NCAA Football FanHouse

Bowl Projections: Fighting for the Irish

Brett McMurphy — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:45:00 EST

Filed under: Notre Dame, Big East, Bowl Games

"Win one for the Gipper?" How about "Win one to keep the Gipper out of the Gator Bowl?"

When Stanford plays host to Notre Dame (6-5) Saturday, the entire Big East Conference will be pulling for the Cardinal to defeat the Fighting Irish.

The reason is simple: an Irish victory would likely earn Notre Dame an invitation to the Gator Bowl, taking one of the Big East's bowl berths.

The Gator Bowl has the option of selecting a Big East team or Notre Dame, as long as the Irish have at least seven wins. There has been an understanding between the Big East and the Gator Bowl that it would only take Notre Dame if the Irish is within two wins of an available Big East team. However, there is nothing in writing and since the Gator Bowl and Big East are parting ways after this season, the Gator Bowl has no reason to honor that agreement.

While the Big East will be pulling for Stanford, Boise State will have an added interest in Saturday's Bedlam Series between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. An Oklahoma State victory would send the Cowboys to the Fiesta Bowl. If Oklahoma wins, however, Boise State's at-large BCS bowl chances would improve greatly.

The results of Notre Dame-Stanford and Oklahoma State-Oklahoma will have a trickle down effect to several bowls. Ironically, Boise State is pulling for the same team that the Broncos beat in the classic 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

"It's funny how it's gone full-circle," former Boise State offensive lineman Pete Cavender told SI.com. "We find it ironic that our BCS hopes all lie in the hands of Oklahoma and Bob Stoops. ... We'll all be wearing crimson and white on Saturday."

The Big East will be pulling for the cardinal and white in Stanford, although Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett told the Jacksonville-Times Union that no decision has been reached on Notre Dame.

"To stay in the debate, they've got to win," Cathlett said. "And even then, there are no guarantees."

Speaking of no guarantees - here is a look at FanHouse's best guess at how the 2009 bowl invitations might shake out. Conference tie-ins are listed for each game.

The fine print: In the case of the BCS bowls, those bowls could lose their tie-in teams to the title game. When that occurs, that bowl chooses any BCS-eligible team to replace the team it lost, but is not required to select one from the same conference as its tie-in. Also a team that finishes 6-6 is eligible to fill a bowl contract for its own conference, but only if no team from its conference with a better record is available. Also, a 6-6 team may fill a bowl opening outside its conference, but only when no other Division I-A team with seven or more wins is available.

2009-2010 College Football Bowl Schedule
Game	Date	Site	Matchup	Projection
New Mexico	Dec. 19 2:30PM	Albuquerque, N.M.	MWC vs. WAC	Fresno State vs. Wyoming
St. Petersburg	Dec. 19 8PM	St. Petersburg, Fla.	Big East vs. C-USA	UConn vs. East Carolina
R&L Carriers New Orleans	Dec. 20 8PM	New Orleans, La.	C-USA vs. Sun Belt	UCF vs. Troy
MAACO Las Vegas	Dec. 22 8PM	Las Vegas	MWC vs. Pac-10	Utah vs. Oregon State
San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia	Dec. 23 8PM	San Diego	MWC vs. Pac-10	BYU vs. Arizona
Sheraton Hawaii	Dec. 24 8PM	Honolulu	C-USA vs. WAC	Nevada vs. SMU
Emerald	Dec. 26 8:30PM	San Francisco	ACC vs. Pac-10	Stanford vs. Boston College
Meineke Car Care	Dec. 26 4PM	Charlotte, N.C.	ACC vs. Big East	Rutgers vs. Florida State
Little Ceasars Pizza	Dec. 26 5PM	Detroit, Mich.	Big Ten vs. MAC	Central Michigan vs. Kansas
Gaylord Hotels Music City	Dec. 27 8PM	Nashville, Tenn.	ACC vs. SEC	Miami vs. Kentucky
Independence	Dec. 28 5PM	Shreveport, La.	Big 12 vs. SEC	South Carolina vs. Northern Illinois
Champs Sports	Dec. 29 8PM	Orlando, Fla.	ACC vs. Big Ten	North Carolina vs. Northwestern
EagleBank	Dec. 29 4:30PM	Washington	ACC vs. Navy	Middle Tennessee vs. Marshall
Pacific Life Holiday	Dec. 30 8PM	San Diego	Big 12 vs. Pac-10	USC vs. Nebraska
Roady's Humanitarian	Dec. 30 4:30PM	Boise, Idaho	MWC vs. WAC	Boise State vs. UCLA
Texas	Dec. 31 3:30PM	Houston	Big 12 vs. U.S. Naval Academy	Iowa State vs. Navy
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces	Dec. 31 Noon	Fort Worth, Texas	MWC vs. C-USA	Air Force vs. Southern Miss
Brut Sun	Dec. 31 Noon	El Paso, TX	Pac-10 vs. Big East/Big 12	California vs. Oklahoma
Insight	Dec. 31 5:30PM	Tempe, Ariz.	Big Ten vs. Big 12	Texas A&M vs. Minnesota
Chick-fil-A	Dec. 31 7:30PM	Atlanta	ACC vs. SEC	Tennessee vs. Clemson
Outback	Jan. 1 11AM	Tampa, Fla.	Big Ten vs. SEC	Wisconsin vs. LSU
Capital One	Jan. 1 1PM	Orlando, Fla.	Big Ten vs. SEC	Ole Miss vs. Iowa
Konica Minolta Gator	Jan. 1 1PM	Jacksonville, Fla.	ACC vs. Big East/Big 12/Notre Dame	Virginia Tech vs. Pittsburgh
Rose presented by Citi	Jan. 1 5 PM	Pasadena, Calif.	BCS (Big Ten) vs. BCS (Pac-10)	Ohio State vs. Oregon
Allstate Sugar	Jan. 1 8:30PM	New Orleans, La.	BCS (at-large) vs. SEC	Alabama vs. Cincinnati
AT&T Cotton	Jan. 2 2PM	Arlington, Texas	Big 12 vs. SEC	Missouri vs. Arkansas
AutoZone Liberty	Jan. 2 5:30PM	Memphis, Tenn.	C-USA vs. SEC	Houston vs. Auburn
International	Jan. 2 Noon	Toronto	Big East vs. MAC	South Florida vs. Temple
Papajohns.com	Jan. 2 2PM	Birmingham, Ala.	Big East vs. SEC	West Virginia vs. Georgia
Valero Alamo	Jan. 2 9PM	San Antonio, Texas	Big Ten vs. Big 12	Michigan State vs. Texas Tech
Tostitos Fiesta	Jan. 4 TBD	Glendale, Ariz.	BCS (Big 12) vs. BCS (at-large)	Oklahoma State vs. TCU
FedEx Orange	Jan. 5 8PM	Miami, Fla.	BCS (ACC) vs. BCS (at-large)	Georgia Tech vs. Penn State
GMAC	Jan. 6 7PM	Mobile, Ala.	ACC vs. MAC	Ohio vs. Idaho
Citi National Championship	Jan. 7 8PM	Pasadena, Calif.	BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2	Florida vs. Texas

Bowl Projections: Fighting for the Irish originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FanHouse Top 25: Don't Mess With Joe

Brett McMurphy — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Bowl Games

With not many upsets -- outside of the Wild, Wild West Conference, better known as the Pac-10 -- the top nine teams in my Associated Press Top 25 ballot remained the same as last week.

So unless Alabama loses to Auburn, Florida loses to Florida State or Texas loses to Texas A&M this weekend, the BCS title game seems pretty cut and dried between the SEC champion (Alabama/Florida) against Texas. That is, as long as the Longhorns don't lose to Nebraska in the Big 12 title game next week.

With the BCS title game participants pretty much locked in, college football's favorite pastime has already begun. No, not figuring out who will be Notre Dame's next coach, but lobbying for the best possible bowl berth.

After Saturday's victory at Michigan State, Penn State coach Joe Paterno was asked if the 10-2 Nittany Lions deserved an at-large BCS bowl berth.

"What do you want me to say?" Paterno said. "'Pick us?' Maybe I could get on the phone and call somebody and say, 'you owe me one,' or 'you might find a horse's head in your bed.' "

So for the next two weeks bowl reps across the country will figure out which offer they can't refuse -- i.e., which team will bring the most fans to their city and spend the most money as opposed to which team has actually accomplished more on the field. Who really cares about win-loss records, anyway?

Last week, I included the salary of each coach on my Top 25 ballot. This week, I'm listing the graduation rates, released this week by the NCAA, for the football student-athletes who entered school from 1999-2002 (the most recent data available) and went on to graduate within six years.

Here is my ballot this week with my ranking last week in parenthesis:

1. Alabama (1)
Grad rate: 67 percent. The Crimson Tide's 45-0 warmup victory against FCS member Chattanooga was the sixth time this season that Alabama's defense has held an opponent to seven points or less. Now the Crimson Tide visits rival Auburn in the Iron Bowl on Friday. Alabama is winless at Auburn since 2001 when the respective coaches were Dennis Franchione (Alabama) and Tommy Tuberville (Auburn).
2. Florida (2)
Grad rate: 69 percent. Tim Tebow's final home game is Saturday in Gainesville against hated rival Florida State. The over-under on the number of Kleenex used at the Swamp: 87,000. While Tebow says farewell to the home crowd, could it also possibly be FSU coach Bobby Bowden's final game against the Gators -- or Urban Meyer's final Gainesville appearance if all the Notre Dame conjecture is accurate? Too bad this game doesn't have any decent storylines.
3. Texas (3)
Grad rate: 49 percent. With 43 victories, Colt McCoy is the winningest quarterback in NCAA history. However, he'll need one more win Thursday at Texas A&M to keep alive the Longhorns' BCS title game hopes. The Aggies would love nothing more than to spoil UT's season -- especially after Texas' 49-9 victory last season -- UT's largest margin of victory in the UT-A&M series since 1898. That's right: 1898.
4. TCU (4)
Grad rate: 65 percent. The only thing remaining between TCU and a perfect 12-0 regular season is 1-10 New Mexico that got its first win of the season Saturday against Colorado State. TCU has won the last four meetings against the Lobos by an average margin of 22 points. The Horned Frogs are off to their best start in 71 years and are one win from their first BCS bowl game in school history.
5. Cincinnati (5)
Grad rate: 75 percent. After an off-week, the Bearcats play host to Illinois on Saturday in the final home game for UC's seniors, including QB Tony Pike and WR Mardy Gilyard. Pike could make his first start since injuring his left forearm Oct. 15 at South Florida. The Bearcats' last two wins were by a combined five points, but it's doubtful the Illini will be able to keep it that close.
6. Boise State (6)
Grad rate: 58 percent. The Broncos play host to Nevada on Friday in a matchup of the only two unbeatens in WAC play. Since starting the season with losses against Notre Dame, Colorado State and Missouri, Nevada enters Friday's game on an eight-game winning streak. Like every other WAC opponent, however, Boise State has dominated the series, winning the past nine by an average margin of 31 points.
7. Georgia Tech (7)
Grad rate: 49 percent. The Yellow Jackets hope home-field advantage works in their favor more than in their recent meetings with Georgia. The Ramblin' Wreck has not defeated the Bulldogs in Atlanta since 1999. Tech is likely looking toward next week's ACC Championship contest against Clemson, but also would love to drop the Bulldogs to 6-6, marking Georgia's first six-loss season since Jim Donnan's 5-6 debut in 1996.
8. Pittsburgh (8)
Grad rate: 68 percent. The Panthers visit West Virginia on Friday in the Backyard Brawl. Pitt's last visit to Morgantown was in 2007 when No. 2 West Virginia only needed to defeat Pitt to earn a spot in the BCS title game. However, the 29-point underdog Panthers pulled off the 13-9 upset and are 18-5 overall since then. Win or lose against WVU, Pitt plays host to Cincinnati on Dec. 5, with the winner earning the Big East's BCS bowl bid.
9. Ohio State (9)
Grad rate: 62 percent. The Buckeyes are back in the Rose Bowl for the first time since the 1996 season with their 34th Big Ten championship, shared or outright. For any history buffs out there: Wednesday will mark the 93-year anniversary of the Buckeyes' first Big Ten title in 1916 when Ohio State defeated Northwestern 23-3.
10. Oregon (11)
Grad rate: 49 percent. The Ducks rallied to knock off Arizona 44-41 in overtime, setting up a Pac-10 championship battle with Oregon State on Dec. 3. The Ducks became only the third team in Pac-10 history to score at least 40 points in five consecutive league games.
11. Oklahoma State (12)
Grad rate: 61 percent. The Cowboys visit Oklahoma on Saturday in the Bedlam Series, which has been dominated by the Sooners. Oklahoma State is winless in Norman since 2001, losing the past three games at Oklahoma by an average margin of 34 points. This is the first time since 1997 that the Cowboys will enter the Bedlam Series with a better record than the Sooners.
12. Oregon State (13)
Grad rate: 57 percent. The Beavers whipped Washington State 42-10 for their sixth victory in their last seven games since starting the season 2-2. The Beavers have 12 days to prepare for the Civil War/Pac-10 title game at Oregon. Last year, Oregon State only needed to defeat Oregon to earn the Rose Bowl berth and promptly allowed 694 yards in a 65-38 loss.
13. Virginia Tech (16)
Grad rate: 71 percent. The Hokies clinched their 12th consecutive season with at least eight victories after beating NC State 38-10. RB Ryan Williams set the school record for most yards rushing in a season (1,355) with his third-consecutive 100-yard rushing day. On Saturday, the Hokies visit Virginia looking to hand Al Groh his 53rd -- and likely final -- loss in nine seasons at Virginia.
14. Clemson (17)
Grad rate: 67 percent. Never has Saturday's Clemson-South Carolina contest meant so little to the Tigers. That's because on Dec. 5 they'll face Georgia Tech in Tampa, Fla., for the ACC Championship. Expect a close one between the Tigers and Gamecocks. Three of the last four meetings have been decided by four points or less.
15. LSU (10)
Grad rate: 60 percent. There's a clause in Les Miles' contract that he must be the highest-paid coach in the SEC. Perhaps, then, he could afford to pay someone next year that can figure out how to use a timeout in the waning seconds? I guess a $3.751 million salary doesn't go as far as it used to. Saturday the Tigers play host to Arkansas. The last four meetings have been decided by a total of 10 points, including three by two points or less.
16. Penn State (18)
Grad rate: 85 percent. The Nittany Lions concluded the regular season by routing Michigan State. Penn State has double-digit wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1993-94. This Saturday will mark the 67-year anniversary of No. 11 Penn State's 48-14 victory against No. 1 Pittsburgh, marking the largest margin of defeat for a No. 1-ranked team against a ranked opponent in NCAA history.
17. Miami (20)
Grad rate: 75 percent. Saturday, the Hurricanes, who are based in south Florida, visit the University of South Florida, which is based in the middle of the state in Tampa. Confused? This is the second all-time meeting between Miami and USF and the Hurricanes' first trip to Tampa since 1984 when Vinny Testaverde led Miami past Florida in Tampa Stadium.
18. Iowa (21)
Grad rate: 74 percent. Fittingly when the Hawkeyes played Minnesota Saturday, the winner received the Floyd of Rosedale bronzed pig trophy -- because the game was a stinker. There were more punts (17) than points (12) in Iowa's 12-0 victory. With their 10-2 regular season complete, the Hawkeyes now await their bowl destination.
19. Navy (19) Grad rate: 93 percent. The Midshipmen's visit to Hawaii should be an emotional one for coach Ken Niumatalolo. He lettered three years as a quarterback at Hawaii and led the Warriors to their first bowl berth in 1989. This season he's led Navy to a berth in the Texas Bowl. After Hawaii, Navy plays Army in Philadelphia on Dec. 12.

20. Cal (NR)
Grad rate: 64 percent. The Golden Bears won't win the Pac-10 title this year, but they made sure rival Stanford wouldn't either after knocking off the Cardinal 34-28 in The Big Game. Cal is off this week before closing the regular season at Washington on Dec. 5.
21. Stanford (14)
Grad rate: 89 percent. Despite RB Toby Gerhart's fifth consecutive 100-yard game (136 yards rushing, four TDs), the Cardinal fell to Cal in The Big Game Saturday. With their Pac-10 hopes squashed, Stanford looks to take out its frustrations on reeling Notre Dame. The Cardinal has lost seven consecutive games to the Irish, who could be playing their final game under coach Charlie Weis.
22. USC (22)
Grad rate: 58 percent. With USC's seven-year streak of playing in BCS bowls gone kaput, the Trojans close the regular season with home games against UCLA and Arizona. The Trojans-Bruins series has been about as competitive as the Lakers-Clippers. USC has won nine of the last 10 meetings in the battle of Los Angeles.
23. North Carolina (24)
Grad rate: 80 percent. The ACC's No. 1 defense and ranked fifth nationally scored two touchdowns on a fumble and an interception return and had another interception return to the 1 in the Tar Heels' 31-13 win at Boston College. Saturday, they try to end a two-game losing skid to rival N.C. State, including last year's 41-10 loss.
24. Wisconsin (15)
Grad rate: 65 percent. The Badgers have a week off to reflect on their 33-31 loss at Northwestern. It was Wisconsin's fourth loss in the past six meetings with the Wildcats. Don't feel too bad for the Badgers, they'll recover just fine. They're headed to Hawaii to face the Warriors on Dec. 5.
25. Houston (25)
Grad rate: 53 percent. QB Case Keenum posted his sixth game this season with at least 400 yards in Saturday's 55-14 win against Memphis and lame duck coach Tommy West. Keenum has 36 TD passes and six interceptions this season. Saturday, the Cougars play host to crosstown rival Rice, which ranks as the nation's second-worst scoring defense. Take the over: Houston and Rice combined for 98 points last season and 104 in 2007.

FanHouse Top 25: Don't Mess With Joe originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Memo to BCS Bashers: Stop Whining

Terence Moore — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Alabama, Boise State, Cincinnati, Florida, TCU, Texas, BCS, Big 12, Mountain West, SEC, Bowl Games

It's that silly time of year again. There are so many significant teams among the big boys of college football, but there are just two slots on Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif., for that title game of the Bowl Championship Series. So the voice of the older Jim Mora is screaming in my subconscious.

Playoffs, playoffs?

We don't need playoffs in this situation.

We need everybody to take a deep breath, count slowly to 10 and stop their knee-jerk talk of a playoff system. The decade-old way of deciding a national champion through the BCS rankings is mostly just fine.

Take this week, for instance. Where's the problem? There isn't one, because the combination of the human polls and the cold computers has it right. The defensive monsters from Florida and Alabama clearly are No. 1 and No. 2, followed by a Texas bunch with a defense that also clobbers people.

That trio is from power conferences, and with apologies to the prolific whiners from the Mountain West and Western Athletic conferences, teams from power conferences deserve a nudge over the rest.

Anyway, Florida and Alabama will meet in the SEC championship game, which means one of them will drop in the rankings behind Texas .

That is, if Texas wins the Big 12 championship game. If Texas doesn't, then one of those other undefeated teams (Texas Christian, Cincinnati and Boise State) will slide into the title picture. Or it could open the way for a one-loss team such as Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh or even the loser of the SEC championship game.

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TCU fans celebrate the team's 55-28 win over Utah by rushing the field during an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Tom Pennington)

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In this Sept. 19, 2009 photo, San Jose State head coach Dick Tomey, right, walks off the field after shaking hands with Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh, left, after their NCAA college football game in Stanford, Calif. Tomey, 71, will retire after the season. Stanford defeated San Jose State 42-17. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

East Carolina defensive back Emanuel Davis intercepts the ball during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game against Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla., on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. East Carolina won 44-17. (AP Photo/David Crenshaw)

East Carolina quarterback Patrick Pickney passes as Tulsa's James Lockett rushes during an NCAA college football game in Tulsa, Okla., on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. East Carolina won the game 44-17. (AP Photo/David Crenshaw)

East Carolina's Scotty Robinson knocks the ball loose from Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne during the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in Tulsa, Okla., on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. East Carolina recovered the fumble and ran it in for the final touchdown in their 44-17 victory over Tulsa. (AP Photo/David Crenshaw)

Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne is forced to run by heavy East Carolina defensive pressure the during second quarter of an NCAA college football game in Tulsa, Okla., on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/David Crenshaw)

East Carolina's Dominique Lindsay runs through a tackle attempt by Tulsa's DeAundre Brown during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game in Tulsa, Okla., on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/David Crenshaw)

East Carolina's Darryl Freeny runs away from Tulsa's Kenny D. Sims for a long pass reception during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in Tulsa, Okla., on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/David Crenshaw)

East Carolina quarterback Patrick Pickney looks to pass during the first quarter an NCAA college football game against Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla., on Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. (AP Photo/David Crenshaw)

TCU fans celebrate the team's 55-28 win over Utah by rushing the field during an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Tom Pennington)

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Chart shows the current Bowl Championship Series standings

Whatever happens, the system is there. The system is working. The system is controversial, but the system provides less drama than what would occur with a playoff system, which will never happen anyway.

There are just too many questions involved with a playoff system, but its supporters either ignore those questions or shrug them away.

For instance: How many teams will be in this playoff system? The answer is, nobody knows. Many want a "plus one" thing, where two of the four BCS games (Rose, Sugar, Orange and Fiesta) would host semifinal games, and then the winners would play in another BCS game. Others want 16 teams in a playoff. Some want 32.

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach wants 64.

As for those other questions, pull up a chair and rest a while. If you can provide more than a surface answer to three or more of the following, then you should immediately leave Planet Earth to design the next solar system.

Where would these playoff games take place, and would they be at the same locations every year, and who would decide the locations?

What entity would choose the playoff teams, and how will such a system be less subjective than what we have now?

With colleges everywhere crying broke, where would they find the extra cash they would need for travel, lodging, food, equipment, utilities -- along with all of those other expenses that nobody wants to discuss that would surface?

Where are those colleges going to find the extra cash to pay for those bonuses that their already heavily compensated coaches would surely command for reaching and winning playoff games?

Oh, and with all that extra cash going to football programs for these playoffs, and with all that revenue created through television rights and jacked-up ticket prices, how would schools satisfy their Title IX obligations since women sports surely would seek a mighty part of the pie?

What would this do to the bowl system, especially since (1) the overwhelming number of the 34 bowls won't have a shot at hosting a playoff game and (2) advertisers (as in TV) won't be as interested in those other bowls?

How many fans could afford to travel with their team across the country at the spur of the moment, which would be the case more often than not?

How many fans could keep traveling if their team keeps winning?

How many folks would the NCAA need to hire to investigate all of the cheating scandals that would surface involving those pressured to do shady things to reach the playoffs to keep from getting whacked?

What kind of toll would all of these extra practices and meetings (see, it's not just one little, old playoff game that its supporters keep suggesting) take on your average student-athlete physically, mentally and academically?

Why not just leave the BCS alone?

Why not, indeed? After all, this eternal grumbling over who really is No. 1 has been so detrimental to college football at its highest level that, entering this season, attendance rose every season for the previous 14 years.

