{"id":79034,"date":"2016-12-06T19:08:27","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T19:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=79034"},"modified":"2023-04-24T14:30:56","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T14:30:56","slug":"behind-mic-four-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/behind-mic-four-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Mic: Four Is Not Enough"},"content":{"rendered":"

If any college football fan doubts the wisdom of a four-team College Football Playoff system, this past weekend should eliminate those doubts.\u00a0 The Selection Committee has no choice under the current system.\u00a0 They can choose four and ONLY four.\u00a0 The idea in the beginning was that conference champions would fill the four slots.\u00a0 The only problem there is that there are five power conferences, but I\u2019m sure the founders felt they could surely eliminate one of the champions.\u00a0 But this year, the committee eliminated two \u2013 the Big 12 champions and the Big 10 champion.\u00a0 The ACC will send Clemson<\/a>; the Pac 12 will send Washington<\/a>; and the SEC will send Alabama<\/a>.\u00a0 It is hard to argue with any of those choices.<\/p>\n

Now we come to Ohio State<\/a>.\u00a0 Should they go or should the committee have chosen Penn State<\/a> \u2013 the Big 10 champion?\u00a0 I have no argument with Ohio State\u2019s pedigree.\u00a0 They lost only one game; they beat Michigan; they were ranked in the top three all year; and they beat Michigan.\u00a0 That\u2019s good enough for me.\u00a0 EXCEPT\u2026.<\/p>\n

Penn State won the Big 10 championship, while Ohio State did not play at all last week.\u00a0 Penn State gave Ohio State their only loss of the year 24-21.\u00a0 Penn State\u2019s losses were to Pitt, which, by the way, beat Clemson and they lost to Michigan<\/a>.\u00a0 Both of those losses were on the road.\u00a0 And if \u201cplaying well at the end of the year\u201d means anything, Penn State has not lost since September.\u00a0 They have won nine games in a row.\u00a0 Ohio State lost to Penn State in October and Michigan lost two of their last three.<\/p>\n

Winning a conference title is supposed to give the winning team a 13th<\/sup> data point.\u00a0 Penn State earned that point; Ohio State did not.\u00a0 Conference championships should matter.\u00a0 For two teams, it did not.<\/p>\n

As I said earlier, Ohio State, with only one loss should be in the mix for a national championship.\u00a0 My fault with the system is four teams.\u00a0 If you make it eight you add only one more week to the schedule and that should be palatable.\u00a0 I know if you add eight, then nine and ten will feel shunned.\u00a0 But eight gives you the five conference champions,\u00a0\u00a0 (the Big 12 will start playing one next year) and three \u201cwild cards\u201d.\u00a0 A similar system works quite well for the NFL and six of those teams have gone on to win the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

So Penn State will play in the Rose Bowl<\/a> against USC <\/a>and that certainly is a justified reward for their season, but should they have been playing for a national championship?\u00a0 What if you were on the committee \u2013 how would you have voted?<\/p>\n

ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I really started to watch Penn State because of Saquon Barkley<\/a>, the former Whitehall Zephyr. Now I watch them because they are one of the most exciting and dramatic teams in college football.\u00a0 Their win over Wisconsin, after being down by 21 points and being totally dominated early in the game, was nothing short of miraculous!<\/li>\n
  2. The Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks played almost as well on Friday night against undefeated Imhotep Charter out of Philadelphia. Imhotep is the defending state champion and has won 28 games in a row.\u00a0 No team stayed within 30 points of them this season.\u00a0 Until they met the Hawks!\u00a0 The Hawks lost 24-13 when Imhotep scored a TD late in the game. Beca was in it right up until the very end of the game and actually led at one point.\u00a0 It was a great year for Coach Kyle Haas and the Beca football team.<\/li>\n
  3. Notre Dame High School did not win a game two years ago. On Friday night, they played in the PIAA state semifinal game against undefeated Middletown.\u00a0 The Crusaders lost that game, but their resurgence in the past two years has been amazing.<\/li>\n
  4. The Eagles <\/a>looked like a team that cannot make the playoffs this past Sunday. The Bengals <\/a>just crushed them.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s not a good thing for the coach to say they are looking towards the future before the present is completed.\u00a0 The Eagles took major steps in the wrong direction this past Sunday.<\/li>\n
  5. High school basketball begins next week with Freedom-Allen and Liberty-Easton on Tuesday, December 13. We will have Liberty-Central and Saucon Valley-Wilson on Friday, December 16.\u00a0 The wrestling season begins on Wednesday, December 14, with Liberty taking on Nazareth.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0\"Gary's<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

    Gary\u2019s Guesses: NFL Picks \u2013 (Last week \u2013 12-3; Overall \u2013 119-72-2 \u2013 62%)<\/strong>
    \nWeek Fourteen<\/strong><\/p>\n

    OAKLAND<\/strong>
    \nPHILADELPHIA<\/strong>
    \nMINNESOTA<\/strong>
    \nDETROIT<\/strong>
    \nCINCINNATI<\/strong>
    \nARIZONA<\/strong>
    \nINDIANAPOLIS<\/strong>
    \nDENVER<\/strong>
    \nCAROLINA<\/strong>
    \nPITTSBURGH<\/strong>
    \nJETS<\/strong>
    \nTAMPA BAY<\/strong>
    \nATLANTA<\/strong>
    \nSEATTLE<\/strong>
    \nDALLAS<\/strong>
    \nNEW ENGLAND<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    If any college football fan doubts the wisdom of a four-team College Football Playoff system, this past weekend should eliminate those doubts.\u00a0 The Selection Committee has no choice under the current system.\u00a0 They can choose four and ONLY four.\u00a0 The idea in the beginning was that conference champions would fill the four slots.\u00a0 The only…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4],"tags":[14,343,388,408,599,546],"class_list":["post-79034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-mic","category-featured","category-sports","tag-alabama","tag-michigan","tag-ohio-state","tag-penn-state","tag-saquon-barkley","tag-washington"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBehind the Mic: Four Is Not Enough - 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