game and took my girlfriend, her mom, and her brother to the game. And, it was something. They didn't call it The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party for nothing.

Georgia was down 21-20 with just over a minute left. Third and 12 at their own 8. Then a miracle happened.


[The YouTube]

Here's the whole game if you want to watch it.

Georgia went on to finish undefeated, winning the national championship after beating Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. I went to that game, too. But that's a story for another day.

Good times. And today was good, because I got to spend it with my grandson at a football game. The score doesn't matter. Being with him, that's what matters.

Hurricane

Yes, there's a hurricane coming this way. This one might be trouble.

Of course, I've been through hurricanes before. The last hurricane that came this close, I went to a football game.


[The YouTube]

I was at that game. Want proof? I'm in this picture.



Wait. Here's a better picture.


[Photo credit: Georgia Southern Athletics]

Did you find me?



I'll probably stay inside for this one.

Making college football great again

I'm a big fan of college football. I suppose that's only natural. Georgia is a football state, and the major universities in the state are football schools. High school football is big in the state. Even ESPN named Valdosta, Georgia as Titletown, USA because of its success at high school football.

So, football matters to me. Not so much the NFL, but college football. And I don't like what's happening to college football. It's still fun to watch, so that's a good thing, but I'm seeing it go down a bad road, and they need to fix it. Start with the bowl games.

The Bowls

To start with, there are too many bowls. There used to be just one: the Rose Bowl. They count the 1902 Tournament East–West football game between Michigan and Stanford as the first Rose Bowl game, but it really started with the second game, in 1916. It's been played every year since.

Other bowls came along later. There were some small bowls that only lasted a single game, and others that lasted less than 10 years. But some stuck around longer. In 1935, the Orange, Sugar, and Sun Bowls debuted. 1937 saw the first Cotton Bowl game.

By 1937, we had the long-time "Big Four" games -- Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Cotton -- plus a minor bowl with staying power, the Sun Bowl. And, of course, several one and done games. But more long-lasting bowls followed.

The Gator Bowl was first played in 1946, while the first Tangerine Bowl (now the Citrus Bowl) kicked off in 1947. The Liberty Bowl was first played in 1959, as was the now-defunct but long-played Bluebonnet Bowl. The Peach Bowl debuted in 1968. 1971 saw the first Fiesta Bowl. The Independence Bowl began in 1976, and the Holiday Bowl in 1978.

In the 60 years after the first regularly-played Rose Bowl, there were 12 regularly played bowls. In the 40 years since then, that number has grown to 40.

There are 128 Division 1-A/FBS teams. With 40 bowl games, that means 62% of the teams go to a bowl. Even the NBA and NHL only have 53% of their teams in post-season.

Once again this year, every .500 team gets a bowl. And, again this year, some teams with losing records (five this year) get to go to a bowl. A bowl game used to be a reward for a great season. Now, it's little more than a participation trophy. The solution is simple: fewer bowls means it's a bigger, more meaningful reward for a successful season. Cut the number of bowls in half, to 20. I'd be happy with only 15 bowls. It would make going to a bowl a big deal, as it should be. But, and you'll see why in a second, I'll settle for 20 bowl games.

Bowl Eligible

Generally speaking, teams should have to win at least 8 games in order to be invited to a bowl. I would have contingency plans for there not being enough qualifying teams, but with an 8-win threshold, the chances of that are small. And, I would make an exception I'll discuss in a minute.

That would be a big deal for some schools. LSU, for instance, wouldn't qualify this year. Bet they'd find a way to make up weather games in the future.

Okay, that exception. If a team won its conference, it's bowl eligible. And, if a team plays in a conference championship game, it's bowl eligible. For conferences that don't have championship games (this year, there are two), the top two teams would be bowl eligible. That would level the field among conferences, give all conferences two automatic bowl bids, not just the ones with championship games. And that alone could create the 8-win exception. This year, the Sun Belt's co-champions are 9-3 Appalachian State and 7-5 Arkansas State. The Red Wolves would get a bowl, while some 8-4 teams wouldn't. Those 8-4 shouldn've won their conference.

Finally, I would could all wins as wins, even if it's against a 1-AA/FCS or Division II school. Leave it up to the bowls to determine the value of those wins.

