Grip on Sports: Is college football’s national title format still falling down on the job?
A GRIP ON SPORTS • We thought long and hard about taking a snow day. After careful deliberation, which included, but was not limited to, looking out the front window with a cup of steaming hot coffee in my right hand, we decided to struggle through. And to even start on time. But we did slip and fall a couple of times while running down your links. Read on.
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• Thanks to the piles of snow outside my front door, I’m sure the Internet was a bit slower today. And, while trying to read a story on the Deseret News, my fingers did slip on the keyboard and I accidentally accessed Amazon – I’m sorry, but a Billy Bob Thornton TV series doesn’t interest me at this time – instead of the BYU story.
No matter. We’re done now. And we can concentrate on getting ready for tonight’s national championship football game. Or maybe we should say the “so-called” national championship football game.
Are Alabama and Clemson really the best teams? They are really good. They are probably the two best teams. But we’ll never know, will we?
Actually, we haven’t ever really known in the more than 125 years colleges have been playing football.
Do you know Alabama has won 85 national football titles? Just kidding. The Crimson Tide only claim 16 of them. It just seems like the other number.
The school believes the 1941 team, which was 8-2 and finished third in the Southeastern Conference, was No. 1. But Alabama was the best team in the nation according to the school’s records.
And the sad thing is, it might have been better than undefeated Minnesota. But we’ll never know, will we?
Because there is no true national champion in big school football. Only made-up ones. Even today.
We know who the national titlist is in the FCS ranks. It is James Madison. The Dukes won the title on the field over the weekend, having survived the gauntlet that is the FCS playoffs.
But the best FBS team?
We really don’t know. There were four teams selected by the playoff committee. Four out of 128. The FCS takes the top 24 out of 125 and plays a five-week tournament. Division II and III hold a similar competition.
When those tournaments are done, everyone knows the best team. It has survived the test.
Not in the FBS. It decides a champion, sure. But, out of the 124 schools that were not chosen, at least 75 of them never really had any type of chance to be involved.
And we’re not talking the end of the season. We’re going back to September, when the season began.
When only the top four teams are chosen, then you’ve eliminated a huge majority of your schools before the season starts. They just aren’t going to receive the national recognition, no matter how good they are, to be included.
Which is partly behind a nascent movement among the lower-end FBS schools. They are thinking of starting their own playoffs. And claiming a national title. If the schools do this, will their winner really be the best team in the land? Who knows. But they will have a claim.
Just as Alabama has one on the 1978 national title.
Of course, that team went 11-1 and lost to 12-1 USC, 24-14, in Alabama. But that doesn’t stop the Tide from saying they were better than USC, even though that seems to have been decided on the field.
Unlike college football’s most recognized national titles.
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Gonzaga: Speaking of a team in the national-title picture, the Zags are faring well enough to be included in the conversation. Jim Meehan listened to a bit of that talk yesterday and put together this story. Thankfully, the title will be decided on the court. … Elsewhere in the WCC, the new schedule format this season takes some getting used to for everyone.
WSU: The topic of conversation in snowy Pullman yesterday was Dillon Brooks’ kick. You know, the one that connected with Josh Hawkinson’s groin on Saturday. Jacob Thorpe has a story on the incident, which the Pac-12 decided was handled appropriately. … The WSU women finished off a sweep of the Los Angeles schools with a 74-57 romp over USC. … Elsewhere in the conference, there were two games in L.A. yesterday, with USC losing to California, 74-73 and UCLA rolling past Stanford, 89-75. … Arizona’s recent surge has been fueled by a quiet senior. … The biggest news in conference football yesterday was the oddly timed announcement from California that coach Sonny Dykes had been fired. The immediate speculation was the Bears were in cahoots with Chip Kelly. But there might be other reasons for the dismissal. … The worst bowl game of the Pac-12’s six? The Holiday Bowl, of course. … What are Colorado’s priorities in the offseason?
Chiefs: Spokane had a goal lead heading into the third period last night at the Arena. But as Josh Horton’s story tells us, the Chiefs couldn’t hold it and lost 2-1 to Seattle. … Portland postponed another game yesterday.
Preps: Gonzaga Prep’s Devin Culp is a free agent again, as he joined Cd’A quarterback Colson Yankoff in decommitting from Oregon following the coaching change. … The WIAA has its RPI rankings, but that doesn’t mean the end of newspaper polls.
Seahawks: Yes, the Seahawks and their maligned offensive line are underdogs this Saturday in Atlanta. But if you squint just right, you can see a Super Bowl team. … Earl Thomas has a new fur hat. How that happened is the subject of this story. … The snap counts from the Detroit game are interesting.
Mariners: The Hall of Fame voting is almost done and Edgar Martinez is getting closer to the magic 75 percent mark. He’s not going to make it, but this year’s showing may presage an election soon.
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• Despite all the recent precipitation, it’s going to warm up today. It just won’t get above the freezing mark in Spokane. Then it’s supposed to get really cold again. Great. Until later …