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      Exective director Bill Hancock defends the BCS

      January 7, 2010 /

      Bill Hancock officially began his tenure as BCS executive director this week and spoke with reporters on Thursday about the current state of college football.

      Let’s go point by point…

      “College football has never been better and I believe the BCS is part of that.”

      This is actually a true statement, but it isn’t saying much. If something is better than asinine, does it make it good? No, it doesn’t. It makes it better than asinine. Yes, the BCS Championship Game is better than the pre-BCS system, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be drastically improved.

      Hancock said the fact that other lower levels of college football use playoffs to decide their champions doesn’t mean it would work in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The second-tier of Division I football, the Championship Subdivision, has a 16-team playoff with all but the final played at home sites.

      “It works at that level, I can’t deny it, but if you look attendance for those games, only Montana had decent attendance,” he said. “Many teams didn’t draw as well as they did in the regular season.”

      All right, so because Hancock has some anecdotal data about lower level teams not drawing as well in the playoffs, we’re supposed to believe that home playoff games at the D1 level wouldn’t work either? Really? Like the Gators aren’t going to sell out the Swamp in the first round of an eight-team playoff? Give me a break.

      This excerpt from ESPN (via the AP), Hancock throws out several debatable “facts” and says the case is closed.

      Bill Hancock said a playoff at college football’s highest level would lead to more injuries, conflict with final exams, kill the bowl system and diminish the importance of the regular season.

      More injuries? The current BCS system has five games. My proposed eight-team playoff would include seven games. Does Hancock really believe that the additional injury risk of two games is a valid argument against a playoff?

      Kill the bowl system? The current system features a lot of lower-level bowls that feature teams that aren’t playing for a national championship. Players, coaches and fans attend these games as a celebration of a good season. How would holding a playoff affect this system in any way?

      Diminish the importance of the regular season? If anything, it would increase the importance of the regular season. Under the current system, if a team loses a game it shouldn’t, it’s championship aspirations are effectively killed. With a playoff, that team would still have a fighting chance to make the postseason and compete for a title. And think about those fringe teams fighting for a playoff spot over the last couple of weeks. Every contest would become an elimination game. Under the current system, none of these teams would have an opportunity to play for a title.

      Conflict with final exams? In an eight-team playoff, there are only four D1 teams in the entire country that would play more than one postseason game, and we’re worried about final exams?

      Sigh.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Football

      Report: Browns to keep Eric Mangini

      January 7, 2010 /

      According to ESPN.com, the Browns will retain head coach Eric Mangini and his entire coaching staff in 2010.

      Mangini went 5-11 in his first season with the Browns, who finished with a four-game winning streak.

      On Tuesday, his first day running the Browns, Holmgren said Mangini had a legitimate shot of returning for a second season in Cleveland.

      Holmgren is also interviewing general manager candidates this week. On Wednesday, Eagles GM Tom Heckert visited the Browns. Per league rules, Heckert could not be hired by Cleveland until Philadelphia completes its season.

      While it’s hard to argue with Holmgren’s decision based on how the Browns finished the season, this could potentially be a disaster in the making. The Browns looked completely befuddled under Mangini’s guidance for most of the season and three of their four wins at the end of the year came against the Chiefs, Raiders and struggling Jaguars.

      That said, the Browns did improve defensively under Mangini and the emergence of running back Jerome Harrison offers hope for the offense heading into next season. Mangini didn’t handle his quarterback situation very well earlier in the year, but Brady Quinn did show promise before injuring himself in Week 15.

      Chances are that Mangini will be on a short leash next year. Holmgren might not be expecting a playoff appearance, but if the team doesn’t show marked improvement n 2010 then Mangini could be on his way out this time next year.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      Can Colt McCoy be Texas’ X-factor?

      January 7, 2010 /

      This much we know when it comes to the BCS title matchup between Texas and Alabama:

      – Both defenses are outstanding, with Alabama’s being damn near impenetrable.
      – Mark Ingram will be the centerpiece for the Crimson Tide offense.
      – Mack Brown and Nick Saban will have their teams prepared.

      Outside of those three things, everything else could be considered a crapshoot.

      The wildcard in tonight’s game might very well be Longhorns’ senior quarterback Colt McCoy, who will try to put a bow on top of an outstanding collegiate career. He’s thrown for 3,512 yards this season, with 27 touchdowns and also chipped in 348 rushing yards and three scores on the ground.

