With a Thursday night game looming here is the earlier than usual slate for Week 13.*

TURKEY DAY:

1. USC -3.5 at Arizona St

No turkey of a game here. Could be the second wildest game of the weekend. I will take the Home Dog to at least stay within a field goal against one of the country’s premiere underachieving teams this year.

ASU

SHOPPING DAY:

2. Nebraska +5.5 at Colorado

Which NU team shows up: the one that allowed 76 points to KU, or the one that scored 73 against k-state? Wouldn’t the Huskers like to push a reset button and start the conference season over?

NU

3. UT -5.5 at A&M

This one’s easy: the Aggies played KU to within 8 points in College Station. And they don’t even hate the Jayhawks.

A&M

4. Arkansas +12.5 at LSU

LSU is a fine team, and if they make it to the BCS title game on a virtual Home field, they will be tough. But they get a little more respect than they have earned.

ARKANSAS

5. Boise St +3.5 at Hawaii

By the time this one is over, there will be but one FCS team remaining with a zero in the loss column. Say it loud. Say it proud., “Rock Chalk, Jay-Hawk. . .”

BSU

JUDGMENT DAY:

6. Duke +14 at UNC

The greatest rivalry in all of sports. Game Day. Fifty-two cable and satellite channels. 720 degree coverage. Hey–it makes as much sense now as it does in February or March.

Regardless, the Tar Heel pigskinners avenge Tyler Hansbrough’s broken nose.

UNC

7. Alabama +6 at Auburn

Historically, the most bitter rivalry in college football. For REAL. But a distant second this week.

Ya know something? It is hard to take a team that loses to La. Monroe seriously.

AUBURN

8. Tennessee +3 at Kentucky

The second best basketball school on the football field in the land states its case for the Cotton Bowl

KENTUCKY

9. Georgia -3.5 at Georgia Tech

Matthew Stafford is good. So good, he would be a nice back up QB at a number of Big 12 schools: KU, Mizzou, NU, Oklahoma, Texas, A&M, Tech. . .

Should be good enough in this game.

GEORGIA

10. Okie St +12 at Oklahoma

Speaking of backups, Joey Halzle will get the job done after a week of taking first team reps. Barry Switzer, the Big M’s old boss, will have the Sooners ready to play. They will put the finishing touches on a 6-2 record and stamp their ticket for San Antone a week hence.

But by 12 points? Are you kidding me? Against a team that could stay within 15 of KU at Home?

Okie St

11. Notre Dame +3.5 at Stanford

Notre Dame has one last chance to avoid double digits in the L column. If this game were only in South Bend, where the Fighting Irish are riding their longest home field winning streak of the season. . .

STANFORD

12. Florida St +14 at Florida

You can throw the record book out the window in this rivalry game. Unfortunately, for FSU, Tim Tebow will be throwing the football into the end zone—and carrying it. . .

FU

13. k-state +1 at Fresno St

What could Vegas be thinking?

FRESNO

14. Oregon -2 at UCLA

Like the other OU, Oregon’s backup QB—in this case, Ryan Leaf’s little brother—will look a lot better after a week of preparation as The Man. Unlike the other OU, the Ducks’ starter is irreplaceable.

UCLA

15. KU -2 v. Mizzou (Kansas City)

Saving the best for last. Almost always a good practice.

Mizzou would have had the edge in this game in October, before the Jayhawks learned that they could not only compete with, but beat teams on the Road—teams that had counted the KU game as a W before the season started.

On the last Saturday of November, this game is rated as a virtual toss-up by Vegas and by anyone who has a clue.

But someone has to have the edge. Who is it?

Some say Mizzou. Some say KU has been the beneficiary of an easy schedule, that they have not played anyone currently in the Top 25 or anyone with more than six wins. As if that somehow means they are not a legitimate Top 5 team. Never mind winning at a venue where Oklahoma lost while at full strength. Never mind defeating k-state on the Road when they were playing well, one week after they pounded Texas by 20 points in Austin. Never mind taking out A&M on the Road when they were playing well and were desperate to win when it was still conceivable that their coach could keep his job.

Never mind scoring more points than any team in history against Nebraska. Never mind putting up 43 in Stillwater, and handily taking out a team by 15 that had beaten Tech and k-state and lost to Texas on the last plays of those games.

Forget the schedule. KU has taken care of business the way a strong team should take care of lesser teams.

Some still subscribe to the myth that Mizzou has the edge at QB. In REALity, Chase Daniel is very good. He has a strong arm, he is elusive, he makes good decisions. But he is no better in any of these respects than Todd Reesing. In fact, if anything, Touchdown Todd is more accurate than Daniel. But the difference in the two in quarterbacking skills is so slight as to be negligible.

