Where Should 34th NFL Team Go?

Roger Goodell said that if an expansion team was placed in Los Angeles, the NFL would then add a 34th team. That being said, that is a huge IF. I would most likely bet on the Chargers, Rams or Jaguars moving to the new stadium in Los Angeles than an expansion team. Goodell doesn't want that to happen, but it very well could.

So if there is a 34th team ... who should get it?

1-TORONTO: This is an interesting choice, but I think they would be a frontrunner. They have a stadium (albeit an older one) and a nice fanbase. Obviously, it would open up the entire Canadian market for the NFL ... including some Canadian television rights fees ... but it would also stomp all over the CFL. The Buffalo Bills have been placing a home game there for the last few years so they've had the NFL in their city. Toronto is huge so there shouldn't be much trouble building a fan base and there would be natural geographical rivalries with Detroit, Cleveland and, of course, Buffalo.

Unlike other sports, Toronto won't have trouble attracting talent. While the taxes and Canadian lifestyle might scare off NBA and MLB players from the Raptors and Blue Jays, it won't be as big a deal in the NFL. Green Bay is highly successful for crying out loud.

2-PORTLAND: Portland is a great sports town and Oregon is a great sports state. I don't think losing the Portland market would hurt any of the Seattle Seahawks plans (though could Paul Allen figure into anything here?). Seattle is kind of on an NFL island so Portland would be a nice partner and and obvious rival. Nike has a huge presence there so there is money.

3-LOS ANGELES: What? Could Los Angeles actually have two expansion teams? That's the word but I don't see it happening. It will be hard enough to build one team from the ground up in the area, let alone two. It would also damage the Chargers who are already struggling being the only team in SoCal over the last 15 years. If anything, the Chargers could eventually move to be a co-tenant with the expansion team in LA (and don't think that little loophole won't be in any expansion franchise agreement). Of course, if the Chargers were serious about a move up the coast, the NFL wouldn't even bother expanding in the first place.

4-OKLAHOMA CITY: OKC has burst onto the pro sports scene with their support of the "borrowed" Hornets several years back and their support for the current Thunder. Oklahoma City reminds me a lot of Charlotte in the late 1980s to early 1990s. An NBA team showed the country what the city has for sports teams and the NFL cashed in on it. I can see the same thing here. Good football state who wouldn't mind dumping the Cowboys for their own squad.

5-MEXICO CITY: This would be a huge curveball that could really pay off. Mexico City has a huge metro area and would easily support an NFL team. But that is asking a lot of players to go there on purpose. I know that it is sort of in the same boat as Toronto but the Mexican culture is a much bigger shock to American players than the Canadian one. Still, you cannot tell me that this hasn't crossed Goodell's mind.

6-SAN ANTONIO: They are always in relocation discussions, but I just can't see the NFL heading here. While there are plenty of football fans to go around in Texas, that would mean people would have to quit the Cowboys or Texans. The Alamodome is serviceable but I'm not sure if it is a true NFL quality stadium.

7-LAS VEGAS: Doubtful, but not out of the question. If any league could figure a way to make pro sports work in Sin City, it would be the NFL. But it could turn into a nightmare since football is bet on more than any other sport. I think this is a headache Goodell doesn't want.

46 Stops To Super Bowl XLVI

#46-AFC LOVES FEBRUARY: The Super Bowl will be held on February 5th. Since the first February Super Bowl in 2002, the AFC is 6-3 in those games held in the calendar's shortest month ... though the NFC has won the last two:

Super Bowl XXXVI: Patriots beat Rams on February 3, 2002
Super Bowl XXXVIII: Patriots beat Panthers on February 1, 2004
Super Bowl XXXIX: Patriots beat Eagles on February 6, 2005
Super Bowl XL: Steelers beat Seahawks on February 5, 2006
Super Bowl XLI: Colts beat Bears on February 4, 2007
Super Bowl XLII: Giants beat Patriots on February 3, 2008
Super Bowl XLIII: Steelers beat Cardinals on February 1, 2009
Super Bowl XLIV: Saints beat Colts on February 7, 2010
Super Bowl XLV: Packers beat Steelers on February 6, 2011

#45-SCORE EARLY AND OFTEN: The team who scores first in a Super Bowl is 29-16. However, the team who has scored first has lost six of the last ten Super Bowls.

*Teams who score at least 30 points are 23-1.
*Teams that score the first TD are 32-13.
*Teams leading at the half are 34-9 (there have been two ties)

#44-NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN, TOM: Tom Brady will be making his 5th start in a Super Bowl, tying him with John Elway for most all time. Brady is 3-1 in his previous trips (beat the Rams, Panthers and Eagles, lost to the Giants). Elway was 2-3 in his appearances.

After those two, four men are tied with four starts. Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw won all of their starts. Jim Kelly lost all four of his. Roger Stauback split his four.

If Brady wins Super Bowl XLVI, he will join Montana and Bradshaw for most Super Bowl wins by a starting QB.

#43-SUPER BOWL REMATCH: The Giants and Patriots will meet again in the Super Bowl. Who could forget their matchup in Super Bowl XLII?

This isn't the first Super Bowl rematch.
The Steelers and Cowboys have met for three Super Bowls. Redskins-Dolphins, Cowboys-Bills, and 49ers-Bengals all have met twice.

#42-LET'S GO TO INDY: Super Bowl XLVI will be played in Indianapolis, Indiana for the first time. This will be the 4th Super Bowl played in a cold-weather city. Pontiac, Michigan, Minneapolis, Minnesota and Detroit, Michigan have all hosted exactly one Super Bowl. Those four Super Bowls are the only ones that have been held in the midwest.

#41-SUPER BOWL ON NBC: This will be the 17th time NBC will televise the Super Bowl, tying CBS for most by a network. Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth will make the call. Collinsworth, who played in Super Bowls XVI and XXIII, will be making his first call. Michaels will be making his 8th call ... his 2nd with NBC (the others were with ABC).

The Giants will join the Broncos as the only teams to play in Super Bowls televised by all four major networks.

#40-COLTS KNOW BOTH SIDES OF THE COIN: The Indianapolis Colts, the host team of the Super Bowl, is the only franchise to play in a Super Bowl as an AFC and NFC team. Well, they never were an "NFC" team, but the Colts played in Super Bowl III as the NFL representative against the AFL Champ Jets. Two years later, the Colts won Super Bowl V as a member of the AFC.

When the NFL merged with the AFL in 1970, the NFL's Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns moved to the American side of things. The Steelers have won six Super Bowls (and been to another one) but all were as the AFC champ. Cleveland is still waiting for their first appearance.

#39-TOP SEEDS NOT MEETING AGAIN: Believe it or not, but Super Bowl XLIV was the first time that the No. 1 seed in the NFC and AFC met in the Super Bowl since 1993. In each year since the Bills and Cowboys met in '93, one of the top seeds fell before getting to the big game. This year, only hte AFC's top seed, the Patriots, made it to the Big Game. The NFC's top team, the Packers, lost in the divisional round. For a look at what the top seeds did during the drought, check out The Tygrrrr Express.

#38-DIVISION ALL IN: The only divisions that don't have all of their members with appearances in a Super Bowl are the AFC North (Browns), AFC South (Titans, Jaguars) and NFC North (Lions).

No division has all their members with Super Bowl championships. The NFC East (Eagles didn't win), AFC West (Chargers) and AFC East (Bills) have seen three of their four members win a title. The NFC East is the only division to have each of their members in multiple Super Bowls. The Cowboys have been to eight, the Redskins have been to five, the Giants have been to four and the Eagles have been to two.

The odd thing is that each team in the NFC South has been exactly once to the Super Bowl. The Panthers and Falcons lost their only time there, while the Bucs and Saints won in their only appearances.

#37-NFC EAST TOPS THEM ALL: The NFC East easily has the most Super Bowl champions than any other division. The 11 titles won bests the AFC North for the top honors.

The NFC East dominated from 1986-1995. In that span, the Giants ('86, '90), Redskins ('87, '91) and Cowboys ('92, '93, '95) went to and won 7 of 10 Super Bowls during that decade. The only other Super Bowl champ was San Francisco ('88, '89, '94).

This year the two representatives in the Super Bowl represent the two divisions who get the Super Bowl the most.

Here's a rundown of the divisions:
11-NFC EAST (Cowboys-5, Redskins-3, Giants-3)
7-AFC NORTH (Steelers-6, Ravens-1)
6-NFC WEST (Niners-5, Rams-1)
6-AFC EAST (Patriots-3, Dolphins-2, Jets-1)
6-AFC WEST (Raiders-3, Broncos-2, Chiefs-1)
5-NFC NORTH (Packers-4, Bears-1)
2-AFC SOUTH (Colts-2)
2-NFC SOUTH (Buccaneers-1, Saints-1)

As for Super Bowl appearances, the NFC East wins this title again:
20-NFC EAST (Cowboys-8, Redskins-5, Giants-5, Eagles-2)
17-AFC EAST (Patriots-7, Dolphins-5, Bills-4, Jets-1)
14-AFC WEST (Broncos-6, Raiders-5, Chiefs-2, Chargers-1)
11-NFC NORTH (Packers-5, Vikings-4, Bears-2)
11-AFC NORTH (Steelers-8, Bengals-2, Ravens-1)
10-NFC WEST (Niners-5, Rams-3, Seahawks-1, Cardinals-1)
5-AFC SOUTH (Colts-4, Titans-1)
4-NFC SOUTH (Panthers-1, Bucs-1, Falcons-1, Saints-1)

#36-THERE IS AN EXTRA VINCE LOMBARDI TROPHY OUT THERE: Excuse this one taken from my FanHouse post but it is rather interesting:

There have been 43 Super Bowls to date ... yet there are 44 Vince Lombardi Trophies (given to the Super Bowl winning team) out and about. How is that?

Well, that little ditty comes to light after the recent passing of Rams owner Georgia Frontiere. Frontiere's husband, former-Colts and Rams owner Carroll Rosenbloom, is the reason behind the story:

However, when Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom, Frontiere's late husband, traded the Colts for the Rams in a franchise swap in 1972, he decided he wanted to keep the Lombardi Trophy the Colts won in Super Bowl V. When Super Bowl VII took place in Los Angeles, Rosenbloom told the Colts he was going to put on a display of Super Bowl trophies and asked them to bring it to the West Coast. They did. There was no display, and Rosenbloom never returned the trophy. After the Colts complained to the league office, former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle had a duplicate made for the Colts, which remains in Baltimore (it was originally shipped to Indianapolis when the team moved but a deal was struck and it was returned to Maryland). The original Super Bowl V trophy? It presumably was in Frontiere's possession and now belongs to her heirs.

