Championship weekend post script

Championship weekend and the Bowl Selection Sunday Well, the top of the news is that Georgia exacted revenge and thrashed Auburn in Atlanta. My bud Johnny predicted as much, but I was surprised. Oklahoma rolled TCU and Clemson DESTROYED Miami. USC edged Stanford and Ohio State slipped by Wisconsin. It was the buckies W that had the country debating who the 4th playoff team would be. Alabama, who only lost to Auburn, but did not have a stellar schedule resume, or Ohio State, who won the big10 (which still can’t count) but lost twice and one of those was by 31 to IOWA (not even ranked). Frankly, I’m tired of Alabama, but expect that they would be favored against EVERY team in the country by New Year’s Day, especially Ohio State. I’m even more over Ohio State, who seems to get the Notre Dame “pass” almost every time. Last year they were awarded a playoff spot over Penn State, who actually won the conference, and the buckies got demolished by Clemson 31-0.....  You could argue that USC should be in the mix with only 2 losses, but don’t bother. Instead, join me in embracing the EIGHT team playoff. All 5 power conferences get their CHAMPION in. The top non-power 5 team gets a spot (this year it would be UCF at 12-0). Then we have 2 at large openings for last year’s Ohio State or this year’s Alabama. IF we used this format this season we would get Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC as the conference champions. Then UCF would be and the remaining two at large bids would be Alabama and Wisconsin. A very nice tournament with the SEC and big 10 getting 2 teams in the field. This will allow for EVERY power 5 conference be to “IN”, it throws a bone to the little guys (UCF this year and Central Michigan last year). It also allows for all the pundits to argue about the eye test and all the other crap that is used to justify our regional biases. What would be the down side? A whole bunch of …nothing. You can still use bowl games for the 1st and 2nd rounds. TV laughs all the way to the bank. The student athletes will not suffer, as real student athletes in the lower tiers of college football have been having 16 team playoffs for YEARS! Will 8 teams solve all the arguing? Of course not. Those 9-12 teams will always be pissed and their supporters outraged. But, we would get at a minimum, the top 4-5 teams for sure, along with some regional balance that makes everyone feel included. And of course the rich will get richer because the money faucets will be pouring cash. Or, another option/idea is to make conference championship games “make or break”. If you lose like Auburn, Wisconsin, Stanford, TCU and Miami, just shut up and go play a bowl game and be thankful. That will happen in any “system” for the most part, but in the 8 team format I am behind, Wisconsin would still slide into the playoff back door with one of the at large slots.

What else happened in the 1 foot in football world? Friendship won the Tennessee state championship for the private schools smallest classification and I enjoyed that outing with my buds Russ and Johnny. Brentwood Academy (with Noah Josey) won the largest classification again. Around the country the big states continued their playoffs (Florida, Georgia, Texas and California primarily).

Now the Bowl games are set and here are some of the one’s that I’m intrigued by: The Bahamas Bowl included UAB, which somehow overcame the flushing of their program by the great state of Alabama politicians (see Roy Moore…). Way to go Blazers The Independence Bowl simply because FSU kept the streak alive – now 36 years and counting. Stop right here and mention that we hired Willie Taggert away from Oregon yesterday. He has done very well but with a small sample size…so, I’m OK with the hire but certainly not blown away.

Stanford and TCU in the Alamo will be interesting, as will the Liberty with Memphis and Iowa State. That one could be called the up and coming coaches bowl. Penn State and Washington should be fun, but the MOST interesting will be Georgia and Oklahoma. I’m absolutely on board with Georgia being a player in the top 10 for years to come, as Kirby is doing everything right. I just don’t think they have the edge that Baker the touchdown maker Mayfield gives the Sooners. Looking forward to that RED out… It will be interesting after Baker wins the Heisman, to see if he can keep his shoes on the ground…

College Coaches have really nice severance packages

Rivalry weekend – one to be Thankful for! The best game was the Iron Bowl. I went over to Jason’s and watched the first half with he and Marye. It turned out to be a glorious day for the War Beagles from Auburn, as they not only beat their RIVAL Bama, but took down their 2nd #1 ranked team in 3 weeks. The Noles beat the Gators, in a fairly anticlimactic game. FSU is playing LA Monroe this week (cancelled or postponed from earlier because of the hurricane) in hopes of keeping the 36 year bowl streak going… Rumor has it that Jimbo is off to Texas A&M. Good for him. Despite winning a national championship, he never felt like a good fit to me…he was the guy to follow the GUY, coach Bowden. That usually is complicated at best. No idea who FSU might go after if he does bolt. The best coaches in the country are Saban, Dabo and Urban, with James Franklin and Gary Patterson not too far down the list. Chip Kelly took the UCLA job, which left the Gators trying to land Scott Frost into the boat. It appears that the UCF coach will go “home” to Nebraska instead of Gainesville. BTW, the UCF vs USF game was tremendous. Clayton and I watched the very exciting finish.

Back to the Florida Gators. After casting towards Kelly and Frost, they hired Dan Mullen. Very good coach with UF ties, and a safe hire (unlike Tennessee). I think they may be “settling” a tad, but who else is out there really? Stoops? Dream on… Dan will do well, but he better bring his AAA game, because Kirby Smart is building Georgia into the beast of the East…another BTW, nephew Coach Baker played a significant role in Georgia’s dismantling of Georgia Tech. He was a consultant on the triple option, which he knows intimately from his o-line coaching at GA Southern. Way to go Coach Baker/Nate!

What else is there to mull over? Miami lost to Pitt, so they have no margin for error in their ACC Championship game against Clemson, but it has still be a great season for the Canes …boo. Oklahoma and TCU in the big12 which has the silliest CCG…always will be a rematch with on 10 teams. Ohio State took down Michigan, so they face off against Wisconsin in the big10 (another academic sports conference that ridiculously math challenged). Stanford and Southern Cal play in the Pac 12, but unlikely that the winner cracks the “final four” playoff berth. Auburn and Georgia go at it again in Atlanta this time, should be a dandy as we say down south.

My Bulldogs could not beat St Augustine, so a fantastic season comes to an end. Great run with lots of young players to look forward to next season. Going to Tenn Tech on Saturday to watch Friendship Christian play DCA for the private league level 1 championship. Finally, the coaching circus at Tennessee is hard to fathom. The new AD appears to be so out of the loop with this fan base (or under the power of the Haslam’s) that he really thought SChiano would be a good fit. He would not have, but the bringing up “possible” link to Sandusky was disgusting. We convict folks now a days without any due process, just social media burnings. So, Mullen – NO. Gundy – NO. Doeren – No. Brohm – no! And all of these rejections are just eating at my UT fan neighbors, as I think it would me as well. Mike Leach, is the most interesting college coach of them all. A lawyer (like Terry Bowden at Akron) who does not filter his comments at all  He is risky, but a terrific offensive football mind! One can hope  BTW, Kevin Sumlin is a very good football coach. Did not deserve to be fired by A&M and will have done better than Jimbo over the same time period, if Fisher goes to College Station – just my prediction. If Jimbo thinks the ACC is rough, wait until he gets SEC West every week.

The debacle has given Jason Rowell, Mark Plumb and I plenty to text about! Also, cold blooded treatment of Eli. It is a business in the NFL, but still harsh. I was at the Swamp when Eli brought a mediocre Ole Miss team in and he single handedly (slight exaggeration) beat UF that day.