Consider, too, that along the facade of the club level at Folsom Stadium, where the Colorado Buffaloes play their home games, you'll find these words: 1990 National Champions. That's funny, because around Georgia Tech, spanning from Bobby Dodd Stadium to a billboard that is visible for those traveling through Atlanta down I-75, you see claims that the Yellow Jackets won it all that season. And they did. Georgia Tech was named the United Press International champion, and Colorado was declared the nation's best by the Associated Press.

Since nobody can prove otherwise, you have two different fan bases in college football who can claim for eternity that their team was the king of 1990.

There also is that endless griping around Auburn over its undefeated 2004 team that won the SEC but didn't make the BCS championship game. Never mind that Auburn disqualified itself from serious consideration by playing the likes of Louisiana-Monroe, The Citadel and Louisiana Tech.

Auburn fans still think their Tigers would have won it all that season over Oklahoma or USC. They still think they were robbed.

The same goes for Penn State fans who remember 1969, when a giddy Richard Nixon attended Texas' victory over Arkansas during the regular season and crowned the Longhorns national champions in their locker room. Texas later won its bowl game to finish undefeated, but so did Penn State. It's just that Penn State wasn't anointed by the president.

The point is, a playoff system would have exposed those Auburn, Penn State and other such teams as frauds, but now we'll never know.

Which is a good thing. Which is why everybody has another reason to keep breathing deeply regarding the BCS.

Terence Moore is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse. He is a frequent panelist on "Rome Is Burning," an ESPN show hosted by Jim Rome, that is seen Monday through Friday at 4:30 PM ET. Moore spent more than three decades working for major newspapers, including 26 years as an award-winning sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He resides in Atlanta.

Memo to BCS Bashers: Stop Whining originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big 12 Proposal Will Hurt Non-BCS Schools' Bowl Chances

Brett McMurphy — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:07:00 EST

Filed under: General CFB Insanity, Bowl Games

The six BCS leagues already get most of the BCS bowl game slots and now there's a greater chance they'll start gobbling up all of the at-large bids to the minor bowls beginning in 2010.

Last week, the NCAA's Division I Board of Directors agreed to sponsor legislation that would treat football teams with .500 records the same as teams with winning records for bowl participation. If the legislation passes, it would allow a bowl, that has to go outside its conference affiliation to fill a spot, to select a more attractive 6-6 BCS school over a 7- or 8-win non-BCS school.

Which is exactly why the Big 12 proposed the legislation. Sources told FanHouse that the Big East and ACC support the legislation, while the other BCS leagues (Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC) also are expected to support it.

"Our feeling is that a 6-6 team from the Big 12 that has played five teams in the Top 25 should not be in a different position from a 7-5 team from another conference that may have only played one or no teams in the Top 25," Big 12 commissioner Don Beebe told the NCAA News. "The six-win team is probably more marketable in some cases than the others, so it should be treated the same."

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Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy answers a question during a news conference in Stillwater, Okla., Monday, Nov. 2, 2009. Gundy says he has "complete confidence" in Zac Robinson's abilities and believes the starting quarterback will bounce back after perhaps the worst game of his college career. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Oklahoma State football offensive coordinator Gunter Brewer is seen in Stillwater, Okla., Monday, Nov. 2, 2009. With the Cowboys facing fourth-and-1 on their very first drive against the nation's stingiest rush defense, coach Mike Gundy made a quick decision--so fast that he seemed to catch Texas off guard--and told his offense to go for it. "We knew possessions were going to be key, and we didn't want to turn it over if there was a gettable fourth down or we felt like we had a play loaded up that would fit," Brewer said. "We wanted to play fast." (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Pulaski Academy High School football coach Kevin Kelley works with his team in Little Rock, Ark., on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009. Virtually every time the Pulaski Academy Bruins face fourth down, the prep school team from Little Rock, Ark., goes for it. No matter the distance. And here's the thing _ the strategy works. Coach Kelley and his Bruins won the state championship in Arkansas' second-largest classification last season and did not punt.(AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

State Rep. Barry Mask, R-Wetumpka, made history 30 years ago when he became Auburn University's first "Aubie" mascot. He holds a photo Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, of the way he looked in 1979 when he made his debut in his "Aubie" costume. (AP Photo/Montgomery Advertiser, Alvin Benn)

In this photograph taken on Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009, Colorado Buffaloes tailback Darrell Scott talks to reporters during media day in the Dal Ward Center at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo. University of Colorado officials announced on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009, that Scott intends to leave the school's football program. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno answers a question at his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009 in State College, Pa. Penn State sports information director Jeff Nelson looks in the background. Penn State host Ohio State in an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Nov. 7. (AP Photo/Pat Little)

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno answers a question at his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009 in State College, Pa. Penn State host Ohio State in an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Nov. 7. (AP Photo/Pat Little)

Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno answers a question duirng his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009 in State College, Pa. Penn State host Ohio State in an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Nov. 7. (AP Photo/Pat Little)

In this photo made Oct. 31, 2009, University of Florida line backer Brandon Spikes reaches inside the helmet of Georgia's Washaun Ealey during an NCAA college football game in Jacksonville, Fla. Florida coach Urban Meyer suspended Spikes for the first half of this week's Vanderbilt game after watching the tape Monday, Nov. 1, of Spikes attempting to gouge the eyes of Georgia's Ealey. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)

Mississippi coach Houston Nutt pats Rodney Scott on the helmet as he ran off the field after being pinned under injured Auburn player Zac Etheridge for several minutes during an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/ Butch Dill)

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More marketable as in, will sell more tickets.

For this season, the non-BCS winning teams cannot be bypassed by a 6-6 BCS team. For example: if the Big Ten does not have enough bowl-eligible teams to send to the Little Caesar's Bowl or the SEC doesn't have a team to send to the Papajohns.com Bowl, those bowls must select a team with at least seven wins.

If there were not any BCS seven-win teams available, the bowl would have to select a non-BCS league (Mountain West, WAC, Mid-American, C-USA or Sun Belt). Next year, however, in that scenario, the bowl could bypass a seven-win non-BCS team for a 6-6 BCS team.

So basically, after a BCS team opens with a win against a FCS team, it only needs to go 5-6 against FBS teams to secure a bowl bid.

This year there are 34 bowl games. With the addition of the Yankee Bowl and Dallas Football Classic next season, there could be as many 36 bowls, meaning 60 percent of the 120 FBS teams would play in a bowl game.

No wonder the FBS doesn't want a playoff.

Big 12 Proposal Will Hurt Non-BCS Schools' Bowl Chances originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:07:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Political Action Committee Takes on BCS

Clay Travis — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:45:00 EST

Filed under: General CFB Insanity, Bowl Games

We've had BCS outrage across the land, two anti-trust hearings in Congress, and enough fan anger to power a trip to Mars (if spaceships ran on rage). None of it has changed the BCS. At least, not yet. Now there's a new front in the fan war against college football's broken system. Meet the Playoff PAC, a political action committee, that is raising money to fight the powers-that-be in the BCS. Their goal? Donate money to candidates who also support a college football playoff until they've remade Congress in their pro-playoff image.

Don't believe me? Read their mission statement including this stirring finale "To that end, Playoff PAC helps elect pro-reform political candidates, mobilizes public support, and provides a centralized source of pro-reform news, thought and scholarship." Already the PAC has received the commendation of three elected officials in Congress, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and Representatives Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii and Joe Barton of Texas.

More Coverage: Visit PlayoffPac.com

According to Matt Sanderson, a Washington attorney who was a campaign finance counsel for McCain-Palin 2008 and is one of the PAC's six founders, the action committee is non-partisan and focused on ending the BCS.

Launched Monday to coincide with the first BCS rankings of the year, which came out Sunday afternoon, the site is already raising money online.

"We agreed from the start that we'd give evenly to both parties. The goal is to create a more favorable political atmosphere for Congress. We want to be a one-stop shop for staffers who are researching this issue. Right now they can find the BCS information easily on their Web site, but finding the anti-BCS arguments are so much more difficult."

The goal is to utilize social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to spread the PAC's message. To accomplish this, the PAC has a board made up of six volunteers, among them two attorneys and several others with Capitol Hill experience. In many ways, the six are reflective of what could be the BCS' most difficult combatants, intelligent and engaged fans who are better experienced with the tools of new media than the BCS itself.

And to me that's the most interesting part of the new Playoff PAC, the degree to which the fan movement against the BCS is moving beyond message board and talk radio grumblings. The BCS believes their foe is disorganized and unintelligent, I think the reality is much different. Many people from all walks of life are beginning to operate the utilize the instruments of governance to draw attention to the current situation.

To that end, Playoff PAC intends to commission polls, for instance, to use to show Congressmen how fervent the anti-BCS fervor is amid their constituency. All of that doesn't mean Sanderson and his PAC have an easy task ahead of them. Asked whether a PAC is really needed to combat the BCS, Sanderson calls it "absolutely necessary."

He also dispells criticism from those who would question whether Congress needs to get involved in this issue.

"The fact is, it's a wrong. We're not saying it's more important than a war, far from it, just that it's something that can be fixed. We expect our Congressmen to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, the reality is they can be focused on fixing a lot of things that are wrong with our country. This is one of them."

Political Action Committee Takes on BCS originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yankee Bowl Set for Official Announcement Wednesday

Brett McMurphy — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:17:00 EST

Filed under: Big 12, Big East, Bowl Games

The Big East and Big 12 conferences will announce their participation in the Yankee Bowl Wednesday in a press conference at Yankee Stadium.

FanHouse first reported the participants for the new Yankee Bowl two weeks ago.

The Yankee Bowl will get the fourth selection from the Big East and the seventh selection from the Big 12. The bowl will be played beginning after the 2010 regular season.

With the addition of the Yankee Bowl, the Big East's bowl lineup for the 2010-13 cycle will consist of: BCS (league champion), Champs Sports in Orlando (second selection or Notre Dame), Meineke Car Care in Charlotte, N.C. (third selection), Yankee in New York (fourth selection), and Papajohns.com in Birmingham, Ala. and St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Fla., will share the fifth and sixth selections.

Yankee Bowl Set for Official Announcement Wednesday originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 16:17:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sorry Boise State, Your Case Is Weak

David Whitley — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:45:00 EST

Filed under: Boise State, Brigham Young, Florida State, WAC, Bowl Games

Unless the NCAA takes the win away, Bobby Bowden just did college football a big favor. His Florida State team beat Brigham Young, knocking out a pretender to the throne.

Then Oregon beat fellow pretender Utah. Now if somebody could dump Boise State, we'll all have a merry Christmas.

That's not likely because the Broncos have already gone unbeaten in their one-game season. It's all over but the routing of San Jose State, Idaho, UC Davis, UC Chula Vista and UC Schwarzenegger.

More: BCS or Bust for Houston

Then comes a holiday season of griping about how the Little Guy got shafted, followed by a Utah congressman calling for the Justice Department to jail all BCS executives.

I'd have a lot more respect for Boise State if it played a real schedule. More importantly, the BCS would have a lot more respect if the Broncos had to get up for more than one game a year.

That's what's required of BCS conference teams. Which brings us back to Bowden and BYU.

The Cougars tried to act like a BCS team this season. They scheduled two dangerous opponents and beat Oklahoma 14-13 in their opener.

But with visions of Pasadena dancing in Sen. Orrin Hatch's head, in came FSU. Out went the Cougars, 54-28.

"There's a ton of stuff we can learn from this," BYU quarterback Max Hall said.

Yeah, like stop complaining about how six conferences get automatic bids to BCS bowls and five don't. The separation is easy to justify.

Haves -- Must play more than one great game a season.