If there is any meaningful edge at QB, it stems from the fact that Daniel has shown that he is susceptible to succumbing to big game pressure. Those championing Mizzou point to the fact that they played OU tough in Norman. They rarely mention that, although Mizzou was in position to win that game, Daniel dropped the ball. Literally, as well as figuratively. Meanwhile, Reesing has not shown that anything adversely affects him. He shrugged off two early INT’s in his first Road start and proceeded to rip k-state apart. And virtually every time the Hawks have fallen behind this season, he has responded immediately with a T.D. drive. No matter the situation, he just keeps playing his game.

Still, I doubt that QB will be the deciding factor in this game. As they say in those PGA commercials: These Guys Are Good.

Jason Whitlock has been singing the praises of Jeremy Maclin, Mizzou’s freshman speed demon, calling him the best player on either team, and suggesting that he will be the X-Factor that separates the teams.

Again, I have to give Mizzou its due. Maclin is a play-maker. And if the game were likely to be a low scoring, 14-10 affair, I might agree that he is the most likely player to break the big play that determines the Big 12 North’s representative next week in Alamo-town.

But KU has playmakers, too. The same day Maclin took a short pass and turned it into an 82 yard TD to help Mizzou down A&M, Marcus Henry took a short pass from Reesing between two Okie St defenders and turned it into an 82 yard TD. Maclin had more separation from the defense as he crossed the goal line, but whether you beat your pursuers to the end zone by two yards or five, you get six points. No extra credit for style points. And don’t forget Dexton Fields, Dez Briscoe, and Brandon McAnderson, all of whom have recorded big plays this season—not to mention Reesing’s 53 yard scramble at Colorado.

In a game in which both teams could score in the 30’s, or even the 40’s, there will be big plays. Whether either team scores on one big play or a number of shorter plays is not going to decide the outcome. The key will be not settling for field goals.

In their last three games, KU has rolled to 164 points (54.7 ppg), while Mizzou has scored 144 (48 ppg). Neither team has a meaningful edge offensively.

So which team is better equipped to make the other settle for field goals? KU has the better defense. That much is certain. But does it REALly make a difference? It doesn’t unless the better D can actually stop or slow down the opponent’s offense.

This game is reminiscent of two games in recent years. The first, in this very stadium, being the Chiefs vs. the Colts in the 2004 playoffs. Zero punts the entire game by either team. But the Colts had the better D, relatively speaking, and held the Chiefs to a field goal on one possession. That was the game.

The other is USC vs. Texas. UT had a marginally better defense, but it was not good enough to stop the Trojans’ offense. There were some punts, however. Two by each team. But the team with the better D made one play, stopping USC on a fourth and 2, to take possession with two minutes remaining, down 38-34.

If it comes down to one defensive play, the Jayhawks are more likely to make it. But not by much.

In fact, it is likely that neither team makes a play that wins the game. Rather, one team will fail to make a play. As USC did when an easy INT was dropped for no apparent reason on what turned into the game winning drive. Missed chances to secure turnovers will be huge. Dropped passes in the end zone will be huge. Bad spots or bogus penalties called by a ref or line judge that coincidentally help Texas whine its way into a BCS bowl will be huge.

But how do you assess the probability of these things. You don’t. You can’t.

What you can do is ask which team has the better Offense overall. Answer: It’s a push.

Receivers? Mizzou.

Running backs? KU

Overall D? KU.

Defensive line? Linebackers.? Defensive backs? KU. KU. KU.

Special teams? Big edge to KU in punting. Maclin and Hereford are a push in kick returns. Place kicking is a push.

Coaching? KU. (See 3 of the last 4 year, with Mizzou favored every game.)

And, in my mind, most importantly (again saving the best for last), offensive line. It is this group, more than any other, which determines who controls a close game. KU has the edge.

Makes you wonder why KU is only a two point favorite.

Beats me. Probably because in none of the areas in which KU has the edge is it a big edge, with the exception of punting.

In sum, if the game is efficiently played, without cheap points off turnovers playing a major factor, KU has enough advantages to justify giving 2 points.

And besides, KU is 10-0 against the spread. Why in the world would you bet against that?

Lose, Tigers, lose to the Big Blue.
You’re in the big time when you play KU.
Throw the ball away and have no fear.
Tonight the Hawks will grab your tail and kick your rear.
So lose, Tigers, lose to the Big Blue.
We’ll score many points and you’ll score few,
We will stomp you ‘til you moan and groan
And you’ll wish you’d stayed at home.

–Mark

*For entertainment purposes only. No guarantees. No refunds.