Playoffs?

How do playoffs figure into all this? Under my 16-team plan, first-round losers would still be able to go to a bowl game. Or, the bowls could sign on to host a playoff game. The quarter-finals could be around Christmas week, where currently, some bowls are already playing. Today, bowls host the semi-finals. Let four bowls host the quarter-finals. And, the first round, if they wish. I don't care.

Under the current 4-team playoff setup, it wouldn't change a thing. Bottom line is, no matter what -- current plan or my better plan -- there's no adverse impact.

Objections?

You may have an objection. I'm willing to listen. But if the objection is "wah wah wah my team doesn't get to go" then I really don't care. Also, "But, but, but, bowls!" Don't care.

Not everybody goes to a bowl. Not everybody deserves to go. It needs to mean something.

Other than the bowls? Well, there are some rule changes I'd like to see. We'll talk about that another time. Let's get rid of the Participation Trophy Bowl games and we'll fix the rules another day.

College Football Playoffs as it should be (2016)

There are some fans upset with the College Football Playoffs, and rightfully so. There are more than four teams that have a legitimate claim to a spot in the playoffs, and there are only four playoff spots.

Penn State won the Big Ten, winning their last 8 game of the regular season including knocking off Ohio State, but was left out of the playoff picture.

The Big 12 champion, Oklahoma, won its last 9 games, including three wins over ranked teams, and went unbeaten in their conference.

Western Michigan did everything they could do, winning all 12 regular season games plus their conference championship, scoring 40 points or more in a game seven times. (For those that wish to discount the Broncos, remember the 1984 BYU team, who did less than this year's Western Michigan.)

The solution? The very solution I've been promoting for a decade.

A 16-Team Playoff

The champions from each conference take up the top ten slots of the 16-team playoff, and the field is filled out by the highest ranked teams that didn't win a conference. The seedings would be set by a playoff committee, much as the current College Football Playoff is done, and as Division 1-AA/FCS does.

For my purposes, I propose the NFL model, in which conference champions are the top 10 seeds, and the non-champions are the lower seeds. The point of that would be that conference championships matter. I'm sure Penn State and Oklahoma would agree, as would others.

Had this been in place all along, the recent spate of conference jumps to improve playoff positions wouldn't have happened. The increasingly inaccurately named Big 12 and Big Ten conferences might actually have meaningful names.

The Field of 16

1. Alabama (Southeastern Conference champion)
2. Clemson (Atlantic Coast Conference champion)
3. Washington (Pac-12 Conference champion)
4. Penn State (Big Ten Conference champion)
5. Oklahoma (Big 12 Conference champion)
6. Western Michigan (Mid-American Conference champion)
7. Temple (American Athletic Conference champion)
8. San Diego State (Mountain West Conference champion)
9. Western Kentucky (Conference USA Conference champion)
10. Appalachian State (Sun Belt Conference champion)
11. Ohio State (Big Ten wild card qualifier)
12. Michigan (Big Ten wild card qualifier)
13. Wisconsin (Big Ten wild card qualifier)
14. Southern California (Pac-12 wild card qualifier)
15. Colorado (Pac-12 wild card qualifier)
16. Florida State (Atlantic Coast Conference wild card qualifier)

The first two rounds would be played on campus of the higher seed of each matchup. Number 1 hosts number 16, number 2 hosts number 15, and so on. Some of these games will be great. Others, not so much. But that's how post-season matchups sometimes are.

The First Round Matchups

Florida State at Alabama
Colorado at Clemson
Southern California at Washington
Wisconsin at Penn State
Michigan at Oklahoma
Ohio State at Western Michigan
Appalachian State at Temple
Western Kentucky at San Diego State

Personally, I don't like the rematches, but in the larger scheme of things, it's more than made up by being a better overall system. At the end of such a field of 16, there should be no doubt about who the champion is.

The losing teams in the first round would still be bowl-eligible. The bowls could bid for the rights to have a playoff-quality team. The second round would follow the same format as the first, with the highest remaining seed hosting the lowest remaining seed, the next-highest remaining seed hosting the second-lowest remaining seed, and so on.

The third round would be the final four, played much as the four-team CFP is today. The championship would follow, as it does today.