Have Nots -- Must play one great game then be able to find Utah State.

Sure, Boise State beat Oklahoma in a thrilling Fiesta Bowl and Utah thumped Alabama in last year's Sugar Bowl. Nobody's saying the best from the Mountain West and WAC can't beat the best from the SEC and Big 12.

(Though let's face it, those bowl games were everything to Boise State and Utah. They were consolation trips to Oklahoma and Alabama).

Any good team can play great once. BCS conference survivors have to play great three or four times if they want to make it the championship game.

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PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 19: Jarmon Fortson #80 of the Florida State Seminoles gets the touchdown against Andrew Rich #22 and Brian Logan #7 of the Brigham Young Cougars at La Vell Edwards Stadium on September 19, 2009 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jarmon Fortson;Andrew Rich;Brian Logan

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Nebraska head football coach Bo Pelini reflects on last week's 15-16 loss to Virginia Tech during his weekly news conference, in Lincoln, Neb., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. With the exception of a few unguarded moments, Pelini refused to let his weekly news conference turn into a pity party. Pelini said that he and his Cornhuskers are going to turn the fallout from last week's crushing 16-15 loss into positive energy. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno answers a question during his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, in State College, Pa. Penn State plays Iowa in an NCAA college football game on Saturday in State College. (AP Photo/Pat Little)

In this Sept. 19, 2009 photo Mississippi tailback Brandon Bolden sprints past a Southeastern Louisiana defender on his way to a 44-yard run in an NCAA football game in Oxford, Miss. The fourth-ranked Rebels will need as much as they can get out from Bolden as they head into Southeastern Conference play. Their first big challenge of the season comes Thursday night against South Carolina and the SEC's No. 2 rushing defense. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee talks about his bandaged thumb, due to a splinter fracture, during a news conference in Lincoln, Neb., on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. Nebraska takes on Louisiana-Lafayette in an NCAA college football game on Saturday in Lincoln. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno listens to a question during his weekly news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, in State College, Pa. Penn State plays Iowa in an NCAA college football game on Saturday in State College. (AP Photo/Pat Little)

Nebraska head football coach Bo Pelini speaks during the weekly news conference, in Lincoln, Neb., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009. Nebraska plays Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette.(AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

In this Sept. 19, 2009, photo, Georgia quarterback Joe Cox (14) is greeted by fans after Georgia's 52-41 victory over Arkansas in the NCAA college football game in Fayetteville, Ark. Doing his best to cram a career's worth of statistics into one season, the Georgia's fifth-year senior quarterback is coming off a five-touchdown performance against Arkansas that has seemingly erased all questions about his health and arm strength. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 19: Darren Edwards #38 of the Florida State Seminoles goes up for the football over the Brigham Young Cougars at La Vell Edwards Stadium on September 19, 2009 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Darren Edwards

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PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 19: Bobby Bowden, Head Coach of the Florida State Seminoles, walks off the field after the win over The Brigham Young Cougars at La Vell Edwards Stadium on September 19, 2009 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Bobby Bowden

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PROVO, UT - SEPTEMBER 19: Maxx Hall #15 of the Brigham Young Cougars calls out a play against the Florida State Seminoles at La Vell Edwards Stadium on September 19, 2009 in Provo, Utah. (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Maxx Hall

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Check out this week's Top 25. If Florida makes it to Pasadena , it will have to go through LSU, Georgia, FSU and the SEC title game.

Texas still has to play Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and the Big 12 championship opponent.

Poor LSU still has three top-five teams (Florida , Ole Miss and Alabama), as well as the SEC title opponent.

Cal's only Top-25 opponents are USC and Washington, though it plays Oregon this week. Yes, the same Oregon team Boise State beat in the season opener to essentially clinch an unbeaten season.

We all remember LeGarrette Blount being dragged off the blue turf kicking and screaming and punching away. Now it's nothing but tomato cans for the Broncos.

I like their blue turf as much as the next guy. And it would be great if Chris Petersen hoisted the trophy instead of Urban Meyer or Nick Saban.

I just want the Broncos to earn the title. All they'll earn with their schedule is snickering. The highest ranked opponent is Nevada, and you have to go all the way to College Football News' ranking and run your finger down to No. 74 to find the Wolf Pack.

All this makes for one easy bowl prediction. Boise State will be unbeaten and the BCS championship game will have at least one team with a loss. The Broncos will be media darlings and the people's champion.

We'll hear the same caterwauling as last year, when unbeaten Utah had to watch once-beaten Florida and Oklahoma play for the title.

That prompted a couple of Congressional hearings, which allowed politicians like Hatch to score big points with voters back home.

"There is an arrogance to the BCS that drives me nuts," he said.

If Hatch really wants to be driven nuts he should become LSU's offensive coordinator for the next two months.

"Championships should be decided by competition," Utah president Michael Young said. "Not by conspiracy."

To which all fans of fairness should say, "Hear, Hear!"

Let the pretenders compete on a regular basis with the contenders. We just saw what happened to BYU.

We don't know for sure that fate would befall Boise State. We do know Broncos fans are going to claim they deserve to be in the BCS championship game. They should answer a simple question.

Would you trade schedules with Alabama or Cal or Texas?

They would sure trade schedules with you.

Sorry Boise State, Your Case Is Weak originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Big Ten Might Lose Alamo Bowl Tie-In to Pac 10

Mark Hasty — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:50:00 EST

Filed under: Big 10, Pac 10, Rumors, Bowl Games

In the least secret secret negotiations ever, it appears that the Alamo Bowl is about to ditch the Big Ten for the Pac 10. The San Antonio-based bowl has already moved its game into January and is increasing its per-team payout to $3 million.

If the rumored plan is true the Pac 10's No. 2 team would head to San Antonio to play the Big 12's No. 3. Currently the Pac 10's runner-up plays in the Holiday Bowl.

As a college football fan, I can only applaud the move. It's been no secret that the Pac 10's bowl tie-ins have been, how shall we say, a little weak. Maybe it's because they don't play any games outside their home territory, apart from the Sun Bowl in that well-known media hotspot El Paso.

But isn't this a huge insult to the Big Ten?

On the one hand, yes, it is. The Big Ten has been a partner of the Alamo Bowl since its inception in 1993. When the conference's tie-in with the Sun Bowl ended in 2006, the Alamo Bowl became the Big Ten's only bowl game in Texas. You might have heard that a lot of good football players come out of Texas, so having a postseason presence in the state helped keep the Big Ten on the minds of recruits.

On the other hand, when you get down past the second-tier bowls, it's best to shake up your arrangements once in a while. In sixteen seasons, eight of the Big Ten's teams have made at least one appearance in the Alamo Bowl. Iowa has been there so many times there might as well be a University of Iowa at San Antonio. You can't expect fan bases to keep going back to the same city over and over again without losing some enthusiasm for the prospect.

The Big Ten wants to continue playing bowl games in Texas, however, so don't be shocked if they work something out with the Texas Bowl, who would love to step up their game's profile as well. That would preserve a Big Ten-Big 12 matchup within Big 12 territory as well, assuming the Big 12 retains the tie-in.

Many of the Big Ten's other bowl arrangements will be up for grabs shortly, so we probably aren't done seeing changes. I personally hope that something can be done to correct what seems to be a glaring gap in the bowl system. There's no game where a Big Ten team faces a Big East team, even though the conferences have considerable geographic overlap. Cast off your chains, Papajohns.com Bowl; you can do better than the SEC's ninth-best team.

Big Ten Might Lose Alamo Bowl Tie-In to Pac 10 originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pizza Pizza? No, But Motor City Bowl May Soon Have New Name

Mark Hasty — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:27:00 EST

Filed under: General CFB Insanity, Bowl Games

In case you're wondering how the Motor City Bowl is doing these days with Michigan's economy running like an anemic hamster on an exercise wheel, the answer is "Not so hot." Chrysler used to be one of the bowl's big sponsors, but dropped out a while back. General Motors is too busy trying to get out of bankruptcy to muck about with bowl games. Ford's still in the picture, but crikey, are there any Detroit-area businesses healthy enough to save the Motor City Bowl?

Yes yes.

Little Caesars Pizza, long-time friend of cash-strapped college students, is entertaining the thought of becoming the game's sponsor, and their sponsorship could lead to a new name for college football's most maligned bowl game. But what will they call it?

Motor City Bowl CEO George Perles, the former Michigan State coach, suggested to Detroit's WWJ radio that the bowl might be called the Little Caesars Pizza Pizza Bowl, though the Detroit Free Press's Mark Snyder finds that unlikely since the company doesn't use that slogan any more.

Drop one "pizza" from the name, though, and you get the slightly less ridiculous Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, which still sounds a little like a failed menu item.

No name change is imminent, particularly since Little Caesars hasn't actually committed to sponsorship yet. However, Little Caesars founder Mike Ilitch (pictured above) has a long connection with Detroit area sports. He owns both the Tigers and the Red Wings, so if the Motor City Bowl needs a hero (which they swear they don't), Ilitch would be on anybody's short list.

We already have a Papajohns.com Bowl, so the thought of another pizza-themed bowl game isn't so far-fetched. After all, for the fan at home, carryout pizza is a frequent companion to a day full of college football.

But please, Mr. Ilitch, if you're going to rename the bowl, don't go nuts. While I've often been thankful for the instant availability of pepperoni pizzas at your stores, I just don't think the world can handle the Little Caesars HOT-N-READY Bowl.

(Hat tip: Blog Ten)

Pizza Pizza? No, But Motor City Bowl May Soon Have New Name originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mike Leach Pushes for 'Mainstream' 64-Team College Football Playoff

Terrance Harris — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:21:00 EST

Filed under: Texas Tech, Big 12, Bowl Games

DALLAS --Texas Tech coach Mike Leach has always cut against the grain.

You can look at his career choice after graduating law school, or his fascination with pirates, and, of course, his wacky offensive system.

So go figure when it comes to his stance on a college football playoff. Leach has long been an advocate of some type of playoff system in Division I-A football to determine the national champion.

But Wednesday, the final day of the Big 12 media days, the unorthodox coach rolled out at plan for how he thinks a playoff system at the college game's highest level should be executed. He suggested a 64-team playoff, similar to the NCAA basketball tournament.

The plan? Reduce the current 12-game regular season to 10 games so that the two teams that eventually make it to the title game play just 16 games in a season.

He's serious.

"Texas High School state champions, 16 games," Leach said. "Division II champions, 16 games. Division III, depending because some those guys will fudge on a game, 15 or 16 games. NFL, the old guys, even more than that. Everybody thinks I went into a cave and carved all this out.

"If we played 16 games, that would be great. I would guarantee everybody 12 games."

Leach said the only reason college presidents and other administrators balk at a playoff is because of resistance to change. Most college coaches favor a playoff. But there has been a long tradition of postseason bowl games and in recent years the Bowl Championship Series has identified the national champion after a single bowl game.

College presidents have long said they would like to keep the tradition of the bowls. Apparently Leach's system would allow them to remain.

"I think the bowls need to be an important part of a future playoff system which I hope comes about," Leach said. "I don't know if it will.

"The thing that always interest me on this is there is a lot of 'Oh my God, this has never been done. I've never heard of such a thing. How can you suggest this? This has never happened in college football and on and on. Everybody else does it this way.' There is nothing unique about what I'm saying.

"I'm the mainstream. This other system is not mainstream. Everybody else has playoffs, it involves a lot of teams and none of this let's have four and play one or any of that crap."

Leach also doesn't buy the argument that a playoff system would come at the risk of academics as most colleges go through finals during the month of December, which would be at the height of any proposed playoff system.