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First, a correction. Last week I stated that I had gone 60-0 with my picks while PhogBlog was down due to technical problems. During that time, I had shared my picks with Jeremy, and his recollection was not entirely consistent with mine. So he asked me to re-check my figures. I did, and, after further review, it turns out that I was mistaken. My record for the four weeks was actually 33-26-1.

My apologies for this inadvertent miscalculation.

My record last week was 10-4-1. You could look it up.

My record for the season is 82-55-3.

REALly.

The games of Week 11*:

1. KU -5.5 at Okie St

This is the third straight week that I have wondered about the respect KU is receiving from Vegas. However, I have profited the previous two times by taking the Hawks anyway.

This week, though, the boys in Nevada are REALly stretching the limit. They are making the Jayhawks give almost a TD on the Road to a team that, for thirty minutes last year, made KU 76, NU 39 seem like a photo finish between two evenly matched competitors.

And that game was in Lawrence. Why would this year’s game be any different in Stillwater.

For one, Okie St does not appear to have improved over the course of the time. At least not to the same extent KU has.

The Cowboys have been dominated by Troy. Not Sparta, mind you. Troy.

They have blown a 17 point half-time lead in a loss to A&M and its lame duck coach.

But those two games were on the Road. Strange things happen on the Road.

At Home, Okis St survived a shoot-out with Tech only because the Red Raiders dropped a certain game winning TD pass on the game’s final play.

They survived a shoot-out with k-state by kicking a field goal on the game’s final play.

And they blew a 21 point fourth quarter lead while going scoreless themselves to lose what should have been a blow-out (not a shoot-out) to Texas.

So Okie St and their adult coach are vulnerable even in Slim Pickin’s Stadium.

And any team that can score TD’s on 10 consecutive tries is well-equipped to win a shoot-out.

In addition, KU’s defense is better equipped, both talent and preparation-wise, to at least make OSU work for their scores this year. There might even be an occasional three and out, as opposed to three and PAT’s.

With all this said, does KU have enough manpower and moxie to win this game?

Before the season, I conceded this game as a certain L. A few weeks ago, I assessed our chances of winning to be 42%.

Because of the problems Okie St has had putting anyone other than the dregs of the conference away, because Touchdown Todd has truly become a TD machine, and because KU is one hard-nosed group of competitors with high football IQ’s, I now rate the Hawks chances in this game at 51.3%.

So, yes, I think KU stays undefeated.

But by 5.5?

OSU has had their three conference Home games decided on the final play of the game against three pretty good teams. KU’s Road wins have been by 6, 5, and 8 points.

Kudos to Vegas. They did a nice job on this game.

My gut says KU by a field goal. But since the Hawks have beaten the spread every week thus far this season, I will ride this bird until the sun sets.

KU

2. A&M +18.5 at Mizzou

How many points would Vegas need to dangle from its odds board to entice me into thinking of taking the dysfunctional entity that is the Texas Asinine Masochistic football team on the Road? Mizzou gets to pad its numbers against an uninspired opponent as it continues on a collision course with KU in Kansas City.

MIZZOU

3. k-state -7.5 at Nebraska

How many points would Vegas need to dangle from its odds board to entice me into thinking of taking the dysfunctional entity that is “N is for Nowledge” U at Home. What I would REALly like to see is a game between NU and TAM: Winner keeps its coach. Or would that be loser?

k-state

4. Texas Tech +6.5 at Texas

Even Mack Brown is smart enough to stay out of a shoot-out with Graham Harrell and Co. UT methodically wears Tech down at Home.

UT

5. Colorado -5 at Iowa St

I would buy this line in Boulder. But the Cyclones have played solid three weeks running. At best, this game is a toss-up. Five points makes it easy money.

IOWA ST

6. Michigan St +4 at Purdue

Two fairly equal teams. If you give Purdue 3-4 points for the Home field, it’s a dead even game. If you value the Boilers’ home field as worth 5 points, you take:

PURDUE

7. Michigan -2.5 at Wisconsin

Michigan’s march to the Top 10 comes to a screeching halt.

WISCONSIN

8. Illinois +15 at Ohio St

Like it or not, Ohio St, our second undefeated team of the week, just seems to keep improving—like KU. They might get their come-uppance before the regular season ends, but it won’t be in Columbus.

Ohio St

9. Air Force -2.5 at Notre Dame

Notre Dame a Home Dog to Air Force? Because the Fly Boys don’t have a 44 year drought and to end:

NOTRE DAME

10. Florida St +6.5 at Virginia Tech

Florida St is another improving team, albeit more slowly than Ohio St and KU. Last week they beat BC on the Road. They are likely to at least stay close to the Hokies.

FSU

11. Arkansas at Tennessee (Pick)

Darren McFadden, the best RB this side of Adrian Peterson, is hitting his stride.

