Playoffs Are A Good Thing...

I missed a lot of college football on the tube this weekend because of an outside project followed by a trip to Spokane to watch the LRS Broncos and DeSale’s Irish battle again. While I was on the road and in the parking lot at Gonzaga Prep, I listened to the EWU Eagles outlast the Portland State Vikings.

As a fan, I get a little emotional about the team I want to win. I hope you do as well, as long as you realize the game is just a game and not life or death. For the Eagles, winning was the difference between playing on Saturday or get a bye and earn the second overall seed in the NCAA FCS playoffs.

Honestly, I’m not sure they deserve that high seed. I think they earned it by what they accomplished two years ago. Am I happy about the seeding? I sure am, because now the Eagles will be playing every game at Roos Field in Cheney. It is pretty cool too!

For anyone who hasn’t seen a game played on the red field there is no better time than December 1 when they play their first of hopefully four games that would take them back to Frisco, Texas, for another chance at a championship game. There should be a few tickets available. Go Eagles!

The Apple Cup is this weekend. I’m not sure if the game will be filled to capacity since the students are home for Thanksgiving. Maybe they will head home a day early and watch the final game of the season for the Cougars. The returning members of this team will need to chow down big time and hit the weight room in order to catch up with the rest of the Pac 12 next year. Dear Cougars, remember these three words, “Bigger, Stronger, Faster!” Enough said.

I received my Sports Illustrated magazine on Friday, and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein was on the front cover. All the hype was over the Wildcat QBs chances at winning the Heisman Trophy and Kansas State’s being the number team in the BCS ratings. Just two games and the boys from Manhattan, Kansas would be playing in the National Championship game.

Well, that won’t happen unless a bunch of teams lose a game in the next two weeks. Have you ever heard of the Sports Illustrated (SI) jinx? Well, going back many years when someone who was having a great year or season had their picture on the cover of SI, something bad happened the following week. Whether it was a loss or an injury, the magazine became famous for this downturn in success.

After the beat down Kansas State received from the Baylor Bears, it does make one wonder if the jinx is alive and well. Apparently the jinx wasn’t happy to see a Kansas State – Oregon Ducks final. Oh, yeah, the Ducks lost to the Stanford Cardinals, which could also keep them out of the Pac 12 Championship game.

Now it looks like we could see a Notre Dame –

Alabama or Georgia final. We can always look forward to a four-team playoff next year. This brings me to the next item on my list. Every year about this time, I like to interject my thoughts on a playoff for the FBS. Why is the FCS expanding their playoff from 20 to 24 teams next year? NCAA Division II has 24 teams and Division III is at 32 teams competing for a true National Championship.

The FBS relies on computers to determine the two teams that will battle it out for the big trophy and next year that same computer will come up with four teams. All I can say is there will be two fewer teams that won’t be happy.

I think it’s odd that the NCAA committee thinks it is too difficult for the FBS teams to be put in a situation where they have to play extra games in a playoff system. It doesn’t seem to have been a huge problem with the 76 teams playing in the other three divisions. Or maybe nobody cares if those athletes have problems passing their finals.

I would much rather watch a meaningful playoff game than a mediocre bowl game, but I’m kind of funny like that.