64/60 Sports Presents: Rubbin One Off and Coming Right At You, My Thoughts On The Week In Sports

The BCS is going to be messy this year. I posted a column on these very pages last year saying that the day's of undefeated season's are a thing of the past. For those of you who follow College Football you know that currently 6 teams hold that honor. The BCS is given a break since two of the teams must faceoff prior to the BCS selection process. So that means 5 teams have the chance to be unbeaten to end the regular season. Texas will be a double digit favorite in all their remaining contest as will Boise State and TCU. Only Cincinnati's contest with Pitt to end the season appears to be anything but a sure W. I still stand by my theory that the parity in college football is better than ever before and I still feel confident that teams from BCS conferences will have a hard time running the table but this year isn't the best example of that.

Many people will use this season to plea that a PLAYOFF should be played. I have and always will be against a playoff format beyond 4 teams. As I have stated numerous times a playoff would take away from the best and most meaningful regular season in all of sports. I do feel as though a solution can be found using the current format with some minor tweaking. First off the BCS automatic conference bids should remain however all undefeated Non-BCS school who go undefeated are BCS at large bids but their out of conference slate must include a minimum of 2 BCS schools and no DII schools. Secondly the BCS game should have all undefeated teams face off against each other with any odd team facing the highest rated remaining team. Finally all teams that finish the regular season and Bowl Contest unbeaten be claimed Co-National Champions. I realize this may anger most people since a definitive champion isn't crowned but who really cares. College Football has been littered with Co-National Champions and technically still could be and just as recently as 6 years ago we had Co-Champions. It doesn't devalue the regular season,it makes the overall quality of the BCS Bowls much better and more meaningful but most importantly it saves all the taxpayers money because we wouldn't have any more Congressional time wasted on the inequities of the current system.

College Football

* What has USC come to? It has been a disasterous season for the Trojans. Just to put it in perspective in Pete Carroll's first 110 games as USC coach he suffered 16 losses by a total of 68pts. Just in the last two games the Trojans have lost by a combined 61pts. Also last season the Trojans alloweed 93pts. The last two games the D has alloweed 102. Not only have the Trojans been bad the last two weeks it's also getting ugly. Carroll was upset with Stanford for running up the score. With Stanford up 53-21 the Cardinal went for two instead of the EP as a little in your face for Carrol trying to ice the kicker in USC's dominating win last season. Regardless of the reason USC should not be crying about STANFORD running up the score. First off STOP them secondly it's STANFORD and your USC come on how many 30pt blowouts have you handed them?

* Any questions about Charlie Weis's future in South Bend where answered by the teams terrible play for 3+ quarters on Saturday. Your coaches job is on the line and you play like dogs for 3 qtrs. tells me that Weis's has lost the majority of the team. The Irish fought back in the end thanks to conservative play calling by Pitt and big plays from Golden Tate but in the end it was another Irish loss and the end of the Weis era in South Bend. Many people close to the program are claiming that even after the loss Weis still has a chance should the Irish win out but I'm just not seeing it.

* Instant Replay is instituted to get the calls right. However time and time again this season officials have failed just that. Once again Saturday the officials blew a apparent call. At the end of the ND/Pitt game on 3rd and 16 Clausen was pressured and simultaneously threw the football while being hit. It was ruled an incomplete pass on the field and the replay was indecisive. After review the official overturned the call and gave the ball to Pitt since a Pitt player walked over and picked up the ball with a Notre Dame player 3 yards from it because the play had been ruled dead. The first problem is that the play should have never been overturned because the video showed nothing irrefutable. Secondly the change in allowing the continuance of the play to stand needs to be changed. Since the play was ruled dead and the whistle was blown the ND running back didn't attempt to go after the ball had he attempted to get the ball and tackle the defensive player going for the ball he would have been whistled for a Personal Foul and a 15 yard penalty. They either need to delay all whistles which would scream for chaos and injury or revert back to the inadvertent whistle ruling and just admit they screwed up.

* The Rich Rodriguez era got of to a rocky start last season which was expected. It is hard to rebuild a program but to go from a Power I offense to the Spread takes time. At the start of the season Michigan started quick and after the seemingly big Win over the Irish and a great start the Wolverines have lost 6 straight and won't be going bowling. To make matters worse it appears that Forcier may transfer. He has declined that he will be leaving but rumors like that usually come out to be true and it has been documented that playing in the cold weather hasn't worked out well for him. Rich Rod will have another year to get things going but anything short of 7 to 8 wins next year he will be gone.

* Boise St. is officially a program. They spend more money on assistants than any non-BCS conference school and they have the talent for the long haul. On the current 44 man depth chart going 2 deep per position Boise St. has 3 SENIORS. Boise St. is going to be a player for a while even if Peterson leaves.

NFL

* Two questionable calls rule the weekend. Mr. Bellicheck goes for it on his own 28 on 4th and 2 with 2:08 left. Insted of giving Manning all that time the Pats go for the W and fail. Pats fail and Manning leads the Colts to a TD and the W. It certainly shows how much Bellichech respects Manning and it is a very balsy call that is hard to defend but I liked the call. As for the Jaguars having Drew take the knee at the one to run out the clock and K the last second FG I am not a fan. Not only did Drew screw millions of fantasy owners which he has since apologized for but FG attempts regardless of lengths aren't a given. You score the TD you are up 6 and forcing a rookie QB to drive the field and score a TD to win. I would love to hear the talking heads today had both instances turned out differently.

* The Eagles are a playoff caliber team despite their struggles over the last few weeks. I love Reid and McNabb together come playoff time but in order for this team to play up to it's full potential they must come up with some type of running game to at least give the DB a threat to open up Jackson and Maclin on those big plays.

* Broncos have came back down to earth after the 6-0 start losing 3 in a row. The Broncos are a better team than expected but the 3 game lead in the West has eroded and after this week will be looking up at the Chargers. The Broncos are a classic NFL that plays well together but needs all fazes of the game to be playing well to get W's.

* Since Derek Anderson is no longer the starter in Clevland I have to find another QB to pick on so who else but Jamarcus Russell.

Russell Stat Line: 9-24 67YDS and benched in favor of Bruce Gradkowski

* The Bengals are a real Super Bowl threat as crazy as it sounds. They run the ball extremely well and Palmer is a elite QB. The Defense is closing in on the elite level and their next 3 games are against Raiders, Browns and Lions they should win the division with ease if they do what good teams do and beat the likes of the aforementioned teams. I don't understand the Johnson pick up at all. It seems that the locker room has been somewhat quite this season and Johnson seems to be a grease fire waiting to happen but if he can come in and be mute it should add depth to a already talented team but big risk with minimal reward in my opinion.

* Jon Gruden breaks my heart and inks a multi year TV deal to stay at ESPN. No details yet on possible buyouts or clauses of the contract but if Gruden is in the booth it would be very difficult for him to return the Irish to glory.

* Props to Bud Adams your 80 and a hell cat. It's never appropriate for a man in a leadership position to act this way but once you hit a certain age anything goes. Givem hell Bud.

For the record the bird was directed toward Bills owner Ralph Wilson who is also in the 80's crowd. Nothing like Grumpy Old Men.