So, there are two Vince Lombardi trophies awarded for Super Bowl V ... yet neither are with the franchise that won it. The original was in St. Louis with Frontiere with the other in Baltimore, the Colts old digs. Meanwhile, Indianapolis can only show off the trophy they won two years ago.

#35-NOT A GIANT WINNER: The Giants join the 1979 Los Angeles Rams and 2008 Arizona Cardinals as the only teams to reach the Super Bowl with less than 10 regular season wins. The Giants finished 9-7 for the season and needed a win over the Cowboys in the finale to even qualify for the postseason. Both the Rams and Cardinals lost to the Steelers in the Super Bowl.

#34-FOUR DECADES OF SUPER BOWLS: If the Patriots lose this Super Bowl, they will be the first team to lose Super Bowls in four different decades. The Pats lost in 1980s to the Bears, 1990s to the Packers and 2000s to the Giants. Only the Bills, Vikings and Broncos have lost 4 Super Bowls.

That would mean the Giants would be the first team to win Super Bowls in four decades. They beat the Broncos in the 1980s, Bills in the 1990s and Patriots in the 2000s.

#33-NOT A FAIR SCORE: The Giants are the first team in history to get to the Super Bowl despite being outscored during the regular season. The G-men were outscored 400-396 during the season.

#32-ROAD WARRIORS: The Giants are also on a nice winning streak. They currently have won six straight games away from home. That streak began in 2007 at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium and includes their victory over the Pats in Super Bowl XLII. This postseason, the Giants won at Green Bay and at San Francisco to get to SB46.

The Giants are also only the 2nd team to beat three teams with better records than them in the postseason to reach the Super Bowl.

#31-GIANTS STOP NFC'S NEWBIE STREAK: The Giants just ended a streak of 10 consecutive different NFC Champions. Yes, the last 10 seasons have seen 10 different NFC Champions. Last year, the Packers joined the Saints, Cardinals, Giants, Bears, Seahawks, Eagles, Panthers, Buccaneers and Rams as NFC champs in the last decade. In that time, only the Vikings, Lions, Redskins, Falcons, Niners and Cowboys haven't been to the big show. That's a bit odd since in the span from 1987-1995, the Cowboys, Redskins and Niners went to and won 8 of the 9 Super Bowls

#30-TOM BRADY IS BAAAAACK: 18 quarterbacks have started multiple Super Bowls. This will be Tom Brady's fifth Super Bowl appearance. John Elway leads the pack with 5 Super Bowls, while Terry Bradshaw, Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Jim Kelly and Roger Staubach have all started four. Only Craig Morton and Kurt Warner have started Super Bowls for two different teams.

#29-FUTURE SUPER BOWL SITES ARE PRETTY INTERESTING: No team has ever played a Super Bowl in their home stadium -- we know this after last year's chirping from Dallas about that in the offseason and Peyton Manning's injury keeping his Colts away from this game in Indy. It really is remarkable that this has never happened. Well, it could happen soon.

New Orleans (XLVII), New York (XLVIII) and Phoenix (XLIX) will be hosting games soon. The Saints won a Super Bowl a couple years back and was one of the hottest teams entering this postseason. New York's Giants are in this year's Super Bowl while the Jets were in the last two AFC title games. Arizona could be formindable by the time their Super Bowl comes back around.

#28-SUPER BOWL "VOICE": In a rather odd bit of programming, NBC will air the singing competition "The Voice" after the Super Bowl. Last year, FOX broadcasted Glee after the Super Bowl.

The trend recently is for the network broadcasting the Super Bowl loves breaking in new shows or extended shows following the game. CBS debuted "Undercover Boss" after Super Bowl XLIV. It joined Extreme (ABC-1995), Homicide (NBC-'93), Davis Rules (ABC-'91), Grand Slam (CBS-'90), The Wonders Years (ABC-'88), Hard Copy (CBS-'87), The Last Precinct (NBC-'86), MacGruder and Loud (ABC-'85), Airwolf (CBS-'84), The A-Team (NBC-'83) and Brothers and Sisters (NBC-'79) as shows who debuted after the Super Bowl.

Some other big-time heavyweights have also appeared right after the game. Lassie, All in the Family, 60 Minutes, CHiPs, Archie Bunker's Place, Friends, The X-Files, The Simpsons, Survivor, Grey's Anatomy, House and The Office all have been post-Super Bowl shows.

#27-BEEN THERE, DONE THAT: This will be the second consecutive Super Bowl between teams with at least 3 Super Bowl titles. Before last year, it hadn't happened since Super Bowl XXX. Last year, the Packers (3 titles entering the game) faced off with the Steelers (six). In Super Bowl XXX, the Steelers (then a 4-time champion) battled the Cowboys (also a 4-time champ at the time).

It's also just the fifth Super Bowl between teams with multiple Super Bowl victories. The only other time it has happened was last year's Packers-Steelers (XLV), the Giants-Patriots (XLII) Super Bowl a couple of years ago and the Steelers-Cowboys (XXX and XIII).

#26-SUPER BOWL CONSUMPION: Some nice stats for you:

8 million: Total pounds of popcorn consumed on Super Bowl Sunday.

28 million: Pounds of potato chips consumed.

53.5 million: Pounds of avocados consumed.

222,792: Number of football fields worth of farmland to grow all that corn, potatoes, and avocados.

11.8: Depth, in feet, of guacamole consumed if it were spread across the football field.

293,000: Number of miles of potato chips, laid end to end, consumed during the game.

1 billion: Number of chicken wings consumed on Super Bowl Sunday.

325.5 million: Gallons of beer drank by Americans that day.

493: Number of Olympic-sized swimming pools that could be filled with all that beer.

20%: Increase in anti-acid sales the Monday after the game.

7 million: Number of employees who will not show up to work Monday.

#25-BUT DON'T DISMISS THE FAVORITES: Yeah, there are upsets, but don't count on them. The favorite has won nine of the last 13 Super Bowls. In fact the favorite is 31-14 in the Super Bowl. Teams favored by at least 7 points are 19-6.

24-STILL, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE UNDERDOG: This year, the Steelers are a slight underdog and this may be one of the most even matchups we've seen in a Super Bowl in quite some time. But we have seen some big dog upsets.

Here is a short list of some notable upsets:

Super Bowl III: The Baltimore Colts came in as 18-point favorites. They left watching the Jets' Joe Namath fulfilling his prediction of an upset.

Super Bowl IV: The Kansas City Chiefs spanked the Minnesota Vikings, despite being a 12-point underdog.

Super Bowl VII: Oddly, the undefeated Miami Dolphins entered the game as 1.5-point underdogs to the Washington Redskins.Super Bowl XXV: The Buffalo Bills would begin their four game Super Bowl losing streak by succumbing to the Giants, who were 7-point dogs.

Super Bowl XXXII: The Denver Broncos, an 11.5-point underdog, ended the AFC's thirteen game losing streak by beating Green Bay.

Super Bowl XXXVI: These New England Patriots began their dynasty by beating the St. Louis Rams, who were 14-point favorites.

Super Bowl XLII: The 12-point dog Giants ended the Patriots perfect season with a magical game.See, it can happen. Just because we all think one way doesn't mean we cannot be shocked. After all, those 2001 Rams were juggernauts who were former champions and were heavy favorites. They left without the trophy.

#23-THE NFC OWNS THE COIN TOSS: The NFC has ... somehow ... won the last 14 coin tossses in the Super Bowl. The last time the AFC won a coin toss was 1997 when the Patriots won it against the Packers.

The team that wins the opening coin toss is just 22-23 in the game. That averages out to ... well ... the flip of a coin. However, the coin toss winner has been the Super Bowl loser in 10 of the last 14 games.

SB 45: Packers won the toss ... and the game
SB 44: Saints won the toss ... and the game
SB 43: Cardinals won the toss, lost the game*
SB 42: Giants won the toss ... and the game
SB 41: Bears won the toss, lost the game
SB 40: Seahawks won the toss, lost the game
SB 39: Eagles won the toss, lost the game
SB 38: Panthers won the toss, lost the game
SB 37: Buccaneers won the toss ... and the game
SB 36: Rams won the toss, lost the game
SB 35: Giants won the toss, lost the game
SB 34: Rams won the toss ... and the game
SB 33: Falcons won the toss, lost the game
SB 32: Packers won the toss, lost the game
SB 31: Patriots won the toss, lost the game

*A little aside to this is that the Arizona Cardinals won the toss and deferred to the second half. The Steelers chose to receive which means the Cards were the first team in Super Bowl history to win the coin toss and kickoff.

#22-SOME MORE STATITUDES: Here is another piece of trivia for you. There has been at least one successful field goal in 43 of 45 Super Bowls.

Teams that have been shut out for one half (either the first or second) are a combined 1-18. The lone winner was those 1972 Dolphins who went scoreless in the second half of Super Bowl VII.

Only one Super Bowl featured teams from the same state. Super Bowl XXIX between the Chargers and 49ers. The Giants and Bills both are "New York" teams, but the Giants play their home games in New Jersey.

Also, teams that intercept a pass for a TD are 11-0 in the Super Bowl. No losing team has returned a pick-six. Last year, the winning Packers returned an interception for a TD.

#21-BELICHICK KNOWS BOWLS: Bill Belichick will be the head coach of his 5th Super Bowl, tying him with Tom Landry for 2nd most all time. Only Don Shula's six appearances beat it. The combo of Belichick and Tom Brady will set a record for most appearances for a head coach/quarterback duo. Their fifth game passes Chuck Noll and Terry Bradshaw for most all time.

#20-THINGS NON FOOTBALL FANS CAN SAY TO BLEND IN: Look, I know that there are people in America that will be attending Super Bowl parties because ... well, they love to party. Some won't know who's playing in the game until they get there. I've also come to find that there are actually guys out there that get dragged to Super Bowl parties because of their women (that's sad). Don't worry. So the diehards around the party who actually care about the game won't think you're a wuss, I'm here to help.

