College Football Week 13, in which LSU and Arkansas put a boot in your ...

Furthering things, the NCAA's Division III -- which doesn't allow athletic scholarships because it's supposed to be the schools that stress academics first -- plays a 5-week tournament, so Mt. Union and Wisconsin-Whitewater play 15 games every year, and the teams they beat in the semifinals play 14.

And, FYI, the Stagg Bowl and the D3 semis are usually the same time as finals week. Unless things change, the bulk of a I-A football tournament would be played over Christmas break, thereby not interfering with academics.

So, does this mean the NCAA looks out for academics in I-A, but doesn't in the division where the "student" in student-athlete is paramount?

IMO, the solution is to play a 16-team tournament, have strict requirements on who can play in I-A (e.g., minimum attendance, scholarships, et al, to keep hangers-on from forming the Atlantic Sun conference to get a cut of the tournament money and crowding out the at-large berths), give autobids to each *current* conference, start it the first week of December (finish the regular season Thanksgiving weekend, including conference title games), play the first two rounds on the campus of the higher-seeded team, the semis and finals at neutral venues.

Leave the more trimmed-down set of bowls as a sort-of NIT for first-round losers and teams that don't make the tournament.

I've become a fan of a local D3 team over the last few years -- which has become a local power and just made its fourth appearance in the national tournament in five years -- and I love the way they do things. A 32-team tournament when there are 300+ teams isn't watered down. All of the at-large bids save one were 9-1 this year, and it produces great, intriguing football each year. You end up following your team's conference closely (due to the automatic bids), but also the teams in the region because you're scoping out potential tournament opponents. Making it is an accomplishment, but so is each win. When my wife's alma mater made it to the elite eight a few years ago as a virtual D3 mid-major, it was a big, big deal.

That kind of intrigue at the D1-A level would be out of this world.

 

It is finished.

Not much of a suitable image, but I'm a man of my word.

Shmagratulations.

 

In what could be the No. 1 reason to get rid of the B.C.S., Missouri is No. 25 in the latest rankings.

 

That would be nice. Under the present system, a team can't play for its own conference championship yet can play in the national championship game.

 

It's Charles Robinson's fault.

 

I don't like your agenda.

 

Should have used this one:

 

Please tell me that you typed "Saban penis hat" to find that.

 

Going back a few pages to the debate of where LSU ranks as an all-time team for a minute. I'm not sure if they're an all-time team (the offense isn't on the level of an '04 or '05 USC squad, or '95 Nebraska), but they're certainly an all-time defense. So is Alabama.

Out of curiosity, I went back and broke down their touchdowns allowed this year. LSU has given up a total of 12 offensive touchdowns. Two came on long passes that were the result of busted coverages and two others were late in blowouts. That means they've given up eight meaningful touchdowns where the opponent has driven the ball down the field for a score.

Alabama has given up nine offensive touchdowns. One was an 82-yard run against Georgia Southern that I'll count in the "broken play" category. One was in the last two minutes of a lopsided win over Penn State, and another came off a turnover that gave Kent State the ball at the 3-yard line.
So, Alabama has given up six meaningful, drive-based touchdowns in 12 games.

No idea where other top defenses in history rank on that scale, but that's a damned impressive stat. Also has me believing we're not going to see a 45-38 shootout in the championship game.

 

This has been bugging me for a while. I know you're talking about Charles Robinson the Yahoo writer, but every time I hear his name I always picture this guy:

 

I think of Mac from "Night Court":