It’s pretty apparent that it’s time for a change in the way the college football postseason works. For anyone who still believes that the Coaches poll is still a legitimate ranking system, grow up. Saban and the Tide only got a shot at the national title because they harshly underrated Oklahoma State, which is absolutely ridiculous. I believe the time has come for a playoff system to be implemented in college football. This process requires three very important steps. First, there must be six major national conferences established with all teams being forced to join a conference. Secondly, the season would be shortened to 11 games. Finally, the six conference champions and two wild card teams will play in an eight-team playoff.

First, six major national conferences must be established. The obvious choices here are to keep the six major conferences in existence now (Big 10, Big 12, ACC, SEC, Pac 12, Big East), though they would have to be restructured. All of the aforementioned conferences would have 12 slots, making room for 72 major programs eligible to compete for the national championship. The existing teams would then be segmented into the six conferences based on region and talent level. All of the independent teams would be forced to join a conference in order to be eligible to play in the playoff system.

Second, the schedule would have to be reverted back to an eleven game season with a conference championship and a two-week playoff leading up to a national championship. Shortening the season back to eleven games prevents the season from running too long and further interfering with the NFL playoffs. This also takes strain off of teams playing in the playoffs who could play up to three additional games. The longer the season gets the greater chance there is for injury and that is the absolute last thing that anyone wants too see in college football. Nobody wants a rising star’s career to be cut short because their body wore down in college.

Finally, the six winners of the conferences championships would enter the playoff and two additional wild card teams would be selected. The wild card teams would be chosen by a selection committee, much like it is done in college basketball now. This would ensure that teams who are deserving of entering the playoffs but who may have been defeated by tough competition in their conference championship would still get an opportunity to compete in the playoffs.

While the execution of this plan would be near impossible at the moment due to contractual obligations the teams have to their current conferences and the contracts those conferences have with television stations, it could be implemented in the future if the NCAA were to set a date past which no contractual obligations between any team and conference could be established. This would require a lot of work on the part of the NCAA (so they probably would never consider it) but it would provide for the most merit-based system in which a national champion can be crowned in college football.

Ohio State Head coach Jim Tressel was suspended by the school for the first two games of next season because he failed to report information he received in an email regarding the sale of Ohio State memorabilia to a drug dealer.  Those players involved were all suspended for the first five games of next season, and this further adds to the limited possibility of Ohio State winning a National Championship next season.  Tressel and the Buckeyes may face more sanctions as the NCAA is going to look into the incident, and they have the ability to add on more games or other punishments however they see fit.

Orlando Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy got into a war of words with NBA commissioner David Stern when Van Gundy made comments related to Dwight Howard being suspended for getting his 16^th technical foul.  Stern went personal with his retort saying that Van Gundy was “fraying” because his team was not performing well, and he spoke to the ownership of the Orlando Magic to get Van Gundy silenced.  This is juvenile behavior for David Stern, and highlights one of the main problems with the NBA it’s commissioner, why would he even respond there are more important things than worry about some comments from a coach.  It’s no wonder the product in the NBA has declined in recent years, and they are more than likely headed for a work stoppage as well.

The NCAA tournament field is set and Duke, Pitt, Ohio State, and Kansas all received #1 seeds. As usual the field has teams who were left out that had a good case as to why they should have gotten in, but there is no doubt that Duke deserved it after beating North Carolina in the ACC tournament title game.  All of the other teams that received top seeds deserved it as well, no one can argue with those teams getting top seeds.  After all the controversy BYU ended up with a #3 seed, and North Carolina ended up with a #2 seed after winning the ACC regular season title.  The early money is on Ohio State to win it all, but there are at least 10 teams in the field that have a realistic shot of winning it all.

The Milwaukee Bucks were embarrassed by the Boston Celtics on Sunday losing 87 – 56, and setting franchise record lows for fewest points scored. They also scored the fifth lowest point total in the shot clock era, it was a dismal performance all around as they only had one player in double figures and that was exactly 10 points.  They Bucks only scored nine points in the first quarter, and never had more than 20 points in a quarter for the entire game, and the team only shot 31.4% from the field and 21.4% from three point land.  Put this in perspective Ray Allen had 17 points for the entire game which was more than the Bucks scored in any one quarter except the fourth where they scored 18.

Photo Courtesy of cnnsi.com

The Orlando Magic went up against the Miami Heat on Friday night, in what was another highly anticipated matchup early in this NBA season.  At the end of the first half, the game was living up to the hype as the Heat were ahead by only six points.  The Magic had the lead a few times in the first half as the teams sparred back and forth, but the start of the second half saw the Heat break the game open.  The Magic went cold from the field, and the Heat ended up with a 20+ point blowout over one of the best teams in the Eastern conference.    I guess no one should really be surprised as the Magic have some well-known flaws, and Vince Carter left the game in the first half with back spasms.  It remains to be seen how this is going to make the NBA better, to have a handful of good teams that are clearly better than the other teams makes for a boring league.  We will see how all of this plays out, but the NBA season just seems a bit boring at this point.

