A House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine a national champion, over the objections of some lawmakers who said Congress had more pressing matters on its plate.

The bill, which faces long odds of becoming law, would ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I football game as a national championship unless that title contest is the result of a playoff

from With Leather via FOXSports.com

Because the longest of odds can always hit, let’s think of some alternative names for the BCS to use instead of National Championship. For starters:

• Medellín Presents: The Cartel Championship
• Commercials Promising to Make Your Dick Hard Sprinkled Throughout 4½ Hours of Football
• No Seriously, We Can Call it the National Championship because the Entire Season is a Playoff
  
• American Idol on FOX, the Preview Show
• The BCS Bowl Presented by Bob’s Big Boy
• The If-You-Want-a-Playoff-then-Fuck Off-and-Watch-I-AA Game
• That Game at the End of the Year that Matters More than the Rest

Leave some more in the comments.

Dry-Erase Marker Art FTW.

ECU and Conference USA are clashing over midfield logos for the Championship game ECU hosts Saturday. ECU wants the badass pirate skull they just paid for at midfield, CUSA wants their logo. I was looking forward to seeing the skull again too.

For some reason it led some ECU SID to create this completely in dry erase marker:

Is it even a choice?

Fallout from the ACC Fail. In typical Atlantic Coast fashion top dogs Georgia Tech and Clemson lost to middle of the pack SEC schools, rejoice ESS EEE CEE homers. Block-C places the blame on Dunce Dabo and From the Rumble Seat sees clouds, but the sky isn’t falling. We still think this weekend’s ACC Championship Game will be the most entertaining since Virginia Tech-Florida State in 2005.

Writing off Coaches. Two phenomenal pieces: Orson on Bowden, and Brendan on Al Groh.

Championship Rematch? Theoretically, yes, it could happen. Will it? We don’t think so. The voters set the precedent in 2006 when they put Florida in the MNC against the Ohio State instead of Michigan. If total chaos plays out on Saturday, the human voters will get wind (via BCS math gurus) of how to vote to avoid said rematch.

The 2009 #ArnBowl in photos, it’s our favorite feature from Friends of the Program. And, bonus, a Taylor Hicks sighting.

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And now for @INSIDEtheBCS’s latest bullshit: http://www.playoffproblem.com

“…some have advocated for a hypothetical playoff system, which would be more controversial and contentious than the BCS.”

Florida isn’t the unanimous #1 and that’s OK. Well it would be if some stooge didn’t vote for Oklahoma. In my opinion the votes for Texas fly because they didn’t get a chance to play the Gators, they beat Oklahoma and they are returning 16 starters. USC getting a vote is a little more shady to me because they are only returning 12 starters, 3 on defense, from a defensive team that lost their best offensive player, Mark Sanchez, to the Jets.

Duke DID NOT receive a vote. Tebow-Gate must have really messed with Steve Spurrier’s head. He actually listened to the machine.

Georgia Tech and Oklahoma State need to be higher based on returning players.

No Big East teams are ranked. 11-3 Cincinatti would be 29th based on points. Wow. Did everyone forget about USF? Sure they went 8-5 last year but they return 12 starters including Matt Grothe and George Selve.

5 SEC, 4 Big 12, 4 Pac-10, 3 Big Ten, 4 ACC, 3 MWC, 1 WAC and 1 Notre Dame comprise the poll.

You can view the entire poll here.

Expectations, our one weakness. ACC media members have picked Virginia Tech over Florida State in the championship game and Jonathan Dwyer as the player of the year.

Homeless because of the BCS. OK it was by choice, but regardless you have to admire Brandon Kennedy’s devotion for a playoff while shaking your head at the insanity of it.

He has drafted a paper, “The Kennedy Proposal,” that outlines a new system. He sapped nearly all of his $450 bank account to fly from his home in Washington state to Washington, D.C., and has taken up residence underneath bridges and trees in Georgetown, living homeless for the past 13 weeks as he lobbies for change. He has sent, by his estimate, more than 15,000 e-mails and letters to college athletic conference commissioners, athletic directors and NCAA officials over the past year.

Gee-ZUS! Brandon you’ve bested us and have made our posts on the subject look like 13-year-old girl hormone fueled bitchings. Check out all of his blog posts about the BCS on Bleacher Report (ick). Continue Reading “Around the Interwebs” »

Here are my (unbiased) notes of the testimonies from the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights hearing on “The Bowl Championship Series” that was held today (July 7, 2009). My (biased) thoughts are below. And yes it is hard to argue I have a life after watching the entire thing.

Mr. Kohl (Master of Ceremonies)

• Badgers fan, my condolences sir

Orrin Hatch (Senator, windbag, beacon of hope)

• Congress has investigated the BCS before.
• Hatch chaired a hearing in the full judiciary committee in 2003.
• Progress has been made since now the BCS includes “non-preferred” schools.
• Hatch believes nearly half the schools in college football are at a competitive and financial disadvantage.
• The BCS violates Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act
• Over the lifetime of the BCS preferred conferences have received 90% of the total revenues.
• There are two separate bowl markets: (1) the BCS Bowls (and National Championship) and (2) the rest.
• The BCS limits the number of teams from non-preferred conferences.
• Utah, BYU, Boise State and TCU were all ranked higher than one BCS participant (Virginia Tech, curses to you Hatch!).
• 13-0 Utah was excluded from national championship consideration before the 2008 season even started.

Continue Reading “Notes and Thoughts from the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights hearing on “The Bowl Championship Series”” »

But this dictatorship is so much better than the last. According to Harvey Perlman, the recently appointed chairman of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee (Czar), the alternative to the BCS is not a playoff.

