I Can't Believe I Didn't Think of This

But I just downloaded Tecmo Super Bowl - the .rom, not quite the original NES classic. And it has current (as of August or so) rosters.

So guess who's pixelating his playoff projections? Aww yeah.

Week 13 Playoff Projections

So, as promised last week, here are your Tuesday projections. Not much change, though I shook up some conference champion projections, if only for shits and giggles.

AUTOMATIC BERTHS:

• ACC: Miami


• Big East: Cincinnati


• Big Ten: Penn State


• Big XII: Texas Tech


• Conference USA: Tulsa


• MAC: Ball State


• Mountain West: Utah


• Pac 10: Oregon State


• SEC: Alabama


• Sun Belt: Troy


• WAC: Boise State

AT-LARGE BERTHS:

• Texas


• Florida


• Oklahoma


• USC


• Ohio State

SEEDING:

1. Alabama


2. Texas Tech


3. Texas


4. Florida


5. Oklahoma


6. USC


7. Utah


8. Penn State


9. Boise State


10. Ohio State


11. Ball State


12. Cincinnati


13. Oregon State


14. Miami


15. Tulsa


16. Troy

First Round:
Troy @ Alabama
Boise State @ Penn State
Cincinnati @ Oklahoma
Oregon State @ Florida
Miami @ Texas
Ball State @ USC
Ohio State @ Utah
Tulsa @ Texas Tech

The first round doesn't exactly inspire salivation (though the Ohio State-Utah game appears intriguing), but the second round has the potential to be epic - Penn State/'Bama, Florida and Oklahoma, and Texas Tech against either OSU or Utah, plus a Vince Young Show rematch. Lord, can we please, please, PLEASE make this happen?

And now for the Obama Bowl tournament, the 8-team tourney supported by President-elect Barack Obama.

AUTOMATIC BERTHS:

• Miami


• Cincinnati


• Penn State


• Texas Tech


• Oregon State


• Alabama

AT LARGE:

• Texas


• Florida


• Utah

That's right, thanks to their loss to Oregon State, and coupled with Utah's latest rise, USC, along with Oklahoma, Ohio State and Boise State miss out. Not particularly satisfying, now is it?

Your seeds:

1. Alabama


2. Texas Tech


3. Texas


4. Florida


5. Utah


6. Penn State


7. Cincinnati


8. Miami

And your Obama Bowl First Round:

Miami @ Alabama
Cincinnati @ Texas Tech
Penn State @ Texas
Utah @ Florida

Two matchups of classic powers, including a potential Penn State/Texas game for the ages, and the juciest game of the first round? The Urban Meyer Memorial Grudge Match. Not bad, but it lacks the pizazz and potential. Plus, NO USC?! OMGWFBBQ.

Alright that's enough of that.

The past weekend was rather ho-hum, doncha think? Though Troy's EPIC FAIL against LSU was pretty mind-blowing. To hold a 31-3 lead on the defending champions? That's something you'll never forget. Blowing it in the fourth quarter? That's something you'll never want to remember.

It's off to the first last week of the season. The Big Ten and Mountain West will have champions, the Big XII will have a clearer answer for its mess, and we we still have solved very, very little. So stayed tuned, folks.

TJBFC Presents: Road to the Summer Bowl

PLAYOFF! PLAYOFF! PLAYOFF!

It seems to be the hottest topic on the college football scene at the moment. Even President-elect Obama got in on the action last week. Proponents mostly present the merits of an 8-team playoff that retains the BCS formula. That's well and all, but the ideal method, I believe is a 16-team tournament. Realistically, the best we can hope for anytime soon is a "plus-one" system after the bowls - using the current BCS Title Game.

Little do these so-called "experts" know that I've been secretly determining college football's true champion since 2003, with a little thing I like to call the Summer Bowl. And it's about to blow your mind.

So how does the Summer Bowl work?

First off, let's establish the fact that it is no more than a fantasy simulation, played entirely on my six-year-old XBox (I still haven't made the platform jump). And it will never, ever happen in real-life due to it's detail and it's placement (which could be easly altered for real-world demands. It stems from the stalemate that came about between USC and LSU a few years back. The BCS not only didn't prevent, but more or less caused a split championship. So who was the true champion? My cousin and I, in the boredom of a youthful summer, decided one lazy afternoon to play it out with NCAA Football. We picked a relatively neutral site - Kansas City - and played it out. USC pwned 'em, 62-14, and suddenly a tradition was born. It evolved into a playoff the following year, at one point becoming a massive 32-team affair.

As for the current setip, it's based on my idealistic 16-team system. It ensures fairness and helps out the little guy.

