Greg Hardy
The whole Greg Hardy situation is, without question, despicable. Undeniably, Hardy takes the lead as the villainous front-runner in this saga, but who do you have as runner up? The NFL PA who fought to have Hardy’s suspension reduced from 10 to 4 games (and won), Jerry Jones and the Cowboys for signing him after supposedly doing “doing their homework,” or perhaps even the victim, Nicole Hardy, who by all accounts disappeared after being bought off (her Facebook posts subsequently showed her visiting Colorado, New York and Paris)…which in a nutshell meant the charges against Hardy had to be dropped? The whole thing kinda makes me feel like I need a shower. FYI the Cowboys are 0-4 since Hardy took the field for them – Karma can be a bitch can’t she?
I can’t help but wonder how Jason Witten feels about the entire Hardy situation. Witten’s SCORE Foundation focuses on breaking the cycle of domestic violence…..
The Rankings
We had our first big college football shake up Saturday in the first weekend following the initial Committee rankings. LSU, TCU and Michigan State (Sparty was screwed by a horrible call with 17 seconds left) all fell from the ranks of the unbeatens. TCU will pay the biggest price and now must hope that Baylor and Oklahoma State both lose to even have a chance at a share of the Big 12 crown, but the Frogs chances for a spot in the final four went out the window in Stillwater – most likely alongside Trevone Boykin’s Heisman hopes.
Unlike TCU, LSU still has a shot at the SEC title and a possible spot in the playoffs, and Michigan State still has its fate in its hands as far as a Big 10 crown and an outside shot at the playoffs (take note Big 12, conference championship games matter). My top six rankings, which of course are the correct order they should be in, are #1 Clemson, #2 Alabama, #3 Oklahoma State, #4 Iowa, #5 Baylor and #6 Ohio State.
Big 12
The Big 12 is praying that either Baylor or OK State finish undefeated and get a spot in the playoff, but the conference still has the potential for a cluster “f” at the top if TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma State all finish with one loss – and confusion and controversy will ensue just like last season when Baylor and TCU were both handed championship trophies. It’s time for the conference that advertises “One True Champion” to instill a championship game just like the other four power conferences have in place, and give them equal footing in the playoff race. The Big 12 stands alone as the only power 5 conference that has no chance of sending a one-loss team to the playoffs due to the lack of a championship game.
Want to know how they’ll decide a conference champion if, for example, Baylor beats OK State and TCU beats Baylor and all three finish with one loss? This is from the Big 12 website – enjoy your subsequent headache:
If three or more teams are tied, steps 1 through 4 will be followed until a determination is made. Once a team has been eliminated from a multi-team comparison, it is dropped from further comparisons. If only two teams remain tied after any step, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the Champion.
- The conference records of the three or more teams will be compared against each other.
- The conference records of the three or more teams will be compared against the next highest placed team(s) in the conference (4, 5 and 6….).
- When comparing against the next highest placed teams, a two-way tie among the next highest placed teams will be broken by head-to-head before the comparison begins.
- If more than a two-way tie exists among the next highest placed teams, record against the collective tied teams as a group will be used.
- Scoring differential among the tied teams. The team with the lowest difference between points scored and points allowed in games vs. the tied teams are eliminated from consideration.
- Draw (In the event steps 1-3 cannot break a multi-team tie the champion will be determined by draw at the Conference office.
In the event that scheduled regular season contests cannot be played as originally scheduled, every effort shall be made to reschedule such a contest at the earliest possible date, provided that such rescheduling does not interfere with classes, examination periods, NCAA rules, or other sports prohibitions. If contests cannot be rescheduled and in the event of a first-place tie, the conference tiebreaker system will be utilized to identify the Conference Champion.