There are six automatic qualifying conferences and Notre Dame that currently comprise that body. The six automatic qualifying conferences are conferences that had contractual relationships with bowls prior to the BCS. The Big 12 had a contract with the Fiesta Bowl, the Pac 10 and Big Ten had the Rose Bowl and the SEC had the Sugar Bowl and The ACC had the Orange Bowl. What we agreed to do was modify those agreements to allow a No. 1 and No. 2 team to play each other for the national championship. But we weren’t going to give up those contractual rights without having control over what the system was.
…
What I think most people don’t understand is that the alternative to the current system is not a playoff. The alternative to the BCS is going back to our traditional relationship with our bowl partners.

We love a good scare tactic, but don’t buy that for a minute. The BCS won’t be dissolved into a less fair system. Also like we mentioned a week ago (and will have something more on this next week) the BCS Bowls are brand names. The conference tie-ins mean very little. This is proven by the successes of non-traditional match-ups and failures of traditional match-ups.

There’s a possibility of a Michigan Gerogia home-and-home in 2010 and 2011.

Some sources tell me that the Athletic Department is looking into a home game against the University of Georgia in 2010, one that would also bring the Wolverines to Athens in 2011.

Two tradition rich schools, SEC versus Big Ten and spread offense versus tenacious defense oh please, please, pretty please make this series happen!

Now that the Fridge is leaner and healthier he might be sticking around past 2011; Franklin wins lottery.

Friedgen, 62, said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun that he might want to stay beyond the three years for which he is under contract. On Feb. 6, the university signed an agreement promising to pay $1 million to offensive coordinator James Franklin – who has turned down coaching jobs at other schools and in the NFL – if he is not elevated to head coach by Jan. 2, 2012.

We only have one response.

There’s a chance ECU could play for the National Championship. It’s about the same of us winning the lottery and the Master’s on the same day as solving the energy crisis.

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Sparty Snags Boisture from Eagles

Coveted Michigan high school superstar quarterback Joe Boisture committed to Boston College in March. At the time it looked like something monumental had to pop off for him to play anywhere else.

“Once I’m committed, I’m committed and I’m going to be loyal to that place,” he said. “There’s just always been something about Boston College. It was always in the back of my mind and I felt it was the right time to pull the trigger.”

That special something was lack of decent quarterbacks on the depth-chart and a realistic chance at early playing time. That went out the windows when Dave Shinskie signed with the Eagles. Is this a blow to Boston College? Sure. Will they recover? Yes. If there’s one thing recent history has taught us about BC it’s they’re resilient and bounce back from adversity. Meanwhile in East Lansing it’s double shots of brown liquor for everyone.

Coming to theatres in 2011 COACH Gailey: The Movie. You haven’t seen this much wasted talent since Jennifer Connelly in Hulk.

Of course it was rejected it had the word “playoff” in the proposal. It occured MULTIPLE times to boot! Our favorite quote.

“They’d wreck the Rose Bowl, which is the most storied bowl in American history. To say it would be a quarterfinal destination is ridiculous.”

Over the last three years traditional Big Ten Pac-10 match-ups resulted in scores of: 32-18, 49-17 and 38-24. Huh, yeah… Those haven’t wrecked the Rose Bowl. Just like non traditional match-ups in ‘05 (38-37) and ‘06 (41-38) don’t add to the prestige. Get your heads out of your asses. Regardless of which conferences play in it or what the result means, The Rose Bowl will always be THE-FUCKING-ROSE-BOWL. It is a brand like: Sony, Blue Magic or Pepsi. Making the game MORE important can only be better. The MWC isn’t rolling over and is discussing what to do next. God speed.

Two Bitchin’ Podcasts. Feldman runs the gauntlet breaking down the Pac-10 and SEC on the In The Bleachers Podcast and The Solid Verbal Podcast discusses road-trips, Notre Dame joining the Big Ten, Oregon’s jerseys and Fantasy College Football.

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Senator Orrin Hatch is strapped and ready to go toe-to-toe with the BCS. Nice interview by RealClearSports and while I support a Congressional investigation, I don’t agree with Hatch on this point.

We all know that college sports in general are big on tradition. There are schools that have winning traditions, and there are teams that are always going to be favored in the media and even among fans, like Notre Dame. We’ve all been raised with that, and I think most people accept that.

But there’s another tradition: The Cinderella story. The team that defies the odds, and despite its humble location and unknown roster, plays its way into National prominence. Now we see that in NCAA Basketball Tournament all the time. The BCS, more or less, makes it impossible for these Cinderella teams to contend for the National Championship. I think that takes a real good aspect of the game away. I’m serious. I think this is important.

In college football there aren’t many if any Cinderella National Champions. Can you think of one? We can’t. This is not college basketball where one phenom can change your entire program. Navy can have their moment upsetting Notre Dame, but is never going to contend for a National Championship. Wake Forest can win the ACC, like in 2006 when they shocked everyone, but is never going to contend for a National Championship. Therefore, designing a system to include all 120 1A teams is stupid. However we do need to acknowledge being in a BCS conference is no longer a prerequisite for being a contender. Scholarship reductions and lucrative television contracts have evened the playing field.

Swindle would have made one mighty fine software tester, because you know the first thing that pops into our heads when someone mentions Arizona State football is Nine Pound Catfish. Because as we all know Coach Erickson…

NunesMagician gets the scoop on the whip Syracuse coach Doug Marrone is pushin’. And no it’s not

two Harleys soldered together, one for each leg, while just straddles in between them.

I bet Hells Bells has been blasted so many times in his minivan that the felt is falling off of the ceiling.

The ACC Championship is returning to Prime Time.

Yes what you are looking at is pure embarrassment and not a coordinated beer-trip. And speaking of the ACC here’s the most comprehensive review of the 2008 season we’ve seen anywhere.

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