ARKANSAS

12. Kentucky -3 at Vanderbilt

Kentucky? That’s a basketball school.

VANDERBILT

13. Florida -6.5 at South Carolina

Gotta like Steve Spurrier getting a TD and half a PAT at Home vs. the team of his youth. And middle-age.

SOUTH CAROLINA

14. Southern Cal -4 at Cal

This once looked like the National Game of the Year. Instead, that title is more and more looking applicable to the Border War (that’s right, Lew, I said “WAR”—put that in your wimpified pipe and smoke it) in the Home of the Cheeeeefs. As for the defrocked contest in Berkeley, what has USC done to make anyone think they can go on the Road and beat a good (if not as good as anticipated) team of Cal Bears?

CAL

15. Fresno St +17 at Hawaii

The third and last of the nation’s undefeated teams. Frsno has a history of playing top teams tough. Hawaii has a history of blowing by anyone who ventures into their island lair.

HAWAII

–Mark

*For entertainment purposes only. You get what you pay for. There are no refunds.

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The Games of Week 3*:

1. Toledo +21.5 at KU

Payback. This time it’s for REAL!

Actually, this isn’t REALly a revenge game. It is not as if Toledo last September took something that belonged to the Jayhawks. They accepted a gift. What did the Hawks expect them to do? Politely decline? “Thank you, kindly, for the offer of the free W, Mr. Mangino, but we must respectfully insist that it is rightfully yours. We are not worthy.”

Fat chance.

In truth, had the Fighting Manginos asserted themselves, they would have won by 3 TD’s last year. They have only themselves to blame for losing that game and staying home during bowl season. This year, the Hawks are not fooling around. They win by 40. Or more.

I love it when Vegas doesn’t have a clue. Or their hands are tied, because the average bettor doesn’t have a clue.

This is Easy Money:

KU

2. Southern Cal -10 at Nebraska

Nebraska confirmed at Wake Forest that they are over-rated. They can’t run. They occasionally execute big pass play as required by the law of averages. Their defense is good, but not the black-shirt D of old: More of a light-grey shirt Defense.

What is not over-rated is NU’s home field. Even though USC might be the best team in the country- at least, west of Norman-they will have trouble putting the Huskers away. A couple of turnovers at the wrong spot on the field, and an outright W for the Big Red is not out of the question. Not likely, but not out of the question. They will, at least, stay within a TD and FG.

NEBRASKA

3. Iowa -17.5 at iowa St

Welcome to the REAL World, Mr. Chizik. The world where you don’t have Vince Young. Where your available scholarships are not all snapped up by 5 Star recruits 6-12 months before national signing day. The world where the officials don’t serve as your team’s personal bodyguards, with their primary duty being to protecting your BCS dreams and the conference BCS money. The world where whining isn’t the currency that buys your way into a BCS Bowl Game. The world where, if you want to dream of victory, you have to improve your players’ skills, prepare for the upcoming opponent because you don’t out-talent them by a margin as big as Palo Duro Canyon, and make insightful in-game adjustments-rather than merely wearing your opponent down with superior players and superior numbers.

In other words: Welcome to Iowa St.

IOWA

4. Texas Tech -28.5 at Rice

Rice REALly misses Major Applewhite.

TEXAS TECH

5. Texas -19 at Central Florida

UT will have trouble covering this spread on the Road against a fired up team in its brand-spanking new on campus stadium, now that they have abandoned the old Citrus Bowl (cite of the post-season game formerly called the Tangerine Bowl). Not to mention UCF’s first ever sellout. But their depth will wear UCF down as surely as nearby Splash Mountain cools its passengers down. The final score will make it look deceivingly easy. And it will be easy enough that the refs won’t have to put the Longhorns on their backs and carry them to the finish line this week.

UT

6. Florida St -4 at Colorado

Florida St can likely cover this spread with a field goal and a safety. But they won’t stop there. Fortunately, for the Buffs, their offense will score again this season with ISU on their schedule.

FSU

7. Central Michigan +19.5 at Purdue

KU downed CMU by 45, which accurately reflected the discrepancy between the two teams. Purdue, approximately half as good as the Hewks, should be able to cover 20.

PURDUE

8. Mississippi St +12.5 at Auburn

Is there team so feeble that it cannot cover at Auburn?

MISSISSIPPI ST

9. Tennessee +8 at Florida

Oh, for the days of Steve Spurrier and Peyton Manning, when this game was easy to call.

FLORIDA

10. Notre Dame +7.5 at Michigan

What is the Over/Under on how many times ABC will show the graphic that Notre Dame and Michigan have never before both lost their first two games of the season? One of these teams will still be winless Sunday morning. Because the Wolverines are at Home and might have a clue against Notre Dame’s non-spread offense:

MICHIGAN

11. Ohio St -4 at Washington

At this point, there is no reason to be impressed by any Big 11 team. At least not on the Road against a PAC-10 team that has already taken down the defending WAC and Fiesta Bowl Champion.

