You've got to give it to Tommy Tuberville. He knows how to make some noise. Driving around today listening to my XM Radio, I couldn't change the channel without hearing the talking heads ranting about Tuberville's comments. In case you missed it, Tuberville is at it again -
he's attacking the BCS and the college presidents - and scoring some major points.And who can blame him? After the week he's had, my guess is Tommy's fed up. First he goes on the road and beats a much improved one loss South Carolina team and then gets bashed by the national media because the margin of victory wasn't enough. Next, he sits and watches USC struggle mightily to beat a Washington State team that he pounded a month earlier by 26 points. The final nail in the coffin came on Sunday when Auburn lost votes in the Coach's Poll to USC. As I said then, the Coaches Poll is a joke. The entire BCS is a sham.
Colin Cowherd said it best this morning on
ESPN Radio: The BCS is like an election. You have to impress the voters. You have to suck up to the voters. You have to make your case. This isn't about playing football, it's about playing politics. Many have questioned why SEC fans have been so transfixed on
ESPN GameDay coming to the SEC. They are because they realize that if the SEC doesn't get the coverage it deserves, they'll be sitting home again on national championship night. It doesn't matter whether it's Auburn, Florida, Georgia or even LSU - it's a shame for an SEC team to be left out when they go undefeated.
Tuberville makes some valid points in the story that was first posted on Thursday. "I've about had it with this playoff deal," Tuberville said after a lengthy, emotional argument for a playoff. "We all understand in our conference how tough it is. In our conference, that's about the only chance we'd have to make it."
He couldn't be more right. With apologies to David Housel, who votes in the Harris Poll, why should teams be playing to impress him? Let's settle it on the field just like every other NCAA sport, including college football at the I-AA level and below.
Tuberville also takes aim at the college presidents. "There is no reason on this earth why we can't have the best four and then play one more," Tuberville said. "That's the legitimate thing to do. We added a BCS game -- for what in the world? -- I understand we're avoiding lawsuits and making money. But let's take care of the players."
Tuberville continues, "The problem we have is you have 120 universities that are I-A and probably 25 would say they have a legitimate chance each year," he said. "And you have presidents that for some reason look at it more as for the money than having a national championship on the field. They keep coming up with lame excuses about academics. Football players miss fewer classes than anybody."
That's the most fair and accurate statement I've ever heard. Mr. College President don't say you're doing it for the kids because they have to go to class. Don't say they can't miss that much school. You have now pushed the national championship game back to January 8th.
Let's put that in perspective. If Ohio State runs the table and is rewarded with a trip to Arizona to play for it all, they will have 50 days off between their last game with Michigan and the championship. That's nearly two months. But yet we don't have enough time to play a four game playoff built around the bowls?
Auburn might not make it to Arizona, but you've got to give Tommy Tuberville credit. The man knows what he's talking about.
Link: Football Saturday In The South
I wasn't going to do one of these posts at all, because they are a bit cliched. On the other hand, it's an American tradition to give thanks, so who am I to stand in the way?