Some have been critical of this plan over the years. Too complicated, some say. But it's really nothing more than the ten conference champs at the top, and the best of the rest filling it out.

College football playoffs 2014 (done right)

For several years, I've been saying that the NCAA needs a playoff for Division 1-A football. Apparently, the NCAA agrees with me ... to some degree. They finally dumped the horribly flawed BCS for a horribly-flawed 4-team playoff.

My plan would work, and it answers all the questions and controversies that have arisen over the BCS years.

My plan has sixteen teams in the playoffs. Each of the ten conference champions get a slot, and the remaining slots are filled with teams selected by a committee. The committee also seeds the teams.

My preference is that conference champions get the top ten slots, with the wild card teams filling slots 11-16, much as the NFL does. This adds weight to winning the conference. If a wild card team from the SEC feels they should be ranked higher than, say, the Sun Belt champion, then they should have won their own conference.

Here is how the playoffs -- the playoffs done right -- would have shaped up this year.

Top ten seeds are the conference champions.

1. Alabama (Southeastern Conference champion)
2. Oregon (Pac-12 Conference champion)
3. Florida State (Atlantic Coast Conference champion)
4. Ohio State (Big Ten Conference champion)
5. Baylor (Big 12 Conference champion)
6. Boise State (Mountain West Conference champion)
7. Marshall (Conference USA champion)
8. Northern Illinois (Mid-American Conference champion)
9. Cincinnati (American Athletic Conference champion)
10. Georgia Southern (Sun Belt Conference champion)
11. Texas Christian (Big 12 wild card)
12. Mississippi State (Southeastern wild card)
13. Michigan State (Big Ten wild card)
14. Mississippi (Southeastern wild card)
15. Arizona (Pac-12 wild card)
16. Kansas State (Big 12 wild card)

Some of the matchups would be great. Others, yeah, not so much. And, yeah, we end up with a third Arizona vs Oregon matchup. We also get a Marshall-Georgia Southern matchup, which won't top the TV ratings ... outside of Huntington or Statesboro.

Look at the whole package. Winning the conference means something; you get an automatic bid and a better seeding. Really good teams aren't penalized by having one bad game (or a good close loss) that knocks them out of contention. And, if Northern Illinois or Georgia Southern ran the table, who could argue that they aren't the best team?

What the NCAA is giving us this year is better than the BCS. If that was in play, we'd have a single game of Alabama vs Florida State, based on polls and computer rankings. But it's not as good as this plan.

One day, this will be the great idea that some suit in the NCAA comes up with, and he'll be hailed as a genius.

College Football Playoffs 2013

Next year, the NCAA begins a 4-team playoff for the college football national championship.

This is in addition to the three other college football national championships the NCAA already has: Division 1 FCS (1-AA) on January 4, 2014 in Frisco, Texas; Division II on December 21, 2013, in Florence, Alabama; and Division III (the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl) on December 20, 2013, in Salem, Virginia.

Division 1 FBS (Division 1-A), finally gets a playoff of sorts next year. This year, it's still the BCS. And, as always, it's true that you can't spell BCS without BS. I don't know what to say about next year's "playoff" other than it's a half-ass attempt to get it right.

Here's what's right, and what I've been proposing for years: A 16-team playoff, consisting of a field of the 10 conference champions, with the highest-ranked non-conference champions completing the field.

The questions are how to pick the "wild card" teams, and how to seed the teams. Minor details. But, the major details are the 16-team field with the conference champs.

Now, how to pick the "wild card" teams? I'm gonna use the Coaches Poll. Or the BCS standings. They are close, but not quite the same, both in teams and in ranking.

First, the easy part: Here are the conference champs, who get an automatic bid:

Conference	Champion	Record	Coaches Poll
Atlantic Coast Conference	Florida State	13-0	1
Southeastern Conference	Auburn	12-1	2
Big Ten Conference	Michigan State	12-1	4
Big 12 Conference	Baylor	11-1	5
Pacific-12 Conference	Stanford	11-2	7
American Athletic Conference	Central Florida	11-1	15
Mountain West Conference	Fresno State	11-1	20
Conference USA	Rice	10-3	31
Mid-American Conference	Bowling Green	10-3	32
Sun Belt Conference	Louisiana-Lafayette	8-4	NR

Now, we add the "wild card" teams.

