The Weekend In Sports From The Best Seat In The House

* The NCAA rules Cam Newton eligible when no one knew who was ineligible. I understand the NCAA looking at the incident prior to the SEC Championship however I question why it was announced. To me this was a PR move gone bad. The SEC viewed this as a opportunity to quiet the controversy and let the game be the topic but to me it fueled the fire. Any sensible person knows that this saga is not over it's only a matter of time before they connect Cam directly to the controversy. Once connected Newton will have committed the same violation as Reggie Bush thus Newton's career will mirror that of Bush and Auburns magical season will not have happened. So in the end the NCAA's announcement only brought the controversy back to the forefront and now we know the allegations have been verified regarding the preacher man.

* Everyone who reads this blog knows I am one of the few supporters of the BCS. My support of the BCS isn't because of the system itself but has more to do with not wanting a traditional 8,12,or 16 team playoff. I am not in favor of all the major conferences having a automatic bid and I also wished matchups were based on BCS ranking as opposed to Conference affiliation and rotating selection requirements. Typically this ends up making two or three of the matchups bad TV watches. With the quality of the Conference winners and At large selections this season will produce 4 really good matchups. Auburn vs Oregon goes without saying. TCU has a chance to prove they belong in the National Championship conversation in they can beat a really good Wisconsin team in the Rose Bowl. Stanford may be out of the Rose Bowl because of the obligation to TCU however a Orange Bowl matchup against Virginia Tech will be a good measuring stick for the quality of the Pac 10. Will Ohio State once again be the sacrificial lamb for a SEC to feast on or will they put up a fight against the Razorbacks and quit their critics at least for this offseason. Unfortunately given the Big East's inclusion to the BCS it would be impossible to avoid a matchup that appears to be unwatchable on paper. The Huskies and Sooners appears to be just that but remember big game Bob has been anything but over the last 5 BCS games, all losses and often times teams such as the Sooners come out flat against inferior opponents.

* For as good as the BCS contest appear to be I cannot recall a slate of Bowl games with less intriguing matchups than this season. Typically you can find 5-6 games on the list that provide some intrigue but this year I just can't find that many. Of course my biased for Notre Dame may overvalue their matchup against Miami but given their former rivalry from the 80's and 90's along with Miami's coaching search and Brain Kelly's first Bowl with the Irish, I suspect this will be one of the more anticipated matchups of the Bowl season. Florida State vs. South Carolina in the Chick-fil-A Bowl should be a good matchup. I will be interested to see how South Carolina bounces back after the humbling by Auburn. Michigan State vs. Alabama, despite inconsistent play and three losses the Tide are still considered by many as one of the nations best. A win or close game by the Spartans could change the perception of many while a ugly loss would verify what many already suspect, the Spartans benefited from a weak schedule and a off day by the Badgers. Finally the Cotton Bowl should be a very interesting matchup Texas A&M who has played as well as any team in the country over the last month faces "The Jester" Les Miles who has a month to create gadget play upon gadget play and will likely go for anything 4th and 8 or less.

* NFL Sunday Wrap Up. Despite the loss in Atlanta last week the Packers are the best team in the NFC. Rodgers accuracy makes up for the lack of a running game. They protect the football and play elite level defense. Home field advantage would be huge for this team but the close battle in Atlanta last week and a road win vs. the Jets show me this team has what it takes. The Colts aren't a good football team. Injuries have ravaged both the offense and defense and Manning just isn't playing at the level needed to overcome them as he has in the past. Please note I don't feel anyone in the league could be under center with this team and have them at 6-6 like Manning does. The Colts do benefit from playing in the AFC South and are only a game behind the first place Jaguars so it's not exactly time to pack it in. However the Colts aren't measured by playoff appearances they are measured by Super Bowls and outside of a first round win this team doesn't have a long playoff run in them unless they can get healthy. With a two game lead and a manageable schedule down the stretch the Chiefs could have clinched a playoff spot with the win over the Broncos. The AFC playoff picture is actually pretty clear at this point the Jets, Patriots, Ravens and Steelers all appear to be locks thus the final two spots will come from the division winners of the West and the South. The NFC is shaping up much the same however it appears that a team with 10 wins could possibly miss the playoffs. It's a shame that a team like the Packers, Saints, Falcons, Bears, Eagles, or Giants will miss the playoffs because the NFC West must have a representative. To compound the issues another one of these squads will have to play a road game at the division winner despite likely having a 3-4 game record advantage. Sure it may have been the Bills defense but after watching the Vikings for countless games this season for the first time I saw them play inspired football for over 5 minutes. It could be coincidence but the inspired play happened to coincide with Tavaris Jackson replacing the injured Brett Favre. Jackson will never be Brett Favre and Jackson could never play at the level of Favre last season however I do feel as though Jackson would be a upgrade over the Favre we have seen up to this point. From what I seen on Sunday I believe the Vikings feel the same.