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Kansas State quarterback Carson Coffman is shown during Big 12 Media Day in Irving, Texas, Wednesday, July 29, 2009. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford talks to the press during the Big XII media day in Irving, Texas, on Tuesday, July 28, 2009. (Louis DeLuca/Dallas Morning News/MCT)

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Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops signs his autograph on some commemorative footballs during the Big XII media day in Irving, Texas, on Tuesday, July 28, 2009. (Louis DeLuca/Dallas Morning News/MCT)

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Baylor head coach Art Briles autographs a commemorative helmet during the Big XII media day in Irving, Texas, on Tuesday, July 28, 2009. (Louis DeLuca/Dallas Morning News/MCT)

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Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops talks with the reporters during the Big XII media day in Irving, Texas, on Tuesday, July 28, 2009. (Louis DeLuca/Dallas Morning News/MCT)

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Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford is shown during Big 12 Media Day in Irving, Texas, Tuesday, July 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops is shown during Big 12 Media Day in Irving, Texas, Tuesday, July 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel gestures as he speaks during Big 12 Media Day in Irving, Texas, Tuesday, July 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

Kansas coach Mark Mangino gestures during Big 12 Media Day in Irving, Texas, Tuesday, July 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

Oklahoma State University head football coach Mike Gundy answers questions from reporters during media day at the Dallas-Fort Worth Westin Hotel in Irving, Texas, Monday, July 27, 2009. (Brandon Wade/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT)

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"First of all, most of it would happen when school is not going on. Second of all, if academics is an issue on this then they need to cut every sport except football because football is the least intrusive on academic. Now I think all those others sports have a ton of validity and enrich a lot of lives and they shouldn't cut any of them because I don't think they are too intrusive, either. "

So how does a guy who seems so comfortable going against the grain feel about fitting in with the mainstream?

"It's not like I'm rattling cages or that I'm dissatisfied," he said. "What do I think the best system is? I told you what I think the best system is. I'm I unhappy about the system we have now? No, I'm having a lot of fun. Could it be improved? I think so."

Mike Leach Pushes for 'Mainstream' 64-Team College Football Playoff originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:21:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fan Goes Homeless to Protest BCS

Mark Hasty — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:05:00 EST

Filed under: BCS, Fans, General CFB Insanity, Bowl Games

So it has come to this: Brandon Kennedy, a 21-year-old former college football player, is currently living on the streets of Washington, DC in support of a cause dear to his heart. Health care reform? Foreign policy? Third World debt relief?

Of course not. He's agitating for playoffs in college football.

Kennedy played football at Central Washington, which is a Division II school. They have playoffs in Division II. The very highest level of college football does not. Few people are happy with this. None have gone so far as to live on the streets so they can be closer to the seats of power.

Brandon Kennedy has a plan, and he wants it to get a fair hearing.

This, then, is Kennedy's plan (full text is available here):

"The Kennedy Proposal" calls for six champions from the current BCS conferences and four at-large bids to be seeded in a playoff bracket. The eight teams that are eliminated from the playoff before the national championship game are routed to the four BCS bowl games. It is a playoff for those who want it, he reasoned, while keeping intact the BCS for the teams that do not make the national championship from that 10-team playoff.

Anybody see the flaws already? Just wait, there's more:

The paper touches on certain issues regarding the BCS -- the conflicts that could arise with academic schedules, the traditional relationship with the bowls and the value of the regular season -- but does not specifically address the economic concerns tied into the discussion.

First of all, any playoff system which does not include all conference champions is not a true playoff. Don't believe me? Try to imagine, say, the NFL deciding that the AFC West isn't a strong enough division for its champion to deserve a shot at the playoffs. Oh no, that wouldn't be controversial at all. Try to imagine the 9-7 Dallas Cowboys getting a bid over the 12-4 Kansas City Chiefs, champions of the AFC West. The stated reason? "The NFC East is one of the toughest divisions in the NFL." The real reason? The Cowboys will get a better TV rating.

That's what results from a system that excludes any conference champions, even the Sun Belt's. You don't think those non-BCS teams have a shot at beating the big boys? You haven't been paying attention lately. Besides, systematically excluding the underdogs so the privileged (and their fans) can benefit is a form of fascism, which we generally regard as un-American.

Second of all, failing to address the economic issues surrounding the BCS is sort of like saying "It should be 80 degrees and sunny every day." Everybody agrees that would be great. Everybody knows that's not happening. There is just no incentive for the people who can make the change to actually do so unless there's more money for everyone.

In the end, while I admire the strength of Brandon Kennedy's convictions, he needs to take his plan through a few more drafts. He needs to realize, as all playoff advocates do, that you can't replicate March Madness in December. You can't get fans to go to neutral sites for these playoff games. Few fans, and even fewer teams, can afford to travel for that many consecutive weekends on short notice.

Playoffs work in the lower divisions because, except for the championships. the games are played on campus. This means any plan which uses the currently existing bowls in any form simply won't work. Once you take the bowls off the table, or take the very best teams out of the bowl system, you've just removed vast quantities of budget-balancing, Title IX-complying money. You've also reduced the total TV ad revenue significantly because you're playing fewer games, even if the games you're playing would almost certainly draw higher ratings. If you can't at least replace that money, your plan is a non-starter.

Hat tip: @darrenrovell1, @farksport

Fan Goes Homeless to Protest BCS originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Sat, 25 Jul 2009 12:05:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FanHouse's Rename the BCS Contest

Clay Travis — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: BCS, Media Watch, General CFB Insanity, Bowl Games

Last week, we learned that the BCS doesn't exist as a legal entity. Most of us found that shocking. At least those of us who can define the word "entity." (Sorry, Ohio State fans. As much as we all might wish the word involves the female breast, sigh, it doesn't. If it did the drafting of legal documents would be an awfully lot more interesting.)

What we're left with is a void, an eternal gaping chasm in our existence. We know the BCS exists, otherwise how can we hate it so? But, for legal purposes it doesn't. That's why we're renaming the BCS. Now.

The rules are simple. You have to make me aware of your suggestion. Via e-mail, via FaceBook, via Twitter @NCAAFanHouse, via posting at the bottom of the page, via African swallow ... basically you have to get your idea to me. And then with a team of brilliant marketing experts (such as the people who came up with Stanford's We Work slogan), we'll select a group of six finalists to combine with my four suggestions below. Those six finalists will be given a paragraph to make their argument in the column. And then y'all vote for your favorite. There will be prizes, world renown, and the satisfaction of a job well done.

Because let's be honest, if you had to make college football a metaphorical meal (and why wouldn't you?), the season would be a nice juicy steak. Tender, rare, after each bite (or week), you tip back in your seat and reflect upon what a magnificent feeling it is. This continues for the length of the meal, your stomach is full, you've never been more sated. And then, just as you're leaving the restaurant after the final bite, you realize there's a piece of food wedged up against your gum that you can't get rid of. That piece of meat is the BCS.

Eventually, you become obsessed with that piece of meat. You can't think about anything else. You use your tongue, you use your fingers, you use a toothpick, you stand in front of the mirror with your mouth held open staring at the reflection of your teeth.

Eventually, it happens.

You start to wish you'd never eaten the steak to begin with.

Except the BCS is even worse. Because some part of you can't even enjoy the steak, because you know there's a strong likelihood that a piece of meat is going to end up stuck in your teeth.

Now that you've got that feeling in mind, we need your help. You need to do better than me. And I'm only giving you four suggestions that will advance as part of the final ten. Y'all pick the other six. To the victor goes the spoils.

1. The Null Set: Ø

In ninth grade geometry, we once had a teacher give a geometry test where null set was the answer for five consecutive questions. You talk about a war of wills, a diabolical form of instruction if there ever was one. Making someone believe that a teacher would design five consecutive questions with the null set as an answer was like being the only boy in a pink shirt one day. Not that I would know anything about that.

Not one single person in the class was willing to pick null set all five times. Later, she cackled at us when she revealed her duplicity. (The next year she left teaching. I like to think she now works in a yearbook factory gluing the back page to the cardboard all day long.)

I'm no mathematical expert, but the final BCS equation that determines who plays for the championship always makes me think of the null set

2. B+S

I like the simplicity of this redesign. It's sleek, modern, and it removes the C that stands for Championship. It also sums up the BCS in a more cogent fashion by commingling it with cow dung.

3. Lorenzo White

True fans of Tecmo Super Bowl will know that Houston Oiler Lorenzo White was the worst starting running back in the game. He was awful. In fact, continuing the analogy, if college football, the greatest sport on earth is the sports' equivalent of Tecmo Super Bowl, the greatest video game ever, then one might even deduce that Lorenzo White, the worst starting running back of the game, was the BCS of Tecmo Super Bowl.

See, it works.

4. CUBA!

The only thing in the western hemisphere less American than the BCS is Cuba. But to Cuba's credit Raul Castro has been faster to modernize during his tenure than the BCS has been.

In terms of the new name, you merely add one letter and an exclamation point. So you don't lose much in terms of shortness. But you gain so much in spelling out how un-American our selection of a college football "champ" actually is.

These are my four, all we're waiting for is your six. Then we'll vote. Even if one of these four wins, whoever comes in highest of the top six wins. And if you beat me outright? Well, the prize will be even more sterling.

FanHouse's Rename the BCS Contest originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is BCS Violating Antitrust Laws? Yes, If It Actually Existed

Clay Travis — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:28:00 EST

Filed under: Media Watch, Bowl Games

Tuesday afternoon, the United States Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing in the U.S. Capitol to examine whether or not the BCS violated antitrust laws. The question, essentially, was whether the BCS functions as a monopoly or a cartel and, if so, whether it violates the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Much of the coverage of Tuesday's hearing focused on the usual arguments for and against a college football playoff rather than actually looking at the question at issue in the hearing: Does the BCS as presently constituted violate United States antitrust laws?

It's a simple question with a complicated answer, but after reviewing the submitted documents, the testimony of those called before the committee, and applying my legal education that set me back almost $150k (that I'm still paying off), I'll give you an answer: Yes.

As a preliminary point, one of the best stories I've ever heard about the value of a legal education goes something like this. Someone takes the stage to speak to the graduating lawyers and begins, "Before you entered law school, if someone asked you a question about the law you could say with true sincerity, 'I have no idea.' Now, three years later, if someone asks you the same question, you can look them directly in the eye and say with great sincerity, 'That depends.'"

The story gets at the complexity of legal analysis and how opinions can govern our own perception of what's just. Even for lawyers, these can be difficult questions. That's why I think so many of the articles that came out of Tuesday's hearing focused on two main points of analysis, the tired arguments for and against a college football playoff and the rationale or lack thereof for Congressional analysis. This was summed up by ESPN radio host Colin Cowherd, "Let sports take care of sports," he eloquently argued.

I'll leave aside the first. I'm in favor of a playoff, but I don't think the hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee lends itself to another rationale for making the same argument that could be made any day of any month of any year. Many just used it as an excuse to opine on a playoff once more as the dog days of summer reach us. That opinion didn't require any actual time. The second tack, that sports should be left alone by Congress, is more interesting. Because the only assumption that could justify the opinion is if sports aren't a business. Cowherd and his ilk wouldn't confront another monopoly by saying, "Let oil take care of oil," or "Let banks take care of banks."

At least I don't think they would.

By tossing off such lame asides that many listeners blankly nod in agreement with, the point of the hearings is lost, antitrust monopolies anywhere are a threat to American business everywhere. Unless, of course, they favor a government with no powers to regulate or examine commerce in any industry. Then, their argument is consistent.