Conference	Team	Record	Coaches Poll
Southeastern Conference	Alabama	11-1	3
Big Ten Conference	Ohio State	12-1	6
Southeastern Conference	South Carolina	10-2	8
Southeastern Conference	Missouri	11-2	9
Big 12 Conference	Oklahoma	10-2	10
Atlantic Coast Conference	Clemson	10-2	11

I'd seed them by Coaches Poll, champions first -- kinda like the NFL does -- and match the teams up with Number 1 hosting Number 16, Number 2 hosting Number 15, and so on. And, I'd let the teams that lost in the first round still go to a bowl. The first-round losers will either be a conference champion, or a top 15 team. Most bowls would jump at either.

Here's the seeding:

Team	Qualification	Record	Coaches Poll
Florida State	Atlantic Coast Conference (Champion)	13-0	1
Auburn	Southeastern Conference (Champion)	12-1	2
Michigan State	Big Ten Conference (Champion)	12-1	4
Baylor	Big 12 Conference (Champion)	11-1	5
Stanford	Pacific-12 Conference (Champion)	11-2	7
Central Florida	American Athletic Conference (Champion)	11-1	15
Fresno State	Mountain West Conference (Champion)	11-1	20
Rice	Conference USA (Champion)	10-3	31
Bowling Green	Mid-American Conference (Champion)	10-3	32
Louisiana-Lafayette	Sun Belt Conference (Champion)	8-4	NR
Alabama	Southeastern Conference (Wild Card)	11-1	3
Ohio State	Big Ten Conference (Wild Card)	12-1	6
South Carolina	Southeastern Conference (Wild Card)	10-2	8
Missouri	Southeastern Conference (Wild Card)	11-2	9
Oklahoma	Big 12 Conference (Wild Card)	10-2	10
Clemson	Atlantic Coast Conference (Wild Card)	10-2	11

And, here are the first round games:

• Clemson at Florida State
• Oklahoma at Auburn
• Missouri at Michigan State
• South Carolina at Baylor
• Ohio State at Stanford
• Alabama at Central Florida
• Louisiana-Lafayette at Fresno State
• Bowling Green at Rice

Some really good match ups in the first round, and some really lame ones, under my seeding. But, seeding is a minor detail.

Put a 16-team playoff like this in place, and, whoever is left standing at the end, whether it's an eighth-straight SEC team, a team from the Sun Belt, or one of the other quality teams on this list, and you'll have a true national champion.

BCS Champions or BS Champions?

Former LSU coach Nick Saban holds the National Championship trophy

For the first time since they started the BCS, a non-conference champion won the title game. And, unless you count the Bowl Alliance (1995-1997 seasons), it was the first time the SEC champion lost the "title game."

But was it really a title game?

A lot of people seemed to be upset that Alabama, which didn't win its conference -- heck, it didn't even win its division -- was even in the title game.

Of course, I don't remember hearing all those people piss and moan when Oklahoma played in the title game in 2004 (2003 season) even though they got beat by Kansas State in the Big 12 title game. LSU ended up beating the Sooners in the National Championship Game.

I also don't remember a bunch of whining when Nebraska was in the title game in 2002 (2001 season) when they didn't qualify for the Big 12 title game. Miami beat the Huskers in the National Championship Game.

But, this time, the non-conference champ beat the team that "deserved" to be there, unlike the two Big 12 teams from the 2001 & 2002 seasons.

Of course, this was a rematch from a game played earlier in the year. That's never happened before. Unless you count the 1997 Bowl Alliance title game (1996 season) between Florida and Florida State. FSU won the regular season finale, but Florida won the rematch in the National Championship Game.

So what happened -- a non-conference champ in the game and a rematch in the game -- has happened before. All this whining should have happened the first time one of these things happened. Or the second. Or the third. Waiting until the fourth is a little late.

What should have happened? There should have been a playoff. The 11 conference champions and the top five non-conference champions should have been placed in a pool of 16. Like I wrote about here. Then, the two teams that are still standing after that have shown they deserve to be there. Who knows what would have happened? We may have had an Alabama-LSU rematch. Or, a game between Oklahoma State and Boise State.