Here are a few vague quotes that you can use so you fit in among the football fans. You don't have to engage in a conversation with these, just drop these in from time to time the rest of us don't make fun of you once you leave. Just print this out, study it and you will at look somewhat less wimpish around the real men at the Super Bowl party.

"The Giants just need to limit turnovers and control the clock if they want to pull the upset."

"That Eli Manning has been on fire over the last six weeks or so!"

"This is a classic Super Bowl matchup. Tough defense against a stellar offense."

"You just gotta convert those third downs!"

"Don't sleep on Manningham!"

"Despite it being the year of the offense, defense wins championships and that's why the Giants are here!"

"Third and long? I'd blitz."

"I wonder what Peyton Manning is thinking right now."

"I got a few bucks on this game."

"Damnit! I left my squares sheet at home!"

"Wli wins this and he's a made man in New York!"

When there is a penalty called for holding, just say, "yeah, he was tackling him!"

"Wonder if those Fire Tom Coughlin people are changing their tune now?"

If you are around an anti-Patriot crowd "I'm tired of those Boston teams winning."

"I wonder if this could be as classic as their last Super Bowl."

Use only in a close game: "This could come down to who has the ball last."

#19-WEARING WHITE IS THE KEY: Since the New England Patriots are designated the home team, they will be wearing their home blue jerseys for the Super Bowl. That means the Giants will go with their white jerseys ... just like they did in Super Bowl XLII). In fact, the team that has worn white uniforms had won the last six Super Bowls (Saints, Steelers, Giants, Colts, Steelers, Patriots) before the Packers won last year. The Giants last Super Bowl victory was while wearing white; the Pats won two of their three titles wearing blue.

#18-ALTERNATE VIEWING: Wife doesn't watch the Super Bowl? Well, here are some alternatives for her.

ABC: America's Funniest Home Videos marathon
ESPN: World's Strongest Man Competition marathon
FOOD: Cupcake Wars
E!: Sex and the City marathon
USA: Law & Order: SVU marathon
HISTORY: Pawn Stars marathon
TLC: Strange Sex marathon
ID: Dateline on ID marathon
DISNEY: High School Musical marathon
WGN: How I Met Your Mother marathon
ABC FAMILY: Mamma Mia!
CMT: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team
RFDTV: Hee Haw
HBO: Titanic
SPEED: Hooters Dreamgirl


#17-RELOCATING TO TITLES: The Colts (Baltimore/Indianapolis) are one of two teams to win a Super Bowl in two different cities. The other team is the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. The St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams have been to Super Bowls from two different cities and join the Colts as the only franchises to lose Super Bowls in two different cities.

#16-LIST OF SUPER BOWL NO-NAMES: Below are guys that made their names in the Super Bowl. Some of these guys were pretty good NFLers before their breakout games ... some we haven't heard of before or since ... but performing well on the biggest of stages makes them legends.

Doug Williams (Redskins): It wasn't that Williams was a no-name as much as things really didn't pan out for him. Dude really came off the scrap heap. Williams did nothing much of note in his first years at Tampa Bay or in his USFL stint. Redskins coach Joe Gibbs (who coached Doug in Tampa) gave him a shot in 1986 to back up Jay Schroeder. In '87, Schroeder had some shoulder issues late in the season and Williams did a good job taking over. So much so that there was a QB controversy. Williams got the nod and the rest is history.What Williams did in the 2nd quarter of Super Bowl XXII is nothing short of remarkable. He was 9-of-11 for 228 yards and 4 TDs. Again, that was just in the 2nd quarter! Williams would win the game's MVP and become the first (and only, so far) black quarterback to win a Super Bowl.

Timmy Smith (Redskins): If Doug Williams didn't win the MVP, Smith would have. Smith rushed for 204 yards (still a Super Bowl record) and two TDs. Coming into the game, Smith had rushed for just 129 yards that season. His career lasted just 15 games after the Super Bowl.

Max McGee (Packers): McGee is famous for his pre-Super Bowl I partying. With Boyd Dowler injured early in the game, a hung-over McGee would step in and catch the first TD pass in Super Bowl history. He would go on to catch seven passes for 138 yards and two TDs ... three more receptions than he had all season long.

Jeff Hostetler (Giants): People forget that Phil Simms didn't start the G-men's second Super Bowl title. Simms hurt his ankle late in the season and Hoss took it the rest of the way. He had the least amount of playing time of any QB to start a Super Bowl. He held up well, throwing for 222 yds and a TD.

Dan Bunz (49ers): The linebacker was instrumental in the greatest goal line stand in Super Bowl history, stuffing the Bengals four times with goal to go. The defining play was Bunz' tackle on a swing pass to Charles Alexander on third down (he was also in on the stop on fourth down).

Larry Brown (Cowboys): The running joke after Super Bowl XXX was that Brown was the Steelers' Neil O'Donnell's favorite target. Too bad he played for the other team. Brown picked off two O'Donnell throws ... his final game with Dallas. He used the MVP award to get a nice fat contract with the Raiders and did nothing much of note after the fact.

Dwight Smith (Buccaneers): If Brown won an MVP award for picking off two passes ... why didn't Smith win won for taking two picks back for TDs? He was a nickelback used a lot in a game where (a) Oakland's offensive attack warranted it and (b) the Raiders were so far behind that they had to take chances. Why ....

Dexter Jackson (Buccaneers): ... because Smith's second TD came in the closing seconds after the ballots had already been counted. Jackson had picked off two passes himself (none that went for TDs) that were momentum changers. And Jackson wouldn't have won the award either if not for fan voting taking place in the game (Simeon Rice was the press' pick).

Percy Howard (Cowboys): Never heard of him? Well, Howard came into Super Bowl X and caught a 34-yd touchdown pass from Roger Staubach. That was the only reception he had in his entire career.

Don Beebe (Bills): Beebe has been on six Super Bowl teams ... but will be remembered most for running down Leon Lett and stripping the ball right before crossing the endzone in Super Bowl XXVII.

David Tyree (Giants): Tyree will always be a legend for his amazing catch in Super Bowl XLII. A guy pretty much no one had heard of before and hasn't done anything since will be immortalized with possibly the greatest play in Super Bowl history.

Jordy Nelson (Packers): Nelson caught 9 passes for 140 yards (both career highs) and a TD in Super Bowl XLV.

#15-SUPER BOWL MVP'S IN CANTON: Winners of 22 Super Bowl MVP awards have gone on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You have Bart Starr (twice), Joe Namath, Len Dawson, Roger Staubach, Larry Csonka, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, Fred Biletnikoff, Randy White, Terry Bradshaw (twice), Joe Montana (three times), John Riggins, Marcus Allen, Troy Aikman, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith and John Elway. Other winners, like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Ray Lewis can look forward to seeing their busts in Canton one day (that hikes the number up to 26). Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees also have a shot at the Hall.

Granted, not all winners of the Super Bowl MVP award go on to anything much. Guys like Larry Brown, Harvey Martin, Dexter Jackson, Desmond Howard, Mark Rypien, Deion Branch and Jake Scott have also won the award and the Hall is no where in their future.

#14-THE FIVE WORST SUPER BOWLS: 1-Super Bowl V: This one was nicknamed the "Blunder Bowl" for good reason. There were 11 turnovers in the game with the Colts ... who won ... committing seven of them. The Dallas Cowboys were called for 10 penalties. This game sucked so bad that the MVP award was given to Chuck Howley ... of the losing Cowboys (the only time the Super Bowl MVP played for the losing team). Sure, Jim O'Brien kicked the game winning field goal at the end of the game ... but even that was set up by a turnover.

2-Super Bowl XII: Dallas was in yet another sloppy game. Good thing that the Broncos were sloppier (Denver turned the ball over eight times ... and completed just eight passes). Denver QB Craig Morton was horrible -- he completed just four of 15 passes for 39 yards and four interceptions. Yikes! There was also lingering questions about the IRS checking into his tax returns. Both teams combined for 20 penalties.

3-Super Bowl XL: It was a ho-hum game that's only excitement came on an Antwaan Randle-El touchdown pass to Hines Ward. That's pretty much all the Steelers had: three big plays that ended up with TDs (the above play, a Willie Parker 75-yd TD run and an awkward pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Ward). Seattle shot themselves in the foot with bad penalties, bad red zone efficiency and turnovers. The game is one of the most controversial as many people felt that the Seahawks had a lot of bad calls go against them. Big Ben's QB rating is the lowest by any Super Bowl winning quarterback.

4-Super Bowl XX: The Bears dominated and we all loved seeing the Fridge plop into the endzone. Still, this looked like an exhibition game against a local high school team than a Super Bowl. Chicago dominated this game with their defense and made Pats QB Tony Eason look foolish (he is the only starting QB to not complete a pass). There have been several blowouts in Super Bowl history, but this is the only one where the losing team looked like it had no business being there. The saddest thing is that Walter Payton didn't get a shot at running in a TD. Jim McMahon snuck in a TD twice and the Fridge got a shot ... but not Walter. A shame.

5-Super Bowl VII: The one where the Dolphins completed the perfect season? A dud. Miami is the only team to be shut out for an entire half and still win the game. The Phins got out to a 14-0 lead before halftime and hung on for the win. If not for that botched field goal attempt (where Miami kicker Garo Yepremian's "pass" was picked off by Mike Bass and returned for a TD), the Redskins would've been the only team shut out in Super Bowl history. That score, with 2:07 left in the game, is the longest it has taken for a Super Bowl team to score.

#13-REMATCH! No, not just a rematch of the Super Bowl. The Pats-Giants tussle will be the 13th time the Super Bowl featured a rematch from a regular season game. This year, the Giants beat the Patriots in Foxboro, 24-20.

The loser of the regular season game has gone on to win the Super Bowl rematch 5 of the last 6 times ... and are 7-5 in Super Bowl history. That includes Super Bowl XLII where the Patriots beat the Giants in the regular season finale, but the Giants got revenge in the Super Bowl.

#12-AHHHHHHHH KELLY CLARKSON! Kelly Clarkson will sing the National Anthem ... which means that 4 of the last 5 Super Anthems were sung by former American Idol contestants.

