Category: History and More

While much of the American sporting world has turned its attention to the NFL today (or, in my case, the CFL’s Grey Cup), thousands and thousands of college football fans are still either celebrating rivalry wins or groaning about losses that will have to stay with them for an entire year.

And for a guy who didn’t have a stake in any of yesterday’s heavyweight battles, it was fun to just plop down at ringside and watch how things unfolded.

And what did I learn?

A lot.

For starters, Clemson (11-1) might just be the best team in the Football Bowl Subdivision – again. While the Tigers’ 34-10 win over South Carolina was expected, only those who watched saw just how dominating it was.

The Gamecocks have improved under Will Muschamp, and entered the contest with an 8-3 record, home field advantage and a real hope they could avenge last year’s 56-7 beat down.

They couldn’t.

Oh, the score line was better this time around, but there was never a moment when the defending national champions were threatened (unless you count the threat posed by some idiot fans who threw projectiles from the stands at Williams-Brice Stadium.)

You’ll likely never see a more dominating 24-point victory.

“I do think we’re starting to play our best football, I really do,” said Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who picked up his 100^th career victory last night and has led his team to four road wins over Top 25 foes this year. “And that’s where you want to be as you get to the final stretch.”

The Tigers should be ranked No. 1 in Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings, and a win over Miami (10-1) in Saturday’s ACC Championship Game in Charlotte will lock down the top seed in the playoffs and a Sugar Bowl berth.

On the other hand, if the Hurricanes – ranked No. 2 in the recent playoff standings but upset by Pitt on Friday – beat Clemson, they’ll be the ACC reps in the CFP.

Although Clemson was No. 3 and Oklahoma, No. 4, in last week’s playoff poll, there is a chance Oklahoma (11-1) could surge to the top of the heap come Tuesday.

It’s all subject to the whims of a selection committee, after all.

The Sooners crushed West Virginia on Saturday, 59-31, and are riding a seven-game winning streak.

All that stands in the Sooners’ way of a playoff trip is a win over TCU in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday.

In the teams’ regular season meeting on Nov. 11 OU won, 38-20.

Meanwhile at Jordan-Hare Stadium, the Iron Bowl had the feel of a play-in contest, and in terms of the SEC Championship Game, it was exactly that.

With Auburn (10-2) beating top-ranked and previously unbeaten Alabama (11-1), the Tigers won the SEC West and will face Georgia (11-1) on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

If the Tigers defeat the Bulldogs for the second time this season, you have to figure the committee will award them one of the four available playoff spots.

“This time of year, very few teams are playing their best football and we’re doing that,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said after his team’s 26-14 win. “We must continue doing that moving forward. Playing Georgia, we know they’re going to have a chip on their shoulder. We’re playing our best football right now and we need to continue to do that.”

One of Auburn’s regular season losses was to Clemson in the second week of the season, a 14-6 defensive showcase.

“We’re a completely different team,” Malzahn said. “I’m not taking anything away from Clemson. They’re a great team, and I think everyone sees that. They were No. 2 when we played them. We’ve played two No. 1 teams now. Back in September, we were still trying to figure out our identity. We had a new quarterback, new coordinator and you saw us getting better and better.”

Shortly after the loss to AU, Alabama boss Nick Saban was already lobbying for the Crimson Tide to make the CFP.

“I think this team deserves the opportunity to get into the playoff by what they’ve been able to accomplish and what they’ve been able to do,” Saban said. “Certainly not in this game, but I think the team we played tonight is a very good football team, probably one of the best teams in the country. We’ve won 11 games, and not many teams have been able to do that.”

Another football Final Four berth for UA is possible, of course, but I’m not sure there would be much enthusiasm for it outside Tuscaloosa.

Bama’s biggest wins coming into the game were against a three-loss LSU team and a four-loss Mississippi State squad. The Tide had a chance to prove it was the best in the West and it failed to do that.

As for Georgia, which dismantled Georgia Tech, 38-7, its path to the CFP is simple.

Beat Auburn, avenging its 40-17 loss from Nov. 11, and the Dawgs are one-loss SEC champs and playoff bound.

But what about Wisconsin, 31-0 winners over Minnesota on Saturday?

