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Weekend winners
Curt Cignetti. Yes, his presence here was clear as Indiana dominated THE Ohio State in the second half Saturday night. But maybe just as impressive is Cignetti’s former stop, where he was just three seasons ago and where he laid the foundation for James Madison to improbably make the college football playoff. And how much easier is it going to be for Cignetti to pitch portal possibilities — especially QB1s — when Fernando Mendoza grabs the Heisman next weekend?
Mike Tomlin. The Steelers head coach — who has never had a non-winning season and has a Super Bowl title — had become a punching bag because of Pittsburgh’s struggles. Sunday, his Steelers showed up and handled Baltimore to grab control of their playoff fate in the AFC North. It prompted Steelers QB1 Aaron Rodgers to tell Tomlin’s critics to “shut the hell up.”
Shedeur Sanders. Yes, the Browns lost — to the Titans, amazingly — but winning games is not the goal in Cleveland this season. Finding a QB1 is, and — again, it was the Titans — Sunday Sanders assuredly looked the part. He threw for 364 yards and accounted for four TDs.
Young QBs. Did you know that Bo Nix and Drake Maye have led the Broncos and Pats, respectively, to 10-game winning streaks. The last pair of first- or second-year QBs to record 10-game winning streaks in their first two seasons was a couple of cats named Marino and Elway.
Weekend losers
Non-playoff bowls. Oh yes, we’ll get into the chaos of Sunday afternoon and the playoff committee in a moment. But wow, when Notre Dame got snubbed and opted out of any bowl bid, you have to think there are more than a few bowl reps pondering the future and trying to find a path into the discussion when the playoff expands. And this comes after Iowa State and Kansas State said thanks but no thanks to a bowl bid.
The Chiefs. Wow, did we ever picture a place that Andy Reid and Patty Mahomes would be in the same spot as Miami’s Mike McDonald and Tua Tagovailoa in the AFC playoff hunt? Each team is 6-7, and each has less than a 15% chance to make the playoffs.
Mark Pope. It was a grand Saturday for SEC hoops haters. Auburn got its clock cleaned at Arizona, which is the second-best team I’ve seen. (Michigan is the best, and the Wolverines, like the Wildcats, pummeled Auburn in the pain in 30-point beatdowns.) UT lost to Illinois. But the worst was Mark Pope’s UK crew laying down as Gonzaga destroyed the short-handed Wildcats. The UK faithful in Nashville were far from pleased during the 94-59 loss to the very talented Zags.
The Colts. Staying in the AFC, it was not that long ago that the Colts had the best record in the NFL. They have lost three straight to fall to 8-5 and into second in the AFC South. Moreover, NFL comeback player of the year front-runner QB1 Daniel Jones suffered an Achilles injury and will miss the rest of the season. Ouch. Even more ouch-standing? The Colts moved multiple first-round picks to acquire CB1 Sauce Gardner in an understandable win-now move. Yikes.
The Falcons. Fire them all. Period. I would say that was a half-hearted effort in a 37-9 tail-whipping from Seattle, which did not allow Atlanta into the end zone.
Committees in general. No, we’ll get to the playoff knuckleheads in a moment. This is about the MLB Era Committee Hall of Fame voters. What in the holy bleep are we doing here, people? On a ballot with Carlos Delgado, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Gary Sheffield, the 14 knuckleheads of the 16-person committee elected Jeff Kent for induction. Wow. There are no words here, friends. I get the last three of the six aforementioned names not Kent, but in my memory and mind’s eye, Delgado, Mattingly and Murphy were far and away more Hall-esque during their playing days than Jeff Kent. It’s officially time to change the name of the building in Cooperstown to the Hall of Really Good. Side question: At the height of their primes, would any GM in his right mind have traded Delgado, Mattingly or Murphy for Jeff Kent, Ted Simmons or Harold Baines? Didn’t think so.
Playoff chaos
The playoff committee announced its bracket Sunday. You may have heard about it. It made most of the papers and sports broadcasts.
Heck, we did an-hour-plus podcast on it at Southeastern16. Check it out.