The reality is sports is big business, and if a sports entity is guilty of violating the Sherman Act, Congress has every bit as much interest in reviewing their actions as they would to look at oil companies, banking entities or, for that matter, the movie industry. A violation of the antitrust act by any industry in America today is an assault upon the fabric of commerce. A congressional hearing can shine a spotlight on a situation and make the BCS squirm in a way that no one else can. Not even the President. If you're at all interested in this situation and don't feel like you've gotten an adequate understanding of the issues at hand from the media coverage, I'd encourage you to go to this link and read the written materials offered by all four men who testified. They're eye-opening no matter your perspective and cover the situation in much greater detail than the public hearing could ever manage.

To begin, it's worth knowing that any business that operates across state lines is subject to regulation under the Sherman Act. Given the scope of collegiate athletics, the law may be applied in two ways. To violate Section 1, it must be found that there's (a.) an agreement that (b.) unreasonably restrains commerce and (c.) it affects interstate commerce. Or, it may be a Section 2 violation, via (a.) the possession of monopoly power in the relevant market and (b.) the willful acquisition or maintenance of that power. In particular, the BCS would be examined using a rule of reason analysis. I believe that a thorough and impartial examiner would find the BCS to be a monopoly or cartel exercising it's power to restrain trade (i.e. games).

There are millions of words written about antitrust in law review articles. Virtually all of those articles are boring. Even to lawyers billing their clients $400 an hour while they claim to be reading them and are actually following Wimbledon on their computer. So, instead of a detailed legal analysis, here are the six key takeaways from the hearings that no one seems to be talking about:

1. The BCS doesn't exist! I don't know why this gets ignored so often. Per the written statement of the Mountain West attorney, Barry Brett: "The BCS is not a corporation or other entity formalized by filing in any jurisdiction. It is not a party to the proposed ESPN television agreement ...The ESPN agreement states that the BCS is not a joint venture (i.e. "ESPN recognizes that there is no Bowl Championship Series entity or BCS entity)."

How astounding is this? We heap such scorn on the BCS, we know it exists, but as a legal entity, it's a vacuum.

Why begin here?

Because the BCS lawyers are being crafty in setting up their cover argument. I guarantee someone was sitting around the conference table and said, "This is great and all, but how are we going to avoid antitrust scrutiny by pulling out six conferences from the overall NCAA football pool and making them richer at the expense of smaller conferences and schools?" And millions of dollars later, this was their solution. If an entity doesn't exist it can't violate the Sherman Act.

That's smart from a legal perspective, but it doesn't pass the eye test. If the BCS lawyers have cemented this figment to such a degree that ESPN doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the BCS, shouldn't this raise a red flag for the rest of us? What are they trying to avoid by their structure?

Being found to be doing exactly what they are doing, violating the Sherman Act.

Latest College Football Images

From left, Dick Mitchell, Babe Parilli, Clayton Webb, Bob Fry, and George Blanda greet each other upon arriving at a Paul "Bear" Bryant reunion at the Crown Plaza, Campbell House in Lexington, Kentucky, Friday, June 19, 2009. Kentucky football players who played for the famed coach get together every other year. (Pablo Alcala/Lexington Herald-Leader/MCT)

MCT

Babe Parilli, gets a bear hug from Dick Mitchell during a Paul "Bear" Bryant reunion at the Crown Plaza, Campbell House in Lexington, Kentucky, Friday, June 19, 2009. Kentucky football players who played for the famed coach get together every other year. (Pablo Alcala/Lexington Herald-Leader/MCT)

MCT

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 23, 2009, provided by the University of Arkansas, part of a new artificial surface at Reynolds Razorback Stadium is shown in Fayetteville, Ark. Arkansas' first college football game on the new surface is scheduled for Sept. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/University of Arkansas, Wesley Hitt) ** NO SALES

In this Sept. 22, 2007 photo, Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald looks at the scoreboard during the second quarter of a college football game against Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. Northwestern has extended Fitzgerald's contract through the 2015 season, the school announced Tuesday, June 23, 2009. Fitzgerald, a former All-American linebacker at Northwestern, has been the Wildcats' head coach since 2006. He joined the coaching staff in 2001. (AP Photo/Terry Gilliam)

University of Cincinnati head football coach Brian Kelly speaks at a news conference at UC in Cincinnati Monday June 22, 2009. The University of Cincinnati on Monday said Kelly has signed a contract extension, adding a year at nearly $1.5 million. (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)

University of Cincinnati head football coach Brian Kelly listens as Athletic Director Mike Thomas introduces him at a news conference at UC in Cincinnati Monday June 22, 2009. The University of Cincinnati on Monday said Kelly has signed a contract extension, adding a year at nearly $1.5 million. (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)

Sally Bye, the wife of the late William "Billy" D. Bye greets the Minnesota Gophers mascot at her husband's memorial service at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie, Minn., Wednesday, June 17, 2009. Billy Bye, a University of Minnesota football player in the 1940s, died last week. He was 81. (AP Photo/Star Tribune, Elizabeth Flores) ** ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; MINNEAPOLIS TV OUT **

Former Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant remembers best friend William "Billy" D. Bye at Bye's memorial service at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie, Minn., Wednesday, June 17, 2009. Bye, a University of Minnesota football player in the 1940s, died last week. He was 81. (AP Photo/Star Tribune, Elizabeth Flores) ** ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; MINNEAPOLIS TV OUT **

Family members of the late William "Billy" D. Bye share laughs as they listen to stories of Bye at his memorial service at St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Eden Prairie, Minn., Wednesday, June 17, 2009. Bye, a University of Minnesota football player in the 1940s, died last week. He was 81. (AP Photo/Star Tribune, Elizabeth Flores) ** ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS OUT; MAGS OUT; MINNEAPOLIS TV OUT **

2. The NCAA, for once, isn't the bad guy in this scenario. Why? Because the BCS system, unique among the 88 sports sponsored by the NCAA, takes the power away from the NCAA. The NCAA doesn't get the money generated from these games, the BCS cartel does. Football is such a high revenue sport that the big schools effectively executed their own Heisman maneuver, giving the stiff arm to the NCAA.

Why does this matter? It means that the top division of football stands alone in the way they determine their overall champion. Why does that happen? Because the money is so substantial. How has that happened? The big six conferences (Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC, Pac-10 and the ACC) and Notre Dame have colluded to protect their own interests to the exclusion of the other schools.

3. Every sports league except major league baseball has been found to violate the Sherman Act at some point. The NFL, the NBA, the NCAA. You name it and a league has been held in violation. While people like Colin Cowherd might wish that Congress kept its nose out of sports, sports leagues are pretty frequent violators of antitrust law. It's why many have sought to get the antitrust exemption enjoyed by baseball, courtesy of a 1922 legal reasoning flaw by Oliver Wendell Holmes that said baseball wasn't interstate commerce since "the travel wasn't the essential thing."

While the ruling is wrong on the law, it hasn't yet been reversed. So, baseball is the only sport that operates outside the framework of Sherman Act. (Although, to be fair, baseball is governed somewhat by antitrust law because they have to fear the Supreme Court choosing to one day overrule the wrongly decided opinion if the league did something so egregious that a challenge to the rule reaches the Supreme Court.)

Nevertheless, the failure of sports leagues to justify themselves when held up to antitrust law is important because I think most fans believe that sports leagues aren't businesses in the same way that even their local chain restaurant or bar is a business. That's a figment of our fan imagination. In fact, if it weren't for Georgia and Oklahoma's successful challenging of the NCAA television regulations in 1984 as a violation of the Sherman Act, we'd still be unable to watch many college football games on television. Why? Because the NCAA restricted television rights to increase their payout for football games. Yep, even college sports entities can be guilty of creating monopolies.

4. BCS payouts represent real injury. The 65 teams that comprise the six BCS conferences account for 54.6 percent of the 119 teams in football's top division, yet receive 87 percent of the funds. Thus, the remaining 13 percent of funds is shared by 45.4 percent of major college football teams. In 11 years, just four teams from outside the BCS conferences have received bids to the big bowls while 87 big six conference representatives have gone. (Notre Dame's three appearances comprise the remainder of the 94 total slots.)

Why use these figures? Because the BCS has been in existence long enough for its actual impact to be determined pretty clearly. The intent of the BCS agreement is to reward its selected participants and exclude the remainder. This isn't a philosophical argument, it's a real and apparent injury as demonstrated by the actual results. Many antitrust arguments rely on less clear-cut injury.

And the injury isn't just to to the individual teams, it's to the conferences as a whole, since every big six conference school shares the revenue with their conference mates in some fashion when it reaches the BCS. So it's a double loss to the small schools; not only do the individual teams reap the rewards, their conference mates do as well.

5. The hearing was designed to put pressure on the Department of Justice to investigate the BCS for an antitrust violation. This has been ignored by most media. The purpose of the hearing wasn't to create an a-ha! moment -- "It was Commissioner Swofford with the lamp in the kitchen!" Rather, it's a process. And if the Department of Justice conducts its own investigation, change will happen quicker than anything Congress can manage. Right now, there are several different bills floating around on the Hill. All of them are long-term fixes that require enormous amounts of cat-herding. I'm not sure there's enough interest to overcome Congressional inertia. Quite simply, the vast majority of Congressional representatives don't care about the BCS, and the BCS executives know this. So Congress isn't the real threat to the BCS, the Department of Justice investigation is the real threat. This hearing was intended to increase the political pressure enough on the DOJ to get them moving.

6. What's the ultimate irony that no one seems to be pointing out? The smaller conferences outside the big six want the BCS to bring in more revenue. They want an increase in the ticket sales and television pie via more big-time games. What if the BCS's best defense isn't that they don't illegally restrict trade -- they plainly do -- but that this restriction actually leads to a more affordable product for consumers and the generation of less overall revenue? How many times has a monopoly existed yet not yielded anywhere near a maximization of revenues? Welcome to the BCS rabbit hole. It's such a convoluted and counterintuitive system that its very inefficiencies become, paradoxically, its greatest strengths.

Think the tax code is complicated? Meet the collegiate sports equivalent.

Sooner or later, monopoly or not, the BCS makes everyone want to pull their hair out. Maybe that's why no one is really talking about it.

Is BCS Violating Antitrust Laws? Yes, If It Actually Existed originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MVC, WAC Reluctantly Agree to Stay With The BCS system

Gary Washburn — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:30:00 EST

Filed under: Utah, BCS, Mountain West, WAC, Bowl Games

The Mountain West Conference has been dissatisfied with the Bowl Championship Series system for years and their disdain hit the pinnacle when Utah finished the 2008 regular season undefeated and did not rank in the top 2, preventing the Utes from playing in the BCS National Championship Game.

Utah soundly beat Alabama and finished as the lone undefeated team in America, and the MVC lobbied for an automatic bid in the BCS system. But negotiations with the MVC and the Western Athletic Conference never advanced, and both conferences signed an agreement to retain their same role in the BCS -- reluctantly.

"Today, the Mountain West Conference has executed the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) agreement and the attendant rights agreement with ESPN," the conference said in a statement on their Web site. "While the Mountain West has expressed serious concerns with the various fundamental flaws in the current BCS system, our various good faith initiatives to generate reform have thus far not been accepted."

The MVC admitted that negotiations with BCS officials weren't progressing. The current system invites a non-BCS conference team -- which includes the MVC and WAC -- into the bowl system if it finishes in the Top 12 in the BCS rankings. Utah finished in the Top 12 and therefore was invited to play Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

The rankings are based on strength of schedule and how opponents fare during the season. Given that MVC and WAC schools play lesser schedules, the possibility of a conference member being in the BCS title game is highly unlikely under the current system. MVC officials proposed an eight-team playoff system that would allow non-BCS teams a better opportunity for a national title, but it was shot down by the BCS conferences.

