Xbox Playoffs, Part 2a

It's been a while since the first part of the Xbox Playoffs series.  That's why this is only part 2a, instead of a full part 2, because I'm still not done with the next round, but wanted to get something out there.

This time, I'm playing through the tournament suggested by Death to the BCS.  The 16 team format includes 11 conference champions and 5 wildcards.

College Football Online - 3/26/12

I almost called this one "I heard it through the Grapevine."  Look at the dateline on the article, and you'll understand.

More BCS meetings about the future of the postseason.  And more fans wondering how there can be so many idiots in one room.

Vacating wins: Who benefits?

Over the last few years, we've seen several schools get sanctioned by the NCAA for different violations.  The most common punishment is vacating wins.

But the question I keep asking is why?

Not all playoff ideas are created equal

One of the ESPN blogs ran an interesting article, where fans wrote in with their playoff ideas.

Now I realize that this opinion could sound hypocritical coming from a fan running a blog, but some people just don't have enough basic knowledge about how things work to propose a playoff idea.

Football conferences: Then, Now, and Later

While writing up the Conference Realignment Scorecard, and seeing how many teams will be switching in 2013, it gave me the idea to do a quick look at various affiliations over the last thirty years.

Another school sanctioned.

Just as USC in the Pac-12 is able to return to postseason play, North Carolina gets banned from the postseason.  This includes the ACC Championship Game.

This makes at least the second team to be banned from the postseason this year - Ohio State being the first.  And I'm not sure if Miami has sanctions this year or not.

But this will rekindle the debate over college sports punishments.  In a lot of cases, schools are punished years after the fact, well after the offending coaches and/or players have moved on.  I guess I can sort of see the scholarship sanctions - that will affect the school moreso than the individual players.  But, is it fair to hinder future coaches and players that had nothing to do with the crime with punishments?

Comparing the conferences, team by team

How do the 11 FBS conferences stack up against each other?  Let's compare them, team by team. 

College Football Online - 3/11/12

Interesting college football stories from around the internet during the weekend of March 11, 2012.

Jeff Hurd named interim WAC commissioner
Isn't this a little like being named captain of the Titanic as the iceberg approaches?

NCAA denies GT appeal
This whole process of vacating wins and championships just seems silly to me.  It's not like it helps the other teams after the fact or levels the playing field. 

Conference realignment scorecard

With so many teams changing conferences right now, it's hard to keep track of who's what where and when.  Here is a nifty little scorecard to keep track of teams.

College Football Online

Maybe I'm starting a new feature here.  In this post are links to articles I've found online related to college football that I find interesting, but don't have a lot to say about.

Because sometimes all you can say is "just read this."

Survey of NCAA Presidents reveals disconnect (ESPN)

What Did I Miss Part II (Death Valley Voice)
This article goes over some of what is being discussed at the offseason meetings.  This particular segment discusses playoffs.  First, it gives signs that they might not be too far off.  Second, it goes over the history of the FCS playoffs, which grew from 4 teams in 1978 to 20 teams currently, with 4 more being added by 2013.

Temple back in the Big East (Yahoo!)
This was the big news of the week, and should be the last bit of conference realignment before the 2012 season begins - although we do have six months left.  Maybe the rest of the FBS schedules will be released next week.

Revamped blog

The urge to start a football blog hit in the middle of the season, and I didn't have time to think of a really good name.  I was trying to come up with something clever, and "Saturdays in the Fall" was the best I could do.   I decided to go with it for a while, and actually start posting.

But now, I've settled on College Football Arena, along with a new URL.  And I might be making some cosmetic changes around the site, but it's still the same.  Sure, we're a bit slow during the offseason, but I'm hoping we'll be back to full speed in the fall, and hopefully with some new features and discussion.

(And we'll still be posting some stuff every so often in the meantime.)