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Bill proposed to create NCAA playoff system
By Blake Hamilton
January 29, 2009
Measures are being taken on Capitol Hill that could put an end to college football’s Bowl Championship Series forever.
Congressman Gary Miller (R-CA) introduced H.R. 599, a bill that would deny federal funds to any Football Bowl Subdivision school not adopting a playoff system, on the floor of the United States House of Representatives Jan. 16.
“While the current Bowl Championship Series system was created to identify a broadly accepted national champion, its implementation has shown that the only way to accurately determine a champion is to create a playoff system that is open to all teams,” Miller said in a statement. “There is no reason the NCAA should continue to disadvantage certain schools when every other major college sport’s championship is settled through a playoff.”
The system determines who will compete in college football’s National Championship Game, Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and Rose Bowl at the end of each season.
This is done through combining the average standings in the Associated Press Poll and several coaches’ polls, averages from computer polls and points awarded due to perceived strength of schedule.
Although it has resulted in highly publicized television events that have facilitated the growth of corporate sponsorship in the NCAA, only the top two ranked teams have a chance to compete for the title (no matter if one with a lower place is undefeated) has caused a great deal of unrest since the process’ inception 11 years ago.
The BCS holds a resentment with the Auburn family after the 2004 Tigers, because of a third place standing, were denied a chance at the title despite a 12-0 regular season.
George Brown created FansPoll.com, an online referendum allowing users to elect a “People’s Champion,” while a student at AU.
“The possibility of a playoff will definitely get Auburn folks excited, but in the long run all that this controversy will do is fan the flame,” Brown said. “These outcries from major universities may carry weight in the media, but until these schools actually start losing money there won’t be many changes.”
Still, this “Championship Fairness Act of 2009,” contains provisions that would allow non-playoff teams to compete in the postseason.
In three of the past five seasons the Tigers would have qualified in a “Top Ten” playoff format, finishing pre-bowl at ninth place in both 2005 and 2006.
Clint Moseley, a quarterback commit from Leroy, was Alabama’s “Mr. Football” for 2008 and one of Coach Gene Chizik’s most talked about recruits.
Moseley, like many young players approaching signing day, is excited about the prospect of a change that could shape his collegiate career.
“I think a playoff system is very much needed in college football,” Moseley said. “Every year there are two or three teams putting up a good argument as to why they should have played for the title. A playoff system would eliminate that. I know it would better my chances of playing for the title.”
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Transfer rules still same for JC players A new NCAA standard will affect all schools, but UO’s practices haven’t changed
By Rob Moseley
January 29, 2009
Although the NCAA has implemented higher admissions standards for some junior college athletes nationally, Oregon officials say there are no new standards unique to the university, dispelling a growing perception among some Duck fans that the football program has lost recruits because of new academic requirements.
The Ducks signed three junior college players in December, one of whom was denied admission. When two other JC players who had previously made verbal commitments to Oregon later pledged to sign letters of intent elsewhere, some Duck fans were convinced that the university was taking a more hard-line position regarding junior college transfers.
Administrators with the university and its athletic department said this week that’s not the case. Even if academics were an issue for a JC player who chose to commit elsewhere — something UO officials by rule can’t confirm, and which they cautioned against assuming — it wouldn’t be because of a change in policy by Oregon.
A cluster of JC players in the same class who don’t meet academic standards might be an anomaly, or more likely a relatively normal occurrence that is drawing attention only because of the added coverage recruiting receives from Internet sites over the last decade.
Those same Internet sites host message boards on which fan concerns about JC admissions have been aired. While UO coaches and administrators are barred from discussing the circumstances regarding specific recruits, they gave no indication that Oregon has taken a tougher stance regarding transfers this year.
“Our process has stayed pretty much the same,” said Leanne Brooks, the UO’s assistant athletic director for academic eligibility.
Opinions to the contrary began to form over the winter when defensive tackle Justin Thompson signed his second letter of intent with Oregon and was denied admission. Thompson also signed with Oregon last February but hadn’t met NCAA eligibility standards by the time the season began.
Two other JC players, defensive tackle Myles Wade of Portland and safety Anthony Leon, reneged on verbal commitments to Oregon and announced their intentions to transfer elsewhere, and Thompson has since enrolled at Memphis. (A verbal commitment doesn’t guarantee a recruit will ultimately be admitted at his chosen school.)
Whether academics factored into the decisions by Wade and Leon to commit elsewhere, they weren’t because of any new regulations at Oregon.
“The standards are the same,” Brooks said. “We still have the same requirements.”
But there is one change in the NCAA’s policy affecting some incoming junior college players for the next academic year. Any JC transfers who didn’t meet qualifying standards out of high school must have two transferable writing classes and a transferable math class, and not via online correspondence.
“It’s pretty extreme,” Brooks said. “It’s a pretty drastic change. … And the NCAA putting in new rules of not just how many transferable units, but what type of units we’re talking about, evens the plane for everybody and who they can recruit.”
That and the specter of the Academic Progress Rate — a measurement of student-athletes’ progress that can result in lost scholarships — has led to more stringent review of some potential junior college transfers’ academic records, and to deeper consideration as to their chances of success at the university. But those policies apply to NCAA schools nationwide, not just Oregon.
The UO football team has been below the APR’s minimum standard all four years data have been available, but athletic department officials expect to be above that line for the first time when new data are released later this year.
“I feel comfortable that we’re going to be above it,” said Gary Gray, Oregon’s senior associate athletic director for compliance.
