College Football: The BCS may be in a mess

By James Pearce, WSOE Sports

WIth Cincinnati’s win yesterday, it looks like we are looking down a head-on collision with the BCS’s biggest nightmare.  Six 12-0 teams after week 17 (5 after the Florida/Alabama SEC title game).  While they pray for Texas to win the Big 12 and Florida and Alabama to stay undefeated going in to Atlanta, there are a lot of teams with a pretty big gripe about the current system. Everyone from players to President Barack Obama are calling for something new, be it a plus-one format, a 16-team playoff, or what have you. 

But that got me thinking.  What if we did it like boxing? What if you became the champion by beating the champion?  Probably not a great idea (maybe even the worst so far), but it’s fun to think about.  What would college football look like if we’d been doing this.  So, starting with Florida State’s title game win over Virginia Tech to start the year 2000, lets see what happens:

Note: “weeks” means in-season, playing weeks.  It only counts during the season.  A team shouldn’t get credit for being champion for the 32ish weeks when they don’t play a game.  Bye weeks also do not count, nor does the time between the regular season and bowls.

January 4 – October 9 2000: Florida State Seminoles (7 weeks)
October 9 2000- January 3 2003: Miami Hurricanes (31 weeks)
January 3 – October 11 2003: Ohio State Buckeyes (6 weeks)
October 11 – October 18 2003: Wisconsin Badgers (1 week)
October 18 – October 25 2003: Purdue Boilermakers (1 week)
October 25 2003 – January 1 2004: Michigan Wolverines (4 weeks)
January 1 2004 – January 4 2006: Southern Cal Trojans(26 weeks)
January 4 -September 9 2007: Texas Longhorns (2 weeks)
September 9 – January 8 2007: Ohio State Buckeyes (10 weeks)
January 8 – September 29 2007: Florida Gators (5 weeks)
September 29 – October 20 2007: Auburn Tigers (3 weeks)
October 20 – November 23 2007: LSU Tigers (4 weeks)
November 23 2007- January 1 2008: Arkansas Razorbacks (2 weeks)
January 1 – October 11 2008: Missouri Tigers (5 weeks)
October 11 – October 25 2008: Oklahoma State Cowboys (2 weeks)
October 25 – November 1 2008: Texas Longhorns (1 week)
November 1 – November 22: Texas Tech Red Raiders (2 weeks)
November 22 2008 – January 8 2009: Oklahoma Sooners (2 weeks)
January 8 2009 to present: Florida Gators (10 weeks and counting…)

That actually seems to work out pretty well.  In all but 2 seasons, the team that did win the true national championship held it in this model.  The exceptions are  Oklahoma in 2000 and LSU in 2004, both of which are considered controversial titles.  And in this system, even when the title strays on an odd path (ie Purdue, WIsconsin, Auburn, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma State holding the title), it rights itself very quickly.

While a little odd, is it really that much kookier than what we have now?  Everyone plays 12 games against totally different opposition, and then we hand-pick the 2 best out of 120 and they get to play for the title.  C’mon.

Contact Information:
James Pearce
WSOE Sports
jpearce5@elon.edu

NHL: What’s Next for the Coyotes?

By James Pearce, WSOE Sports

As the NHL season gets underway, one of the underlying stories will be the future of the Phoenix Coyotes.  This past may, the team filed for bankruptcy, following years of being at or near the bottom of the league in attendance.  While they gained a hold by making the playoffs in 5 of their first 6 seasons in the desert, they haven’t gone back since 2001, and have in fact only had one winning season since then (38-37-7 in 2008), and have NEVER won their division.  It has become abundantly clear that they should not be staying in Phoenix longer.

So, where do I think they’ll be in three years?  Lets look.

Because Hockey is only America’s #4 sport (with Soccer and MMA gaining ground fast), it wont work in every market.  There seems to be only two ways a team can work out: either be in a traditional hockey city, or a city where there isn’t much competition from other pro sports (such as Raleigh or San Jose).  So clearly, their best bet is to go for a city that meets both criteria.  The top choices:

1. Winnipeg
Thats right, WInnipeg, Manitoba.  As in former home of the Jets.  The Jets being that team that moved to phoenix 13 years ago and became the Coyotes.  That city has been hungering for a return to the NHL ever since, as evinced by the Coyotes preseason sell-out game there in 2006.  They loyally played there from 1972 till the move.  The main reason cited for leaving in the first place was a lackluster arena, and those concerns may have been addressed in 2005 with the building of the MTS Centre (come on, Canada, its spelled C-E-N-T-E-R).  One problem.  It would be the NHL’s smallest arena by 2,000 seats.  Not exactly inviting.  Gary Bettman has stated that the size of the arena is a big stumbling block for the NHL’s return to Manitoba.  And as we’ve learned, what Gary wants, Gary gets.  No matter how much it hurts his league.  While this is most likely where they’ll end up (again), I get the feeling that after a few years of excitement the city will go back to not attending games, and we’ll be having this same discussion in 2019.

