WEEK NINE: Bowling for Playoffs

I still am a big fan of a college playoff system. I know this is never going to happen. There is too much money tied up in the BCS structure. The only way this will happen is if some wacky year yields a TCU vs Cincy national championship game. Then the big conferences will come racing into the BCS office with pitchforks and torches, demanding a playoff system.

I remember a few years back that someone proposed a 16 team playoff system, using the current bowl structure as the host sites. He said that there would be fifteen bowls that were used as the playoff games. Think of the NCAA basketball tournament - except with 16 teams instead of 64. They would play games each weekend from the first of December through the first of January. It would end at the same time. The first weekend would only have those first round of eight games. After that, the bowls that didn't make the 15 cut could still have their matchups during the week, with Saturday being the day for the tournament games. If we were to follow this pattern this year, here is how it would look right now.

Week One - 8 Bowls - 16 Teams

• Outback Bowl - #1 Florida vs #16 Utah
• Gator Bowl - #2 Alabama vs #15 Houston
• Insight Bowl - #3 Texas vs #14 Miami
• Holiday Bowl - #4 TCU vs #13 Oregon
• Champs Sports - #5 Cincinnati vs #12 Pittsburgh
• Emerald Bowl - # 6 Boise State vs #11 Ohio State
• Humanitarian Bowl - #7 Georgia Tech vs #10 Iowa
• Independence Bowl - #8 LSU vs #9 USC

Week Two - 4 Bowls - 8 Teams

• Fiesta Bowl
• Cotton Bowl
• Chick-Fil-A Bowl (Peach)
• Capital One (Citrus)

Week Three - 2 Bowls - 4 Teams

• Sugar Bowl
• Orange Bowl

Week Four - 1 Bowl to Rule Them All - 2 Teams

• Rose Bowl

Holy Crap!!! First of all, when would the bowls in round one ever get matchups like those? Never. And, you spread the bowls around so it isn't just Florida and California getting the big ones. That is why I included Humanitarian and Independence. How is this a losing proposal? Every major conference is represented. And the bigger the games got, the bigger the ratings would go. You think the NCAA tourney gets a lot of attention? Imagine the true National Championship game. And if you are feeling bad for the other NINETEEN bowls, they could still exist and be played during the week. This is how the teams outside of the Top 16 would get their rewards, just like now. No one gets left out. Maybe some 6-5 or 6-6 teams don't get invites. So what? They shouldn't anyway.

And, I mean, look at those games! Who wouldn't watch those? There isn't a lousy one in the whole batch. And the really stupid thing is that these matchups would never happen in our current bowl system. Thanks to agreements and politics, we will never see Texas vs Miami. USC vs LSU? Florida vs Utah? Think of the story lines? It is ridiculous? Why won't this work again? Why is the NCAA fighting this? Look at the potential second round matches, also. Florida vs USC. Alabama vs Georgia Tech. Are you worried about the TCU vs Boise State game? Well, if they can knock off Pitt and Oregon, then they deserve the right to play each other. We would see if these smaller teams are really better - not just if some coach or idiot sportswriter THINKS they are better. EVERY game would matter. Yes, the argument would be that you could lose a game and not be "out of it" - like USC or Ohio State this year. But think about the fact that who is #16 matters. Penn State, Wisconsin, Arizona would still be playing their butts off to make sure they got up to #16. So you wouldn't see teams get lazy at the end of the year once they lose the "good bid" and know they are going to St. Pete.

I guess it make TOO much sense.