12. Arkansas +3.5 at Alabama

It is always risky to take the visiting team in a close SEC matchup. Alabama is on the Road back from Perdition, but is still at least a year away.

ALABAMA

13. Wyoming +12.5 at Boise St

The Broncos will be hopping-or bucking-mad after having the nation’s longest winning streak snapped last week.

BSU

14. Fresno St +16 at Oregon

Oregon beat Michigan by 32 in the Big House last week. Surely, they can take out Fresno St by 17 in Eugene. Of course, as mentioned last week, Fresno St says it will play anyone, anywhere, anytime. And by “play,” they mean “tough.”

FRESNO ST

15. Louisville -6.5 at Kentucky

Easy Money is hard to beat.

LOUISVILLE

–Mark

*For entertainment purposes only. There are no refunds.

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Nice win for KU yesterday, but not worthy of rushing the field and tearing down $10,000 worth of goal posts.� For all of the freshmen phog-readers out there…KNOCK IT OFF with this crap when we beat a lesser opponent on our own field.� KU wins at home (most of the time).� We should expect to.� And when we celebrate a win over a mediocre K-State team in our own house, the entire program looks ridiculous.� This win is worth a couple of beers after the game at the wheel..and that’s IT.� We were a 2.5 point favorite for heaven’s sake.� I understand that rushing the field is fun..and I’m fine with it after beating Nebraska for the first time in almost half a century.� But come on..yesterday’s post game display was just a joke.

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At least according to some.

Kansas (25:1) fits the definition of a sleeper in the Big 12 for a couple of reasons. The first is that they play in the Big 12 North, and they get to avoid Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech in the regular season. That makes for a pretty soft schedule.

The Jayhawks’ offense will lead the way this year even though they have a freshman at quarterback with Kerry Meier. Defensively, this team was very solid overall last year, and the run defense was tremendous.

The loss of eight starters on “D” dampers the spirit somewhat, but there is a lot of optimism on campus this year and Kansas is a team to keep an eye on.

Texas is favored to win here.

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First, disabuse yourself of the notion that the Rose Bowl game between Southern Cal and Texas will reveal who the best college football team in the country is for 2005.

It will determine nothing more than whether the Big 12 champion is better than the PAC-10 champion.

The truth is, as it has been since the beginning of time, there will be no true national champion in Division 1 football.

There is a reason the team voted No. 1 in one poll or another has traditionally been referred to as the “mythical” national champion. The reason is that a national championship by opinion is not real. It is a myth-no more real than Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, Achilles, and Cerberus, the three-headed dog that guards the entry to the underworld.

Why do I make such a statement? Don’t we have only two undefeated teams in Division I this season? Have they not proven, by the zero in the loss column, that they are the two best teams in all the land? And aren’t they meeting on the same field at the same team, after which only one will remain undefeated? Hasn’t the BCS worked for once?

In a word: No.

What the two teams in the Rose Bowl have proven-decisively–is that they are the best teams in the Big 12 and the PAC 10.

That is all they have proven.

Has either proven that it is better than the champion of the Big 11, the ACC, or the SEC? How can we possibly know, considering that neither USC or Texas have played any of those leagues’ champions?

Is there any reason to believe that either USC or Texas would be undefeated today if they had been required to run the SEC gauntlet, with road games at rabid locales like LSU, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee-even the other USC? And follow that up by beating a strong team, perhaps a second time, on a neutral field-as opposed to playing Colorado, a 5-3 conference team that had just lost 30-7 to a 4-4 team? Or, in USC’s case, as opposed to playing no conference championship game at all?

Of course, it is possible that either USC or Texas could survive such a challenge. It is far from a certainty, however. The probability is that if either team switched schedules with one of the stronger SEC teams, they would be trading themselves into a 1 or 2 in the Loss Column. And the SEC team would likely romp through this year’s mediocrity that is the Big 12-or have a good shot at running the table in the PAC-10, notwithstanding a couple of challenges from UCLA and Oregon.

Yes, Texas has one good win-at Ohio St-but that’s it. They played a one game season and survived that game when the Buckeye receiver dropped a wide-open touchdown pass that would have effectively ended the Longhorns’ quest for a national championship before it began.

USC played a four game schedule: downing UCLA and Oregon in conference play, miraculously squeezing by Notre Dame in South Bend, and eking out a victory against Fresno St in the Coliseum. While these are solid credentials, the question remains: what have they done that suggests they are better than the best team in the Big 11, the SEC, and the ACC?

