Grip on Sports: Playoffs a good thing for NCAA

Friday: We have a history lesson for you.

Back in 1939, the first NCAA basketball tournament was held. Eight teams were invited. The two finalists? Oregon, representing the West, and Ohio State, representing the East.

Fast forward to 2015. The first NCAA football tournament featuring the major schools. The two finalists?  Oregon and Ohio State.

I don’t know whether it is coincidental or just eerie. Well, there was a “Twilight Zone” marathon going on concurrently to the NCAA semifinals, so we’ll go with eerie.

I’m sure folks south of the Mason-Dixon Line are using that word a lot today. Other words, too. Words we can’t print in this blog. After all, the mighty SEC West, the best division in college football – ahem – is 2-5 in bowl games.

The Pac-12 is 6-2 this bowl season with Oregon yet to play Ohio State in the Jan. 12 College Football Playoff championship game.

Which brings up another history lesson. Most of this century we have been subjected to the BCS system to decide the national champion. Two teams, hand-picked by a combination of computers and polls. It is a system that was dominated by the SEC, with at least one of the two teams being from that conference nearly every year.

If it were still in effect this season  the two teams playing for the crown would have been Alabama, champion of the SEC, and Florida State, ACC winner.

One lost yesterday by 39 points and the other couldn’t keep up with a team playing its third-string quarterback. Makes you wonder how often in the past dozen years the best team in the nation didn’t even get a chance to play for the title.

Even now, with four teams in the playoff picture, the best team might not be playing. Maybe it’s TCU, which won its bowl game by 39 points. The Horned Frogs were third in the second-to-last playoff rankings, won by a zillion points in its last game and dropped from the top four.

It’s enough to want an eight-game playoff next season. It won’t happen but if yesterday’s semifinals showed us anything, a loser-go-home football game is just as exciting, maybe even more so, than a loser-go-home basketball game.

At least  the first half of  Oregon’s 59-20 win over  Florida State was. And  Ohio State’s 42-35 win over Alabama.  This playoff stuff is OK, isn’t it?

Too bad it took 66 years for the NCAA to allow the big football schools to take part. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 66 years for it to expand a bit.

Thursday: We all know the No. 1 event in 2014 in local sports – by local I mean Inland Northwest high school and college and Seattle professional sports – was the Seahawks winning the Super Bowl.

It might just be the No. 1 sporting event in the area’s history, though it has a lot more competition for that spot. In 2014, nothing else came close. In a sense, all the other events played the role of the Denver Broncos. Good, sure, but not in the same ballpark as the Seahawks’ Super Bowl victory.

The only blemish? The 43-18 rout happened in New Jersey. Well, maybe the Hawks will get to clear that up in the year ahead. After all, the 2015 Super Bowl is in Arizona, a place with a bit better weather.

• So what were two through five? Those we can count down. And remember, this is my list. It’s how I remember them. You may have your own ranking.

• No. 5: The Seattle Sounders have the best regular season in the MLS. The Sounders expected to be good in 2014 and they were.

• No. 4: Connor Halliday passes for an NCAA-record 734 yards against California. Honestly, if the Cougars could have connected on a 19-yard field goal to win, this would be No. 2 on my list.

• No. 3: The Mariners actually contend for a playoff spot all season long.

• No. 2: The Seahawks win their final six regular-season games and clinch home field for the NFC playoffs. Why another Hawk achievement on the list? Mainly because it was so unexpected – by me at least. And it sets up the chance for the No. 1 event in 2015, the Seahawks winning another Super Bowl.