#11-DON'T TRAIL BY DOUBLE DIGITS: Teams that are facing a double-digit deficit are 2-40. A couple things are interesting about that stat. First, the only teams to come back from a 10-point deficit and win is the 1987 Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XXII and the New Orleans Saints last year. The Skins trailed 10-0 before scoring the next 42 points. The Saints scored 31 of the next 38 points after trailing 10-0. That also makes those Super Bowls the only ones where both teams faced a double digit deficit. Also, it is quite amazing that 40 of 45 Super Bowls have seen one team go up by at least 10 at some point in the game.

#10-SUPER BOWL DATES: Here are just a few dumb notes about Super Bowl dates. Super Bowl XXIX was and will always be the only Super Bowl that was played on the same day (29) as the Roman numeral of the game. January 26th is the most popular date for a Super Bowl as a record four games have been played on that date. And, if you go in order from the earliest date (January 9th) to the latest (February 7th), the only days to not have held the Super Bowl are January 10, 19, 23 and February 2.

This will be the second Super Bowl held on February 5th.

Jan 9-XI
Jan 11-IV
Jan 12-III, IX
Jan 13-VIII
Jan 14-II, VII
Jan 15-I, XII
Jan 16-VI
Jan 17-V
Jan 18-X
Jan 20-XIV, XIX
Jan 21-XIII
Jan 22-XVIII, XXIII
Jan 24-XVI
Jan 25-XV, XXI, XXXII
Jan 26-XX, XXVI, XXXI, XXXVII
Jan 27-XXV
Jan 28-XXIV, XXX, XXXV
Jan 29-XXIX
Jan 30-XVII, XXVIII, XXXIV
Jan 31-XXII, XXVII, XXXIII
Feb 1-XXXVIII, XLIII
Feb 3-XXXVI, XLII
Feb 4-XLI
Feb 5-XL, XLVI
Feb 6-XXXIX, XLV
Feb 7-XLIV

#9-STILL HAVEN'T WON ONE: There are now four franchises that have never appeared in a Super Bowl (Lions, Browns, Jaguars and Texans). But there are ten others that have never won the Super Bowl in any of their appearances. They are the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, San Diego Chargers, Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals. The Bills and Vikings have lost four games apiece; the Bengals and Eagles have each lost two. The rest lost on their only trip.

And while the Jaguars (1995) and Texans (2002) haven't been to the big game, they don't have quite the drought as some other franchises. The Jets haven't been to the Super Bowl since the 1968 season. The Chiefs went to two of the first four Super Bowls but their last appearance was after the 1969 season.

It's been a while since the Vikings (1976), Dolphins (1984), Bengals (1988) and Redskins (1991) have been there as well.

#8-SUPER BOWL MVPS: This will be first time in Super Bowl history that two QBs will face off with Super Bowl MVP awards already in their pocket. Brady has won two awards while Manning has one. There have been plenty of Super Bowls where both QBs ended up with MVP awards but this is the first one where both already have.

This also is the 3rd rematch between quarterbacks in the Super Bowl (Bradshaw-Staubach and Aikman-Kelly are the others). In both previous instances, the same QB (Bradshaw, Aikman) won both times.

#7-CAPITAL GAINS: Indianapolis will only be the 2nd state capital to host a Super Bowl. The other is Atlanta.

#6-SIX BEST SUPER BOWLS: Here are what I believe are the five best Super Bowls, ever. You can debate this all you want (which is fine), but these five were all great games with exciting finishes and are memorable in one way or another.

1-Super Bowl XXV: This was a great matchup in every way. With a backdrop of war, this game had all kinds of emotion as the game began (thanks, Whitney). That vaunted Bills offense against the stuffy Giants defense. The lead changed times on four occassions. In the end, an old guy like Ottis Anderson ate up the clock and Scott Norwood missed the only time the winner of the Super Bowl came down to the final play (even if Vinatieri missed those Pats FGs, the games would've went into overtime). Giants defensive coordinator Bill Belichick's defensive gameplan for this game in enshrined at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

2-Super Bowl XLII: Yes, the Giants take the top two spots. Their amazing run just to get to the Super Bowl and matching the undefeated Patriots blow-for-blow. Eli Manning's escape and David Tyree's catch has become one of the top plays in Super Bowl history. Second biggest upset ever.

3-Super Bowl XXXIV: Not only was this a surreal matchup (remember that St. Louis and Tennessee weren't NFL cities six years earlier), but some cat named Kurt Warner was shredding up this game. The Titans staged one heck of a comeback (they were down 16-0) to have it ripped away from them on a bomb to Issac Bruce. Also, it had one of the greatest endings any football game could ever have.

4-Super Bowl XXIII: There were so many game changing moments in this one. Remember that the only times the 49ers led this game was at 3-0 ... and after Joe Montana's pass to John Taylor at the end of the game. Cincinnati had this one, but Super Joe took it away.

5-Super Bowl XXXVIII: The problem with this Super Bowl is that the 1st and 3rd quarters sucked. However, the 2nd and 4th were just outstanding! In the fourth quarter alone, there were 37 points scored ... which is a Super Bowl record for points scored in a quarter. It was just the second to have five TDs scored (the Redskins did that by themselves 16 years earlier). And it ended with an Adam Vinatieri field goal with :04 left. Oh, and we got a little nipple action at halftime.

6-Super Bowl XLIII: What a game this was. You had the ultimate game changer with the interception and 99-yard return for a TD at the end of the first half. You had Arizona's miraculous comeback to take a lead late in the game. Then you had Pittsburgh's Big Ben Roethlisberger finding Santonio Holmes for a wonderful game winning score.

#5-ALL TIME SERIES: The Giants and Patriots have met 10 times with each team winning five of those games. In the last 8 meetings, the winner had won by double digits just once ... and that was by 11 points. Six of the last seven of those meetings were won by less than 4 points.

#4-THE NBA IS M.I.A.: The NBA usually puts a premiere matchup for us to enjoy on Super Bowl Sunday. Not this year. No nationally televised game at all (well, unless you consider NBATV as "national"). There are two games scheduled, however. The Grizzlies and, oddly, the Celtics face off at noon in Beantown. The Raptors and Heat play at 1pm.

There is some college hoops to watch. CBS will air the Michigan-Michigan State game. Duke will host Miami at 3pm on ESPNU. Villanova and Pitt will play on ESPN. The Big Ten Network will also have a doubleheader.

There are four NHL games, highlighted by the Bruins (Boston again) at the Capitals on NBC Sports Network. Oh, the Rangers and Devils also play on Super Bowl Sunday.

#3-WHO CARES ABOUT THE DRAFT?: The New England Patriots have 18 players on their roster that went undrafted. EIGHTEEN! That's amazing. And eight of them are starters. Bill Belichick loves teams who work to get on and stay on his roster.

Remember that All-Everything Tom Brady was a 6th round draft pick. He is one of 11 other players who were drafted in the 5th round or later.

#2-NEW YORK VS BOSTON: Ah yes. Another New York vs Boston matchup. Red Sox-Yankees anyone? Two epic ALCSs. Heck, the Red Sox and Mets met in a pretty neat-o World Series once. The Celtics and Knicks still get a rise out of people especially once Carmelo Anthony arrived in the Big Apple. The Rangers and Bruins is a nice rivalry as well.

#1-ALL THIS ADDS UP TO A GREAT GAME: Look, we've established that the Super Bowl isn't always a good game, but they've gotten a lot better over the past 15 years. We all we be beaten down about what happened in Super Bowl XLII and the hope is that this game can duplicate it (it can't no matter what). Both these teams are extremely flawed, making either one an interesting champion. The Giants went 9-7 during the season (and lost to my Redskins ... twice ... handily) and the Patriots have the worst defense to ever play in the Super Bowl.

Still, take all of that away and keep the game what it is: the 2012 Giants against the 2012 Patriots. Yes, will remember the past but the game itself will be all that matters. The storylines are everywhere. I mean, Eli Manning winning a Super Bowl on Peyton's home field? What about if Tom Brady, Peyton's eternal rival, does it instead?

It should be a nice one.

Report: Navy To Join Big East

Navy, one of the three service academies, is reportedly moving their football program to the Big East conference in 2015. Due to scheduling, bowl and television contracts, the move is delayed for several years.

As it stands right now, the Big East will have 11 football schools and would look like this:

Boise State
Central Florida
Cincinnati
Houston
Louisville
Navy
Rutgers
San Diego State
SMU
South Florida
UConn

Remember that Pittsburgh and Syracuse will leave to join the ACC in 2013 while West Virginia will leave for the Big 12. TCU, who was to join the Big East in 2012, will instead move to the Big 12 as well. The Big East added Boise State and SD State for football only and SMU, Houston and UCF for all sports.

Of course, the Big East isn't done and will be looking to add a 12th football member so they can hold a conference championship game. That is, however, if no other members are poached. UConn and Rutgers have shown interest in the ACC; Louisville could be a target of the Big 12.

If a 12th member comes, the Big East could look like this:
EAST: Central Florida, Navy, Rutgers, South Florida, UConn, 12th team
WEST: Boise State, Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, San Diego St, SMU

Super Bowl XLVI Is NOT a Revenge Game

One thing that keeps getting pointed out is that Super Bowl XLVI is a revenge game for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Four years ago, the Giants beat the Patriots in a thrilling Super Bowl which ended the Pats shot at an 19-0 season.

They meet again with a championship on the line. However, this is far from an actual revenge game.

People throw "revenge" around too lightly in sports. If the Miami Heat play the Dallas Mavericks in the regular season, they call it "revenge". Um, no. It isn't revenge. It isn't revenge when the first team that won got the higher stakes.

Same thing goes here. Super Bowl XLVI isn't a revenge game. Sure, the Pats would all love to beat the Giants -- I mean a championship is at stake, ya know. Sure, New England would love to beat New York for it all (though beating the San Francisco 49ers would've felt just as good). But exacting revenge? No.

First of all, the Giants win four years ago is much bigger than anything that happens on February 5th. This year, there is no undefeated season. There is no history involved in this game like the last one. I mean, if the Patriots won the last Super Bowl, they would have been only the second undefeated team in NFL history and the first to win 19 games. This time, a win would mean they beat a 9-7 team who needed a win in the final game of the regular season to get into the postseason for the title. Not really the same.