Oregon football coaches have stopped recruiting some players in recent years to avoid APR issues, Brooks said. In an egregious case of going afoul of the APR standard, Washington State last year lost eight football scholarships.
“That gets people’s attention,” Gray said. “No one wants to get in that situation.”
When the UO football staff offers a recruit an official visit to Eugene, the player’s academic record is reviewed by a four-person committee that includes representatives from the UO faculty and the athletic department, plus two university administrators, including director of admissions Brian Henley.
Henley said the university in general may have become “a little more strict” in its admissions standards because of limited space for new enrollees, but he said baseline standards haven’t changed, including for potential junior college football transfers.
“We make these decisions on a case-by-case basis,” Henley said.
“We look at academic coursework in high school and in community college as we’re making those decisions, and we try to get a good feel for the student’s level of academic preparation. We want to see students graduate if we admit them.”
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FIRED UP: Congress to bailout the BCS?
by Crystal Eskelsen
January 28, 2009
I had decided that I wasn’t going to write about my frustration with the BCS national championship this year. I didn’t want to sound like a crazed football fan who only disagreed with the system because my team didn’t win.
Then my brother made me aware of congressional legislation – H.R. 390 – and I didn’t see how I could not write about it.
This a bill in the United States Congress; picture it being presented by a Utah congressman while wearing a crimson and white shirt declaring the Utes undefeated.
The bill reads something like this: The BCS national championship is a crock. No team can be named national champion without having beaten every other Division I football team in the nation and since Utah was undefeated they came closer than any other team.
Seems reasonable right? Especially if it means Florida isn’t the national champion – at least in my book.
I’m going to get on the phone and call my congressman right now to tell him to support this!
There I go now sounding like the crazy fan, exactly what I was trying to avoid.
Florida was named the No. 1 team despite losing one football game during its short season.
I don’t like Florida schools, whether it is NCAA football or basketball. I don’t like to see Seminoles or Gators or any other Florida mascot. I think it stems from my fan experiences in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.
I have several other irrational and completely unexplained biases against some college teams.
For instance, I can never root for the Duke Blue Devils in college basketball. I don’t know why, except that Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley irritated me.
Wow, I got off on a tangent.
Back to the legislation. It was actually sponsored by Joe Barton, a Republican from Texas and it actually reads--:
“To prohibit, as an unfair and deceptive act or practice, the promotion, marketing, and advertising of any postseason NCAA Division I football game as a national championship game unless such a game is the culmination of a fair and equitable playoff system.”
Wait a minute, didn’t Texas get left out this season too? Maybe the Longhorns should have been number one? I wonder if Barton owns a Longhorns’ tie.
I’m not trying to say that I disagree with the statement that there is no true national champion in college football, but I can’t say with a straight face that I think the government should legislate a solution to the problem.
There is no rhyme or reason to what sports teams I am a fan of, but if one of my teams wins the BCS national title football game, I can guarantee you I will proudly wear my national champion t-shirt for days and maybe even weeks to follow. You won’t hear me complaining about how unfair the BCS system of determining a champion is – unless my team doesn’t win!
Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work?
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Huddle up: Grab some gear — it’s time to play football
By Marques Hunter
January 28th, 2009
There’s a great and challenging opportunity for local football players who never got a chance to live out their dreams of having college or professional careers.
Only a few of the athletically gifted go on to experience some level of college football and come away with a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The standouts might even catch some TV time if they play for NCAA Division I schools like the University of Washington or Washington State University.
But lets face it: Most young football players don’t get there, let alone reach stardom. They might have worked hard in the weight room and helped their team win some high school football games, but, eventually, reality sets in. The idea of landing an athletic scholarship, for most, dwindles away.
The good news is, there’s still hope for those folks — and it’s happening right in our own back yard.
The Gig Harbor-based Puget Sound Pirates are seeking players and coaches for their upcoming 2009 season. Their home games will be played at Peninsula High School’s Roy Anderson Field and they will practice at Wilson High School in Tacoma.
If you live in the area, both facilities are no more than 15 minutes either way.
They say they’re a semi-pro football team, but I’m inclined to call this team amateur-pro because I watched them play last year.
But who cares? It’s football, and it’s a chance to play again. It doesn’t matter if this team finished dead last in the Cascade Football League last year. It’s a chance to shine again. It’s a chance to pancake somebody or intercept a pass and return it for a touchdown.
Most of all, it’s a chance to play on a local team that wants to win — just like you.
Heck, I’ve entertained the idea of playing, but I’ve got a pretty serious personal commitment on the weekends, which is when they practice, so I wouldn’t be able to play. And their practices will shift to Thursday nights, and that’s one of my busier days covering high school sports.
Still, it’s nice to know there’s a way I could play organized, full-contact football and not just some rag-tag flag football or a gridiron backyard pickup game with T-shirts and sweats.
This is helmet, shoulder-pad, knock-someone-out football. It’s what you hope for after your dreams of playing in college or the NFL go swirling down the drain.
Larry Teo coaches the Puget Sound Pirates, but the team is looking for assistant coaches. So, if you think you know the game — and I’m not just talking about a stellar record for John Madden Football using the New England Patriots’ playbook — why not try out for an assistant coaching position?
Although playing in the league won’t get you anywhere — you’re still going to have the same job and live the same life — you’ll have a chance to get into the action once again.
And who knows? You might even make some friends along the way and share that same bond you did in high school all those years ago.
If nothing else, think of it as an excellent way to get back in shape and perhaps play a position you never got to play.
It doesn’t cost to try out, so what do you have to lose?
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