November 29, 2008 by editor.

One of the things that is great about college football is that every week there are big games with national title implications, and it always stirs up more talk about how flawed the BCS system is.  Most agree that we need a real playoff system to properly crown a national champion, but some insist that a playoff would marginalize some of the games and rivalries that mean so much now.

Others worry about the bowl games and commitments that go along with them that would be compromised as a result of a playoff as well.  What we have now is the best and worst of both worlds.  We are talking about the teams, the games, and the BCS rankings and how everything might play out every day, which is a good thing.

It does generate a lot of interest.  On the other hand we are also talking about how justice isn’t being done with the current system in place and everyone is clamoring for a better system.  There is one major factor that will always affect getting a new system in place.  And that is money.

There are many commitments between conferences and bowl games that would be affected.  Any time there is money involved there will always be resistance to drastic change, and rightfully so.  These games represent a major source of funding for these universities. 

That being said I will present a solution to this BCS system that preserves the integrety of the conferences, and would result in a more clear cut national champion than we have now.  One of the first things that would have to happen is that each major conference would have a four team playoff of their own to determine who would be the conference champion, and qualify for a season ending eight team playoff.

For example, at the seasons conclusion, the SEC would rank the top four teams and they would play to determine who the conference champion is.  Florida would play the fourth ranked team, Mississippi, and Alabama would play Georgia again.  The winner of those games would play in the championship game.  Both games would be at a neutral site.

This format would have benefited Georgia last year because they were playing their best ball at the end of the year but didn’t get a chance to compete for their conference title.  Conferences that don’t have a title game would have to be realigned, but not in a way that would affect their regular season scheduling. 

The Big Ten would split their conference into two divisions, and maybe add another team, such as Navy, or Notre Dame,  and their four team playoff would come from that group. 

The Pac 10, and the WAC are on the same side of the country, so it would be a natural fit for those two conferences to play a four team playoff featuring the top two teams from each conference.  This year that would have been Oregon State, USC, Boise State, and Oregon.

The Big East, and Sun Belt conferences would square off at season’s end, and the Mountain West and Independents would combine and split into two groups.  Keep in mind that this alignment is only to determine who qualifies for the final playoff.  These wouldn’t be permanent conference groupings.

Each division would have to be represented by one team.  For example, the WAC and PAC 10 playoff would be between Oregon State, USC, and Oregon (PAC 10) and Boise State (WAC).  The three teams from the PAC 10 have better records and are ranked higher than the rest of the teams in the WAC except for Boise State.  The only exception I would make to this is if the top team in any division has a losing record, then a team with a winning record in the other division would qualify for the conference tournament.

After the conference champions are determined here is what you would have competing for a national title:

ACC  - 1 team, Big Twelve  - 1 team, Big East/Sunbelt - 1 team, WAC/PAC 10 - 1 team, SEC - 1 team, Mountain West/Independents - 1 team, Big Ten (plus one) - 1 team, Conference USA, 1 team.

Eight teams left to play for a national title, ranked from one to eight where number 1 would play number eight, two would play seven, and so on.  No team in the country would be able to claim they were left out of the equation.  The only question would be what do you do with the bowl games, and what happens to the teams that are bowl eligible, but are not part of the eight team playoff?

The playoff would require seven games total, so those should be tied to bowl games.  The other  games would have to be populated by teams that did not qualify for the tournament.  The most difficult thing with this arrangement would be getting the bowls to change their agreements with the conferences to accommodate a playoff.  That is where you would get a lot of resistance.  Take last year for instance.  USC played Illinois in the Rose Bowl, and Georgia played Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl.  The better game and the one the public wanted badly was Georgia vs. USC, but because of the commitments of both venues we ended up with two bowl games that weren’t competitive.

For financial reasons, none of the bowl committee’s want to be forced to take teams where their fan base won’t travel to the game, and there are a lot of unsold tickets.  They would rather stick to the way things are now.  They will make deals with teams that financially make sense for them as opposed to trying to get the best game.  The actual match-up is secondary to them.  We as fans do have to understand that in the minds of the folks who put everything together, the financial aspect of this whole equation is most important. 

The only other flaw with this system is that you may have two teams in a conference that are better than the rest of the teams in the country, but only one of them will get a chance at the end of season tournament.

We want an undisputed champion, but if it can’t be done where everyone is happy financially it will be difficult to get the system changed.

