THE SPORTS SCREWJOB HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD

By The Mad Irishman

Say, did you hear about how college football's Florida State Seminoles got royally screwed out of their rightful playoff spot by the NCAA playoff selection committee? They did, and here are the top two excuses - followed by my retorts - made by the powers that be when pressed to explain why they chose the 12-1 Alabama Crimson Tide over undefeated FSU to compete in one of next month's playoff games.

NCAA: Alabama had a tougher schedule than Florida State.

Me: You mean the schedule that YOU created for them? What you're basically saying is that no matter how well FSU played all season, it was gonna be Alabama in the playoffs, just as long as the Tide didn't go on an unprecedented losing streak. The fact is that Florida State's chances of reaching the playoffs were based more on how well the Tide played than how well the Noles played, but I guess the NCAA defines the word 'fairness' differently than I do.

NCAA: Due to FSU losing their star quarterback to injury, the team just isn't as competitive as it was earlier in the season.

Me: So, by that logic, if Alabama's quarterback is seriously injured on the team's first offensive play of the Rose Bowl game, the contest should be stopped and rescheduled with a replacement team, because Alabama just wouldn't be as competitive as it was earlier in the season. Frankly, I think they should keep Georgia waiting in the wings for just such an eventuality. I'm sure everyone would be okay with that scenario, right?

But all the hyperbole aside, the college football high muckety-mucks have, apparently, decided that picking teams they think have a better chance of putting on a good show for the fans is more important than picking teams that have actually earned a playoff spot by, ya know, WINNING THE MOST GAMES. The latter is a concept I always thought was kind of important in sports, but then, what do I know, I've only followed team athletic competitions for half a century.

Be that as it may, could you imagine if the NFL was run this way? Let's hearken back to the season leading up to Super Bowl XLII for a minute, shall we? The New York Giants, who would end up representing the NFC in that game, had an 8-8 regular season record in 2007, yet somehow managed to stumble their way into the playoffs as the final NFC wildcard team. In contrast, the New England Patriots, who would go on to represent the AFC in the league championship, were the only team in NFL history to go undefeated over a 16-game season, fielding what is arguably the most talented and productive offensive squad of all time. On paper, the Giants were a joke compared to the mighty 'Brady Bunch', and few followers of the sport believed they had a snowball's chance in Death Valley of even getting to the Super Bowl, let alone winning it. Of course, that's precisely what Eli Manning and his presumably mediocre band of brothers went on to do, to the shock and dismay of Pats fans and Vegas bookmakers alike.

Now let's apply the priorities of the current college football playoff committee to the 2007-2008 NFL post-season. Does anyone believe that New York would have been allowed to compete for a chance to face a team of the Patriots' caliber in the Super Bowl if the odds of providing an entertaining game for the viewing public were the main concern of the people in charge? Not a freakin' chance in hell! Fortunately, the folks who run the NFL, despite their many, MANY flaws, still think that a team's record is of paramount importance when it comes to determining whether or not it gets to compete for the league's top prize. Unfortunately for the jilted Seminoles, the NCAA's leadership lacks the integrity of the NFL's, at least in this regard.

Oh, and don't think I've forgotten about the 13-0 Liberty University Flames for one second. They too got hosed by the NCAA this season, but because they're not in a "power five" conference, nobody seems to give a wet fart about their perfect season, or the fact that they never had ANY chance of being in a playoff game from the get-go. I know, maybe they could change their name to the Liberty Crimson Tide. I think that has a nice ring to it. What say you?