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BCS “exploring” modified playoff

An article in the LA Times sheds some light on the BCS’ short-term postseason plans.

Despite continued resistance from two conferences and a major bowl, incoming Bowl Championship Series coordinator John Swofford says college football leaders will continue to explore a modified playoff.

“I think the subject deserves that,” Swofford, commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference, said Monday at a Football Writers Assn. of America meeting.

Really? You “think” that 90%+ of college football fans might be right about a playoff being the best thing for the sport?

College football officials have ruled out an expanded “NFL-style” playoff.

Great.

Four conferences — ACC, Big East, Southeastern and Big 12 — are interested in pursuing a Plus One model that would add an additional game to the current five-game BCS arrangement.

The Pacific 10 and Big Ten Conferences, and the Rose Bowl, are opposed to Plus One.

Get with the program, Pac-10 and Big Ten. What is this “Plus One” that you speak of?

Plus One would potentially seed the top four teams in the final BCS standings. No. 1 would play No. 4 and No. 2 would play No. 3 in two of the major BCS bowls, and the winners would then play for the BCS title.

Wait, isn’t that just a four-team playoff? Why are we calling this “Plus One”?

Swofford admitted Plus One would not solve the controversies that have often plagued the BCS since its inception in 1998.

If Plus One was used this year, Georgia and USC, two of the hottest teams in the country, would not have made the cut. Georgia finished No. 5 in the BCS standings; USC was No. 7.

Right, and an “NFL-style,” six-, eight- or even sixteen-team playoff would solve those controversies.

ARGH!

Ohio State president not in favor of “plus-one”

In the wake of the Buckeyes’ 38-24 loss to LSU in the BCS title game, Ohio State president Gordon Gee felt the need to make it public knowledge that he’s not in favor in of a “plus-one” playoff format for college football.

Gee said he hasn’t had formal discussions on the matter with other Big Ten presidents and said he wasn’t familiar with all the nuances of a plus-one proposal. But at first glance, he said he would not be in favor of any model that jeopardizes the Big Ten-Pacific 10 tie-in to the Rose Bowl or could diminish “the existing bowl structure.”

“People might say the Big Ten, the Pacific 10 and the Rose Bowl are being greedy,” he said. “No, there would be more money to be made. But it’s not about money, it’s about preserving history.”

First and foremost, if Gee isn’t fully familiar with all the nuances of a plus-one proposal, then why is he shooting it down publicly? I realize he isn’t full rejecting the proposal, but do the research first before being opposed to an idea as big as a playoff format in college football

Secondly, preserving history is one thing, not making the sport better is another. Sports are about tradition and history, but more so it’s about fans and what we want. Most college football fans want a playoff system and if it means sacrificing the “tradition” of the Rose Bowl, than so be it. To most fans, the Rose Bowl doesn’t hold the same meaning as it used to anyway, and how could it with the games being as bad as they have the past two years? Plus, on a much smaller level, it’s a home game for the Pac-10 every year. So does it really mean that much to the Big Ten if college football scarifices that game for the sake of a playoff?

I expected the Celtics to be good…

…but not this good.

Boston is 29-3 and is on pace to finish the season 74-8, which would break the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls record of 72 wins. They’re getting outstanding play from their Big Three. Paul Pierce is averaging 21.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Kevin Garnett is posting 19.1 points, 10.1 boards and 3.6 assists a game. Finally, Ray Allen is pitching in with 18.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists to round out the dangerous trio.

But the Celtics aren’t just about offense. The team allows the fewest points in the league (87.3), and is also first in FG% allowed (.414) and 3P% allowed (.312).

Keep an eye on how Doc Rivers is using each of his stars. He isn’t using the Spurs’ model. When all three are healthy, it’s not often that the Spurs have fewer than two of their three stars on the court at any given time. There are long stretches in Celtics games when Garnett and Pierce (or Allen) are on the bench. It’s clear that he’s trying to develop his bench, and it hasn’t hurt the C’s yet, so it appears to be a successful strategy. Once the playoffs arrive, it will be interesting to see if he changes his rotation to ensure that at least two of his three stars are on the court at any given time.

So what are the chances of the C’s breaking the Bulls’ record? I’d say they are just so-so. Although they are playing great, they haven’t played the three best teams in the West – San Antonio, Dallas and Phoenix – so those should be six tough games right there. They’ve also stayed relatively injury-free, as Ray Allen is the only member of the Big Three that has missed any time (two games) due to injury.

To break the record, they need to continue to defend the way they are (not an easy task) and stay injury-free (which is even more difficult). That said, they definitely have a shot.

It’s nice that the East is relevant again.

Gibbs resigns from ‘Skins

After a trying year that ended with a loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs, Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs has decided to resign.

The Redskins are expected to begin a search for a new coach immediately. Among the certain candidates are two former head coaches on Gibbs’ staff, Gregg Williams and Al Saunders.

Gibbs went 31-36, including 1-2 in the playoffs, after emerging from NFL retirement and his NASCAR career to sign a five-year, $27.5 million contract in 2004. He had always maintained that he intended to fulfill the contract, but the 67-year-old coach wavered from that stance Monday when asked if he would return for the final year of his deal.

Gibbs deserves a ton of credit for what he did with the Redskins this season. Making the playoffs aside, he kept his team united through the tragic death of Sean Taylor, plus bounced back from a swarm of criticism for making a mistake at the end of a Week 13 loss to the Bills. Many of his former players say that Gibbs puts their health and families ahead of the X’s and O’s of the game. In a day and age when head coaches seem to be getting tons of negative press for being selfish, Gibbs certainly seemed to put his players ahead of himself.

Speed difference? No, LSU was just better

Thanks in large part to quarterback Matt Flynn’s three touchdown passes and another stifling performance by their defense, LSU soundly defeated Ohio State 38-24 in Monday night’s BCS National Championship Game.

The Tigers didn’t give the Buckeyes different looks or rely on secret magic that only a SEC team possesses. They just lined up and took it to the Buckeyes for 55 minutes (the first five minutes were dominated by OSU). It also helped that LSU limited mistakes and capitalized on the Buckeyes’ miscues. OSU’s defense didn’t help matters by putting on a horrible tackling performance, either.

Somewhere, some writer has already written how the SEC is a more dominating conference than the Big Ten because its players are faster, they’re more physical or that their cheerleaders are better looking. It’s not true. Forget the conferences – LSU was just better and made less mistakes, both mentally and physically.

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