Will a playoff happen? No, because a true championship isn't the goal of the people in charge.

So, we're stuck with a very imperfect system. Sort of like how we pick presidential candidates.

College football playoffs

The regular season is done. Conference champions have been crowned. Bowl match-ups have been determined. And a lot of people are unhappy with the LSU-Alabama rematch for the "National Championship."

Can this be fixed? Yes.

How?

The solution is simple: have a playoff. Division 1-AA (FCS), Division II, and Division III all have playoffs, so it's possible to participate in playoffs and still be a student-athlete.

Here is the plan that would work ... if they'd just do it. Whatever team comes out of this would be, without a doubt, the national champion.

First, some basic assumptions:

• If you win your conference, you deserve a spot in the playoffs.
• All conferences are treated equally.
• If you don't win your conference, but you're still a really good, highly-ranked team, you deserve a chance for a spot in the playoffs.
• The bowls shouldn't lose out on having playoff teams appearing.

With that in mind, here's the plan.

• The field will be 16 teams, seeded 1-16.
• The 11 conference champions get the top 11 seeds, based on their standing in the Coaches Poll.
• The remaining 5 spots (seeds 12-16) will be filled with the top 5 teams in the BCS that don't win their conference. These are the "at-large" or "wild-card" teams.
• Independent teams will qualify if they are highly ranked. Independent teams are seeded where they would be as if they were a conference champion.
• In each round, the top seed plays the bottom seed, the second seed plays the next-to-last seed, and so on.
• The higher-seeded team in each matchup is the home team.
• The home team hosts games in the first round.
• Teams eliminated in the first round are eligible to appear in a bowl game.

With those guidelines, here is this year's playoff bracket. Listed are the teams, the conference they represent, and their ranking in the Coaches Poll.

1. Louisiana State (Southeastern) (#1)
2. Oklahoma State (Big 12) (#3)
3. Oregon (Pacific 12) (#5)
4. Wisconsin (Big Ten) (#8)
5. Clemson (Atlantic Coast) (#14)
6. Texas Christian (Mountain West) (#15)
7. Southern Mississippi (Conference USA) (#21)
8. West Virginia (Big East) (#22)
9. Northern Illinois (Mid-American) (#27)
10. Arkansas State (Sun Belt) (#30)
11. Louisiana Tech (Western Athletic) (#33)
12. Alabama (At-large) (#2)
13. Stanford (At-large) (#4)
14. Boise State (At-large) (#6)
15. Arkansas (At-large) (#7)
16. South Carolina (At-large) (#9)

Here would be the first-round match-ups:

• South Carolina at Louisiana State
• Arkansas at Oklahoma State
• Boise State at Oregon
• Stanford at Wisconsin
• Alabama at Clemson
• Louisiana Tech at Texas Christian
• Arkansas State at Southern Mississippi
• Northern Illinois at West Virginia

The winners advance to the second round, while the losers are eligible for selection to a bowl.

The quarter-finals are played Christmas week, and will be hosted by existing bowls. The semi-finals are played around New Year's day, and will be hosted by existing bowls. The championship will be the following week (as the current BCS championship is).

Who's gonna lose, week 14

The 2011 college football season is winding down, and it's conference championship week, with seven of the six conference with championship games holding those games. That math may seem a little skewed, but that's how this season has gone.

Two of the conferences have already held their championship games, with Northern Illinois winning the Mid-America championship game and a berth in the GoDaddy.com bowl, and Oregon winning the Pac-12 and a spot in the Rose Bowl.

If you're not a football fan, don't worry. We'll find something shiny for you to play with.

Who's gonna lose, week 13

It's finally here. The last week of the 2011 college football season. Unless you count games played next week. And the week after.

So, in a sport where teams at the highest level play 12 regular season games, we're at week 13, with more ahead of us.

There are two kinds of people in this world: those that love college football, those that would rather go shopping, and those that understand why the Big Ten has 12 teams while the Big 12 has ten teams.

If you're not one of those, you may want to skip ahead to something else.

Who's gonna lose, Week 12

As the 2011 college football season winds to a close, teams are jockeying for position to wind up in the top two in the BCS. Emphasis on the B and the S.