In a word: Nothing.

They have merely won all their games against different opponents.

By the logic that places Texas and USC in a one game “championship,” the NFL should forego its playoffs and simply match Indianapolis against Seattle in the Super Bowl. The NBA should cut its never-ending playoffs by 6-8 weeks by simply pairing Detroit and San Antonio if both end the regular season with the best records.

Or the NCAA could follow its own lead in basketball and blow off the other 63 teams it normally allows to compete for the national championship by matching Duke and UConn in one game for the national championship.

Why not? These are the teams with the best overall regular season records in their respective sports.

This is why not: as long as teams in certain conferences are placed at a disadvantage in competing for a berth in a one game championship, the playing field is not level.

How to level the playing field?

Simple. You give the top teams from across the country the same task: Win a series of games against top competition. Don’t leave one team out because it has four or five difficult opponents on its schedule and loses to one of them, while including a team that plays one strong opponent in September and then doesn’t have to show up again until January.

“But the obstacles,” you say. “How can we overcome them? How can we possibly give everyone a fair chance? It would take forever. The logistics would be daunting. And the poor players-how could they possibly survive physically and academically?”

More myths.

Let’s take a look at a system that will work. Then examine how EVERY objection to a playoff system that would crown a true champion is bogus.

THE PLAN

1. The Teams

Eight teams.

Start with the champions of the five top conferences: the ACC, Big 11, Big 12, PAC-10, and SEC. These conferences can decide their champion-their automatic qualifier– by whatever means they choose.

This places a premium where it belongs: on conference championships. Not on overall records, which give an unfair advantage to teams with weak conference schedules and a string of non-conference foes chosen simply for their inability to provide competition.

Add three at large teams selected by a qualified committee to allow participation by champions of other conferences (e.g. Utah last year), worthy second teams from a conference (e.g., if Iowa and Ohio St. were to both go undefeated in the Big 11 because they don’t play each other), and-yes-Notre Dame, if they earn it.

Among other things, these final three slots will encourage teams that hope to be in the Field of Eight to schedule more strong non-conference opponents. A loss to a strong team will not be fatal to their national championship hopes, and a win will strengthen its resume more than a victory over the seventh place team from the WAC or the MAC or any Division II opponent.

2. The Format

Simpler still. Take the Field of Eight and place them in the four current BCS Bowls: i.e., the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange.

No other Bowl game is affected. The current non-BCS bowls will all continue to be played as exhibitions, as rewards for successful seasons, as parties for the fans of the schools involved, as PR and tourist events for the host cities, as preludes to the games that decide the nation’s champion.

The Field of Eight can be seeded, as in March Madness, or not seeded to allow the current BCS Bowls to maintain their traditional conference tie-ins. For example, the Rose Bowl could revert to hosting the Big 11 and PAC-10 champions every year-even if those teams were rated 1 and 2 in all the polls and by all the computers. In that case, we might also have Georgia vs. West Virginia or Oregon in the Sugar Bowl, Florida St vs. Ohio St in the Orange Bowl, and Texas vs. Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.

A seeded system might result in USC vs. Florida St (Rose), Texas vs. Oregon or West Virginia (Fiesta), Penn St vs. Georgia (Sugar), and Notre Dame vs. Ohio St (Orange).

Either way eight deserving teams would be playing each other with one common task: Win three consecutive games against strong opponents. Sneaking into a “one game playoff”-a la Ohio St in 2002 or Texas this year, and somehow winning that single game, would not suffice. Nor should it. A true champion should be required, and should be able, to meet a multi-game challenge, rather than awarded the ultimate prize in its sport for playing one game when everything “clicks” (or, as in Ohio St’s case, the refs give you a little help).

These games will all be played on or around New Year’s Day-again, keeping with tradition. And all four will be meaningful-not merely one or, occasionally, two.

The four winners will play each other the following week. And the winners of those games will then play for the REAL (not mythical) championship.

Bottom line: Three additional games after the traditional New Year’s Day games. Two teams play one additional game. The two finalists play two.

That’s even less than the playoffs already in effect at every other level of football: professional, small college, and high school.

More importantly, we will have a champion that has proven itself on the field, rather than merely in the minds of voters, with all their human frailties, or in cyberspace.

THE BOGUS ARGUMENTS FOR THE STATUS QUO

Myth No. 1: Academics

Let’s see: We have two teams play one extra week and two teams play two. In January. What’s the problem?

Why is it that academics is thrown out as a consideration in Division 1 football, but not in Division II or lower? Or in basketball, volleyball, soccer, golf, and all other sports that have multiple weeks of championship competition? Is it that Division 1 football players are not as smart as these other athletes?