2.  Hamilton
Hamilton!  Seems a perfect spot, really.  And it seemed almost a certainty until a bankruptcy court denied Canadian Billionaire Jim Balsillie’s bid to buy the team.  He’s a man that’s had a bed string of lucky getting a hockey team, this being only his latest failure.  He wanted a Hamilton expansion team in 1990 but lost to Ottawa and Tampa Bay, Mario Lemieux pushed him out as a Penguins bidder in 2005, and he even sold season tickets to Hamilton Predators games in 2007, but the Nashville franchise opted to sell to bidder who promised to stay in Tennessee.  And its starting to look bleak for his attempt to buy the Coyotes.  Its the 9th largest city in Canada (behind both Winnipeg and Quebec City), but has the advantages of being in a very dense metropolitan area (The Golden Horseshoe), and Copps Coliseum, a very nice 19,000 seat arena already built.  The biggest issue however may be the neighbors.  Located about halfway between Toronto and Buffalo, it faces strong opposition from two of the NHL’s most popular teams.  This is probably where I see the Coyotes eventually ending up, but maybe 4 or 5 seasons down the line.

3. Quebec City
The former home of the Nordiques (now the Colorado Avalanche) is also hungry for hockey.  The odd bit is that the drive for a move here is mainly coming not from the town itself, but russian ultra-billionaire Alexander Medvedev.  His problem?  Gary Bettman has openly said he would never allow a Russian national to own an NHL team.  Which actually seems smart for the league.  So unless someone else steps up, Quebec City may have to wait a few years till the NHL expands.

4. Toronto
An interesting idea came up this summer.  A plan has been put forth by a pair of investors to relocate a team to Toronto’s northern suburbs, in a massive 30,000 seat arena.  Half of the tickets would be sold for less than $50, and 25% of profits would go straight to charity.  The only problem?  An Original Six team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, would do everything they could to block it.  Even though a city like this could easily support two teams.  And like Mr. Bettman, they’d get what they want.

5. Las Vegas
A city with 2,000,000 people and no pro sports???  SOUNDS GREAT!  Oh except that city’s in the desert and the NHL tries to distance itself from gambling.  Sorry, Nevada.

There are some other cities that have NHL Histories, Lack of competition, or an NHL-ready arena, but none both.  Other cites have been listed as Cleveland (The Mistake by the Pond by the Lake has a ring to it, but not in the way they want), Portland, Seattle, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, Milwaukee, and Hartford (Ha… Ha…).    And of course there would be awesome votes for making them the Charleston Chiefs.  While you could make arguments for all of these cities, the negatives would far outweigh the positives.  And the NHL is in no place to be taking risks and expanding markets.  They just need to protect the teams they have.

My bet?  Time to start saving for tickets, Hamilton.  The Tigers are coming back!

Contact Information:
James Pearce
WSOE Sports
jpearce5@elon.edu

NCAA Football: This Saturday’s Planner

By James Pearce, WSOE Sports

If you’re luckier than I am, and don’t have to work all day tomorrow, I’ve made a little guide of every game you need to spend vour dav watching.

And if you have the time, catch Pitt/Louisville tonight on ESPN2 at 8:00.

10:30am, ESPN: College Gameday, obviously.  But for some reason this week, they’re at FSU/Boston College.  There are 3 top-25 matchups they could have gone to in Berkley, Miami, or Athens, all great atmospheres.  Instead they choose a game between the fastest-falling programs in the country’s 5th-best conference, at a school known nationally for its poor fan support, in one of America’s worst-weather cities.  Oh well.

Noon: Wisconsin at Minnesota, ESPN
Pickings are slim early.  Especiallv if you dont have ESPN-U or a connection to espn360.com.  I try to keep my picks here for people like me with basic cable and spotty internet.  I gave you this game because your other choice is Arkansas State at Iowa.  Exactly.  But this year’s battle for Paul Bunyon’s Axe should be a good one.  These are two programs that seem to be back on the right track after being in the dumps the past 2-3 seasons, and dont forget Minnesota will be looking to use the magic of their (very nice) new stadium to reclaim the axe for the first time since 2003.  WIsconsin has dominated recently, winning 12 of the last 14 matchups.

3:30pm: Washington at Notre Dame, NBC-
The intriguing bit of this matchup is the quarterbacks.  Jake Locker and Jimmy Clausen are two of the nation’s best.  Most mock drafts for next year (2011) have these guys alternating 1/2 (assuming Sam Bradford leaves after this season) at the quaterback position.  Not since the 2006 Rose Bowl (Lienart and young) have 2 probable top-10 guys faced off, and not in the regular season since 1985 when Vinny Testaverde’s Miami Hurricanes took on Kelly Stouffer’s Colorado State Rams.  And we all remember that one, right?  Aside from the ability to watch two future stars in action, the teams themselves are fascinating.  We know verv little about both, as both have big wins and bad losses, but will learn a whole lot on saturday.

