Well, take a bow Urban Meyer. That was impressive.
From the "Talks too much" studios, THE Ohio State University earned the all-caps introduction.
College football title game
Hope some of you followed along during the Twitter barrage last night as THE Ohio State blitzed Oregon 42-20. We roll at @jgreesontfp.
We needed something to keep our attention as Ohio State flexed its muscles and flummoxed the Ducks. It was impressive and thorough, and it would have been much, Much, MUCH worse if OSU had not fumbled four times - including several self-inflicted miscues in Oregon territory.
So, the team that was controversially included a month ago rolled through the first playoff in major college football history.
Ohio State's Taylor Decker (68) and Jeff Heuerman celebrate after the NCAA college football playoff championship game against Oregon Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, in Arlington, Texas. Ohio State won 42-20. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) Does that fact state the case that the playoff worked? In a lot of ways.
Remember, a playoff is not designed to find the best team. A playoff is designed to find the hottest team at the end. Often those descriptions can overlap but they certainly are not mutually exclusive.
Does the fact that TCU, the team that was ranked No. 6 and felt cheated out of the final spot, looked as good as anyone not named Ohio State mean we're expanding the field to eight teams sooner rather than later? Absolutely.
And we're pretty sure that's not as good a thing as it may seem.
First Scholarships and title 9
Second, this will expedite the big five conferences moving out, and we're not excited about that change either
Finally and most importantly, it will be the first step to watering down the best regular season in sports. By being so eager to expand, it means we are potentially willing to trade three months of college football bliss for a third week of playoff drama.
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College football '15
In case you missed it, here is the final AP poll, with TCU settling in at No. 3 behind the title-game teams and ahead of Alabama and Florida State and Michigan, which tied the Seminoles at No. 5.
And since it's never too early to look to next year, we posted our version of the entire too early Top 25 here.
That said, those could be completely reshaped by the end of BID-ness Thursday when third-year players must decide whether to turn pro or return to college.
Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich talks to Marcus Mariota during the first half of the NCAA college football playoff championship game against Ohio State Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/LM Otero) Here's an unofficial list of players who have declared, and we can reasonably expect Marcus Mariota to announce he'll enter the draft, too, since the Heisman winner seems like a sure first-rounder.
But if Marcus Mariota is a first-rounder, what does that make Cardale Jones, the Ohio State third-stringer-turned-star after all of three starts? Also, shouldn't Jones, a redshirt sophomore consider turning pro since his stock likely will never be higher than right now?
Also, with sophomore Ezekiel Elliott returning along with a host of freshmen studs such as Nick Chubb, Leonard Fournette and Jalen Hurd, as well as Alabama's Derrick Henry, which two running backs start the season as your preseason All-Americans. We'd start with Elliott and Chubb, but if we were a college coach, we would not turn any of those cats away from the training table.
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Title game this and that
- OK, we were entertained by the social media explosion that Bob Newhart was the referee in the title game. Good times.
- While we certainly tip the visor to Elliott's postseason romp - dude went for 696 and eight TDs in wins over Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon - the most important stat of the entire OSU team is that the same five offensive linemen started every game in the Buckeyes' return trip to the top.
Oregon's Marcus Mariota (8) throws during the second half of an NCAA college football playoff championship game against Ohio State Monday, Jan. 12, 2015, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) - What becomes of Oregon? If Mariota returns, they could be preseason co-No. 1 with Ohio State, and we could very well be right back here in 12 months. Still, the flash and the speed and the glitz fell short. Oregon has talent, but can they prove to be among the college football elite and reload rather than rebuild?
- Apparently, Urban Meyer promised his team that if they won he'd get a tattoo. Hmmmmm, something tells us tattoos and Columbus and college football could be a slippery slope. Good luck with that Urban.
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This and that (everything else)
Denver Broncos head coach John Fox reacts to a call during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Indianapolis Colts, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey) - The Denver Broncos best have a plan, because unless they can answer the all-important, "Who are you going to hire that is better?" question when forcing a coach to walk, then parting ways with John Fox seems silly. As Paschall asked on Press Row on Monday, you could have gotten very good odds at the beginning of the year that the 49ers and the Broncos would be searching for head coaches in Janaury.
- There's a report circulating that the NCAA may restore some of Joe Paterno's wins. Yes, that will end neatly.
- Stories like this one about PGA golfer Tony Finau needing to crack a piggy bank 14 months ago to pay for a Christmas lights tour always make us smile. Finau parlayed a great season - one win, more than $250,000 - on the Web.com tour into a PGA card. He has four top-15 finishes since the fall and has made more than $600,000 in the last few months. Take that piggy bank.
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Today's question
We'll start college football:
Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer listens to a question during a news conference before the NCAA college football playoff championship game Sunday, Jan. 11, 2015, in Dallas. Oregon plays Ohio State in the championship game on Monday. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Is Urban Meyer the best coach in country? Yes, dare we say it - we may even have to whisper it around these parts - is Urban better than Sir Nick Saban. Go, and we'll offer some views around lunch.
We'll end with a birthday Rushmore:
Today, Rip Taylor, Charles Nelson Reilly and William Hung celebrate birthdays. Each celebrated some level of fame/notoriety under unconventional terms, and it could be difficult to understand.
Who's on your Rushmore of folks in the sports world (players/coaches/announcers/et al.) that stun you because most people believe they are good at what they do?
Go.