If there is one thing we should like about the SEC, it's that our leaders have common sense when talking about a 4-team college football playoff - proposing one in which the top four ranked teams, regardless of conference, will play in the playoff. Of course, that's how it should be done -- it's only fair to anyone honestly looking at the situation. Here's why:

1. Four teams is too small to allow automatic bids. If the Big 10, Pac 12, and ACC want automatic bids, they need to push for at least 8 teams. Due to that small amount of teams -- 4 -- it simply makes no sense to allow anyone besides the top four in. This isn't a 'tournament' -- it's a 4 team final four of the best of the best.

2. It allows access to anyone in another conference - Mountain West, Big East, etc -- to the final four as long as they are good enough. Access points for everyone, in my view, is the best way to handle college football long term without legal challenges -- not by giving lesser teams automatic bids to a small playoff.

3. Not all conferences were created equal.

4. If you want the four best, you take the four best.

Yet, if you read the news stories, the ACC, Big 10, and Pac 12 are suggesting that conference champions be given preferential treatment -- and that perhaps "a top 3 conference champion and wildcard' scenario might play out. This proposal, given that we're only talking about four teams, is absurd.

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First of all, let me say that I understand we have to go to the SEC.  I don't like it, but barring some last minute dramatic concessions, Texas and Oklahoma not willing to commit to the league for any longer than 6 years is a sign we must go, even though I think it sucks for reasons articulated very well in the roundtable by those not convinced this is a great move.

Assuming we are headed to the SEC, one of the things that is often talked about as a benefit is the better bowls.  Now, let me say first that I completely agree with this -- outside of the Cotton and perhaps the Alamo, I have long thought the Big 12's bowl games are terrible for fans who don't have thousands to shell out on bowl game travel.  Mid to lower tier bowl games in San Diego, Phoenix, and El Paso are simply too difficult to get to for a lot of Missouri fans.

In the SEC, the lower tier bowl games are closer, which is a good thing.  However, one thing I've seen as a bit of a "false promotion" from Missouri fans is the notion that somehow, Missouri is going to get to go to a lot of Florida bowls.  This is not the case.  It is quite unlikely to occur. 

It's also important to note the SEC does NOT have a slotting system, though the conference does work with its members a lot better than the Big 12 did to steer teams towards places that make sense.  Also, there are some protections in place

In fact, the most likely bowls that Missouri would go to, are:

In a really good season -- Cotton
Most other seasons -- Chick Fil A (Atlanta), Music City (Nashville) and Liberty (Memphis)

More below the fold.

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A lot has been made in recent days about the flights fans tracked on Flight Aware between Columbia, Norman, and College Station.  With all the conference realignment talk and discussion about who the Big 12 will add or what Big 12 schools may leave, it seemed like it would be fun to do some research on Flight Aware to see if I could piece together any 'conspiracies' based on where flights were leaving or coming from.

In doing so, I came up with an interesting scenario -- the Big 12's power brokers meeting with officials from New Mexico, Colorado State and Air Force about adding those three schools to go to 12 -- at a meeting in Lubbock, Texas on Saturday.

See the case below the fold.

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With Texas A&M essentially out the door, the Big 12 is clearly at a crossroads.  Though a 9 team conference would have worked even 5-10 years ago, now it is not sustainable in a world of 12+ team conferences.   As we've read, the Big 12 seems likely to pursue expansion.  With that in mind, I thought I'd offer what I think is likely to happen in the short term, and then 3 or 4 choices the Big 12 could make the long term, and see what people thought.

This assumes, by the way, that Mizzou -- nor any other school -- does not leave the Big 12.

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Would anyone here be interested in an RMN Yahoo College Pick Em League?  I don't mind setting it up.  It could be as big as we want.

I hate "confidence points" but would like to include the spread...otherwise some games are just too easy.  I'd include Top 25 games, Big 12 games, and Yahoo's "interesting games".  Unless we'd like to include more games, I think that is enough.

Let me know by posting in the thread....or, if someone else already has one in the works, that's fine too.

I posted this (made a few changes) on Tigerboard, but thought RMN readers might appreciate it too.  College football is a great game, but needs some tweaking.  A playoff would be great, but I don't see it happening, but I do think some things need to shift and this is a path I think could work.  I know, too much time on my hands (actually not, but whatever) -- but I would enjoy your comments. -- TiK

Opinion:  Expand College Football Regular Season to 14 Games; Reform Bowl System

In the new era of realigned conferences and the trend towards 9 game conference schedules, I believe if the college football powers that be are going to be serious about determining a credible national champion (okay, let's pretend they are) and creating a more exciting post-season, it should start with expanding the regular season to 14 games and end with reforming the bowl system to make more of the bowls compelling -- let's be honest, most are exhibitions -- and more appealing to fans.

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Given that us Tiger fans are yet again facing a post-season that some fans find frustrating -- finishing well but not possibly getting a bowl option that doesn't satisfy fans (Holiday vs. Washington), this seemed like an appopriate time to discuss -- simply because it's fun to do, no matter how much it has been done before, like conference realignment chat -- reform to the college football postseason.

I'll preface this by saying that if we are stuck with the current bowl/BCS system, I'd like to see these simple reforms:

1. Drop all conference tie ins except for the BCS bowls.    I think ending conference tie ins would allow the "bowl free market" to determine great matchups for both teams and fanbases.

2. Get rid of an automatic bid for a conference if they dont have at least one team in the Top 16.

3. No way to force this, obviously, but if we're going to have 35 bowls, why not have some of them in more regional locations -- like St. Louis, Indianapolis, or even college campuses?   A Big Ten #5 vs. Big 12 #5 matchup might be tough to draw in Tempe, but I get it would draw in St. Louis or Indy.  This might cause the cancellation of some bowls - oh no, we might lose the New Mexico Bowl! -- but to me it would be a good thing.

