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Is anyone even less enthused about the college football championship now that it's two SEC teams? I watched part of one game in the first round because I was in an airport, this time I will actively avoid it and root for horrible ratings.

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Is anyone else unenthusiastic about the college football playoff? Personally, I just don't care and won't go out of my way to watch any of the games. The combination of leaving the Big Ten out plus two SEC teams plus general animosity towards ESPN plus scheduling has killed my interest. In fact, given my travel schedule this year I'll probably miss all of the playoff and it doesn't disappoint me one bit.

Uniform Spotlight

Yesterday there were a few college football uniforms I thought were worthy of mention. First, while VT collapsed in the Battle at Bristol, they looked great doing it in their Hokie Stone uniforms:

That's much better than what they usually sport and in any other week it would be the coolest uniform, but this week Air Force showed up in these:

In case it's not clear why these are great, here's a better look at the helmet:

If the shark teeth alone aren't awesome enough, the specific design comes from the A-10 Warthog (which, ironically, the Air Force is intent on killing):

There's no point in having a "coolest helmet" competition anymore because Air Force already won.

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I know this is a little late, but serious question: How do Michigan fans feel about uniforms that have a basketball player logo on them? I think if MSU did the same thing, even if it was supposed to be some giant deal and a major help with recruits I wouldn't like it.

How far is too far?

I've been asking myself this since the news came out earlier in the week that there have been discussions about eliminating the kickoff in college football. So far I've been supportive of most of the changes made in the name of player safety, largely because I think a lot of the things that have been eliminated are the result of bad fundamental football to begin with and the game is still essentially the same. Eliminating the kickoff is the sort of change that makes me wonder how far you can go before it's not really same sport anymore, or more importantly, will I still want to watch?

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Would we look at coaches and players in sports differently if their individual sports had catchy names for their semifinal games like the NCAA does? If Izzo's team had advanced to the Final Four and lost instead of throwing up all over themselves in their first game it would have been hailed as an achievement and mentioned every time Izzo's bio was discussed. Dantonio won't get that kind of credit for making it to the football "Final Four" and losing. The same thing is true in the NFL, just ask the Buffalo Bills how much credit they get for winning AFC Championships. Peyton Manning could chime in on the subject too. Even Tom Brady could comment on the idea that going 4-0 in the Super Bowl is somehow better than making it to 6 Super Bowls and losing 2. Are we just dumb about this kind of thing?

College Football Post-Season

With more talk about the Power 5 and the College Football Playoffs, I wanted to add my opinion on helping decide the "Final 4." I think conferences should actually go away from divisions. Just go back to how it used to be and at the end of the 8 or 9 game conference schedule, the top 2 teams play for the Conference Championship. If it's a repeat game, so be it.

For example, this year, OSU and MSU were clearly the two best teams in the conference. But instead, Wisconsin was the team from the West Division that qualified for the Title game. It was a blow out.

In the SEC, Alabama and Missouri played for the Title. In both conferences, the winner was going to automatically be in the Final 4 and deservedly so...but that's assuming OSU and Alabama win. What if Wisconsin and/or Missouri would have won? Disaster. If Missouri or Wisconsin would have won, would either team have been in the Final 4? No way. In that case, a team from those conferences (MSU or Miss St.) could have been selected for the Final 4...and neither would have played in a Conference Title game.

Shouldn't a championship game be the top 2 teams? Having divisions does not ever guarantee a balanced conference. So why do something so flawed? The B1G East and the SEC West were top heavy. Eliminating divisions allows more flexibility to send the top 2 teams.

If you want disaster, then allow a weaker division to send it's #1 team to the Title game to screw things up.

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Did Michigan fans actually get angry at this statement by Mark Dantonio?

"Hey, we just work at it. Right now, we’re selling results. I’ve said this over and over. We’re selling results. Other people are selling hope."

Seriously?

Spartans 2015 Uniforms

MSU unveiled updated uniforms for the new season today:

I'm not a fan of the alternate look, but the regular uniforms do seem to be an improvement. At least Nike's kept their ridiculous obsession with bronze to only the alternate uniform as it's been removed from the other two. I'd prefer all-green not to be the standard for home games instead of green jerseys with white pants but I guess someone has decided single color outfits are cool. The helmets are now metallic instead of flat green, which I like. In the end, I guess if you can get through a Nike redesign without something eye-meltingly awful you can call it good.

Football Thoughts

College:
 -The Buckeyes winning the national title should have been impossible. I couldn't really root for them, but you have to appreciate what it took to pull off such an improbable season.

-If the story of Cardale Jones was unfolding on a movie screen instead of real life I'd probably walk out of the theater. It's completely ridiculous.