"The Mountain West believes it has no choice at this time but to sign the agreements," the statement said. "If a conference wishes to compete at the highest levels of college football, and the only postseason system in place for that is the BCS, no one conference can afford to drop out and penalize its football programs and student-athletes."

The current system expires in 2013, but the MVC made it clear it wasn't satisfied with the system.

"The Mountain West will continue its efforts for change," the statement concluded, "including a request for dialogue with representatives of the BCS. Our goal is to ensure the eventual outcome of these endeavors is what our universities and student-athletes need, what the vast majority of American sports fans want, and what is long overdue: an equitable system."

MVC, WAC Reluctantly Agree to Stay With The BCS system originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lawyers Encircle College Football

Brian Grummell — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Florida, Florida State, Missouri, USC, Utah, BCS, Pac 10, Bowl Games

Every Monday during college football's endless offseason, The FanHouse Walk will put last week's stories to bed and deliver the essentials to bridge that agonizing space between now and September.

There's an unnerving, repetitive theme to the first four items in this week's FanHouse Walk -- lawyers. Maybe its just the offseason or an odd week, but they seem to be everywhere related to college football right now. Today's headliner finds Florida's Attorney General Bill McCollum threatening the NCAA and its president Myles Brand with a $1,000 fine or even jail time if it doesn't make public documents related to its confidential investigation into Florida State athletics.

McCollum is leaning on Florida law that appears to force sunlight into otherwise confidential processes involving public entities like Florida State University. Florida State has so far declined requests for documents citing NCAA policy asking member institutions not to release confidential details related to investigations. To which McCollum answers thusly:

A lack of physical custody of a document does not excuse Florida State University from its obligations under Florida law.

Any lawyers in the house care to assess the NCAA and Florida State's chances of keeping matters private here? Seems like a slam dunk victory for the state of Florida if they take this to court. I'm big on privacy but McCollum's got a point that when matters involve an entity like Florida State University serving at the behest of the public, some of that privacy is necessarily thrown out the window.

Good Attorney General, Bad Attorney General -- At the moment I'm sympathetic towards Florida AG Bill McCollum, but Utah's AG Mark Shurtleff (who claims to be a "true fiscal conservative" on his Twitter page) is just plain annoying. Whatever you think of the BCS, its clear he's overreached the bounds of his office in taking on the dominant presence in college football's postseason structure.

His latest antics include calling on the Department of Justice to waste its time and further taxpayer dollars investigating the BCS.

In an interview with KSL NewsRadio, Shurtleff said he plans to make a pitch to the Justice Department to bring the weight of its antitrust division into the probe. "Because they have the resources that Utah does not have," Shurtleff said. "Taking on the BCS is a huge undertaking financially."

Here's an idea, if its a huge financial undertaking, not really of high public priority and you're a fiscal conservative, don't bother. Anyone created one of those recall petitions yet for Mr. Shurtleff? I'll sign it.

Preventative Medicine -- Missouri will now test all athletes for sickle cell trait, which is linked to exercise-related fatalities. This move is seemingly related to the settlement of a lawsuit after the death of football player Aaron O'Neal.

While the official cause of death was listed as viral meningitis, several experts - including the chairman of Missouri's pathology department - suggested that a sickle cell trait O'Neal possessed was a contributing factor in his death.

Briefly reading up on the condition it seems extremely rare and not quite fully linked to exercise death, but it sounds like a worthwhile test if it can prevent death. Hopefully more universities follow Missouri's example here although perhaps the costs for such testing are generally prohibitive?

Florida's Get Out Of Jail Card -- Florida's point man when it comes to athlete legal troubles is one Huntley Johnson.

... Sentinel research shows that of the 23 cases handled by Johnson, 21 resulted in dropped charges, a plea deal or pre-trial deferment plans that help first-time offenders avoid charges after fulfilling court-ordered stipulations.

The remaining two cases are unresolved, including sophomore cornerback Janoris Jenkins' arrest two weeks ago on charges of affray and resisting an officer. Eight felony cases have been reduced to misdemeanors or thrown out of court.

"As far as the legal aspect, he's the [team's] MVP," said Cecil Newton, the father of former Gators quarterback Cam Newton.

He sounds a lot like Carmen Trutanich, who has been vilified by UCLA fans as something of a Houdini helping USC football players get out of trouble. Trutanich, by the way, is the newly elected Los Angeles City Attorney.

Overtime, Ball on the 25

-- The Rose Bowl will now be televised by ESPN starting in 2011, meaning all the major BCS bowl games are under contract with The Worldwide Leader through 2014.

-- Meanwhile, the Pac-10 is looking into negotiations with the Alamo Bowl. Hopefully that works out as the Pac-10 could use a shakeup in their bowl arrangements and a chance to play some bigger teams out east.

-- Former Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer a star in race relations?

-- Priorities. The NCAA blog wonders if candy is good for athletes.

Lawyers Encircle College Football originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Barbarians at the Rose Bowl Gates

Brian Grummell — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:28:00 EST

Filed under: Colorado, USC, BCS, Big 10, Pac 10, Bowl Games

Every Monday during college football's endless offseason, The FanHouse Walk will put last week's stories to bed and deliver the essentials to bridge that agonizing space between now and September.

Rap, Rap, Rapping At The Door -- Bad news is best delivered on Friday, so no surprise when it was discovered that in the new BCS contract the Rose Bowl must fill one of its slots to a non-BCS team (think Boise State or Utah) if it loses either the Big 10 or Pac-10 champion to the BCS championship game.

There are the Rose Bowl haters out there snarking away on this, but I think its another sad day for college football. Everyone bemoans the USC/Illinois type matchups in Pasadena, but I still find it fresh and what the Rose Bowl is all about. The various Miami/Nebraka, Texas/Michigan, USC/Texas type matchups were all enjoyable, but something has never felt right about them.

Game Theory At Work -- Several years ago, college football added a 12th regular season game. The obvious dilemma for conferences was whether to sneak in another conference matchup or add another non-conference opponent of the pushover variety. Everyone but the Pac-10 opted for the second option while the Pac-10 did the right thing in working out a round-robin format to better determine its champion.

Problem is, others have benefited from that decision using the Pac-10's modest perception against it even though they've added an automatic game against a major conference opponent in doing so. Naturally, some out west are unhappy about the turn of events and are looking to reverse the move. Score one for the heavy costs of doing the right thing being turned against you.

The sad truth is that the greed and power grab that was the SEC's move to a 12-team conference (and later followed by the Big 12 and ACC) has been terrible in many ways for college football. Its made certain powers more wealthy but has also cynically manipulated scheduling to where the actual good guys who tried to do things right and piece together conferences that weren't bigger in number than actual possible game dates have suffered most.

Think about it, what kind of conference championship involves not playing all the actual members of your confernce? Sure you can split a conference into divisions and have division winners play in a "championship" game but come on, that's flimsy cover for what is essentially an incomplete championship.

Appropriate Silence? -- Much hay has been made about the Los Angeles Times' two-part broadside directed towards USC's public stonewalling in regards to the Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo investigations. The argument boils down to what is essentially heavy whining about USC's silence without advancing any actual news in the story.

As a USC alum, I'm frustrated with the program's silence but its ridiculous to attach much meaning to it other than that's how USC's going to play things. In case the Times didn't notice, the NCAA hasn't exactly been very public with its thoughts on the situation either. Evenhandedness requires applying an even hand, something that's entirely missing from the twin critiques.

Christmas In June -- Rejoice! The Phile Steele 2009 College Football Preview magazine has arrived. This thing is like the Bible for many college football fans. I was introduced to it several years ago and have enjoyed it ever since, as it goes with me nearly everywhere.

Some folks get wrapped up in the various predictions that don't always pan out but the real meat of the publication is in its various methodology and trend-watching hidden between its pages. Its VHT (very highly touted in Steele speak), be sure to pick up a copy.

Overtime, Ball on the 25

-- The stretches of games that could topple non-BCS contenders like TCU, BYU and Utah

-- Receiver Josh Smith is leaving Colorado to pursue a music career, something not available among the majors in Boulder

-- The costs continue to rise for BCS conference programs looking for non-conference fodder in home games. Pssssssst, find someone your own size, going undefeated isn't everything

-- Heisman Pundit offers up the fastest players in college football for 2009

Barbarians at the Rose Bowl Gates originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Independence Bowl Has a Vitamin to Sell

Chas Rich — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:52:00 EST

Filed under: Media Watch, General CFB Insanity, Bowl Games

The Independence Bowl has always resided in that lower tier of bowls. Unlike other bowls at that level, though, the Shreveport, Louisiana-based bowl has struggled with keeping its corporate sponsorship.

It has not had the stability of hotel chains (Gaylord Liberty and Sheraton Hawaii), electronics (Pioneer Las Vegas), auto financing (GMAC Bowl) or even pizza (Papa John's Bowl). It has had three different corporate sponsors just in this decade.

The Independence bowl has been forever linked to its 1990s era corporate sponsor, Poulan Weed-Eater. They have been subject to further mockery after a chain of "gentlemen's clubs" offered to become the bowl sponsor a few years back. Last year, they were without a corporate sponsor when PetroSun withdrew. Still they persevere.

The latest iteration of will be known as the AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl. Their new sponsor, AdvoCare International, is a direct sales marketer of nutritional and skincare products. In other words, vitamin salesmen. That's exactly what the "V100" in the name is. The vitamin they want to sell.

Independence Bowl Has a Vitamin to Sell originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 27 May 2009 11:52:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did Alamo Bowl Boss Lie to Congress?

Michael David Smith — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:50:00 EST

Filed under: Bowl Games

During this month's Congressional hearings on the college football postseason, the head of the Alamo Bowl, Derrick Fox, defended the current system by testifying that thanks to bowl games' philanthropic activities, "local charities receive tens of millions of dollars every year." Slight problem: The numbers don't add up.

Dan Wetzel and Josh Peter of Yahoo Sports report that in reality, the 23 bowl games that are set up as non-profit organizations combined to give just $3.2 million to local charities last year. That's a lot less than "tens of millions of dollars," and it's less than 2 percent of their $186.3 million in revenue. And one Congressman, Joe Barton of Texas, says he's not pleased that Fox gave Congress false information.

"It's perjury if it's knowingly said," Barton told Yahoo. "It's also contempt of Congress. You've got to give [him] some sort of due process, but ultimately the remedy is to hold [him] in contempt of Congress on the House floor or send it to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution of perjury under oath."

Those are serious charges, but Fox claims his testimony was true because the bowl games earn tens of millions of dollars for the universities whose football teams play in them.

"Money for higher education, that's the No. 1 charity," Fox told the San Antonio Express-News. "People tend to forget about that."

It may be true that the schools get a lot of money from the bowl games, but for the most part, that money goes right back into the football program, and not into "higher education." And when you consider that Fox got paid $438,045 in 2007 while the Alamo Bowl gave just $89,000 to charity, it's hard not to think that Fox is trying to make the people who run bowl games sound like philanthropists when they're really just putting money in their own pockets.

Did Alamo Bowl Boss Lie to Congress? originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Wed, 27 May 2009 08:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jim Delany: Big Ten's Lord Voldemort

Mark Hasty — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:27:00 EST

Filed under: BCS, Big 10, General CFB Insanity, Bowl Games

Every sport needs a bad guy to keep the fans interested. Just ask Vince McMahon. Wait, don't. He can't hear you, he's on top of a 238-foot-high pile of $100 bills. So take my word for it. Sports are as much about who to root against as who to root for.

College football used to have a plethora of villains. When Steve Spurrier was at the height of his powers he had the two qualities most valued in a villain. He was arrogant and he was right. You never knew what he was going to say next, but you knew it was going to be a slam of one of his rivals. We won't even discuss some of his final scores.

