Since the folks at the SB Nation mothership have declared it to be "college football relegation week," I figured I'd participate in the discussion by revisiting the proposal I made 5 months ago for a promotion/relegation system in college football. It was originally a two-post series, and the first post, in which I stated the benefits of such a system is located here. (I saw no need to re-post that entry.)
The bottom line is that conference realignment has gotten so crazy and out of hand that a new, simpler solution is needed. As is often the case, though, a simple solution might seem wildly radical at first. All I ask you to do, though, is look at the maps, and then I think you'll be convinced. (Well, convinced to listen to the whole argument, at least.)
The promotion/relegation system I have proposed is 99.9 percent geographically-based. Such a system is impossible, however, with our all-over-the-map conferences arranged as they currently are (not to mention how crazy it will get in 2013).
As a result, I have rearranged the top-tier BCS conferences to align them with a specific geography. Basically, instead of having multiple conferences overlapping every state, each state is assigned to only one "stack" of conferences in the promotion/relegation system. I attempted to preserve historical rivalries in the initial organization of this system, but was forced to break a few. For example, LSU is no longer in the SEC, and Georgia Tech and Clemson are cut off from basically the rest of the current ACC.
Because there are far more teams in the eastern and central part of the U.S. than the west, the Pac-12 stack has fewer teams than all the others, but if there's one thing the current system has shown us, it's that it is virtually impossible to draw a completely clean line between conferences. The ACC has also taken over much of the Big East's old footprint, and because there aren't a lot of Division IA/FBS football teams in the northeast, it covers a large number of states. (In fact, I had to promote two I-AA/FCS teams to the second tier just to complete a 12-team second-tier conference.)
For reference purposes, here is the current conference alignment as it will look for the 2012 football season:
And here is the new conference/stack map for the promotion/relegation system:
Have I piqued your interest? Then, please, read on...
Hello again, kids! If you want hard-hitting journalism, then prepare yourself to be unfulfilled. If you want two awesome segments that cover 1) charity for the fight against cancer and 2) why Buzz Bissinger is a grade-A douchebag, then you've come to the right place.
This week, I get to wax Dawg poetic with Shaun Golden, former UGA Basketball player and co-founder of NeverNX. NeverNX is a sportswear apparel company that just so happens to be hosting a charity golf tournament on June 16 to benefit the Dr. Alec Kessler Memorial Foundation, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and the fund for Kasyn Olivadotti. Many former UGA greats in football and basketball will be participating, so be sure to click the link and help support them any way you can.
Also on the docket, The Mayor and I completely put to rest the ridiculous notion that college football should be banned. Granted, the whole debate was hypothetical in nature, but in the grand scheme of things, this is an Armageddon type of scenario and if I'm looking for someone to stay on that meteor and push the button to save Earth, Jason Whitlock is not that man. Confused? Listen to the show and it'll all be clear.
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As always, you can listen to the entire episode via the player at the bottom of this post.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
The predictions that Georgia would win the East began almost as soon as the year did, and you may have heard that we're now a preseason blogpoll consensus top 10 team. Don't believe the hype. The Stoics taught us not to let passion interfere with clear reasoning, and Larry Munson taught us that a little pessimism never hurt anyone. So, with just 110 days left until kickoff, you need to start preparing yourself for the inevitability of an 8-4 regular season. Here's why:
Buffalo (09/01/12)
Buffalo has a great running back, but there's a reason that we're paying them nearly a million dollars to be our home opener. If we lose this game, it's time to occupy the doomsday bunkers. WIN
at Missouri (09/08/12)
Remember that time that we were returning 9 starters from one of the most dominant defenses in the country? No? Me either. All of our DBs will be suspended for this game. That is a serious problem when we're facing one of the most prolific spread offenses in the country. I have full faith in Coach Grantham's abilities as coach, but his NFL background has not fully prepared him for his initial outings against offenses that are unique to college football, particularly with a true sophomore wide receiver in his first SEC start on defense. We're in for a world of hurt, y'all. LOSS
Henry: My life, when it is written, will read better than it lived. Henry Fitz-Empress, first Plantagenet, a king at twenty-one, the ablest soldier of an able time. He led men well, he cared for justice when he could and ruled, for thirty years, a state as great as Charlemagne’s.
Act One, Scene 6
Such a description would have seemed extreme to a man as unassuming as Joseph Vincent Paterno, who occupied the same modest home for more than four decades and allowed his telephone number to be published in the State College directory; moreover, the details were more than a little misleading: JoePa was a head coach at 39, and he stood astride Happy Valley for 46 seasons and 409 victories, the last of which none of us knew at the time formed the coda to his long career.
The rest of it, though, serves as a fairly accurate synopsis of his service at Pennsylvania State University. Coach Paterno was among the ablest skippers of an able era; he led men well, even those who were ambivalent about his tutelage; he ruled the Keystone State by embodying his institution like no coach had before or will again; and, ultimately, his love of justice proved less resolutely rooted in principle than most of us had spent most of our lives believing.
How is it possible that one man could be remembered in the same breath as both one of his sport's greatest successes and the author of one of its greatest failures?
Joe Paterno passed away on Sunday morning, but his legacy (both good and bad) will remain with Penn State, and with college football as a whole, for many years to come.
In my first post in this series, I examined the need for a geographically-based promotion/relegation system in college football. Such a system would make no sense, however, with our all-over-the-map conferences arranged as they currently are.
To wit, I have rearranged the top-tier BCS conferences to align them with a specific geography. Basically, instead of having multiple conferences overlapping every state, each state is assigned to only one "stack" of conferences in the promotion/relegation system. I attempted to preserve historical rivalries in the initial organization of this system, but was forced to break a few. For example, LSU is no longer in the SEC, and Georgia Tech and Clemson are cut off from basically the rest of the current ACC.
Because there are far more teams in the eastern and central part of the U.S. than the west, the Pac-12 stack has fewer teams than all the others, but if there's one thing the current system has shown us, it's that it is virtually impossible to draw a completely clean line between conferences. The ACC has also taken over much of the Big East's old footprint, and because there aren't a lot of Division I football teams in the northeast, it covers a large number of states. (In fact, I had to promote two I-AA teams to the second tier just to complete a 12-team second-tier conference.)
Here is the new conference/stack map for the promotion/relegation system:
Well, it's the time of year we call Bowl Season... that delightful time between the conference championship games and the national championship game when people gather around to watch bad exhibition football and complain about the BCS.
I have said in the past that the BCS is the worst method of selecting a national champion, except for all of the other systems. I would like to add a caveat to that statement, however. I have no problem with the method by which we match up a #1 team against a #2 team. The vast improvement we can make, however, is the method by which we ensure a level playing field for all teams: a promotion/relegation system.
My apologies to Kyle for stepping on his great post today, but as we now have an official statement from Coach Richt, I wanted to get it out.
"I've said many times Georgia is the place I want to be as long as Georgia will have me. That has never changed. And it's gratifying to know Georgia wants me. I have not talked to any other school about a job nor do I have any interest in doing so. My interest is having a great recruiting year and start building toward next season."
- Mark Richt, Dec 10, 2011
Although there are other sources, one link is here, from the AJC. Coach Richt has met with the Athletic Director today to discuss his contract.
GO DAWGS!
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