-Does the B1G benefit from OSU's win? I think you have to say yes. The conventional wisdom was a team from the Big Ten couldn't compete at the highest level. MSU started to prove that wrong last year, followed it up again this year, and OSU blew it up completely. I think some, maybe most, of the Power 5 might be better from top to bottom but at least the B1G isn't a laughingstock now.

-I do feel a little bad for Mariota.

-I wasn't a huge fan of the idea of a playoff, but I have to admit it did deliver.

NFL:
-I'm having a hard time maintaining interest in the NFL playoffs. I can't bring myself to root for any of the remaining teams. The only player I like is Russell Wilson, but I can't stand Richard Sherman, so the Seahawks are out.

-Does any quarterback who hasn't won a Super Bowl get more of the benefit of the doubt than Neckbeard? I get that the guy is good, but some of the commentary gets a little ridiculous.

-As the season winds down I was reflecting that I'm going to miss NFL commentary once it ends. Favorite analysts: Trent Dilfer, Mark Schlereth, Brian Billick.

It's not Harbaugh.

With the firing of Brady Hoke I thought my schadenfreude at the misfortunes of Michigan football would be done for the season, but the delusional Michigan fans who think they're going to get Jim Harbaugh to coach the team are really stretching it out. Thank you.

"It'll never be over here."

What were the Wolverines thinking planting a stake in the turf at Spartan Stadium?

So @zimme1me was correct. UM's Bolden with the stake in an ABC montage before the 12:08 mark. pic.twitter.com/VFK5TgNc1f
— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) October 26, 2014

When you're in their position you need to hope the other team isn't as enthusiastic as you are, maybe looking forward to the next game against OSU. Now, that's not likely because because you've got a guy coaching on the other sideline that said this (emphasis mine):

I find a lot of the things they do amusing. They need to check themselves sometimes. Let’s just remember, pride comes before the fall. ... They want to mock us, I’m telling them, it’s not over. They want to print that crap all over their locker room, it’s not over and it’ll never be over here. It’s just starting. ... I’m very proud of our football team, and I’m very proud of the way our football team handled themselves after the game as well. You don’t have to disrespect people. If they want to make a mockery of it, so be it. Their time will come.

Does that sound like a guy who's going to allow his team to be unfocused? I guarantee you if Dantonio coached the Spartans for 50 more years and never lost another game against Michigan it wouldn't be enough for him. So you give that guy and his team another reason to be jacked up for the game? That's madness.

#fatmanthrowingtd

This is every lineman's dream. But how crazy is the coach to draw up that play?

Unsportsmanlike

In case there's any question, I don't support this type of behavior. After all the attempts on Sparty over the years I don't exactly have a lot of sympathy for the folks in Ann Arbor but it's still classless.

Shocking

I am shocked that Brian Kelly is whining about the (correctly called) pass interference penalty that took the winning touchdown for Notre Dame off the board. He's usually such a class act.

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So based on the way the last coach left and the current coach is being treated now the "Michigan Way" is to viciously turn on whoever is in charge as soon you're tired of him?

Panic?

What's the level of concern among Michigan fans this week? They were a national topic on Tuesday, specifically the idea that Harbaugh could be available if they fired Hoke. You'd expect them to pick up a win against Minnesota, but will that make the fans feel better?

98

If Tom Harmon were still alive do you think he'd ask Devin Gardner to stop "honoring" him by wearing his number?

NFL Quarterbacks by College

Since the Spartans are crushing Eastern I decided to take a look at the question I had the other day about NFL quarterbacks and colleges. I'm not crazy enough to go through and check out wins and losses, but the data at ESPN.com made it pretty easy to determine numbers. Here are the schools with more than alumni at quarterback on an NFL roster:

USC	4
Virginia Tech	3
Michigan State	3
North Carolina State	2
Tennessee	2
Oregon State	2
Florida State	2
Boston College	2
Georgia	2
Oklahoma	2
LSU	2
Purdue	2
Michigan	2
Texas A&M	2
Auburn	2
Eastern Illinois	2
Wisconsin	2
Missouri	2

The two schools that surprised me are Eastern Illinois (Tony Romo, Jimmy Garoppolo) and Virginia Tech (Michael Vick, Tyrod Taylor, Logan Thomas). It also demonstrates just how impressive a run USC had at quarterback (Carson Palmer, Matt Cassel, Mark Sanchez, Matt Barkley), though it is amazing to me that Cassel is still in the NFL and Matt Leinart isn't on a roster.

Counting Down

I was going to write a post about how we're down to about 3 months until the kickoff of the college football season, but in looking at the schedule to get the exact number of days I noticed MSU moved their opening game to a Friday from Saturday, a fact I was not aware of. So for the second-straight year I'm likely going to miss one of the few games (possibly the only one this season) I was actually planning on being around for because they changed the schedule after I bought tickets. Thanks a lot.