Nowadays, however, everybody's just so doggone nice. (Okay, everybody outside the SEC.) There's one man, though, who might make a good hate sink for football fans. That's him in the picture.

That would be Jim Delany, commissioner of the Big Ten. In the past couple days, while the league held its spring meetings, Delany has shot down Joe Paterno's suggestion that the league would benefit from a 12th team and a championship game. In an interview with ESPN, Delany declared expansion a "back-burner issue" and said it was "not a decision made by football coaches."

Right. What would they know about what's best for Big Ten football?

You shoot down a legend like Paterno at your own risk, but Delany's Lord Voldemort-like powers are such that JoePa quickly retreated from his words, citing Delany's long experience as Big Ten commissioner compared to Paterno's own short-term experience as a conference member. Delany has been the Big Ten commissioner since 1989. Penn State has competed in Big Ten football since 1993. Must've been quite a four-year stretch, hey?

Dissing Paterno is one thing. Dissing the nominal leader of the free world is something else. It's not, however, something Delany is unwilling to do. When asked about President Obama's advocacy of a college football playoff, Delany replied, "He's a scholar and a lawyer and a great politician, but I don't think he really understands the complexity of the issue."

Yes, no matter what is in the President's daily intelligence briefing, and no matter what gets discussed at cabinet meetings, rest easy, my fellow Americans, it's not as complicated as the BCS. The Troubled Asset Relief Program? Less complicated than, say, the Orange Bowl. The Kyoto Treaty? A mere sudoku puzzle next to the BCS Poll formula. Negotiating peace in the Middle East? That's nothing like negotiating a new BCS TV contract. Heck, Delany will probably run for the presidency in 2012 just so he can have a vacation!

The BCS is not complicated at all. Here's everything you need to know about it:

1. The big bowls have money.
2. The big conferences want that money.
3. Neener-neener-neener.

It's that simple.

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In this Dec. 27, 2008, photo, Florida State's Corey Surrency signs autographs following the Champs Sports Bowl college football game in Orlando, Fla., against Wisconsin. The NCAA has denied Surrency's final appeal to play another year. The decision Tuesday, May 19, 2009, upheld an April ruling. It means the senior, who played just one year at Florida State, has used up his eligibility. (AP Photo/Reinhold Matay)

In this Nov. 1, 2008, photo, Boston College's Mark Herzlich plays against Clemson in an NCAA college football game in Boston. Herzlich, the Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year, has cancer. Herzlich said Thursday, May 14, 2009, he was diagnosed earlier this week with Ewing's Sarcoma after feeling pain in his leg and will undergo more tests in his home state of Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Josh Halter is swarmed by family and friends after being named the drum major for The Ohio State University Marching Band in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, May 5, 2009. (Jeff Hinckley/Columbus Dispatch/MCT)

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Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, speaks to the media in Arlington, Va. on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno speaks to reporters in Arlington, Va., on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, speaks to the media in Arlington, Va. on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Taylor Stokes wears his letter jacket on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, May 1, 2009. Stokes was the first black scholarship football player at Vanderbilt, and has returned 40 years later to finish his degree. He will graduate on May 8. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Taylor Stokes wears his letter jacket on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., Friday, May 1, 2009, in front of a statue of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the founder of the university. Stokes was the first black scholarship football player at Vanderbilt, and has returned 40 years later to finish his degree. He will graduate on May 8. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner and Bowl Championship Series coordinator John Swofford, left, and West Mountain Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson, right, are sworn in before giving their testimony before the House Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing on the football Bowl Championship Series on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, May 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner and Bowl Championship Series coordinator John Swofford, left, testifies before the House Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing on the football Bowl Championship Series on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, May 1, 2009. Also testifying on the panel are, from left, West Mountain Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson, President and CEO of Valero Alamo Bowl Derrick Fox and Boise State Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

I am and always will be a fan of Big Ten football, but I'm starting to hope somebody changes the calendar in Delany's office so he realizes it's not 1973 any more. The college football world has turned and left the Big Ten behind, and I'm sick of it. I'm more sick, though, of the fact that I can no longer argue that the Big Ten isn't trailing most of the rest of the BCS conferences. I'm all about second chances, so I hope Delany has some advisers who can tell him he's wrong.

But why should you care? You should care because he's probably the one person most in the way of a college football playoff. He doesn't want one. He doesn't care what you think. He knows no playoff happens unless he agrees to it.

Take heart, though. Voldemort thought he had the upper hand too.

Jim Delany: Big Ten's Lord Voldemort originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Thu, 21 May 2009 15:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mike Leach's Playoff Will Change World

Clay Travis — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:51:00 EST

Filed under: Texas Tech, Big 12, General CFB Insanity, Bowl Games

Texas Tech coach Mike Leach is like the high school teacher you had who drove a Volkswagen Beetle, read quotes from an obscure Roman philosopher such as Marcus Aurelius to begin class, said things like, "I decided I'd rather teach a future U.S. Senator than be a U.S. Senator," and gave one question final exams. Basically he's eccentric, honest, and occasionally he breaks things down so simply that you're left scratching your head, overcome by the brilliance of his mad-scientist rantings.

To whit, Mike Leach continues to advocate for a 64-team college football playoff, most recently in an interview with a Web site called Bitter Lawyer.

"This business of a four-team playoff or an eight-team playoff is just stupid. I think you have to cut the regular season to 10 games. Then I think you need to invite a lot of teams (maybe 64) into a playoff, but you'd let the rest of the teams continue in an NIT-type deal so that they could play another six games or so, which they need to fund their programs. The simple fact is that we act like a playoff system in college football is a unique idea. It's not. Bowls are unique. All levels of college football except for [the Football Bowl Subdivision] have a playoff, and other sports do it too."

The rest of the interview with Leach, a 1986 Pepperdine law grad, is worth reading but, bang, right there, Leach nails the absurdity of the present system. This is why I love him, why he's my favorite coach in college football: He's not afraid to cut through the crap about virtually everything. Instead of advocating for a gradual change, Leach is out there on the penumbra of the football playoff argument, pushing on towards truth, justice, and the American way. See, even in the 21st century we can put up with an awful lot of weirdness in our lives; it's just what we've gotten used to. And bowls are weird, really weird. If I came up to you today and tried to sell you on the bowl system as a conclusion to the season, you'd punch me in the face.

And I'd deserve it.

Bowls are the antithesis of everything that America stands for, parochial leftovers from a time before there was an interstate system, the old motels without air-conditioning on the side of road, the modern day equivalent of when one man could decide to raise a regiment to fight in a war.

I picture bowl executive meetings as the modern day equivalent of Mad Men. Old white men drinking, clanking whiskey glasses, and tapping secretaries on the ass with their bare hands. Saying things like, "I believe Lois has got a new brassiere."

At some point, when we sit down on the couch and catch a replay of the Cotton Bowl from 2002, we're going to think, "I can't believe the bowls ever existed." Which leaves me with a great question, how many years will it take after the bowls crumble for the mere explanation of the bowl system to seem insanely antiquated? For instance, right now I have a 15-month-old son. Imagine if a playoff started in the next two years. He'd never remember the day when the bowls existed. One day he'd come to me and say, "Dad, what was a bowl game?"

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MCT

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, speaks to the media in Arlington, Va. on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno speaks to reporters in Arlington, Va., on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, speaks to the media in Arlington, Va. on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Boise State Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier, right, testifies before the House Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Subcommittee hearing on the football Bowl Championship Series on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, May 1, 2009. Also testifying on the panel are, from left, Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner and Bowl Championship Series coordinator John Swofford, West Mountain Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson, and President and CEO of Valero Alamo Bowl Derrick Fox. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

And I'd pick him up, sit him on my knee, and say, "Well, it used to be that at the end of the season, 68 different teams all played one more game over a month from mid-December to mid-January. The bowls were all over the country and only one game really mattered. Everyone argued over who should play in that game and they had a computer program that determined it. And then the other 33 games didn't matter."

It will be every bit as challenging as explaining the doctrine of separate but equal.

In the meantime, Mike Leach's particular brand of madcap genius demands a reality television show. How has this not already happened? Anyway, in the interests of sending y'all off into the weekend with visions of sugarplums and playoffs dancing in your head, I went ahead and came up with 11 ways America would change if Leach's 64 team playoff came to fruition.

1. Every 52-year-old man in America would turn into a 19-year-old fraternity pledge. E-mails like this would arrive unexpectedly on servers across the country, "Road Trip: you, me, the Skunk, and the Fonz. Be there or be square!"

Skunk's email response would begin, "Muffdiver, I haven't heard from you since 1976."

2. Due to the swell in pride and excitement, the average female bust would increase a cup size. Later, science would confirm that Viagra is no longer necessary in the late fall and early winter, because every man is perpetually in his own power-I formation. Whoever makes Cialis will go bankrupt. Television advertising revenue for college football takes a hit, but recovers. No man wears khaki pants during winter.

3. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany would cry himself to sleep every night. Because the Big Ten conference would go the first five years without advancing a team to the Sweet 16. Except for one year when Ohio State got to play Purdue and Wisconsin in the first two rounds and everyone talked about how awesome they were. That lasted until they lost to LSU 48-0.

4. Notre Dame would receive an automatic bid as long as the Irish won at least six games. So ... some things wouldn't change at all.

5. BCS computer nerds would take their quartiles and pixels back where they belong and return to playing World of Warcraft 16 hours a day. Their e-mails would change from, "The computer says Texas' body of work is crushed by their last second loss to Texas Tech," to "And then I decided that my orc avatar had a better chance of accumulating electronic dollars by working as an blacksmith. So now I'm an orcsmith, lol."

6. When Alabama lost to Bowling Green in a colossal first-round upset, Nick Saban would blame the fan base for not caring enough, assert that this loss was the Pearl Harbor of college football, and Alabama fans would nod and say, "Y'all, Nick Saban is every bit as smart as George Wallace."

7. Obama would call a full cabinet meeting and unleash the might and power of the CDC after computers in the network turned red to suggest a global outbreak of an unspecified and horribly infectious disease. Upon further examination, someone would note that the fever corresponded with the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday of the college football opening round. 32 games! Yep, Pigskin Fever would be in full effect. In a matter of minutes, Lou Dobbs would go on the air and blame Mexicans.

8. Instead of struggling to remember which bowl game your team played in a couple of years after it happened, losses would become so painful that you'd swear off visiting certain states if your team lost to them. This will be particularly hard for the peninsula'd states. Try leaving Florida without heading though Georgia at all. (Note, I'm not suggesting the Georgia Bulldogs would beat Florida, let's not get crazy. But potentially Georgia Tech might.)

9. Anyone who was married during the second half of November or during the entire month of December would arrive to find an empty church. Unless someone from Stanford was getting married to someone from Duke.

10. You know those really annoying people who constantly update you about how their NCAA tourney bracket is doing because they're hoping to win $48 in prize money? They root for their bracket mindlessly even if a tremendous upset is brewing, and they can't explain what one-and-one means? These people will want to talk to you about football.

11. Texas governor Rick Perry would call a press conference to announce that he misspoke when he contemplated secession. In fact, he would say, "Let the record reflect that Texas loves America. All we were waiting on was for y'all to stop messing with us." This goodwill endures until UConn makes a miraculous run to the national championship that culminates with a blown call for a touchdown on the final play of the game. Then Texas and the rest of the South will secede from the Union and a new Civil War will ensue. Only this time with better guns and worse beards.

Mike Leach's Playoff Will Change World originally appeared on NCAA Football FanHouse on Fri, 15 May 2009 16:51:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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