My thoughts on the new "College Football Playoff" (creative name)

My thoughts...

First of all, it looks like the Chik-fil-a Bowl is changing its name back to  Chik-fil-a Bowl Peach Bowl. Interesting.  Sounds better.  Fits in with the other 5 semi-final bowls.  I like it.

It also looks like the 6 "big" bowl games (Orange, Cotton, Peach, Sugar, Fiesta & Rose) will happen every year, but rotate which two are hosting "semi-final" games in the playoff.  The other four will just be traditional bowl games.  The schedule is currently...

via CBSSports.com

Follow the same formula every three years until 2026-27.  Those host cities will also have the opportunity to bid to host the championship game.  So, Dallas is hosting the first championship game in 2015 (as well as the Cotton Bowl).  They will announce the next two host cities (for 2016 & 2017) this September.  Looks for those to be Tampa and San Diego.  

The committee has said that no cold-weather city will get the game unless they have a Dome.  I think the only cities that will ever host this game are... Dallas/Arlington, LA/Pasadena, Phoenix/Tempe, New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, San Diego, and maybe Houston (or San Antonio?).  Jacksonville, Nashville, and Charlotte could also be options, but a long-shot at best.  Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, & Minneapolis are non-bowl or cold-weather towns with domes, so they could also place a bid to host.  But, my guess is that the six semifinal bowls cities plus Tampa, San Diego and Houston will host the game over the next ten years.

My question:  Will their be automatic bids to the four?  There shouldn't be.  The top four ranked teams should go and leave it at that.  Also, conferences should be forced to have a championship game.  If you don't win a conference championship game, then you shouldn't be eligible for the playoff.  Otherwise, we should get rid of conference championship games all-together.  And we know that won't happen ($$$).

The key to this not being a mess is who ends up on the committee to select the four teams to be in the playoff.  If it is a bunch of big-ten and north-eastern people, then we're screwed.  Otherwise, this system has to be an improvement on the BCS if no other reason than four teams get a shot as opposed to two.  By my calculations, if this system had been in place over the last 11 years, Georgia would have been in the playoff four times (2002, 2005, 2007, 2012).  So, here's hoping that we can get over the hump and get a ring over the next few years.

As always... Go Dawgs!

Long time, no write

Wow, it has been over a year dear followers. A little bit has happened since then. For starters, I got a job! I am now teaching full time and though it has only been a few months... I love it! Prior to that, I finished my masters degree at Piedmont with much laud and celebration. That was an excellent experience, but I am glad it is over. RRP and I are doing quite well. In fact, better than well. Almost two years in, the honeymoon continues. Her sister and our brother-in-law are expecting their first born in March. Praise God! Not just because it is a blessing, but because it is THEIR blessing and not OUR blessing. I know my posts in the past have often dealt with Georgia football, but this one will not. I'll just say two things: This season has been less than fun and Tech still sucks! I think you are now somewhat caught up. Hopefully, I will find time to return to regular posts.

My take on the UGA/USC game

I've been collecting my thoughts about the game last night and all I can say is... What a great game! The best one I have attended in quite a long while. We are a good team that played great at times yesterday and showed our youth at others. I loved the fire that coach Richt showed -- especially right before halftime hen he chased the officials to the locker room. Mike Bobo has more young, talented players than he knows what to do with. It was easy to call the offense when it was Stafford throwing and Knowshon running. There was no choice of who, it was just a question of what and how. Now he has go to figure out how to manage our young talent. He did better this week than last, but he has still got some work to do.

There are going to be a lot of folks angry with Willie Martinez after this game because -- well they have to be angry at someone, right? But they should take a big step back. Willie called a pretty good game, all things considered. The pass rush wasn't bad, but there were at least a half-dozen times were the rusher would spin the wrong direction or just miss bringing down Stephen Garcia, who played out of his friggin mind. Willie was completely hamstrung by having his top defensive end, Rod Battle, go down with a knee injury and two of his top three Sam linebackers, Darius Dewberry and Nick Williams, miss the game with hamstring pulls. Marcus Washington spent most of the game floating between LB and DE, and Willie was essentially just working with what he had. The middle of the field was open a lot, but it was by necessity. He played a classic bend-but-don't-break style, which was not pretty, but it was effective. The defense was exceptional in the red zone, and South Carolina didn't score an offensive touchdown in the second half. Our Defense was on the field 30 MORE PLAYS than their defense in this game. This was not anywhere near as bad as some people are going to make it out to be. Our coaching is not perfect, and like it or not... this IS a rebuilding year. That doesn't mean we can't (or won't) win some games. But this season is all about getting some key young talent ready for what should be a nasty run towards excellence. We will be a force in the SEC again when we mature as a team, Urban Meyer goes to Notre Dame, and Tim Tebow goes to the CFL (or Hell). In the mean time... It is good to be 1-0 in the SEC! Bring on that Arkansas and Petrino (AKA: Benedict Arnold, Brutus, Judas, etc). Let's go get a little better this week and end up 2-0 in the league!

respectfully submitted,

How Many Days?

Sweet lovin', football can't get here soon enough!