Also, a loss for the Giants wouldn't really destroy them the way the Patriots loss in 2008 did to them. New York wasn't supposed to be there. Eli Manning has won his title and is pretty much a made man in Gotham. A win for the Giants would just cement their legacies with the franchise (Tom Coughlin, a two-time Super Bowl winner?) and Eli would have something on big brother Peyton.

Only 15 players remain for the Giants from Super Bowl XLII. Only 7 Patriots are left. Revenge?

This isn't to belittle the game at all. A title is a title is a title. But "revenge" isn't a term warranted here. Heck, most of the guys on both teams didn't play in Super Bowl XLII. No 1972 Dolphins will be popping champagne after this one.

2012 - The NBA Season Time Will Forget

Anyone who loves to dig at the Spurs usually points out that their 1999 NBA Championship should come with an asterisk. After all, a labor dispute shaved the season down to 50 games, it was the season after Michael Jordan's last game with the Bulls and the Spurs met 8th-seeded New York in the Finals.

The championship does count, but the season is usually forgotten among the lore of other seasons. No one mentions anything about San Antonio's 2003, 2005 or 2007 titles being tainted in any way.

The 66-game season that we are currently going through is a big jump from the 50 games on '99 so there may not be as much of a chatter about this season not having the worth of other ones. Sure, there is still 16 games missing on each team's sked and the season hasn't found any rhythm yet but there should be a better sample set once we get to the postseason.

But what will we see when we get there? These teams are cramming a ton of games in a very short amount of time. Guys who are carrying their teams right now (read: Kobe Bryant) could completely run out of gas by the time April arrives. Sure, everyone gets that three-games-in-a-row stretch which is hell, but it is all of those 4-games-in-5-nights that are really putting wear on teams and players.

I am a Laker fan, so let's use them as an example.

They opened the season ... OPENED THE SEASON ... with three games in three nights. With minimal training camp and conditioning, they had to open up the season with three straight games (which included them in LA, then Sacramento, then LA again). One day off and then another game.

From December 25th to January 14th ... a span of 21 days ... the Lakers played 14 games. The Lakers will play 17 games in January alone (add that last week of December, and the Lakers will have played 22 games in 5 1/2 weeks). They will play 17 again in March. Believe me, I'm not saying the Lakers are the only ones with it tough. I'm just using them because they are my team.

NOTE: My favorite stretch of the Lakers season is in April. The Lakers will play the Spurs THREE TIMES in a 10 day stretch.

The Nets had to start the season with 6 games in 8 days and FOUR of them on the road. The Thunder's 14 games featured 12 against teams who were playoff teams last year (look at their record and you can be even more impressed). The Bucks opened the season with 12 of 18 on the road. The Bobcats are in the middle of playing 11 games in 15 days. The Sacramento Kings will enter the All Star Break playing 21 games on the road and just 11 at home. How about the Hawks who had to play the Bulls and Heat TWICE EACH in a five day stretch??? (HT: SB Nation for the info).

It goes on and on and everyone faces stiff challenges. So it is fair in that sense. But is it really fair when pretty much 16 teams will enter the playoffs as shells of themselves? I mean, the NBA season has always been a grind and a survival of the fittest but this season takes it up quite a notch.

Whomever ends up winning the title will certainly deserve it even if not everyone gives them their due.

Even if it is the Miami Heat.

A Possible Two-Division Baseball Format

Brainstorming here. If baseball went back to the 2-division format ... and if the Astros HAVE to be in the American League ... this is how I'd have it shake out.

NL EAST
Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
Washington Nationals

NL WEST
Arizona Diamondbacks
Chicago Cubs
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
Milwaukee Brewers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
St Louis Cardinals

AL EAST
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays

AL WEST
Chicago White Sox
Houston Astros
Kansas City Royals
Los Angeles Angels
Minnesota Twins
Oakland Athletics
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers

Recapping the NFL Season ... Division Style

The 2011 NFL season is over and we are now in postseason mode. So let's look back at the past year through the eyes of each division. Half of the divisions were won by one game or less. And, since we all know the BCS is the greatest system of determining a champion that has ever been created, let's use it to see who should be each division's champion.

1-AFC NORTH: Great season for the AFC North, who saw three of its four teams qualify for the postseason. The Ravens and Steelers each finished 12-4 and are, along with the Patriots, among the favorites to win the AFC. Cincinnati surprised many by going 9-7 and making the playoffs as well and showing that the future is really bright in Cincy. No, it wasn't a great year in Cleveland but the Browns, at one point, were 4-6.

Going forward, this division looks like they are stacked. Sure, Baltimore and Pittsburgh's defenses are aging but these are two solid organizations who do well at acquiring talent.

BCS CHAMPION: Ravens. Yeah, B-more and Pitt tied atop the division. But Ravens, along with the Packers, were the only NFL teams who went 6-0 in their division and 8-0 at home.

2-NFC SOUTH: Two teams, the Saints and Falcons, made the playoffs and both are riding pretty high. N'Awlins set all kinds of passing records and may be the most fun team to watch. The Carolina Panthers showed that their future is bright with an amazing season by rookie Cam Newton. Steve Smith was Steve Smith again. Tampa was a disaster but this was a 10-win team a year ago.

Let's see, a division with Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Cam Newton and Josh Freeman moving forward? Not too bad.

BCS CHAMPION: Saints. New Orleans won the division by three games and outscored opponents by a NFL-best 208 points. They also finished strong, winning their final 8 games.

3-NFC NORTH: The Packers finished 15-1 (loss to the Chiefs?) and are stacking for the next several years. Aaron Rodgers has emerged as one of the best QBs in the league. Matt Stafford is nearly getting to the level in Detroit and the Lions made the playoffs for the first time in over a decade. No fluke here as the Lions were many people's sleeper team at the start of the year. The Chicago Bears were in the running for a playoff bid before injuries, especially to Jay Cutler, did them in. The Vikings season was bad, but they have some pieces in place.

Hopefully the Packers and Lions will become the offensive version of the Ravens and Steelers for years to come.

BCS CHAMPION: Packers. 15-1 season, undefeated in division and highest point differential. Easy.

4-AFC EAST: Weird season. New England sits atop the AFC with a crazy efficient offense but this defense is among the worst in the league. The rest of the division was very average at best. The Bills started 4-1 before losing 9 of their last 11 games. The Dolphins started 0-7 before winning 6 of their last 9 games. The Jets, easily, had an extremely disappointing and streaky season. They had two separate 3-game winning streaks and two separate 3-game losing streaks.

Who knows what this division will become? The Pats, despite their defense, still is in elite territory. The Jets are better than what they showed this season. The Bills and Dolphins are very talented but it just doesn't seem all there.

BCS CHAMPION: Patriots. Won the division by 5 games, won their last 8 games and, despite a poor defense, dominanted opponents.

5-NFC WEST: This was a joke of a division last season, but they stepped up a bit this year. The 49ers just cruised through and won the division handily, making many to believe the division to be poor. But the Cardinals (8-8) and Seahawks (7-9) found their way in the playoff race down the stretch. Neither team is really set for long term success but it is something to build upon. St. Louis stunk it up and have cleaned house.

San Francisco looks like they are back and are a very strong candidate to get to the Super Bowl. The others have a lot of work to do to compete on that level.

BCS CHAMPION: 49ers. They won the division by 5 games.

6-AFC SOUTH: Just a completely puzzling division. With Peyton Manning out for the season, the Houston Texans were heavy favorites to win the AFC South. They did, but saw their team decimated by injuries. They used four QBs and barely got anything from Andre Johnson this year. Still, they won and showed that they are deeply talented. The Colts were the worst team in the league, will get the No. 1 pick Andrew Luck, but have sort of cleaned house. Who knows if Manning will be back in Indy?

The Titans nearly snuck into the playoffs; the Jaguars did alright behind MJD. Both have young QBs to head down the road.

7-NFC EAST: This division isn't filled with bad teams, but this is a very disappointing season. The Giants started 6-2 and finished 3-5. Dallas was all over the place but did start 7-4 before losing 4 of their last 5. The Dream Team Eagles might actually be the biggest disappointment in the NFL this season, but did win their last 4 games to break even at 8-8 (and finished a game back of the division title). The Redskins finished in last place again, but did start 3-1 (uh, and finished 2-10).

The Cowboys and Eagles are better than this. Heck, the Giants are too. This division should be better next year. The Redskins offense is a mess but, sadly, that was by design. They rebuilt a horrible defense last offseason and plan to do the same to the offense this one. We'll see.

BCS CHAMPION: Eagles. They finished stronger than anyone, were 5-1 against the division (no one else finished over .500) and easily had the highest point differential.

8-AFC WEST: I'm not a Tim Tebow hater at all, but remember that this division was won by a team whose QB can't pass very well. Seriously look at the division this season. Everyone finished 8-8 except for the 7-9 Chiefs. Everyone was 3-3 within the division. Kyle Orton started the season as the Broncos starter and ended it as the Chiefs starter. The Raiders planted Carson Palmer as the starter and, in 10 games, tossed 16 interceptions.

Of the four teams, only the Chargers scored more points than their opponent (+29). Division champion Denver were outscored by 81 points this season.

Going forward, this division is in disarray. The Tebow experiment will continue into next year but he has to expand his passing if it is to be successful. Oakland gave up a ton for Palmer so he's in, but with the passing of Al Davis, who knows how the franchise will continue to run. Kansas City doesn't know who their QB is (Orton or Matt Cassell) and they've already fired their coach. San Diego could fire both their coach and/or GM.

BCS CHAMPION: Chargers. San Diego was the only team to outscore their opponents this year. They finished 4-1 and crushed Baltimore. No one else deserves it.

What A Weird NFL Playoffs We Will Have

The 2011 NFL season may not be over yet (as I type this, the Cowboys-Giants are in pregame warmups), but the season has already produced one of the oddest postseasons I can remember. The matchups alone just make you gasp.

NFC

No. 1 Packers, No. 2 Niners: We all could've picked Green Bay getting a 1st round bye. But San Francisco? This is the team with Alex Smith starting at QB, right? And we are going to see Candlestick Park in the postseason again? Unreal.

No. 6 Lions at No. 3 Saints: Other than the fact that the Lions are in the playoffs for the first time in over a decade, there isn't anything really odd about this matchup. Well, except this could be one of the great playoff shootouts we've seen in a long time. Drew Brees and Matthew Stafford have been lighting it up and there are just so many great receiving threats out there. Probably THE premiere game next weekend.