Until the powers that be admit that a playoff system is the way to go, college football fans are stuck with the current nonsense.

Supporters of the BCS maintain that the best two teams always end up playing anyway, but that's not true. Fully half of the teams that have played in the big game since the 1998 season would have been mighty lucky to have survived a playoff bracket, and part of being a champion is stepping up when it counts.

Twelve weeks into the season, it's time for us to step up and let you know who's gonna lose this week. No "gimme" games this week. Okay, maybe a couple. But we are altering the format slightly. Still picking games from my state (Georgia), Harvey's state (Wisconsin), and Frank's state (Iowa, Idaho, one of them states out there). Still picking matchups between Top 25 teams. And, instead of only-game-on matchups, we'll look at the teams in the BCS hunt.

If you don't care for college football, you got an alternative: the new Twilight movie is out and you and the rest of the girls and Nancy Boys can go watch it. The men and the really cool chicks will be watching college football.

Who's gonna lose, week 11

We're nearing the end of the college football season, and the number of unbeatens is getting smaller each week. There are five unbeaten teams remaining, ranging from Number One LSU to Number 11 Houston. But some of the once-beatens are still in the mix, and one might get the championship game nod over an unbeaten.

Is that fair? Well, nothing's fair, until we get a playoff. I got the playoff plan, but the folks running the show won't listen to me.

Of course, some of you don't want to listen to -- or read -- these picks. Which means that you must hate college football and are a communist. Or a Gloria Allred client.

Sit back and find out who's gonna lose this week.

Who's gonna lose, week 10

Following another stellar week of picking who's gonna lose in college football, I stand at a perfect 100% with my picks. If only the teams I picked were as good in carrying out my picks.

Some of you don't care for college football or these picks. I'm thinking it might be because Herman Cain didn't sexually harass you. I'll put in a call and see what I can do to fix that. At a minimum, I'll see if I can get Mark Block to blow smoke in your face.

Division 1-A playoffs 2010

No, the NCAA doesn't have playoffs for Division 1-A (FBS). They should, but they don't.

And, if they did, here's the right way to do it.

• 16 teams: the 11 conference champions, plus the top 5 teams -- as determined by the BCS formula -- that do not win their conference.
• The conference champions are seeded 1-11, as ranked by the BCS formula, followed by overall record.
• The non-champion teams are seeded 12-16, as ranked by the BCS formula. This is similar to the NFL system, where the division champs are the top seeds, even if a wild-card team has a better record.
• At each round, highest seed hosts lowest seed, second-highest seed host second-lowest seed, and so on.
• Teams eliminated in the first round are still bowl-eligible.
• The second round (quarter-finals) are can be combined with bowl games.
• The third round (semi-finals) can be combined with top-tier bowl games.

The Field of 16

Here are the 11 conference champions, plus the top 5 non-conference champions, for your field of 16:

1. Auburn (Southeastern, #1 BCS)
2. Oregon (Pacific 10, #2 BCS)
3. Texas Christian (Mountain West, #3 BCS)
4. Wisconsin (Big Ten, #5 BCS)
5. Oklahoma (Big 12, #7 BCS)
6. Boise State (Western Athletic, #11 BCS)
7. Virginia Tech (Atlantic Coast, #13 BCS)
8. Central Florida (Conference USA, #25 BCS)
9. Connecticut (Big East, #26 Coaches)
10. Miami University (Mid-America, #29 Coaches)
11. Florida International (Sun Belt)
12. Stanford (#4 BCS)
13. Ohio State (#6 BCS)
14. Arkansas (#8 BCS)
15. Michigan State (#9 BCS)
16. Louisiana State (#10 BCS)

With this field and seed, here are the first-round games:

• Louisiana State at Auburn
• Michigan State at Oregon
• Arkansas at Texas Christian
• Ohio State at Wisconsin
• Stanford at Oklahoma
• Florida International at Boise State
• Miami University at Virginia Tech
• Connecticut at Central Florida

Most people that don't like this, don't like teams like Florida International being seeded above teams like Arkansas. That would be solved if Arkansas had been their conference. FIU won theirs, and get the better seed as a result.

My plan is simple. My plan makes sense. My plan would work. The NCAA just needs to do it.

But they won't. Because their top priority isn't to make sense.