How an El Camino Proves the SEC is Wrong

There has been a chill in the air here in Gainesville this weekend and it feels like college football weather in Georgia. The worst part is we are still a month away from when teams can start practicing. However, we can always talk and write about it.

There are few times in which I will disagree with Mike Slive and what he does as the commissioner for the Southeastern Conference. He has done an outstanding job for the league and increased its popularity in the country to epic proportions. That being said, he along with the other SEC coaches, are being selfish in how college football should decide its version of the Final Four for the inevitable football playoff system starting in 2014.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive

The SEC wants to have the top four teams, regardless of conference, to be represented in the proposed Final Four instead of each conference having a place at the table. Slive said time and time again at the SEC meetings in Destin, Fla. this week, "One. Two. Three. Four." It comes down to a money thing--as most things in life usually do. The more teams each conference can get into the proposed Final Four, the more money said conference can make.

What will ensue if the SEC gets its way no more solves the problem than the current BCS and bowl system as it stands. Side note: Big 10 commissioner Jim Delaney and myself are the only two people on God's great earth that like the current system, albeit for differing reasons; that point of view is a whole new can of worms not to be opened at this time.

The arguments will move from which teams are in the Final Four instead of the current bickering of which two teams "deserve" to be in the BCS National Championship game. Fans under the SEC's plan are subjected to a mysterious poll full of secretive voters, who undoubtedly have their own agendas.

A replica of my two-toned beauty

Take a 1987 Chevrolet El Camino for example, the epitome of fine car--or truck, you decide. To me it is a true testament to American engineering. To others, it is one of the most heinous and forgettable heaps of car ever created. I have a special connection to these creations. It was my first four-wheeled, motorized freedom maker.

I would rank an El Camino much higher on a Top 10 of cars than a Ferrari fanatic or Lamborghini lover, every year no matter the capabilities of the other machines because of my emotional investment. Much like a coaches or writers do every week in the polls when they vote for college football's top 25.

Imagine the uproar when a one-loss Alabama or Georgia does not make the Final Four and an undefeated Boise State and Ohio State does because coaches team up against the SEC. God save us all...

It is pretty simple, prove you are the best team in your conference and you are in. With defined prerequisites, the "Who deserves to be where" argument is dead.

Take the playoff as a step in the right direction. Sure we would all love an eight-game playoff, but this is progress, which is all subject to change when the four Super Conferences emerge in five years, rendering this argument null and void.

The Weekend That Will Be: Week 1

Finally, God's greatest four month long gift is here again. Amidst all the controversy of its offseason, the game will be back to normal, and the pageantry and tradition of Saturdays in the fall will cover up the black eye of college football.

Everything that makes college football will be back in full swing, and I am here to tell you what will happen each week in the biggest games.

There are only a few games being played tomorrow that will not be (at least should not be) blowouts.

No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 4 LSU:  Say what you will about coach Les Miles, the Bayou Bengals always play big in big games, 5-1 in their last six bowl games and Oregon has trouble with size on the line (BCS Championship game versus Auburn last season). The Ducks are faster than everyone in the Pac-12 and can win. However, when they play the SEC everyone on the field is fast and LSU is bigger. The Tigers will have a back-up quarterback starting, but Jarrett Lee has waited his time, proven he can win big games and has plenty of play makers around him.

No. 5 Boise State vs. No. 19 Georgia: Another instance of a team from the greatest conference in the game, SEC, playing a quick team from the West. The size on the line of the Bulldogs versus the Broncos will again prove to be the difference. Great example: Boise State center- 5-11, 290 vs. Georgia defensive tackle- 6-6, 360. Bronco senior quarterback Kellen Moore is good, but I'm not sure he will have time to get the ball off in basically a home game for the Bulldogs.

A few games kicked off the season last night and let it be known I was a big proponent of the Wisconsin Badgers last season. Now they have transfer QB Russell Wilson and I have already fallen back for the big boys from Madison. Watch out for this team to make noise in the chase for the BCS National Championship.

Another team with a solid first game was the Bulldogs from Starkville, granted it was against Memphis. Turns out RB Vic Ballard's production last season was no fluke. He has played 17 games for Mississippi State and had three touchdowns in five of those games.

Is This Real Life?

I have decided every once in a while I will do a post about what is going on in the world of sports. There are things that happen during the year that, in the world of sports, just do not make sense. For example...

1. Boise State loses. Can you believe it? The one week that I have faith in the Broncos to pull out a victory they fail me. Maybe we aren't giving the WAC the credit its due. Just maybe Boise does play a tough schedule and should be considered for the National Championship game. Yeah right! Losing to Nevada is not a good loss. Nevada would be handled by the sixth best SEC team, Mississippi State, easily. Oh well, it was a good run this year and I am sure we will hear the same arguments for the little guy next year.

2. Auburn came back to win in Tuscaloosa. After falling behind 24-0 in the first half the Tigers found a way to win in Bryan-Denny Stadium for the first time ever. If everything had gone just as Alabama wanted it to, not being stopped in the red zone a few times, the score would have looked more like 42-0. Those stops hurt Alabama by taking the more than 100,000 people out of the game. I give credit to Auburn and its resiliency to come back under such tough conditions. No way they shouldn't play for the national title.

3. Arkansas may play a BCS bowl. Really? In the most difficult conference to play in, with 5 ranked teams in the West, Arkansas played their way to the top? I am so used to settling for the Cotton Bowl but not this year. The Razorbacks have actually lived up to expectations and, with an Auburn win in the SEC Championship should play in the Sugar Bowl for the first time in 30 years. Even more surprising is the old man will be pulling or the Tigers come Saturday. I never thought I would see the day.

4. Sticking with football and moving to the professional ranks, the Falcons could be the best team in the NFL. Again, really? A franchise that just last year had its first back to back winning seasons is considered by many to be the favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. The team is clicking with a calm quarterback, Matt Ryan. They have won three games within the last minute of the game and have not had a turnover in 4 games. The next three weeks will tell a lot as the Dirty Birds are on the road, not in the friendly confines of the Georgia Dome where they are 19-1 over the past three years. That is a serious home field advantage.

5. The Miami Heat continue to struggle. They are now 10-8 and the 5th best team in the Eastern Conference. Who saw this much of an adjustment period coming. So much for those predictions that the Heat would break the 1996 Bulls record of 72 wins. They would have to finish out the season at 62-2 to tie that record. Not happening. Miami has serious offensive woes and has yet to figure out how to play like a team.

6. Jeter maybe not a Yankee. Derek Jeter, along with his agent, is under negations to further his career as a Yankee. He is coming off of his worst year as a professional and seeking $20 million dollars a year. The Yankee organization is trying to run the franchise like any business and pay for what they are getting. The aging captain has meant a lot to the team and he, along with many New Yorkers feel as if he is due the money just because he means so much to the history of the Yanks. New York management is not budging much. Meanwhile Jeter has received offers from World Series Champion San Fransisco Giants and the arch rival, Boston Red Sox. Can you imagine Jeter getting his 3000th hit in a Red Sox jersey?

Be sure to check the blog to see my picks for Championship Weekend and after all of the BCS hoopla has settled, my 2010 Bowl Game Prediction Spectacular.