No. 5 Falcons at No. 4 Cowboys/Giants: No matter what, this will be all about the NFC East champion. The one who didn't screw up and actually won the division tonight. No matter what, no one will remember Atlanta is in this. Too bad because the Dirty Birds will probably win.

Since both wildcard games are toss-ups, who knows what we'll get in the divisional round. I'd love to see Saints-Niners. I'd love to see a third Lions-Packers game if it was anything like today's tilt. Again, the Cowboys/Giants/Falcons winner against either Green Bay or San Francisco would be stunning.

AFC

No. 1 Patriots, No. 2 Ravens: This is absolutely no surprise. These two, along with the Steelers, have been thought of all year long as the best teams in the AFC. Nothing to see here.

No. 6 Bengals at No. 3 Texans: Unbelieveable. Houston is making its first playoff appearance ever and we have no idea who the QB will be. Matt Schaub? Nope. Matt Leinart? Nuh-uh. T.J. Yates? Maybe. Jake Delhomme? Texans fans hope not. Oh, and the Bengals are there as well. The same Cincinnati team that blew up its core from the last six years (Carson Palmer, Chad Johnsocinco) are making it with rookies Andy Dalton and A.J. Green. These guys were babies when the Bengals last won a road playoff game ... back when the NFL team in Houston were the Oilers.

No. 5 Steelers at No. 4 Broncos: Yes, Tim Tebow is in the playoffs. Yes, the Steelers will be double-digit favorites for this one. Yet the defending AFC Champion franchise that has won more Super Bowls than anyone will take second fiddle to the Broncos. This should get ugly real quick.

If the Bengals beat the Texans (like they did a few weeks back), that means we get another Steelers-Ravens game. What a war!!!! I want it. That would mean the young Bengals going against the Patriots, which would be fun. If Houston won, a Texans-Ravens matchup would be a bit boring but a Steelers-Patriots game would be nice. But what if Denver wins and we get Tebowmania at Baltimore?

THE QUARTERBACKS

Look at this list: Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger have 7 Super Bowl titles among them (if the Giants make it, then Eli Manning adds an 8th ring). Matt Stafford, Tim Tebow, T.J. Yates, Andy Dalton and Alex Smith have zero playoff appearances among them. Then you have Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan and maybe Tony Romo. Guys who've been there and not gotten it done.

"The Brawl" Has Led Cincy-Xavier In Two Different Directions

A couple weeks ago, "The Brawl" happened in Cincinnati. Crosstown rivals Xavier and Cincinnati met, as they do every year, with the Musketeers blowing out the Bearcats. At the end of the very testy game, a brawl broke out that left both teams with suspended players and bad tastes in their mouth.

Cincinnati suspended Yancy Gates, Cheikh Mbodj and Octavius Ellis six games each and Ge'Lawn Guyn for one game. Xavier suspended Dez Wells and Landen Amos for four games, Mark Lyons for two and star guard Tu Holloway for one game.

Since then, both schools have gone in different directions.

Xavier has now lost three straight games. After "The Brawl", the Muskies were a Top Ten team with an 8-0 record. Since then, they've lost to unranked Oral Roberts, Long Beach State and Hawaii. ORU gave Xavier their worst loss in the Cintas Center (22 points) and Long Beach won by ten. They have one more game (against Southern Illinois) before they are done with all of their suspensions. The first game with their full team will be against Gonzaga.

As for Cincinnati, they have won the four games played after the fight. Granted, none were against anyone spectacular (Wright State, Radford, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Chicago State), they have won all of them in great fashion ... winning those games by an average of 33.5 points. We will find out just how good they are after their final non-conference game with Oklahoma and entering Big East play (how is Pitt, Notre Dame, St John's, Georgetown, Villanova and UConn for starters?). While I'm sure this winning streak will end during that run, at least the Bearcats seem to be getting on the same page.

Odd, isn't it? I'm sure when the season ends, Xavier will have the better record, higher ranking and more pub than the Bearcats. Sure, the Cats winning streak happened all at home and Xavier has been in Hawaii over the past week. But it is interesting to see how both teams have handled this self-inflicted adversity.

Even right after the game, you could kind of see this coming. Cincy head coach Mick Cronin chastised his players and the schools part in this mess. He honestly seemed embarrassed and very vocal that this wouldn't happen again on his watch. Xavier head coach Chris Mack wasn't as vocal and allowed his players ... including star Holloway ... to act a fool in post game interviews. I live in the Cincinnati area and that "gangstas" rant was and still is the biggest talking point after the fight.

So as we go into 2012, it will be interesting to see the focus of both these schools which will say a lot about the futures of these two progams .... and not just for the rest of the season.

Sports In 2011 Was The Year In Hell

When we look back at the sports landscape in 2011 ... it won't be a happy thought to most of us. This was a very, very, very bad year for sports as a whole.

Don't get me wrong. There were some great moments (Game 6 of the World Series could be the best game ever played in the Fall Classic) and great performances. Congrats to all the champs and all the greatness that happened over the past calendar year.

Still, 2011 clearly threw down the shroud that surrounds the dark side of sports.

CHILD SEX SCANDALS: This is the most gut-wrenching story to come out of 2011. Yeah, sex scandals have happened before and even the horror of child sexual abuse has been in the news in years past. But the cover-ups and the actions of the "adults in charge" was really shocking. It wasn't age or on-field performance that ended Joe Paterno's career ... it was sitting idle while a member of your staff was raping young boys on campus and under the umbrella of Penn State University. It was the administrators that sat on all this information for years and years without anything happening. It ruined the school and those legacies and ... worst of all ... the lives of all those boys who suffered this abuse while no one cared to help them.

We are supposed to trust these people to have the best interests of our kids when we send them to play athletics and attend these schools yet they don't have the moral compass to stop raping boys when they know it exists? It is really scary.

Even more scary when you realize that people like Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim will publically come out and chastise you for bravely stepping forward and facing your accuser. Boeheim staunchly defended his coach and friend without once thinking about what these young men who also worked for the school. He retracted it all but the damage is done. No matter how Hall-Of-Famey you may be, we can't trust you to do the right thing.

With the court cases and more details waiting to emerge, this story will be promptly in the headlines for the next few years.

DAN WHELDON: We were reminded, yet again, the dangers of motor sports haven't disappeared with all the advancements in safety. Early in the Indy Car season ending race in Las Vegas, Indianapolis 500 champion Dan Wheldon died in a fiery 15-car crash. I know we forget just how much our athletes put on the line but something like this haunts you in just how close that line may be from life and death. All for our amusement, endoresments and money.

LABOR WARS: 2011 will also be known as the year of Labor Strife. The NFL started it with their lockout which swiftly gripped the nation ... even though we missed no regular season games. With the season almost ending, can you even remember what they were fighting about? What has really changed? Still, it was a summer filled with people is suits jockeying in front of microphones instead of watching workouts, free agency and training camp.

In the NBA, it was a lot worse. Not only did it get nasty, but it got downright sickening. From David Stern's doomsday reports all the while he is trying to threaten the players to players signing all over the world as quick cash grabs. When we finally got to a deal (which cost the fans 240 games), no more than an hour later do we see a blockbuster deal (Chris Paul to the Lakers) that was swiftly vetoed by Stern because it looked bad on him. Stern then sent Paul ... who was on the league-owned Hornets ... to the Clippers, one of the historic laughingstocks of the NBA. Paul, by the way, was one of the high profile players very active in labor talks.

BCS GOES BS AGAIN: The BCS has gotten completely out of hand. Not only do we have a regular season rematch for the BCS title game, but it features a team that didn't win their conference OR THEIR FREAKIN' DIVISION! Unfair if you are LSU that Alabama could beat you on a neutral field and to be a champions when you beat them on their turf, won their conference and won their division.

Whatever, but what about the rest of the BCS? How does the ACC get two teams in the BCS when they don't even have a team ranked in the Top 10? Boise State sits at No. 7 and can't get a berth. Seriously, the No. 6 (Arkansas), No. 7 (Boise State) and No. 8 (Kansas State) can't get a BCS berth but No. 11 (Virginia Tech) and No. 13 (Michigan) can? Why even have this stupid poll when it really doesn't do anything?

LOSING JOE FRAZIER: Look, athletes die like the rest of us and that will always be the case. But Frazier's passing reminded us (a) just how far the sport of boxing has fallen in the decades since and (b) the damage done to guys like him and Muhammad Ali. Warriors in the ring that had the rest of their lives zapped away.

LOSING DAVE DUERSON: The former Bear died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He also offered him brain up for research into the effects of football related head injuries on players. Hopefully this research will help try to further safety measures in all sports.

LOSING DEREK BOOGAARD: He may not be known that well in the non-hockey world, but the 28-yr old enforcers death needs to shine a huge light on what this role in hockey is doing to the minds of these guys. Boogaard was the the youngest of three recent deaths by enforcers under the age of 40 years old.

LOSING AL DAVIS: Love him or hate him, there will never be another owner like him in any sport. Ever. And that's a bad thing.

The Sportz Assassin College Football Playoff Bracket

I do this every year. Instead of all this BCS bowl crap, we just have a simple 12-team playoff that involves no bowls (other than the title game can be called a BCS championship at a neutral site).

Here are the teams that get in:
-Every champion of the six BCS conference
-Highest ranked non-BCS conference champion
-5 at-large bids regardless of conference
-Seeding and at large bids are determined by the final BCS standings
-Every effort will be attempted to keep conference teams from facing each other in the first round.

So here we go

DECEMBER 17
9pm: #12 West Virginia (Big East Champ) at #5 Oregon (Pac12 Champ)
12pm: #11 TCU (MWC Champ) at #6 Arkansas
6pm: #10 Clemson (ACC Champ) at #7 Boise State
3pm: #9 Wisconsin (Big Ten Champ) at #8 Kansas State

DECEMBER 24
12pm: Kansas State/Wisconsin at #1 LSU (SEC Champ)
9pm: Boise State/Clemson at #2 Alabama
3pm: Arkansas/at #3 Oklahoma State (Big 12 Champ)
6pm: Oregon/West Virginia at #4 Stanford

JANUARY 2
3:30pm: One national semifinal
8pm: Second national semifinal

JANUARY 9
8pm: BCS Championship

Funniest Bowl Names

Today and tomorrow will be filled by announcements of who is going to which bowl. While most of us will be fixated on who is going to the BCS title game or those usual big time bowls, we get treated to all of those great lesser bowls with their funny names and odd sponsorships.

