Recapping your Colorado Buffaloes Offseason News, Links, and Stories. And the Slo-Mo Implosion of College Football...because believe me, it's going to keep dragging on.
Playoff semifinals would 'float,' be played at bowl sites of higher seeds - CBSSports.com - It goes like-a-this:
Commissioners in the process of molding the first major-college football playoff are leaning toward floating bowl sites for the semifinal games. In fact, the predetermined rotation of semifinal sites in the bowls was described as a "non-starter" to CBSSports.com. There are still discussions over the sites of the entire three-game playoff (in or outside of bowls), but there seems to be a growing consensus that the bowls will at least host the semifinals.
The Big Ten recently backed off an idea for campus sites to host semifinals. While site issue is one of many yet to be resolved in the playoff discussion, this development does point out that the commissioners are sensitive to the fairness issue.
They do not want the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds having to "go on the road" in the semifinals. In other words, if the Sugar Bowl were anchored in advance to be a semifinal site, it would be possible that a No. 4 seed – say, LSU – would have the home-field advantage playing the No. 1-seeded opponent in the Superdome.
The discussion seems to center around the SEC and the Sugar Bowl. The conference has the most rabid fan following and its teams are in the closest proximity to New Orleans than the other conferences are to other major bowls. The Sugar Bowl has had a formal agreement to take the SEC champion since 1976. However, its relationship with the league goes back decades.
Step 1: D-I Football Playoff
Step 2: ?
Step 3: Profit!
Pac-12, Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, Create Your Own Playoff And Secede From The NCAA - Pacific Takes -
Hmm. Two big TV deals for each conference have been announced. The Pac-12 has paired with the ultra-successful Big Ten in hopes of sharing in their riches. The Big 12 might be heading down a similar line, with OOC contests possibly to follow (well, maybe. The SEC's out-of-conference scheduling has always been notorious).
However, with a college playoff format still not quite bartered out, suddenly an "obvious solution is obvious" is right there for anyone with half a brain to see: Forget about selection committees, preseason rankings, and all those stupid computers. Have the four conference champions face off in the Rose Bowl (Pac-12 vs. Big 10) and the Champions Bowl (SEC vs. Big 12).
Then have the winners face in a title game sold to the highest bidder, the Super Bowl of college football. There. Done. Satisfied? All of us can go home now.
While we'd all prefer home sites for the semifinals, the Big Ten has made it clear it would lock itself in a room with the Rose Bowl and starve to death together if it could. As we've already said, the Pac-12 will be happy to do it this way of course. So this is a healthy-enough compromise, with the big powers banding together and locking everyone else out of the process.
Okay, okay, okay. My first description may have been too callous...
Step 1: D-I Football Playoff
Step 2: Secession of Major Conference Teams, Re-division of D-I football into D-I and D-I+
Step 3: Profit!
Five from Pac-12 on Rimington watch list - Pac-12 Blog - ESPN
The 2012 Rimington Trophy Watch List was recently announced, and the Pac-12 is well represented. The award goes to the nation's top center. Here's a look at the players on the watch list:
Gus Handler, Colorado, 6-3, 295, Jr.
Worth noting, however, that no player from the Pac-10/12 has won the award since its inception in 2000. But that might change this year...
Hey, remember when we were on the Fulmer-Cup board? Yeah... that's long since passed... (It's a good thing).
FULMER CUPDATE: OVERDUE BITS OF FOOLISHNESS - Every Day Should Be Saturday
MISSOURI. Mizzou is acclimating already to the SEC East, it seems, since leaving the scene of an accident is the kind of panicky, poor decision-making we expect from our fine conference's oft-confused quarterbacks. Corbin Berkstresser's felony charge for leaving the scene of an accident earns Mizzou three points in the Fulmer Cup, though we almost awarded a bonus point for "playing football with a lacrosse name."
Nothing New Under the Sun: The 1937 Rose Bowl and College Football's Unending Controversy - Roll 'Bama Roll
This was three quarters of a century ago but it's still fascinating since the controversy is virtually identical to what we endured last fall. In 1936 the bowl selections incited such a negative nationwide reaction that one could argue it set the course for college football becoming a nationwide phenomenon instead of the mostly regional emphasis of teams, and in hindsight was a foreshadowing of the continual controversy surrounding college football’s postseason and the ways in which fan reaction and media meddling continues to drive the evolution of how national champions are selected.
Big Ten surrenders fight to bring college football playoff to the Midwest, just to help the Rose Bowl - Yahoo! Sports
Of all the love stories ever told, there may be none purer than the Big Ten's undying devotion, commitment and pure heart-throbbing lust to the Rose Bowl. It's wrong to criticize someone for who they choose to love. Instead, just marvel at the depth of the relationship.
The Big Ten has abandoned its smart, savvy push for a playoff that featured on-campus semifinal sites and a title game open to bid by cities across the country, including the Midwest, because it just couldn't bear the thought of cheating on a bowl game.
"For us it's critical to keep the Rose Bowl in the equation," Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis told reporters Tuesday after Big Ten meetings hashed out the conference's likely preferred plan. How critical?
Well, so critical that they're willing to make business decisions based on emotion, willing to give up on competitive advantages, logistical ease and monetary benefits.
Possible home-field advantage for Big Ten teams? We love the Rose Bowl.
Making the elements, which Big Ten teams are presumably better equipped to handle, a factor in the playoffs? We love the Rose Bowl.
Showcasing the incredible game-day environment of Camp Randall, Happy Valley or the Big House? We love the Rose Bowl.
Not requiring fans, students and players' families to continue to make lengthy postseason trips? We love the Rose Bowl.
Creating economic impact in the league's hometowns? We love the Rose Bowl.
Not taking discretionary spending out of the region and into California or Florida? We love the Rose Bowl.
Not playing games in opponents' home regions, states, cities or even stadiums? We love the Rose Bowl.
I'm not sure why anyone is surprised that the most stodgy, old-fashioned conference would ultimately cling to solid tradition and eschew the uncertain possibility of all those other things listed, but they are.
At least we already got our superconference...Go Buffs