Playoff Chaos Is Exactly Why The Expansion Was Needed

 

After last night's College Football Playoff Rankings, controversy is king. The top 4 are 1) Georgia 2) Michigan 3) Washington and 4) FSU. Oregon is outside the top 4 at five and Ohio State is at 6. Texas and Alabama remained locked in at 7 and 8. 

The four most-likely scenarios are as follows:

Scenario #1: Georgia, Michigan, Washington, and FSU win out leaving just the four undefeated teams set for the Playoffs. An undefeated FSU being left out because they're missing their starting quarterback Jordan Travis is ridiculous at that point because they would have defeated the #14 Louisville Cardinals in the ACC Championship Game while Ohio State sat at home.

Scenario #2: Alabama upsets Georgia, Michigan beats Iowa, Oregon beats Washington, FSU falls to Louisville, and Texas beats Oklahoma State. This gets a little sticky because Alabama would have a win over the #1 team in the nation at that point. You'd have three 1-loss teams as conference champions and only one undefeated team in Michigan. Ohio State could sneak their way in despite not playing leaving both Alabama and Texas out despite their conference championships. If that were to occur I think it would be #1 Michigan, #2, Oregon #3 Ohio State, and #4 Texas. 

Scenario #3: Georgia beats Alabama, Michigan beats Iowa, Oregon beats Washington, Texas beats Oklahoma State, and FSU loses to Louisville. In this case, it would come down to who the committee favored between Texas and Ohio State. Texas would have a conference championship and their best win would be over a probably 11th-ranked Alabama team while Ohio State would not have a conference championship with their best win being over a top-ten Penn State team. I think the committee would put in Ohio State over Texas making it #1 Georgia, #2 Michigan, #3 Oregon, and #4 Ohio State. I don't think Ohio State should be in over Texas though because a conference championship should mean something. This scenario would also give the Rose Bowl one final Big Ten vs. Pac 12 Rose Bowl which would make the Rose Bowl Committee quite happy.

And now that brings us to my favorite scenario, the chaos scenario. Alabama beats Georgia. Iowa beats Michigan. Oregon beats Washington. Louisville beats FSU. Texas beats Oklahoma State. This scenario is the Elmo Fire Gif for the Committee. You have three one-loss conference champions with Alabama, Oregon, and Texas and four one-loss non-conference champions with Georgia, Michigan, Washington, and Ohio State. This scenario gets very messy for the committee and would make them possibly try to establish the 12-team playoff this year. In this scenario, who knows what the committee would do. I think you'd have to take the three one-loss conference champions at this point in some order so that gives you Alabama, Oregon, and Texas because the committee has established that conference championships should matter. The final spot remaining would be tricky but I think the committee would go with Michigan due to their two top-ten wins against Ohio State and Penn State. I think you'd have Oregon and Michigan in the Rose Bowl and Texas and Alabama in the Sugar. 

While we're not sure what will happen, there is a lot of intrigue going into Conference Championship Weekend that should see record viewership for the different games. It will also show that this year is in desperate need of the expanded playoffs. There will be a deserving team left out and unfortunately that team will have no recourse and only wonder what might have been. 

Class and the Iron Bowl

 

I am what most people would call a Bammer. I have Daniel Moore paintings of great Bama moments. I have multiple Bear Bryant pictures and quotes posted around the house. I have pulled for the Crimson Tide ever since I could understand the concept of football. But what I had happened yesterday made me reconsider how I view losing. 

My boss at JOX, Ryan Haney, is an Auburn fan and grad. I had a little issue after running a UAB sports megacast and texted him for some help. Through combined efforts of texts to other members of the Cumulus staff we were able to straighten out the issue without the listeners ever knowing we had one. After that had subsided, my boss, who just witnessed one of the most agonizing losses of his program, texted me the following:

Him: Congrats on the Bama win. Hell of a game.

Me: Yes it was. Thank you, Boss Man.

Him: They played their asses off. Bama made the play when it counted. Respect. Y'all deserved the win. Now go beat Georgia. Wish the Iron Bowl was like that every year. Two teams laying it all on the line.

That was an amazing exchange. My boss was the epitome of class after a difficult win. Then I go to the cesspool known as Twitter/X and see this from  Cole Cubelic. And it hit me. 

Yes, I love to beat Auburn and win the Iron Bowl. But the game is so much bigger than that. I grew up with family that went to Auburn. I have friends who went to Auburn. I have coworkers who pull for Auburn. This whole state is divided between Alabaa fams and Auburn fans yet we work, live, and play together all year. I'm glad that I have Auburn friends who are classy regardless of the outcome. I think Alabama fans need to learn to be classier with victory and defeat. The Bear once said, 

“It’s awfully important to win with humility. It’s also important to lose. I hate to lose worse than anyone, but if you never lose you won’t know how to act. If you lose with humility, then you can come back.”

This state is imperfect. But we do football right. People notice that. Even folks whom you completely disagree with. This weekend is special each year because chaos is the only constant thing you can expect when it comes to the Iron Bowl. Punt Bama Punt. The Kick. The Camback. The Kick Six. The Crimson Crane. The Milthrow. All of these games make it so special. The camaraderie between neighbors who will always defend the state's football as the best football. It's something that even folks outside of the state know.  Whether it's Dan Bongino loving the atmosphere at Jordan Hare or Herbstreit and Fowler going nuts to the ending of the Iron Bowl, people know that the Iron Bowl will be a quality game. But what few people know, is that the Iron Bowl brings out the best in many. Here's to more great games and great fans who are great people. 