However, what I'd prefer to see is a much more comprehensive reform that allows us to keep the tradition of the bowls while at the same time implementing a 16 team playoff.   Some say that you must do one or the other, but not both -- I disagree.  To me, it just takes some creativity and wilingness to make it happen.

Below the fold, see the plan...

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[Bumped to Front Page.]

I have been able to figure out 26 of the 31 men's basketball opponents for the 2010-11 season.  I think 4 of the 5 remaining will be home games...otherwise the home schedule will be light on games.  I know MU was looking at a home and home starting in Columbia.

1-16.  Conference games.

Home Non-Con

17. North Florida
18. Western Illinois
19. Central Arkansas
20. Vanderbilt
21. Oral Roberts
22. Old Dominion
23. Northern Illinois

Neutral Non-Con

24. Georgetown in KC
25. Illinois in StL
26. Wyoming in Cancun
27. LaSalle or Providence in Cancun

Road Non-Con

28. Oregon 

First off, let me say that I didn't start off as a fan of moving to the Big 10.  I love the history of the Big 8, the Big 12 itself (mostly, aside from the annoyances we all agree on), do enjoy the rivalries with Kansas, Nebraska, and yes, even teams like Oklahoma, Iowa State, and Colorado.  Those are "our schools", particularly being a life long resident of the Kansas City area.  I also love the Big 12 tournament, having attended all but one (oddly enough, the one Mizzou won in 2009), as well as the last year of the Big 8 tournament.

However, it now appears imminent that the college landscape will change.  Of course, in college basketball, you'll still see several small conferences (Patriot, etc) so it will have a huge impact there too, but for the purposes of organizing major colleges, I thought I would focus on college football in this post.

With that in mind, I want to make a few stipulations that I think will be facts:

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65 -- NCAA
32 -- NIT
16 -- CBI
16 -- collegeinsider.com

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With the bubble getting increasingly smaller, I decided to just go through each conference, one by one, and list all of the teams that either have a bid secured or could potentially qualify for a bid.  Below is that list.  Bolded are automatic qualifiers, of which 4 are still to be decided.  Out of the remaining teams, NINE must be eliminated, of which my suggestions have strikethroughs   I did my best:

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Missouri is scheduled to play in the Cancun Challenge in 2010 as it's in-season tournament.  It will be the same format as the South Padre Island Invitational -- four hosts play two home games against two of the four "cupcakes" first.  Then, the four "hosts" and four "cupcakes" each play a four team bracket in Cancun.  The four hosts are Missouri, Providence, and yawn -- LaSalle and Wyoming. 

Only one of the four cupcakes is announced, North Florida.

Here is the site:  http://www.cancunchallenge.net/cancun.asp?eventid=14

The best/worst part about this tournament?  The venue:

via 4.bp.blogspot.com

First of all, let me say that this time of year is the best in all of sports.  The conference tournaments, the selection process, the NCAA, even the NIT, CBI, and collegeinsider.com tournaments are a unique process in all of sports.  I may be a college basketball geek, but I love following teams through the various brackets -- and it is the only sport where someone 0-31 could win 10 straight or so and end up national champions.  I like that aspect of it -- as it gives teams (save the Ivy League and those leagues where not all teams make it) a reason to keep playing hard and keep improving, knowing there is a remote chance they could put it all together and still pull off the improbable.

Second of all, I want to say that I am not in favor of expanding the field to 96 teams.  I favor a modest expansion to 68 teams -- have for a while -- because frankly there are 3 teams or so every year that should be in, and I hate the fact only one region has a play in game.  The fact is, the number of teams in college basketball has expanded the last 25 years (since the field went to 64) and I think a modest increase to 68 makes sense. 

I also don't like the idea of going to 96 teams because right now, the NIT is a good tournament.  I do enjoy watching it, as it is a bunch of decent teams that are still in the Top 100 of college basketball.  I think trashing this tournament would be a mistake, as I think having a real consolation tournament is a good idea -- and CBI and collegeinsider.com just dont do the job, in my view.

That all being said, I am not as anti-96 as others are, and think it does have it's merits. 

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As those who visit the TB b-ball page may know, I've been working on finding out who is going to be on the Mizzou non-con schedule for 2009-10.  This is what I've found out:

• Texas Pan American* (November 22)
• Chattanooga * (November 24)
• Old Dominion (at South Padre Island)*
• Miss State/Richmond (at South Padre Island)*
• at Oral Roberts (December 9)
• Illinois (in St. Louis)
• TN - Martin
• Savannah State
• UMKC
• Farleigh Dickinson
• Arkansas Pine Bluff
• Oregon
• Georgia
• at Vanderbilt (December 2)
• Austin Peay (December 27)

* South Padre Island Invitational.  First two games in Columbia.  All eight teams go to South Padre in two separate 4-team brackets -- the hosts (Missouri, Old Dominion, Miss State, Richmond) and the non-hosts (Longwood, Texas Pan American, Bethune Cookman, Chattanooga). 

So, because I enjoy this time of year perhaps more than any other (particularly since Mizzou is actually part of the discussion), from time to time I just like to load up Yahoo's College Basketball Standings and simply count to 65 in order to determine who is getting to the NCAA tournament. 

In past years, it has sometime been quite difficult to limit it to 65 teams -- but this year, I'm actually having issues getting to 65.  As we embark on the last weekend of regular season games and the conference tournaments (which are ongoing), I thought this would be an interesting topic.

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