What I have outlined is a little like the NCAA Basketball Championships.  They are not as concerned with whether or not teams that have played each other during the season play again in the tournament.  Their main concern is getting the best teams in the mix.  There may be repeat games, but they will be in neutral sites and they may be needed, ala the three teams in the Big 12.

Everyone gets a shot in this system, and you only have one extra game to decide conference champions.  Only four teams will play two extra games, and 2 teams will play three, and there would be very little doubt over who the national champions are at the end of the day. 

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November 22, 2008 by editor.

In one day the New York Knicks managed to undo two of the major acquisitions from the Isiah Thomas era and stay on course to free up enough cap space to lure Lebron James and another all star caliber free agent.

Jamal Crawford went to Golden State for Al Harrington, and Zach Randolph went to the Clippers along with Mardy Collins for Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley.  While this doesn’t make New York better now, Donnie Walsh is staying true to his master plan to resurrect this once proud franchise.  In order to do that he had to get rid of their highest salaried players that have contracts that run past 2010.

Many Knick fans will question this move because they are tired of the Knicks being one of the laughing stocks of the league, and they will have to endure at least one more year of losing.  One has to remember that New York has been mis-managed and in bad shape for so long that they needed a complete overhaul from the front office down.  That doesn’t happen over-night.

They brought in Walsh to run the show.  They brought in Mike D’Antoni, a high profile coach that has a track record of success, and they have a plan to not only make the Knicks competitive in the short run, but to make them perennial championship contenders.  The plan is bold, but it is well calculated and better than the hit and miss strategy of Isaiah Thomas. 

They hope to lure Lebron James to the Garden and make it his home and work on his legacy.  He has money and fame, but he doesn’t have championships and a legacy.  Resurecting the once proud Knickabocker franchise and bringing back the glory days in the city that never sleeps, the mecca of professional basketball, sounds better than languishing in Cleveland.  He doesn’t have enough help there and it is time for him to move on.

The beauty of this for New York is that there is a bumper crop of all stars that are free agents aside from James.  Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh,  Steve Nash, and Amare Stoudemire will be available to name a few.  Pairing James with Bosh and a good point guard and a supporting cast would ensure that you have a title contender for years to come.

Let’s say they don’t get James.  There are enough studs available where they can still sign more than one of them.  Keep in mind that the players know that they have a better chance at success if they are paired with another star, Ala the Boston Celtics, then they do if they go to a team by themselves.

Other teams are starting to model what Boston did in a bid to get in on free agent frenzy in 2010.  Chauncey Billups was traded for Allen Iverson to get Detroit more cap flexibility and other franchises are being very careful how they spend.   

The Knicks still have more work to do to completely wipe away the memory of the past regime.  They have to permanently sever ties with Stephon Marbury.  Many of the fans resent how Marbury has been treated, but D’Antoni as the coach has the right to play or sit whomever he choses, and it is obvious Starbury is not in the Knick’s future plans.  It is unfortunate that he is not playing, but they don’t owe him anything except his salary. 

They have to do what they feel is best for the team, and right now Marbury is basically an expiring contract.  The culture is changing in New York and for the better.  They weren’t going to contend for a championship with what they had anyway.

There is one more move that they need to make and it will be the toughest.  Moving Eddy Curry and his huge contract will take some doing because he is out of shape and not playing right now.  Getting  that done gives New York the opportunity to not only bring in James plus another all star, but they would be in a better position to re-sign David Lee and Nate Robinson.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Steve Nash takes a look at the Knicks if they snag James as well.  What better way to finish his career than to be in the system he is comfortable with along with his former coach, and in position to win a championship.

If things fall right for New York they could have three all stars playing for them in 2010.  Of course there is a chance none of this pans out, and the Knicks end up settling for second tier all stars, but it is worth the gamble.  The elite players in the league know that their best chance to win it all is to play with each other not against each other.  Boston did it, and now New York is in position to do it.

There are probably angry Knick fans because they want to win now and are tired of seeing an inferior product on the floor, especially since they have looked a lot better so far this year.  Be strong of heart.  This is not a step backward.  They had to be torn down so they can be built up the right way, and that takes time.  Don’t let impatience dim your vision.  The goal is a championship, not a decent team that gets the eighth spot in the playoffs.

I think they get Lebron, and if that happens others will follow.  The Cav’s will be in New York to play the Knicks on Tuesday.  Think Lebron will be asked a few questions?  Nah, this is just another game against another team in another city.

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