      But tonight marks McCoy’s biggest game as a Longhorn, and certainly his most challenging. Saban has had over a month to dissect what McCoy and the Texas offense do best and there’s no doubt that Tide’s defense will challenge the Longhorns to throw vertically.

      Texas struggled against Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship because it matched up well against the Horns in zone coverage. The Huskers limited the effectiveness of UT’s dink-and-dunk approach and the results were outstanding. McCoy thrives off the short to intermediate completion and Nebraska essentially took those plays out of Texas’ playbook.

      If the Longhorns are going to win tonight, McCoy will have to beat Alabama by throwing vertically. The problem is that his offensive line will be overmatched by the Tide’s excellent front four and he might not have time to survey open receivers and stretch the field. It’s up to McCoy to make quick reads and get the ball out of his hands quickly before succumbing to the pressure that he will undoubtedly face tonight.

      McCoy has been a playmaker throughout his collegiate career. He’s a gamer and will no doubt be focused and prepared for what he’ll face tonight. But if Texas’ defense does its job and shuts down Ingram and the Tide’s offense, then the senior QB will have to make plays down the stretch or else he’ll miss the opportunity to go out on top.

      College Football

      Are we witnessing the end of the Pats’ dynasty?

      January 7, 2010 /

      It wasn’t supposed to be like this for the New England Patriots. In the preseason, the general consensus was that the Pats were going to put on an offensive show reminiscent of 2007 this season now that Tom Brady was back under center. But while the offense has been outstanding this season (they are third in the NFL in total offense and second in the AFC in points scored behind the Chargers), the Pats have been far from dominant.

      At the root of the issue has been a defense that has been average at best this year. The Pats have the No. 11 overall defense, but the stats don’t paint the full picture. Opponents have been able to move the ball successfully against them this season, mostly notably on the ground where NE is giving up over 110 rushing yards per game.

      Compounding New England’s problems is that they haven’t been as clutch as they have been in previous seasons. Brady has had his issues with turnovers, the defense has struggled coming up with a big stop and regardless of whether or not you agree with Belichick’s decision-making this season, the bottom line is that they haven’t worked. The fourth down gaffe against Indianapolis wasn’t the only time Belichick has rolled the dice this season and came up short.

      The good thing is that the Patriots have been here before. They have loads of postseason experience and have been a different team at home this season than on the road. The problem (outside of everything else that has already been mentioned) is that they face a confident Ravens team that has already proven it can go toe-to-toe with them in Foxboro, and that they’ll be without their most consistent offensive weapon in Wes Welker, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last Sunday in Houston.

      Continue reading »

      NFL

      Can the Cowboys get over their playoff hex?

      January 7, 2010 /

      Over the past three weeks, the Cowboys have managed to end the Saints’ perfect season and hold the Redskins and Eagles to a combined zero points of offense. They’re the hottest team in the NFC right now and will play a Philadelphia team on Saturday that they’ve already beaten not once, but twice this season.

      But the postseason has not been kind to the Cowboys over the past decade. In 2003, the Bill Parcells-led Cowboys were shellacked 29-10 by the Panthers in the Wild Card round. In 2006, Tony Romo had, uh, some trouble with a field goal snap and in 2007, the ‘Boys were bounced out of the Divisional Round at home by the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants.

      Yes, the Cowboys have beaten the Eagles twice this season and yes, their defense is playing lights out. But these are the Wade Phillips-led Cowboys were talking about here: Nothing is a guarantee and nothing should be assumed.

      Dallas clearly matches up very well with Philadelphia. Their front seven has been able to shut down the running game and thus, Phillips has been able to amp up the pressure with edge-rusher DeMarcus Ware. Donovan McNabb hasn’t had a lot of time to throw the ball, which limits the Eagles’ ability to strike for big plays like they have all season.

      Playmaker DeSean Jackson has 63 receptions for 1,167 yards and nine touchdowns this year. But in two games against the Cowboys, he has just five catches for 76 yards and no touchdowns. That means Dallas has been able to contain Philadelphia’s most dangerous offensive weapon.

      That said, the Cowboys have found ways to lose before, so why should anyone trust them now? They’ve been a team under Phillips that hasn’t been able to get out of its own way, so would anyone be surprised to see Philadelphia walk into Jerry Jones’ brand new stadium and steal a win? Doubtful.

      Dallas needs to rely on its defense to win on Saturday and limit mistakes offensively. If they can do that, then they shouldn’t have issues beating an Eagles team that has fought their own postseason demons in the past.

      Should make for an entertaining Saturday night.

      NFL

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