PS Don’t expect Golden Tate to try to jump in to any more opposing bands…

During the same time, don’t forget to flip around and check on #4 LSU at #18 Georgia.  LSU had quite the scare in Starkville last week, with Mississippi State only losing by a few inches.  This is the most likely game this weekend to see a top-5 team fall.  The number 4 team each week is only 2-2 this year.  Look for LSU to have trouble scoring, and UGa to pull off a big one here.

7:30pm, Texas A&M at Arkansas, in Little Rock, ESPN2
Nothing great here, but two traditional programs will be able to hold you over till the big games later

8:00pm, #8 Oklahoma at #17 Miami, ABC
There are two great games during this time slot, with the easter half of the country getting this one, and the western half watching #6 USC at #24 Cal.  Two teams with an outside shot at the national title traveling to dangerous opponents that started fast but will be looking for redemption after both got blown out last week.  None of these four teams can afford a loss if they want to stay relevant on the national stage, so look for a lot of fight in the nightcaps.  If Sam Bradford was still plaving, we’d have 5 of the best players in the country here as well (Joe McNight, Javhid Best, Jacory Harris, and Matt Barkley being the others).  Too bad everybody will only get one of these games.  But whichever you get, its your number 1 cant miss of the week.

Worst game of the week: Temple at Eastern Michigan
Lock of the week: Boise State over UC Davis
Upset Alert: Georgia over LSU
Wouldn’t this have been great ten years ago: tie, Clemson at Maryland, Oregon State at Arizona State

Contact Information:
James Pearce
WSOE Sports
jpearce5@elon.edu

NCAA Men’s Basketball: Top Seeds Uncovered

By James Pearce, WSOE Sports

We are just two days away from selection sunday, and more than in previous years, drama surrounds which teams will be awarded the number one seeds.  Yesterday was a mess for the top teams in the land, with Oklahoma, UConn, Pittsburgh, and Kansas all falling, and Memphis and Washington struggling way more than they should have.  So the question is wide open today more than ever:  Who will get the number one seeds?  Here’s a look at the top contenders

#1 North Carolina- Winning today, albeit closely, sewed it up for them.  Nothing they or anyone else can do will keep them out of the top spot in the South region.

#2 Pittsburgh- Yesterday’s 14-point loss to West Virginia hurts them immensely.  The selection committee will want to avoid putting three teams from the Big East as top seeds.  If Louisville wins the Big East tournament, which they will, Pitt probably

#3 UConn- Compared to what Pitt did, UConn’s 6-OT supergame against #20 Syracuse last night is not bad at all.  Any team that plays well for more than a game and a half like that, coupled with a great regular season, deserves a top seed.

#4 Memphis- Struggling against Tulane yesterday did nothing to advance their cause.  A week overall schedule does not make an undefeated season in-conference alright.  They deserved the top seed if the rolled through the C-USA tourney, and putting up 51 on Tulane does not cut it.  If the Tigers want to be considered legit, they need to move up to the Big East or Atlantic 10.  Hell, even maybe the Missouri Valley.  I defended Memphis up till yesterday, but they dont deserve it anymore.

#5 Louisville- If they win the Big East, they get a number one seed.  If they lose at any point (all the potential respectable losses are out), then it’s down to a number 2.  Very simple.  I’m confident that they’ll win the automatic bid, and thus a top seed.

#6 Oklahoma- The loss yesterday to Oklahoma State made this dark horse even darker.  Oklahoma needed to win the Big XII tournament, and they didnt even come close.  No top seed for them.  They may have fallen as far as a 3…

#7 Michigan State- Still a shot.  IF and ONLY IF the win the Big Ten Championship.  With a regular season and tournament title in a deep conference, they have earned it.  Unfortunately for them, the ACC and Big East own college basketball this season, leaving little room for an outsider.  But from the looks of it, the pieces have fallen Sparty’s way, and if they do what they should, they’ll get that top seed in the Midwest.  And few teams will have an easier road to the title, but thats another story…

#9 Duke-  Still has an outside shot at the top seed in the East.  With wins over Wake Forest and UNC in the semis and finals, and thus an ACC Title, coupled with Michigan State and Louisville losing, and Memphis struggling, Duke would earn a number one seed.  But the length of that scenario alone should tell you how high Duke’s hopes should get.

So who’s in, as of right now?

South- North Carolina 
East- UConn 
Midwest- Michigan State 
West- Louisville

Listen to James Pearce and the 4th and 15 crew every Thursday from 4:15-5:00 p.m.

Contact Information:
James Pearce
WSOE Sports
jpearce5@elon.edu