The best thing about following sports is that there never seems to be a dull moment. Just when the sports world appears to be entering the 'slow' part of the year (post NBA & NHL and pre-NFL) we get new, fun stories to cover. Yesterday was a moment that many sports fans have yearned for for years. College Football which is extremely popular has been slow to adapt to the wishes of its fans. After seeing the successes and growth of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, fans across the country have clamored for football to do likewise.
We have been jaded over the years about the inequalities of the BCS. Entrusting our faith into some made up computer rankings combined with the absent minded rankings of coaches who probably didn't watch any games but their own and sports writers with agendas that make a true ranking completely impossible. How many times did we need to see quality programs like Boise St. and TCU get shafted because they didn't play in a bigger, more well known Conference? Is it their fault that other schools refuse to play them either at home or on the road because it would be a lose/lose situation for the bigger school? If you beat them, you're supposed to and if you lose, you're season is ruined and a chance at a National Championship is gone.
2009 saw the biggest cluster**ck occur when five different teams (Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati and Boise St.) all finished their regular seasons undefeated. This was the worst case scenario for the BCS and it will continue to be the worst case scenario under the new format. Yesterday NCAA Football agreed to a four team playoff system that will start in the 2014 season. Now teams can still have a chance to win a National Championship without finishing #1 or #2. Of course if five teams were to go undefeated somebody would still get left out of the 'small dance'.
As soon as the four team playoff was announced the shift in focus for fans of a playoff was getting to 8 or even 16 teams. I have always thought that 8 teams was the right number. I understand that the major draw for college football is that every regular season game matters. At most, teams should only be allowed to lose one game and still qualify as a championship contender. To finish in the top 8 would still be a difficult enough feat.
In the last five years the breakdown in losses between top 8 and top 16 teams looked like this:
2011 1-8 10 losses 9-16 20 losses
2010 1-8 7 losses 9-16 14 losses
2009 1-8 5 losses 9-16 20 losses
2008 1-8 7 losses 9-16 17 losses
2007 1-8 14 losses 9-16 20 losses (Hawaii was an outlier finishing 12-0 but ranked 10th)
The top 8 in the last 5 years combined for only 43 losses while the next 8 had 91 losses in the same time period. I think it's fair to state that anyone finishing in the top 8 at the end of the regular season should be good enough to get a shot at winning the whole thing.
Allowing 4 teams to compete for a National Championship is a good start, but it's still not good enough. There will still be arguments and there will still be a very good team that doesn't get the respect it should throughout the season which will cost them the ultimate shot at glory.
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Locally the Washington Capitals went back down the rabbit hole to ex-players, turned coaches to find a new head bench boss. Adam Oates played six seasons here in Washington, including the magical season of 1998 which is the only year the Capitals played in the Finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs. That's where the comparisons between him and ex-coach Dale Hunter end. Even though Hunter was supposed to be an offensive style coach, he brought a completely defensive approach in his only season here. Adam Oates should allow offensive weapons like Alex Ovechkin, Nick Backstrom and Mike Ribeiro to utilize their skills a bit more. He also is going to be much more charismatic than was Hunter. While he may not be the life of the party with his words and reactions like John Tortorella, he can't be much more vanilla and stoic than Hunter was.
Whether the coaching gig works out for Oates or not, he will also remember yesterday for another reason. He was also elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. I'd call that a pretty good day to say the least. On the ice, Oates was one of the finest passers the NHL has ever seen. He made other people better scorers. End of story. If you were on the ice you had better have been ready to shoot because if there was a sliver of open ice, Oates could find you. Backstrom and Ribeiro have shown flashes of this skill throughout their respective careers and adding a good teacher in Oates should only help. With the loss of Alexander Semin (probably) the Capitals are still lacking consistent offensive punch. Even with shortcomings on the current roster, hopefully we don't have to watch the same defensive approach that was so painful to cheer for in the playoffs earlier this year.
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