So here’s the order:
1. Indiana
2. THE Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Texas Tech
5. Oregon
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma
9. Alabama
10. Miami
11. Tulane
12. James Madison.
Yes, Notre Dame was bounced. The ripples are numerous and far reaching.
And those ripples will create almost immediate change. Remember, after the 2024 outrage, improper byes to conference champs was juggled in less than a year, which is comparatively a lightning strike compared to normal NCAA change.
Let’s explore what I believe will happen, and some of these have already been agreed on in principle.
> It will expedite expansion, sadly.
> It should make us all remember that more times than not, the BCS was way more reliable than this committee if only because it had a more structured formula and criteria.
> The conference champ of the power four leagues — SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 — will get a bracket bid moving forward. I believe this one — with the addition of Notre Dame getting in if it’s top-12 — is already in the works.
> There is no way I can be convinced these are the 12 best teams. Not when Notre Dame, Vandy and Texas — among others — are at home as Tulane and JMU head to the playoff. Inclusive decisions are fine for March Madness; it feels forced and farce-tastic now. Yes, the dominoes fell perfectly to get Tulane and JMU in, but as long as we stay at 12, there will be guidelines and regulations installed to prevent two Go5 programs in the bracket.
Now let’s explore the reasons behind this field and the controversial decisions that shaped it.
> Conference commissioners strong-armed the committee to make sure a) a conference-title-game loss in the SEC was not a detriment, and b) an ACC team was included. That seems pretty clear to me, and the future of championship games and the requirements — considering if Oklahoma or Ole Miss had been handed that same beating Alabama got from Georgia, this would be a much different discussion — is in great flux.
> Was the committee trying to tell Notre Dame to find a conference dance partner? Maybe.
> Head-to-head should matter, so in that regard I get Miami over Notre Dame. The fallout of that will be a revised structure or calendar for the rankings since ND was ahead of Miami in every ranking before the only one that counted. It also, as the ND AD noted, almost assuredly means power programs will be dumbing down their non-conference schedules in the years to come.
One final thought: It was a perfect storm that toppled Notre Dame, which I believe is one of the 10 best teams in the country. The Irish lost head-to-head to Miami, and maybe the only program in the country that Notre Dame could not logo whip was Alabama.
Thoughts?
This and that
> We will have our Bowling for Bowls of Bowl Game Success (bowler optional) contest starting tomorrow. Deal? Deal. Here’s a complete list of all the bowls. Are there too many? Sure. Will I watch and/or wager on a vast majority of them? Yep.
> Speaking of bowls, here’s Paschall on UT heading to Nashville to face Bret Bielema’s Illinois bunch. Rules are still rules, even among the chaos caused by committees.
> Hideki Matsuyama won the Hero World Challenge on the PGA Tour. He made $1 million. Harris English, the Baylor School grad, finished tied for eighth and made $207,500.
> When I was 3, I didn’t know chess from a Cheerio. Strike that. I was a fat child, so I 100% would have gravitated to a Cheerio, and if we’re talking Froot Loops, then get out of the way. So imagine sitting across from a toddler and getting clocked in chess, because the 3-year-old is not a ranked chess player.
> How crazy is the modern state of college football? How’s this: Virginia Tech fired Brent Pry before Columbus Day. Virginia Tech hired James Franklin, who was surprisingly canned by Penn State, and promptly went to Blacksburg and lured 11 former Penn State recruits on early-signing day. Now Franklin is prepared to name a new DC, and he wants to hire … Brent Pry. Is it too early to start drinking?
Today’s questions
Who won the weekend? Who lost it?
As for multiple choice Monday, let’s make it easy: Of the 12 teams in the bracket, who wins it all?
As for today, Dec. 8, let’s review.
FDR delivered his “Day of Infamy” speech to Congress on this day in 1941, a day after Pearl Harbor was bombed.
The feel-good rom-com that is “The Deer Hunter” premiered on this day in 1978.
John Lennon died on this day in 1980.
Kim Basinger is 72 today. What’s the Rushmore of Kims? Go.