The Badgers (12-0) are the last unbeaten team left in the FBS, but were on the outside looking in at the CFP coming into the final week of the regular season, ranked No. 5.

They’ll be in the top four this Tuesday, though, and will stay in if they beat Ohio State (10-2) in the Big Ten Championship Game.

A Buckeye win, though, gives another two-loss team a puncher’s chance at reaching a national semifinal.

Ranked No. 9 in the CFP, it’s unclear how much ground Urban Meyer’s charges will make up this week after a 31-20 conquest of Michigan. If they can top Wisconsin on Saturday, they’ll at least be in position to bitch and moan if they’re left out of the playoffs.

And Meyer loves to bitch and moan.

My crystal ball tells me Clemson will beat Miami and I have a feeling Georgia will edge Auburn in the rematch. I’m also counting on Oklahoma to top TCU.

If those predictions hold, three of the CFP spots will be secured.

However, I’m not sold on Wisconsin. I expect Ohio State to win that clash on Saturday, even if quarterback J.T. Barrett is forced to miss the game due to a knee injury.

If that happens – and Auburn also finishes off a two-game sweep of Georgia – would there then be a pair of two-loss teams in the playoffs?

Or, would Alabama sneak back in, denying the Buckeyes a berth and making Meyer subject to spontaneous human combustion?

Fortunately, we’ll find out a week from today.

And if Championship Saturday is anything like Rivalry Weekend, it’ll be another great day to be at ringside.

It’s Rivalry Week in college football, meaning it’s time for pundits and fans alike to argue about which one is the biggest, fiercest and meanest in the land.

In my 30 years as a paid sportswriter, I covered several Alabama-Auburn games, quite a few Clemson-South Carolina games, and a handful of Georgia-Georgia Tech games.

So which is the biggest?

Now that I’m an unpaid sportswriter, I can honestly tell you that they are all equally important.

I can also honestly tell you they are equally unimportant – if you don’t have any skin in the game.

Fact is, if it’s the rivalry involving your team, that makes it the biggest rivalry going.

The first 20 years of my career were spent in Alabama, and during that time I sat in the press box for 16 Iron Bowls – including the first one ever played at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn and the inaugural Alabama-Auburn game staged at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

Having grown up among Crimson Tide and Tiger fans, I was conditioned to believe that their rivalry was not only the biggest, but the only one that mattered.

I didn’t bother to get the thoughts of those who had a stake in games such as Michigan-Ohio State, Texas-Texas A&M or Army-Navy – people who might have a wildly different opinion.

Then over the last 10 years I got to witness first-hand the rivalry between Clemson and South Carolina, and quickly realized their fan bases were just as rabid as the ones in my home state.

A decade of the Palmetto Bowl has shown me that to those schools’ faithful, the rivalry is every bit as intense as that of the Iron Bowl.

I will say, as both a live observer and one who followed the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry for a few years while serving as a beat writer for the Bulldogs, it has a really odd dynamic.

Georgia-Florida and Georgia-Auburn are traditionally much bigger games for the guys in red hats and silver britches. And while the Dawgs and Yellow Jackets bill their annual showdown as “Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate,” it simply doesn’t have the same pop as many state rivalries.

That being said, Georgia is Georgia Tech’s biggest rival.

So there’s that.

From a national stakes standpoint this weekend, though, the Alabama-Auburn game is the top rivalry showdown on the schedule. The winner finishes atop the SEC West and gets a berth in the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta, and if that team happens to be Alabama, it almost assures the Tide a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Why?

Ranked No. 1 and one of only three undefeated teams left among Power 5 programs (Miami and Wisconsin are the others), even a loss to Georgia in Mercedes-Benz Stadium would likely drop Nick Saban’s top-ranked team no lower than No. 4 in the CFP poll, especially if it’s close.

But if Auburn knocks off Alabama and whips the Bulldogs in the league title game (its second win over Georgia in three weeks), suddenly the two-loss Tigers might be invited to the playoff thanks to winning the SEC title.

Meanwhile, at Bobby Dodd Stadium …

A Bulldog win over the Jackets, coupled with a victory over the Tide or Tigers a week later, negates their regular season loss to Auburn and puts Kirby Smart’s team in the playoffs.

And if that win is over Bama, you can probably count on the SEC taking up two spots in the CFP – a decision that’s going to enrage those who don’t swear eternal loyalty to the Southeastern Conference.