If anything, Division 1 football players are better suited for coping academically with post-season games than their counterparts at other levels or in other sports. Unlike basketball, and virtually all other sports, the football playoff would be played when school is out. What Division 1 schools are even in session January 1-20? If there are any, it is a marked exception, not the rule.

Myth No. 2: Too Many Games

This argument is not only bogus, it is hypocritical.

This benevolent claim, about the wear and tear on the athlete, was proclaimed as a reason for not extending the season with a playoff when there was a nine game regular season. That didn’t stop the powers that be from adding a tenth game. Then an eleventh. And now a twelfth.

With exemptions for “charity” games prior to the normal start of the season, exemptions for games in Hawaii, conference championship games, and bowl games, there have already been teams that have played 14 games. In fact, in 2002, Nebraska went 7-7, including the Independence Bowl, and would have played a fifteenth game had the Huskers won the Big 12 North and qualified for the conference championship.

Further, if there is a concern about the number of football games, why does it apply only to Division 1?

So don’t try to tell me you are concerned with the length of the season. If the money were right, we would see a 52 game season.

Myth No. 3:It would diminish the importance of the regular season

This theory is that EVERY regular season game now is big, because one loss can, and often will, cost a team any chance of playing for the national championship. EVERY game, the theory goes, is a playoff game.

The primary problems with this myth are:

1. The regular season “playoff” games are not against each other. An SEC team, for example, defeats Florida, Auburn, and Georgia, and is then kicked out of the national championship picture because they have a letdown against Ole Miss? Meanwhile, a team in the Big 12 rolls merrily along toward the NC game while playing Iowa St, Baylor, Oklahoma St, and Missouri? Why should these teams be determining the national championship game participants? Why should Texas and Southern Cal benefit by an extra play Michigan is awarded against Penn St? What argument is there for not having best teams playing each other, with equal motivation, and an identical task?

2. It has created an atmosphere of timid scheduling that robs us of truly compelling intersectional games from September through November. It is responsible for uncompetitive games between powerhouse programs and second, third, or even fourth level programs like Louisiana-Lafayette, Rice, Maine, Central Michigan, Middle Tennessee St, Appalachian St, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Indiana St, Sam Houston St, etc.

Who in his right mind would not prefer a fall afternoon or evening watching games like Alabama/Texas, Michigan/Florida, Nebraska/Ohio St–even Michigan St/Texas Tech or Virginia Tech/Cal?

No, a playoff system that places an emphasis on winning your conference and playing a strong non-conference schedule would create more important regular season games, within and without the conference schedule-and better games..

Myth No. 4: It would diminish the importance of the other bowl games

This is the most laughable argument of all. How do you diminish something that does not exist? Currently, there is one, and occasionally two-bowls that matter, and 26-27 that do not. With the playoff system proposed here, there will be more games that matter (seven) and only 24 that do not. Those 24 will still be as “important” and relevant as they are under the present system-i.e., the football equivalent of the NIT.

Myth No. 5: A playoff would leave only one team with a successful season

This argument is that, with a playoff, rather than having 28 teams conclude their season with a win, there would be only one. Every other team would look back on their season with a bitter taste in their mouths.

Obviously, this assertion is bogus.

First, under the system proposed here, 25 teams (not one) would end their seasons with victories: the national champion and the 24 other bowl winners.

Second, even the additional three losers would not likely be despondent over their final game loss. Just making it to that point will be a badge of honor-as is making the Final Four in basketball. In fact, it would more likely be celebrated with new banners hanging in the stadium and contract extensions for the coaches.

Myth No. 6: It would be too difficult to put together

Yeah, right! We can run a 64 game neutral court tournament, with 14 sites, in basketball, but can’t figure out how to play three extra football games in two weeks.

My guess is that all the brains at all of the NCAA colleges, plus the television networks, with virtually unlimited resources, could figure it out.

Or I’ll do it. Play the extra three games at one of the four major bowl sites and rotate the honor. Or play the semi-final games at one site and the final game at another-and rotate these sites.

Oh, the detractors say, but the fans! How could they possibly afford the time and expense required to make all these games?

Maybe they could-as many now do for three consecutive weekends of basketball in March and April, or maybe the couldn’t. If they can’t make it, they can watch it on T.V. I would take my chances on filling the stands with locals and a goodly showing by the participating schools. Especially if you make the tickets affordable-and why shouldn’t they be with all the TV money this spectacle would garner.

Myth No. 7: But the No. 9 team. . .

This argument is one I have never followed. If the controversy moves from whether an undefeated Auburn team is left out of a one game playoff to whether Oregon or West Virginia is left out of an eight game field, that’s a good thing.

The first team out in a two team field can make a strong argument that it was the best team in all the land and was unfairly prevented from proving it.