• All FBS conference champions earn a spot


• Five at-large teams qualify, limit of two per conference


• Seedings are based on BCS standings

So currently, let's use some logical projections and current BCS rankings to set our field:

AUTOMATIC BERTHS

• ACC: North Carolina


• Big East: Pittsburgh


• Big Ten: Penn State


• Big XII: Texas Tech


• Conference USA: Tulsa


• MAC: Ball State


• Mountain West: Utah


• Pac 10: USC


• SEC: Alabama


• Sun Belt: UL-Lafayette


• WAC: Boise State

AT-LARGE BERTHS

• Texas


• Florida


• Oklahoma


• Georgia


• Ohio State

So take the 16 teams, and apply the BCS rankings (all teams, except for UL-Lafayette are in the BCS Top 25)

1. Alabama
2. Texas Tech
3. Texas
4. Florida
5. Oklahoma
6. USC
7. Utah
8. Penn State
9. Boise State
10. Georgia
11. Ohio State
12. Ball State
13. North Carolina
14. Pittsburgh
15. Tulsa
16. UL-Lafayette

And the first-round matchups look something like this:

UL-Lafayette @ Alabama
Boise State @ Penn State
Ball State @ Oklahoma
North Carolina @ Florida
Pitt @ Texas
Ohio State @ USC (groan)
Georgia @ Utah
Tulsa @ Texas Tech

Draw your own conclusions at will, but there are some nifty matchups, including a potential 'Bama-Penn State slugfest in the second round. Stay tuned every week for updated projections, then check in this summer as we play it out.

And just for shits and giggles, let's draw up a more reasonable 8-team playoff using the current (er, pre-fifth game) BCS formula

AUTOMATIC:
North Carolina
Pittsburgh
Penn State
Texas Tech
USC
Alabama
Utah (automatic qualifier)

AT-LARGE:
Texas
(apologies to Florida and Oklahoma fans, blame Utah)

Seeding:
1. Alabama
2. Texas Tech
3. Texas
4. USC
5. Utah
6. Penn State
7. North Carolina
8. Pittsburgh

First Round:
Pitt @ Alabama
Utah @ USC
Penn State @ Texas
North Carolina @ Texas Tech

Less appealing, but only slightly so. The Notre Dame clause and the conference tie-ins neuter it a bit, but hey, gotta let everyone have an equal shot, right?

Does Anyone Else....

want to see a Brewers-Rays World Series?

The Yankees are out. Ha.

The Mets are going to choke it away, mark my words. Even if Santana has a killer outing tomorrow, they'll outchoke the Brewers. And given the abysmal September Milwaukee has had, that's saying something. [Side note, Stats Inc. reported that if games ended after the 8th inning, the Mets would have won the NL East by 8 games. lol failpen.]

Boston? Psh, I stopped cheering for them the moment they won their first title in 04. How they expect anyone to see them as an underdog still is beyond me. When you outspend everyone except the Yankees, you are not an underdog.

The Dodgers? Let's see them play someone other than the Padres and Rockies week in, week out. When you win your division as the only team with a winning record...no.

The Angels, sorta like the Dodgers. Better team, far worse division. I don't know if anyone appreciates just how wretched the rest of the AL West is. Honestly.

Cubs? Obama said it best. White Sox fans are the real heroes. The Cubs are the trendy underdogs. Except Bill Murray. He's always cool in my book.

Alright, I can't find any reason to hate the Phillies, so if they make it, that's cool. Whatev. Remember, though, it's for them, not their fans. DIFFERENCE

The realistic scenario I like best? Philadelphia and Anaheim Los Angeles...of Anaheim. Whatever.

But I'd love to see the two smallest markets, the two most ho-hum teams in the playoffs (assuming I'm right, and the Brewers make it. And I'm always right. You can't count Ohio State and the Browns against me). Seriously, can you imagine the good folks Joe Buck of Fox trying to give two shits about teams not in one of the big four cities?

"Here we are at historic Tropicana Field, here in St. Petersburg, Florida. If I said it was a perfect evening for baseball, I'd be lying. We're here under the sanitary glow of a Wal-Mart Warehouse, a building with the charm of a Bronx DMV office. There's a tepid air of semi-believable enthusiasm, and the stands are filled with fine folks who look like my father, who has been dead for a few years now."

As an imitation Reds fan, I would love to see either team, particularly the Rays, make a run of it. You know, for the little guy. And to give Rays fans a reason to show up, other than one dollar beers in the cheap seats. And, as always, for the lulz.

Seriously, though, this would be one for the purists. It's the true sign of this "New Era" stuff, you know, the end of the steroid era. Two teams who combined have one player anyone can name (and hell, you still wonder, "Sabathia's in Milwaukee?!"), micromanaging their way to glory. It's a baseball nerd's wet dream. The dinger is dead. Long live small ball.

And who doesn't like to see Joe Buck reduced to the smug bastard he really is?