Below are my TOP FIVE:

5-BEEF O BRADY'S BOWL: Bar food gets love. I'm not a huge fan of BOB's, but it's fun to say "Beef O' Brady's Bowl" a bunch of times in a row.

4-LITTLE CAESARS PIZZA BOWL: Formerly the Motor City Bowl, the Pizza Pizza Bowl is played in lovely Detroit. Look, we've already had a Papa John's Bowl and they are a much better pizza. I haven't had Little Ceez since I was a single guy sharing an apartment. Crazy bread is quite tasty, though. And when I used to go there, "pizza pizza" actually meant something! You always got TWO PIZZAS no matter what! Now it is a lie!

3-MILITARY BOWL PRESENTED BY NORTHROP GRUMMAN: That's a lot to fit on a trophy. Any bowl with "presented by" should make this list (including The Rose Bowl Presented by Vizio). Since Navy is not bowl-eligible, there will be no armed force academy in this game. As for Northrop Grumman ... why are they sponsoring this? They are a global aerospace and defense tech company. Where would sponsoring a bowl game help them?

2-BBVA COMPASS BOWL: I didn't even know people bought compasses anymore. Huh? It's a bank? BBVA is a Spanish bank that stands for Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentina and they bought out Compass ... you know, who cares? I know no one watching the game (if anyone does) will.

1-FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL: Formerly the Humanitarian Bowl, it is best known as that bowl played on Boise's ugly blue turf and for the fact that we see games played in freezing weather. The new name is just plain awesome. The logo above is even better.

NBA Owner's Logic Doesn't Work

I get what the NBA owners are saying. They need a league where every team has a chance to do well and get to the playoffs and get a ring and all that jazz. It sounds great. Sounds fantastic. I mean, it works in the NFL where you can have New Orleans and Indianapolis play for a championship and no one bats an eye. A league where Green Bay can be the latest dynasty.

Too bad it's not a great idea for the NBA, though. And history proves it.

First off, the NFL is a different beast. They pull in twice the cheese that the NBA does and have more lucrative and centralized TV contracts. While the NBA has national contracts with ESPN/ABC and Turner Sports, each team has to sell their local rights. Obviously, the Knicks and Lakers are worth more than the Kings and Hornets. NFL teams don't have to worry about that.

Plus football is followed much more passionately than the NBA.

Second off, NBA's own history proves this doesn't make all the sense in the world. I mean, what is the golden era in the NBA? The 1960s? The 1980s? The 1990s? Depending on who you talk to, all of those eras qualify. And what were those eras defined by?

Dynasties.

In the 1960s, the Boston Celtics won 9 of the 10 championships. Those Celtics beat the Lakers six times in those Finals. The other four Finals losers were the Warriors and Hawks (the Sixers won the only other title).

In the 1980s, the Lakers (5) and Celtics (3) combined for eight titles. The Sixers won one title and the Pistons won the other (the first of back-to-back championships). In those 10 Finals, the Lakers went to 8 of them. Boston went to five.

The 1990s were dominated by the Bulls. Chicago won six titles, Houston won two. The Pistons and Spurs dynasties bookended the decade.

The last era of anyone-can-do-it was the 1970s. Though there are fond memories of that decade, it doesn't bring on the love like the decades surrounding it. The Celtics and Knicks were the only franchises to win multiple titles in the 1970s. The Bullets, Bucks, Lakers, Warriors, Blazers and Sonics each won it once. No dynasties, no love.

Now will the New NBA yield this same parity? Probably not. Hopefully not. While fans in Sacramento, Memphis, Utah, Charlotte and Orlando want to see their franchises do well, it doesn't really help the NBA all that much.

One of the issues is the NBA itself. Back in the 1980s, there were only 21 teams (there are 30 now). That made the talent level not as spread out as it is ... or has to be ... today. Sure, we didn't have any Miami Heat back then, but we didn't have Toronto, Memphis/Vancouver, Minnesota or New Orleans/Charlotte either.

I'm not into contraction, but you have to point out that 9 extra teams means at least 108 extra players in the league and some of your stars stuck in wastelands. I mean, everyone is going gaga over the "Big Threes" of the Celtics, Heatles or the Knicks hopes of landing Chris Paul to go with Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. Well, the 1980s Lakers had Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy (all Hall Of Famers; all No. 1 overall picks). The 1980s Celtics had Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parrish and Dennis Johnson (all HOFers). The 1960s Celtics were loaded with HOFers. The second half of the Chicago Bulls dynasty had HOFers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman. Rodman was also one of three HOFers on the Pistons back-to-back title teams (Joe Dumars and Isiah Thomas were the others).

Since then, it hasn't been the same. Those early 2000s Lakers had Shaq and Kobe ... two of the greatest players to ever play basketball. The Spurs only superduperstar is Tim Duncan.

Only one champion in the 2000s has three HOF players.
2000-2002 Lakers: Shaq, Kobe
2003, 2005, 2007 Spurs: Tim Duncan
2004 Pistons: No one
2006 Heat: Dwyane Wade, Shaq
2008 Celtics: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen
2009-2010 Lakers: Kobe
2011 Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki

Even the Finals runners-up weren't stacked ... other than the last two and a bust of a team in 2004.

2000 Pacers: Reggie Miller
2001 Sixers: Allen Iverson
2002-2003 Nets: Jason Kidd
2004 Lakers: Shaq, Kobe, Karl Malone, Gary Payton

2005 Pistons: No one

2006 Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki
2007 Cavaliers: LeBron James
2008 Lakers: Kobe
2009 Magic: Dwight Howard
2010 Celtics: KG, Allen and Pierce
2011 Heat: LeBron, Wade

Point is, there is no reason to get up in arms that star players are teaming up. The only difference is the stars are making this happen and not owners or GMs. So step back on whining about these megateams.

Could Carolina-Kentucky End?

One of the topics of discussion during all this college conference realignment is the loss of football rivalries. We may not have Texas-Texas A&M anymore. The Pittsburgh-West Virginia Backyard Brawl may not extend. We may not have Missouri-Kansas. Even conference basketball rivalries like Syracuse-Georgetown could be gone.

But basketball non-conference rivalries could suffer. Not just rivalries, but big time matchups.

One of them is North Carolina-Kentucky.

These are two of the biggest blue bloods in college basketball. They have won 12 titles between them and their program's histories are all over the history books. Dean Smith and Adolph Rupp. Rick Pitino and Frank McGuire. Roy Williams and John Calipari. Today is the 12th straight year these two programs have met.

But it could end with expansion. Not like a Syracuse-Georgetown rivalry where one team is leaving the conference. No, it is because conference memberships are expanding which could limit the power of non-conference schedules.

Next year, the SEC will add Missouri and Texas A&M which will expand the league to 14 teams. That will most likely mean the SEC schedule will expand from 16 to 18 games. The ACC should see the same thing when Syracuse and Pittsburgh join up to the conference in 2013. With NCAA rules stating that you may only have 27 regular season games (along with a early tournament), the non-conference slate will really have to be contained. Right now, most teams have 11 games to play with. That could fall to 9 or even 7 in the near future.

So what's the impact? Well, you are going to have to pick and choose what games are most important. John Calipari tweeted to Kentucky fans if there was no other option, what non-conference rivalry would they most like to see end: North Carolina, Louisville or Indiana. The answer would most likely be UNC, since Louisville and Indiana are natural geographical rivalries that have gone on longer that the one with Carolina. The UNC-UK matchups have been big since both programs have been among the elite for most of the series, but neither fanbase would die off without it.

With possibly only 9 non conference games to schedule, you have to really be careful. While you cannot just feast on cupcakes, you do have to schedule them. Some are because you want your kids to go back to near the homes so their family can see them play. Almost all of them are only played at home to pump up the coffers. You also have that dead period in December when school is on break and there are few games played. So, as you can see, there is only a limited number of games to schedule those huge non-league battles where you face off in home-and-home series.

If you are Kentucky, you have to deal with Indiana and Louisville so that may cost you Carolina. For Carolina, you now have Syracuse and Pitt to deal with as mandatory games, so a game against Kentucky may not be warranted. With roster turnover the way it is, coaches may not want to over-schedule their teams and burn them out.

Enjoy These Rivalries While They Last

Thanksgiving weekend is usually rivalry weekend in college football. All those ancient battles we've watched over the years renew and the hatred gets reignited.

With all the conference shuffling going on, we could see some of these rivalries come to and end this year (or maybe next). Some of these are over a century old but the lure of money combined with hard feelings are forcing these games to possibly stop.

TEXAS-TEXAS A&M: These teams first met in 1894 and is one of the more intense rivalries on Thanksgiving weekend. With Texas A&M's move to the SEC, this rivalry will be dead for a while. While the Aggies want to continue the series, the Longhorns say their schedule is booked through 2018.

This is a odd ending. While Oklahoma is a bigger rival to Texas than A&M is, this was still a bitter battle. But one of the big reasons A&M left for the SEC is that they wanted to get away from big brother's shadow. Now they'll have to go it completely alone.

KANSAS-MISSOURI: The Border War is named as such because of some Civil War bad blood between the two states. Since Halloween 1891, these schools have been battling on the gridiron. With Mizzou's move to the SEC, this heated rivalry could die out. As in the Texas-Texas A&M rivalry, Kansas is shying away from continuing the Border War due to Missouri's defection to the SEC.

PITTSBURGH-WEST VIRGINIA: The Backyard Brawl could be ending this weekend as well. The two schools have met 103 times and it is one of the more unique rivalries in college football. Pittsburgh will be moving to the ACC soon, while West Virginia is moving to the Big XII. With the Big East's insistence to keep all Big East defectors in their conference for two years, this game could have a couple of battles left.

Despite both teams changing leagues, I see this game continuing. The ACC has long been able to honor those final interconference rivalry games. We see Clemson face South Carolina, Florida State face Florida and Georgia Tech take on Georgia in the final game of the season (before Virginia Tech joined the ACC, Virginia did play them on the final week as well). The ACC wouldn't mind keeping this game on Thanksgiving weekend which could help keep this game alive. Plus, since both teams are leaving the Big East, there isn't the hard feelings that other rivalries have seen.