The argument for the No. 9 team is much less compelling.

In other words, a controversy at the top of the food chain is important. The further down the food chain this controversy is moved the better. If 116 teams were allowed in, there would still be a controversy between the last team chosen and the 117th team. But who would care-other than the 117th team?

If you are left out of a two team playoff, it might be the system’s fault. If you are left out of an eight team playoff, with five automatic qualifiers, it is probably your own fault.

In conclusion, as long as only two teams are chosen to participate in one game to be declared the national champions, that title continues to be mythical. It is, in reality, nothing more than a game between two conference champions. Even less if one of the participants is Notre Dame.

The game this Wednesday night between Texas and Southern Cal might turn out to be an interesting and memorable game. But it is not for the National Championship. It is for the championship of the Big 12/PAC-10.

If Penn St, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio St, Florida St, and West Virginia or Oregon were invited to the party, the winner could be said to be both REAL (as opposed to a myth) and to have gained its title the old-fashioned way-by earrrrrrrning it.

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The Big 12 had another nice night in football, as the once struggling Sooners redeemed their season with a win over BCS snub Oregon. That’s two wins over high profile programs so far and a dominating performance by KU to boot. I don’t know if I’ll be rooting for MU tonight, although the justification for doing so seems to be that their fans might take the small measure of satisfaction in beating a decent Gamecocks squad in a bowl game and parley that into their typical stratuspheric expectations next year.

We’ll see how ISU, MU TTU and UT can do, but if they can match the 3-1 record that their B12 brothers have put up, I think it’s safe to say that the big 12 wasn’t all that bad this year.

If UT can take home the Rose Bowl Trophy and the Big 12 is 6-2 in bowls, I think a lot of people will say it was the best football conference.

I don’t know enough about football or conferences to make that judgment, but on the surface, the numbers look pretty compelling.

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Good for them. That national attention can’t hurt, and neither can the fact that we’ll be practicing once recruits start visiting in a few weeks. Saturday’s was a big win for KU, a really big win.

Here’s a screenshot in case they’ve changed the homepage.

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As I write this from the comfort of my basement in Prairie Village, reeling from my lack of attendance to undoubtedly the biggest KU football victory in my lifetime, I can’t begin to say how much this makes my day. What a great day for the program!

Due to some rather unfortunate circumstances, I was not able to attend the game. However, as the game went on, and I listened to Bob and Max on 980 KMBZ…I realized how lucky I was indeed. Listening to Max Faulkenstein call this game was almost as special as the victory itself. What better way to send him out than ending “the streak” against The Huskers? Looking back at all of the games this guy has seen and called in his 60 year career at Kansas, and listening to the emotion in his voice was almost as good as being at Memorial Stadium today. Thanks Max for making it a great day to be a Jayhawk.

Not only did we beat Nebraska..we dismantled them on all fronts. 40-15. Defensively this team is ridiculous. Congrats to Nick Reid and his crew.

-Photo courtesy of Mark Robinett, Phogblog road crew.

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I came across this article today, and thought my fellow phog-bloggers would like to hear a student perpective on last Saturday’s Border War from a truly objective source. This editorial is from Chris Licata, a student journalist for The Daily Campus at UCONN. Thanks Chris for the kind words about Lawrence…come back anytime.

Link to article here.

Article courtesy of Shonna Atchison.
ryno

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It appears from the free for all message boards at the Kansan that my homey Kellis Robinett is taking some heat for his article criticizing the students for rushing the field at the Mizzou game. I was at the game with The Phog and I know we differ in opinion on this matter. But, I can’t help but agree with Kellis. We’ve got a losing streak that dates back to 1968 about to end the next weekend against Nebraska. Why steal the thunder of that celebration and waste two perfectly good goalposts on freaking Mizzou? Over the last 3 years, we own this program in football and basketball. They don’t deserve the time of day when it comes to this type of thing. If we beat Nebraska on Saturday, and tear down the goalposts, there will be something a little less special about it due to our student’s lack of foresight this past weekend.

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Mediocrity reigns once again as our neighbors to the East fail again to live up to their own gaudy, delusional expectations. KU’s defense absolutely dominated Mizzou, and it’s no wonder why.

Despite the fact that KU’s offense has placed such a burden on the defense, KU’s run defense is after today’s game is the best in the nation (thanks to PGo for pointing that out) Update: second best in the nation to OU. Give those guys a hand. They deserve it.

It was a glorious day in Lawrence. There are few finer things in sport than watching a mob of win-crazed students carrying goalposts off to Potter’s lake as the sun shines on Mt Oread.

Rock Chalk Jayhawks.

Look forward to next week, by the way, because the streak, which is 9 years older than me, will end, and it will end in front of a packed house.

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