As for the Palmetto Bowl, South Carolina is playing for a chance to derail Clemson’s hopes for a second consecutive national championship and upgrade its own postseason position.

If the Tigers enter the ACC Championship Game with two losses, even a win over Miami might not be enough to secure a spot in the semifinals (although ultimately that’ll be for the CFP selection committee to decide, of course).

However, if Dabo Swinney’s charges take care of business against the Gamecocks and Hurricanes, they’ll be ensconced in one of the four available playoff positions.

Yet before jumping ahead to the postseason, it’s all about the rivalries this holiday weekend – and all are pretty significant.

So if you happen to think the braggin’ rights battle you care about most is the biggest in college football, you’re absolutely right.

Just know that fans elsewhere disagree – and they’re absolutely right, too.

Dating back to my love affair with the World Football League (1974-75), I’ve had an affinity for little leagues that thought they could but, ultimately, couldn’t.

It’s nothing personal against the National Football League – if you want to watch professional football featuring the largest number of talented players on the field at one time, the NFL is your one-stop shop.

Still, American outdoor football leagues that give players a chance to make a buck outside “The League” are near and dear to my heart.

I loved the United States Football League, which had at least one team (Philadelphia/Baltimore) that could’ve been competitive in the organization that annually plays for the Lombardi Trophy. In fact, no “rival” league in the last 30 years has been as good.

The USFL might still be around had it stuck to a spring/summer schedule.

The World League of American Football, which became NFL Europe, which became NFL Europa, which became extinct, was a decent brand of Double A minor league ball.

I even gave the XFL a shot, although the early games I saw were boring and sloppy and I quit it long before Vince McMahon did.

There was also the United Football League; I might be the only person who ever watched it on TV. I actually enjoyed it, but most sports entities require more than one fan to be viable.

The most recent was the Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL), which was a bust.

Yet, any time I hear a new league announced, I get excited because I’m going to get to see new uniforms and new logos – even though I have no illusions that the upstart league will last.

But there’s a pro league set to start next summer, and it might have a real shot.

Why?

Because it’s not competing with the NFL – it’s competing with the NCAA.

Under the principles section of the Pacific Pro Football website, there’s this:

“Pac Pro will be the first league to professionalize players who are less than 4 years removed from their high school graduation. Players will receive a salary, benefits, and even paid tuition and books for one year at community college. Players also will be able to market themselves for compensation, and begin creating a financial retirement plan if they so choose.”

Translation: Kids who graduate high school and want to play football won’t have to do it at a college. Plus, they’ll get paid – over the table, without a booster in sight.

Various interviews with the movers and shakers involved with Pac Pro suggest players will make approximately $50,000 per season.

That’s not bad, especially considering the inaugural campaign will feature four teams (all based in Southern California) playing an 8-game schedule in July and August.

Certainly, there will be blowback from both the NFL (at first) and big-time college football (for as long as Pac Pro lasts).

The Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision serve as pretty good minor leagues to the NFL, and the big league won’t want to damage that relationship by cozying up to an insurgent circuit.

But if Pac Pro can survive growing pains and expand – and convince more and more hot-shot prep stars that they can major in football for pay without pretending to major in something else for a scholarship – it could dramatically change the landscape.

Sure, there are a lot of great football players who want a college education, but there are probably a lot more who’d just as soon go to work in a football factory right out of high school.

Just as minor league baseball teams often convince top prospects to forego college, so might Pac Pro.

And there are some smart football people involved, including former NFL coach Mike Shanahan and former NFL vice president of officiating, Mike Pereira.

As with any fledgling league, the chances of survival are iffy.

Regardless of Pac Pro’s potential, people still have to pay to watch and advertisers have to make sure there are enough people willing to watch on TV (or whatever platform is used to spread the Pac Pro gospel).

Yet I have to give the new kids credit – of all the leagues that have come and gone, this one has a business model that actually makes sense.

If I’m a player who made good grades in high school and wants to get an engineering degree as well as play football, college is the best path.

But if I struggled in the classroom and have a chance to make an actual living playing football as an 18-year old, the decision is pretty easy.

Starting next summer, we’ll start to find out how many players are willing to make that decision.