BCS System "Flawed"? Really??? Here's Why ...

Stanford coach David Shaw says that the BCS system is broken. Well, of course it is. And of course it is for Shaw, whose Stanford team lost to Oregon and is now all but out of the BCS championship game.

Yes, Coach Shaw, the BCS is flawed. And this year could prove it more than ever.

LSU GETS SCREWED: First off, we could see LSU be the lone undefeated (well, other than Houston). This LSU team will have had to have win the SEC West division ... which right now owns the top three ranked teams in the BCS standings. Back in the day, if LSU won the Sugar Bowl ... no matter who it was against ... they'd be national champions. Now they'd have to play a one-loss team with the winner being named champion. How is the BCS better, again?

ALABAMA GETS REMATCH: The big winner of the LSU-Arkansas tilt Saturday could be Alabama. No matter who wins, Alabama is sitting pretty. If LSU wins, that means Alabama (provided they beat Auburn) would finish 2nd in the SEC West and NOT have to play in the SEC Championship game ... which could have been a loss ... and still get to play in the BCS Championship game.

We could get an Alabama-LSU rematch for the championship. If Alabama won that game, they'd be National Champions despite splitting with LSU (both teams only loss would have been to each other), not winning their conference championship and not even winning their division. Yep, our NATIONAL Champion was neither a conference nor division champion.

***Note, I do see the irony in the statements I make about "winning conference" and all of that. I do understand that our defending Super Bowl Champion (Packers), NBA Champion (Mavericks) and World Series Champion (Cardinals) all finished in 2nd place in their divisions during the regular season. But those sports have playoffs and those sports don't harp that "every game counts". The entire point BCS backers and college football fans say is that every game counts and your season makes your champion. ***

LSU LOSES TO ARKANSAS: If Arkansas beats LSU ... there is a huge mess. If Alabama beat Auburn and won the SEC West, they'd be in the SEC title game and (with a win) the BCS title game. This is despite Arkansas beating the team that beat Alabama ... who did beat Arkansas earlier this season. And where does that leave all those one-loss teams like Stanford? Where does that leave undefeated Houston?

Not wrap your head around this: Say Arkansas barely beats LSU and Alabama beats Auburn. Most likely the BCS rankings would be Alabama #1, Arkansas #2 and LSU #3. Alabama goes to the SEC title game and somehow loses it. That would move Arkansas and LSU into the title game despite NEITHER team winning their conference or division championship. Amazing.

And what about Georgia? In this scenario, they would have beaten Alabama in the SEC title game and would have actually been the champions of the conference that house both of the BCS championship participants. Wrap your head around that.

WHERE DOES HOUSTON FIT? Every game counts? Tell Houston that when one-loss teams are playing for a title. And you wonder why all this realignment crap is going on. The BCS has caused this entire mess.

FORGET THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME FOR A SECOND: Remember that the BCS runs five bowls ... not just the title game. While some good teams will not get a BCS bid, Louisville could. Louisville could become Big East champions with a 7-5 record.

Alabama Does Not Deserve A Rematch With LSU

One of the questions I have been asked after LSU's overtime win at Alabama is if the Crimson Tide win out, Stanford and Oklahoma State (and possibly Boise State lose) should they get another shot at LSU in the BCS title game?

Nope.

No way. No how.

Look, Alabama may indeed be the second-best team in the country. They may be worthy of a shot at the national championship. But they shouldn't get one. Not after what happened last Saturday. It can't happen.

First off, Alabama likely will not win the SEC championship. To me, if you cannot win your conference, you cannot play for a national championship. The reason Bama won't win the SEC title is that they won't even win the SEC West division title. For the Tide to do so, they'd need to win out LSU to lose twice (not likely to happen).

Again, I don't see how a team can be national champions (*cough* Nebraska *cough*) if they cannot even be their conference or even division champion.

Part II? Right now Alabama ranks No. 3 in the BCS rankings ... just behind LSU and Oklahoma State. If the Okie State Cowboys lose to ... say ... Oklahoma, then Alabama would likely move to the second spot and would be in line to face LSU in a BCS title game. How in the hell is that fair to Boise State or Stanford? Or even Oklahoma or Oregon (who could be a one-loss team)? Seriously, how could Alabama pass up undefeated Stanford or Boise State?

Think about it: Alabama got their shot at LSU. Stanford and Boise didn't. Alabama got the opportunity to play LSU ... at their place ... and couldn't get it done. No matter how "classic" the game was, it isn't fair that Alabama gets two cracks at LSU when Stanford or Boise can't.

And best of all, what if Bama plays LSU in a title game and wins? Sooooooo Alabama would be National Champions because they beat LSU on a neutral field while LSU beat Alabama at their place? They'd be tied head-to-head ... with LSU winning on the road ... yet Bama could be title holder?

So let's recap. Alabama could be national champion despite not winning its conference, its division and tying the head-to-head meeting with the No. 1 team who the lost to at home ... meanwhile losing one more game than the Pac-12 champion or a hot Boise State team.

Missouri to SEC: Now The Big East Needs To Worry

One of the huge dominos in the conference expansion may be close to falling. Missouri is planning on applying to the SEC and the conference reportedly has the votes to admit them in. This is huge news that will impact the entire country.

What does this mean?

SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE. The SEC has 14 teams now, the same as the ACC. It looks as if the conference will stop at that number. All there is to do now is move one of the West teams to the East and figure out the scheduling. The team most likely to move would be Auburn, which would be quite interesting. Splitting Bama and Auburn could mean the two teams meet in the SEC title game.

SEC EAST: Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
SEC WEST: Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Ole Miss, Miss State, Missouri, Texas A&M

BIG XII CONFERENCE. Now the Big XII is down to 9 teams again. They will lose A&M and Missouri and gain TCU. The league and the members want to get back to 12 teams ... meaning they must find three schools to join in. Since BYU isn't interested anymore (though the Big XII should revisit), the plan is to head east. Louisville, West Virginia and, possibly, Cincinnati should be on the list. Boise State and Air Force could be, but the MWC-CUSA merger may stop all that (more on that later).

BIG XII NORTH: Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisville, West Virginia
BIG XII SOUTH: Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas, Texas Tech.

BIG EAST. In short, done. With Missouri leaving the Big XII, the Big XII will look to loot the Big East for three teams. Right now, only six schools play football in that conference. If the Big XII rips half of that, only three remain: Rutgers, UConn and South Florida. UConn would then beg the ACC to let them in. Either way, the Big East football conference could be done. The Mountain West-Conference USA merger has kept those schools thinking twice about moving to the Big East. A raid by the Big XII would completely scare those schools off. Seriously, they'd have a better chance gaining a BCS berth with the MWC-CUSA merger than a rebuilt Big East.

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE. While the ACC isn't in the mood to expand, if the opportunity to snag Notre Dame happens they will jump all over it. Then they will add UConn to be the 16th member. If Notre Dame gets scared into joining a conference, the ACC would be the most likely landing spot.

ACC NORTH: Boston College, Connecticut, Maryland, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Virginia, Virginia Tech
ACC SOUTH: Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Wake Forest

MOUNTAIN WEST AND CONFERENCE USA. In reality, neither conference is now all that concerned with being looted. For those who don't know, the MWC and C-USA have agreed to have a football alignment where the champs from both conferences will play to create a sort-of champion. They think this could entice the BCS to consider the winner to be BCS bowl worthy. It could be. It probably won't be. But it would be closer than anything the Big East could offer.

Sure, East Carolina and a few other schools could bolt for the Big East but it won't bother these conferences too much ... as long as Boise State sits still.

BIG TEN AND PAC-12. It seems as if both leagues are cool with the memberships they have. Sure, Rutgers is out there and attractive to the Big Ten but unless they can find someone to join them (and under this plan, they don't) I don't see them making any move.

NFL May Need NBA-Style Lottery System

The Kansas City Chiefs will travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts. This game could help shape these franchises for the next decade. The loser could be in the driver's seat to the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft and be able to select one Andrew Luck.

Sure, it is only October but this is a huge game in the race for Luck.

Luck is everyone's choice to be the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. Even if the Colts, who just re-signed Peyton Manning to a zillion dollar deal, would take Luck first overall and develop him behind the legend ... a-la Aaron Rodgers.

With the wealth of really bad teams this year, we could see quite an interesting dynamic as the season winds down. Could teams really tank their last few games in order to gain that top pick and, therefore, Luck? Do you think that would really happen? It just may.

Remember, this is the new NFL where the top pick can't demand a huge contract he hasn't earned. The top pick scared everyone off before since you could be tied into a bust for a long time (see: Jamarcus Russell). So drafting Luck for a relatively small contract makes him even more attractive. Plus in a league that is so pass heavy right now, getting a franchise quarterback is quite a big deal.

Could we see the Colts, Chiefs, Dolphins, Vikings, Rams, Jaguars, Broncos or Seahawks tank games down the stretch to get a shot at Luck? Maybe. We could even see a team like the Carolina Panthers tank games in order to get the No. 1 pick and make a huge deal to someone who falls in love with Luck.

If we see this, the NFL may need to look at an NBA-style lottery. In the NBA, teams were tanking games in order to get the No. 1 pick. It works since the No. 1 pick in the NBA usually changes the entire dynamic of a franchise (Kareem, Magic, Shaq, LeBron, etc).

While that isn't always the case in the NFL, getting a perceived franchise quarterback is what teams are looking for. In the last 10 drafts, 8 of the top overall picks were QBs (and 10 of the last 13). While not all those guys became stars (Russell, Alex Smith, David Carr, Tim Couch) there have been some big picks (Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Michael Vick, Carson Palmer, Matthew Stafford, Sam Bradford).

Since the NBA has used the lottery, the team with the worst record in the league has won the top selection just 3 out of 27 times. Quite amazing. While tanking does give you a better chance at getting the top pick, it doesn't guarantee squat. Imagine if that happened in the NFL.

There may have to be some changes to what the NBA does. In the NBA, all non-playoff teams are eligible for the lottery. That's only 14 out of 30 teams. The NFL has 20 out of 32 teams miss the postseason. That's too many teams to put in the lottery. Maybe all teams with losing records? Maybe just the bottom 10 teams? Who knows, but the NFL may need to implement something to keep from watching teams rob their fans by tanking games.