There Is Crying In Football

 

During the Washington versus USC game this past weekend, a despondent Caleb Williams went up into the stands after losing and began crying with his mother. He has faced ridicule, scorn, and questions about his worthiness of being a top NFL quarterback prospect all because he was showing emotion after seeing the goals of a national championship and conference championship evaporate in three very public and humiliating losses.

Caleb Williams is the reigning Heisman trophy winner. He has put up amazing numbers in the Lincoln Riley system at Oklahoma and USC. He has had some controversy during his Heisman campaign last year but I tend to put that towards being a brash QB who is still in his early 20s. The nail painting backfired terribly and resulted in an epic troll by the Utes. It was a teachable moment.

A lot of critics are jumping on this show of emotion as unmanly, weak, and childish. I disagree. Football is an emotional game despite what some critics are saying. USC came into this season with national championship aspirations and Williams trying to become the second back-to-back Heisman winner. He was prominently featured in the Fansville campaign for Dr. Pepper as well as the Nissan Heisman House and other NIL deals. He has a lot on his plate and was essentially an NFL quarterback balancing his football with endorsement deals. He is also 21.

According to multiple studies, the prefrontal cortex of the brain that controls the rational part of thinking is not fully developed until you are 25. That means that most young adults are straddling the line between adolescence and adulthood while letting emotions control their thinking. Throw in the fact that Williams is also taking violent hits with that and you see why he can become so emotional. 

Williams cares about the team and the goals they put forth. He is an emotional leader of the team who just had everything they had been working for all offseason dashed in the span of four weeks. He was facing a tremendous amount of pressure internally and externally and he just broke. It is completely human to break when you have reached your limits. Most people have their breaks in the privacy of their homes, cubicles, bathrooms, or cars. Williams just happened to be on national television as the face of USC football when the loss happened and cameras followed him into the stands with his mother. 

I think that people tend to lose sight of how much pressure is on the current crop of athletes. While Jordan, Favre, and Jeter were always shown with their icy demeanor under pressure, they were able to just go home and turn off the TV if they had a bad game. Now, with sports talk 24/7 on the radio, social media interactions constant, and YouTube armchair quarterbacks reacting after every game, the pressure is never-ending and almost inescapable. This is the media landscape that these young players face every day. Fandom is at an all-time high and intensity. Death threats to players for messing up are common on social media. After the Kick Six, Cade Foster had death threats. A Colorado State football player and his family received death threats after giving a hit that knocked out two-way player Travis Hunter of the Colorado Buffaloes. Fans have more access to players than ever before and it's not necessarily a good thing. 

I know I never achieved the notoriety that Williams faced but I remember being that upset after football games. My junior year of high school was very rough and we were coming off being undefeated state champions. We played one of our archrivals Mountain Brook at their stadium and lost to them for the first time in 14 games. I was despondent. I was angry. I had angry tears. Then the next game we played another heated rival in Homewood and my botched snap ended up costing us the game. I was angry and crying in the locker room because I had let my teammates down. My mother rode home with me because she was worried about how upset I was after the game. High school football in Alabama is an intense and popular thing. We had the weight of our school, fellow students, parents, and community on us. It only becomes more intense the higher levels you go. 

Caleb Williams showed that he was merely a young man who was dealing with a lot of emotions at the time. He sought consoling from his mother. There is nothing wrong with that nor is it a sign of weakness. Give the young man a break and understand that this is all part of the growing-up process. He just happens to be doing in front of an audience of millions each week. 

The Importance Of Never Giving Up

 

One of the most underrated movies of the late 90s is an homage to Star Trek and its fans called Galaxy Quest. The commander of the ship Peter Quincy Taggart, portrayed by Tim Allen, has a simple yet effective catchphrase that is said multiple times throughout the movie. "Never give up. Never Surrender." This is exactly what the motto of the Alabama team for this year has become.

Many pundits and fans had left Alabama for dead after the devastating loss to Texas on September 9th. The annual talk of how the dynasty is dead and Nick Saban cannot connect with the players anymore was featured prominently on the talk shows and columns of various publications. Then the following week, Alabama benched their starter from the first two games and got a struggle win against South Florida. Many folks throughout the college football landscape predicted a loss to Ole Miss and the descent toward mediocrity for Alabama. But somebody forgot to tell the Alabama team they weren't supposed to be any good this year.

Going through a gauntlet of Ole Miss, at Mississippi State, at Texas A&M, Arkansas, Tennessee, and LSU, the Tide became a cohesive unit. Yes, they still tend to start slowly on the first drives for Offense and Defense, but the team really seems to turn it on as the game progresses. Alabama has embraced difficulty and decided that they will #LANK. This is an uncommon thing for Alabama teams of the past to acknowledge external factors but this team seems to feed off people doubting them and their abilities. 

The story is still being written about the 2023 Alabama team and they have plenty of obstacles left in their path. A difficult 11 a.m. kickoff road game at Kentucky this weekend. A true test of Auburn Jesus at Jordan Hare to end the season. Win both of those and the game against Chattanooga, they make the SEC Championship with a shot at making the College Football Playoffs. Some pundits believe that if Alabama upsets Georgia and gets a little help, they'll be in the Playoffs only to be exposed by supposed superior competition.  Only time will tell who is right about this. But there is still plenty of football left before we even get to that point.

This team thrives on doubt. They seem to have a genuine love for each other and are holding each other accountable for actions on the field. They make mistakes but adjust and get back at it instead of lingering on the bad plays. They're preaching and walking the #Process . They without a doubt embody Commander Taggart's catchphrase, "Never Give Up. Never Surrender." I cannot wait to see how far this team will go and all they plan to accomplish.