The Oregon Ducks have overtaken the Auburn Tigers in the latest BCS standings after they put up a dominating performance against the USC Trojans.  The Auburn Tigers blew out the Ole Miss Rebels, who were not as highly regarded as USC in the strength of schedule.  This adds to the drama that is college football, but the interesting part of this is the fact that Alabama has crept up to the sixth spot in the BCS.    The Crimson Tide are sitting right behind Utah, who plays TCU next week which will knock one of them from the ranks of the undefeated.  This will allow Alabama to move up at least one spot provided that they win next week, so the Tide are not out of the National Championship conversation just yet.

The San Francisco Giants have taken a 3 – 1 lead over the Texas Rangers in the World Series after shutting them out 4 – 0 in game four.  Madison Bumgarner pitched a gem as he shut down the Rangers power hitting lineup for eight innings in their ball park, which was unexpected.  The Rangers now have their backs to the wall, and will have to rely on their ace Cliff Lee to get them a game five victory if they want to extend the series another game.  We had the Rangers winning this series in six games, but the Giants are the team that have come up with the clutch moments to take a commanding series lead.  Will Tim Lincecum be able to clinch a World Series title for the Giants in game five?

Brett Favre started his 292 consecutive game in the NFL when the Minnesota Vikings took on the New England Patriots despite Favre having two stress fractures in his ankle.   The Patriots beat the Vikings, and Favre did not finish the game because he was knocked out with a severe chin laceration that required about 10 stitches.  You can say this for Favre, with all the things he is going through with the Sterger situation, horrible season, and a slew of injuries he keeps getting back up for more.  He does seem like the ultimate Ironman, and even though this season has not gone well for him no one can say he did not leave it all on the field.

The New Orleans Saints showed that they are still the defending super bowl champs by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football.  With all of the sports analysts and experts saying that the Pittsburgh Steelers were the best team in the NFL, the Saints played like they had a chip on their shoulder and had Ben Roethlisberger running for his life all night.  The Saints schedule sets up well going forward, and they will be favored in their next four or five games, so it seems that they are poised to go on a run.

Miami quarterback Jacory Harris has brought a winning mentality from his High School program, and you can start to see his influence positively affecting the team. There is still a lot of work to do, and Harris needs to solidly make this “his” team next season at all costs.  Harris is now fully recovered from a thumb injury that plagued him all season last year, the problem was fixed with off season surgery.  Harris is now ready to participate in all practice drills in preparation for the 2010 season.

Miami made strides last year, but still under performed based on their schedule. Jacory Harris is one of the key parts of this team, and will have to perform if the team is to be successful next season. The Hurricanes have lofty goals, ACC championship, and an outside hope at playing for a National Championship. With Harris on many preseason Heisman watch lists, expectations could not be higher.

On September 11th, 2010 the Miami Hurricanes will fly into Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes.  This is going to be one of the toughest tests of the season, as Ohio State has been one of the top programs in College Football over the last eight years.  I would say a lot of that has to do with playing in the Big Ten which is a weakened conference up until last season, but Miami as always can match Ohio State athlete for athlete and should be able to win this game.

This game is about revenge. Ohio State stole a National Championship from Miami in 2002 and now the Hurricanes will have a chance to right that wrong.  This game is not for a National Championship this time, but the loser of this game is going to have an early blow to its National Title hopes for 2010.  Had it not been for a horrible pass interference penalty on what should have been the last play of the game, the Hurricanes would have won back-to-back National Titles and Jim Tressel would still have none.  Look at the video below to relive the moment and judge for yourself.

The Buckeyes are going to be strong; they are losing four starters on defense and two starters on offense and handled a high-powered Oregon offense in the Rose Bowl.  The Hurricanes are a balanced team by boasting a high-powered offense and a solid defense. The keys to victory will be simple: force Terrelle Pryor to throw the football, and shut down any semblance of a running game.

I know people will say that Pryor threw the ball against Oregon, but everyone knows that the Ducks do not play any defense.  The Hurricanes secondary is good enough to shut down the passing game of Ohio State, and I believe the Hurricanes will rise to the occasion.  All the pundits will count the Hurricanes out, and I am sure most will predict an Ohio State victory. Those spots are where this team plays best. The Hurricanes will win a hard fought close game in the horse shoe.

Final Score: Miami – 20 Ohio State – 17