FOOTBALL THOUGHTS

• Well, Iowa is out of the way. Ha.
• I still do not understand how BCS voters can get snookered by teams like TCU and Cincinnati. One bonehead announcer I heard the other day was saying that if Texas or one of the SEC monsters tripped up, that Cincy may even sneak into the title game. Whaaaaat? That alone should validate a playoff system. Fine, give them a #1 seed and then watch them get destroyed by LSU in the semifinals. Absolutely stupid. There is no freaking way that either of those teams has a chance.
• I was listening to the game on NBC Sunday night and they were talking about concussions, specifically dealing with Westbrook. Cris Collingsworth was going on about how the players in the NFL have been made soooo aware of the concussion problem, and how they have to be careful in coming back from them. The NFL now has baseline brain scans of every player, so they can compare the before and after with concussions. This is obviously a new thing. Players that left as recently as a few years ago (Kyle Turley, for one) did not get that info or care. I think the NFL is worried Congress is about to come whoop their tails, so they are trying to get things together before that happens. I hope it helps. I have had a hard time watching football lately.
• That Cal player that nearly snapped his head off on Saturday, plays like that aren't cool. I was sitting there worrying about how badly his brain got damaged. Seems so pointless.
• The Bucs got rid of those awful creamsicle uniforms. It was at that moment their fortunes changed, when they started to contend and be a real player in the NFL. So, they bring them back and they suddenly win. Kind of strange. Maybe they should switch back and see if they can reverse this current funk.
• I do not think the Colts or Saints will go 16-0. There are articles all over about which one has a chance to do it. NEITHER!!! In the long history of the NFL, two teams went undefeated during a regular season. After waiting 25 years for a second team to do it, is a team really going to pull that off two years later? No. When the Colts clinch the AFC South next week, you will see Manning start to shift into a lower gear to stay healthy for the playoffs. And the Saints have come way too close to losing three weeks in a row. I still want to see the Saints in the Super Bowl. I just think they'll lose at least once before that.
• Between the Bengals and the Bearcats, the city of Cincinnati is enjoying a great season. Who would have expected that at the start of the year?
• Also, is there another city whose main pro and college teams have uglier uniforms? The Bills are hideous, but the college team isn't too bad. Oregon doesn't have a pro team. UM is atrocious, but the Dolphins are pretty classy. The University of Washington can be pretty hideous and the Seahawks are terrible. I guess it would come down to Seattle and Cincinnati.
• I'm trying to decide if Georgia Tech just looks awesome on offense because they play in the ACC. Are they going to be able to put up those crazy numbers in their bowl game, or are they going to wilt when they play a team with a defense?
• After taking a week off, I would like to state publicly that I still think Bobby Bowden should retire. It drives me nuts that when I say that, people will respond with, "I think Bobby is a great guy." That is such an irrelevant comment. According to EVERYONE, Nick Saban is a total a-hole. But that isn't grounds for his employment at Alabama. Bowden has lost it. FSU has lost it. They need to start over before they are an afterthought. When Gator fans are saying, "I love Bobby. I think he should stay forever," you know there is something wrong.
• Did you see that UCF didn't start a couple of their big players in the Texas game? Supposedly O'Leary was keeping them out so they would be healthy for their big Conference USA match with Houston this week. So, you are playing the #2 team in the country. And you DON'T play your starters? It was almost like he was conceding the loss. I swear, why is this guy still employed at UCF? It is that mindset that will assure the Knights never get anywhere. "Well we are going to lose on national television, may as well be sure we're healthy for the game no one cares about." What a wanker.

SFL WEEK 9 RECAP

• You always want the game of the week to deliver on its promise of excellence. More often than not, it doesn't. This year in the SFL, Stickboy vs Ferrets was definitely a classic battle worthy of its hype. This week, Monkey vs Ugly Consequences was the hype target. And it certainly delivered. The teams were battling for third place in the SFL. And the game was wild and unpredictable. Ugly built a lead on Sunday, but Monkey slowly erased the lead. Finally, it all came down to the Sunday night Cowboys/Eagles matchup. Monkey is starting Tony Romo. Ugly was starting Miles Austin. For a good chunk of the game, it was playing into Monkey's hands. Romo had not hooked up with Austin. But without doing that, he wasn't generating enough points to pass Consequences. Finally, Romo caught Austin on a great pass and catch. Touchdown. It would have given Monkey the points, except it gave Ugly the points too. Ugly Consequences squeaked past Monkey. Tough loss for apeman.
• But in an even more exciting matchup, Gator Greats and Tally Noles took it down to the wire. Noles thought he had it locked up heading into the Monday night, leading by 17.88 points with Gator only sporting Denver's defense against the Steelers. Fast forward to the end of the game. Denver had generated 17.83 points. Final score Noles 104. 50, Gators 104.45. A difference of .05. To put that in perspective, if Denver had gained ONE MORE YARD in return yardage, Gator Greats would have won. Unbelievable. That gets the award for worst loss this year.
• The other three games were pretty much one-side affairs, with the higher ranked opponent whipping up on the lower ranked teams. Ferrets, BadCounsel, and Stickboy all continued their winning ways at the expense of Bus, Human Bye Week Steelas, and Tampa Bay Rams.
• For the first time all year, there are clear 1-4 ranked teams. There are just five weeks left until the playoff, which includes the top four teams. There are three teams piled up at 4-5, just a game out of the postseason (Monkey, Da Bus, Tally Noles). All three of those teams have shown potential, but are not very consistent. They need to do something or find themselves home come December.

SFL WEEK 10 PREVIEW

• The game of the week this week features former roommates Bloodthirsty Ferrets and Ugly Consequences. Ferrets have won seven games in a row and are perched at the top of the league. Ugly has more points than Ferrets, but are in third place. Lately, Consequences has been the most fearsome team, generating some huge scores. But it should be a close game. Yahoo's prediction is 121.45 to 121.30. Sounds like a good one.
• Aside from that matchup, the rest all are matchups of top tier teams versus bottom tier. But even with that going on, there still could be some movement in the rankings.
• Bad Counsel could put some distance between himself and the 4-5 pack by knocking off Da Bus - which would give him a two game lead on them.
• Gator Greats is only a game behind Monkey. A victory by Gators would help pull him back into playoff contention, while hurting the big simian. Monkey needs to win to keep within shooting distance of the 4 spot.
• Steelas and Tampa Bay Rams are battling for the bottom, tied at 2-7. This week could help Steelas in claiming the cellar, as they play the rejuvenated Stickboy. Tampa Bay Rams plays the second most erratic team in Tallahassee, the Tally Noles. The first time these teams met, Noles took the win.
• All the teams have played each other, which means we are starting our second trip through the matchups. You are playing the team you played the first week.
• Don't forget the trade deadline is Friday, November 20. And since it takes a day for trades to go through, you probably should get trades rolling by Wednesday the 18th to be safe. I guess this item is aimed just at Ugly Consequences, since he is the only team that considers trading as part of his approach.