FriendFeed: Well, let me …

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Well, let me tell you of a story ’bout a man named Charlie on a tragic and fateful day. He put $18 million in his pocket, kissed his wife and family, and got fired by ND today. And did he ever return? No, he never returned. And his fate is finally learned. He will coach no more along the Irish sidelines, he’s the man who’ll never return.
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Too many good teams, not enough playoff spots

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SI’s Stewart Mandel says the problem with this college football season isn’t that there are “no dominant teams,” as many people have said. It’s that there are “too many dominant teams. Six of them, in fact.”

The delineation couldn’t be clearer in this week’s BCS standings, which feature six undefeated teams (Florida, Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State) … then no one else with fewer than two losses. Just to punctuate the point, No. 6 (12-0 Boise) even beat No. 7 (9-2 Oregon).

I hadn’t noticed that, but it’s true. There are six unbeatens in Division 1-A, zero 1-loss teams, nine 2-loss teams, and fourteen 3-loss teams. Wow.

Anyway, let it be noted that in any “Plus One” model, including the “Mandel Plan,” one of those six, presumably Boise State, would be left out of the championship picture (assuming Cincy beats Pitt, and Boise takes care of business vs. New Mexico State). Moreover, there would undoubtedly be a fierce debate about whether the SEC runner-up should be taken at #4, ahead of one of the “lesser” unbeatens (TCU, Cincy, Boise), particularly if Saturday’s game in Atlanta is the Instant It’s-a-War Classic everyone is expecting. It’s quite possible we’d end up with a #1 vs. #4 SEC rematch in a designated semifinal bowl, and #2 Texas vs. #3 TCU in the other bowl, with the Bearcats’ and Broncos’ cries of “OMG WTF?” falling on deaf ears.

Which isn’t to suggest that a Plus One wouldn’t be a dramatic improvement over the current BCS system. It would. But only an 8-team, 12-team or 16-team playoff can truly resolve a season like this.