College Football Playoffs – What we Learned in 2014

As we enter into the second year of the FBS College Football Playoffs format, let’s take a look at a few things we learned (or, at least, think we learned) from the inaugural year.

#1. If you are going to lose a game, lose it early in the year. Thank you, Ohio State.

#2. If you cannot go undefeated, have a strong out of conference schedule. Thank you, TCU.

#3. You can play lots of close games, as long as you don’t lose any of them. Thank you, Florida State.

#4. Conference Championships are important. Thank you, Ohio State and The Big 12 Conference.

#5. You can be ranked as high as 22 in the polls and still make the Playoffs. Thank you, Ohio State.

#6. Two teams or four teams, as long as humans are picking, there will be controversies. Thank you, Selection Committee.

#7. Playoff performance will shine a bright light on you. Thank you, Cardale Jones and Ezekiel Elliot.

#8. Playoffs are fun! Thank you, FBS.

Now, let’s see if those lessons hold true, or if we still have things to learn. Bring on 2015.

Next Up, Spring Practice

“And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game”
– Joni Mitchell, The Circle Game, Ladies of the Canyon, 1970

Just like the seasons; just like life itself, college football is captive on the carousel of time, going round and round in the circle game. The 2014 revolution of the college football carousel did introduce a few new ponies with the inaugural FBS playoff format, but here we are once again rotating past National Signing Day and already seeing Spring Practices galloping towards us once again. Believe it or not, as some of you are still digging out from the snow, the Spring Practice schedules are just about ready to get underway.

Using FB Schedules.com as SOD’s source of information, we notice that not all of the schedules have been made public yet, but, of the ones that have, there are some Spring Games that are just a little more than only one month away. Colorado, for example, has their Spring Football Game scheduled for March 15 and Vanderbilt’s Spring Game is penciled in for March 21. We hardly have time to catch our breath! And, SOD LOVES IT!!

Spring Practice is a fun little diversion that lets us begin to speculate on who might replace the carousel ponies that have left the merry-go-round either through graduation, early entry to the NFL Draft, transfers or for any other reasons. We get a look at the competition to be the “next-man-up” with a few of the pieces, those young men the school just signed on National Signing Day, still missing.

A few days back, SOD posted a blog about teams that we know have lost their starting QB from the 2014 season (or, at least, the QB that had the most passing attempts for their teams this past season). Those Spring Training Camps will provide some of the most interesting entertainment to the college football junkie – i.e.: SOD.

And, how cool is it to realize that the next college football game to pit two 2015 Heisman Trophy candidate QBs against each other could be the Ohio State Scarlet and Gray game scheduled for April 18? I am not sure if either Braxton Miller or JT Barrett will be ready to receive snaps against Cardale Jones by then, but I am pretty sure that this has never happened before. The Ohio State QB situation will garner plenty of attention in Spring Practice, Fall Practice and throughout the entire revolution of the 2015 carousel.

So, the painted ponies, painted in the various colors of colleges and universities that play college football for our entertainment, continue to go up and down and continue to spin round and round. And we get to come along for the ride. How great is our world?

30 Random Thoughts for the First Post on a New College Football Blog

1) The last thing the world needs is another blog on College Football.
2) Especially, a College Football blog written by a schmuck with no business writing a College Football Blog.
3) Starting a new College Football Blog on January 23 is about as stupid as it gets.
4) Since Braxton Miller has already graduated and does not have to sit out a year if he transfers – I think he should transfer.
5) Remember that Russell Wilson did number 4.
6) Even though almost every analyst I hear is saying Marcus Mariota is a can’t miss NFL prospect – I think he can miss.
7) I hope Jameis Winston grows up.
8) I bet the Baltimore Ravens don’t trade up to get Jameis Winston in the draft – or ever.
9) I think the Big 12 is making a Big mistake if it doesn’t expand to Championship-size.
10) I bet Bo Pelini doesn’t coach at Youngstown State for more than 1 year.
11) Just to keep things cosmically balanced, the Pac-12 should add Colorado State and Utah State to become the Pac-14.
12) Notre Dame and BYU need to join a conference.
13) Boise State should be in a big boy conference.
14) TCU still has good reason to be upset.
15) I am available to be a member of the Playoff Selection Committee – just say’n.
16) Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh have the potential of being a modern day Woody Hayes and Bo Shembechler. And, that would be cool. (Although Woody and Bo had a secret admiration for each other – I’m not sure Urban and Jim will develop that.)
17) Washington Huskies v. Boise State Broncos is a GREAT Week 1 match-up for 2015.
18) Becoming eligible for bowl games again; getting scholarships back; and getting wins re-instated is no excuse for Penn State to not follow up on lessons learned from the Jerry Sandusky tragedy.
19) The SEC is still a powerful football conference – with or without an ESPN bias.
20) I know I’m a nerd, but, I like the Kirk Herbstreit / Lee Corso dynamics.
21) I know I’m a nerd, but, I hate the Lou Holtz / Mark May dynamics.
22) I’m a nerd.
23) The winner of the 2015 Heisman Trophy will not be on the list of leading candidates going into the season.
24) Oregon and Florida State will not be in the Playoffs next year.
25) Ohio State and Alabama will be in the Playoffs next year.
26) Mississippi State and Ole Miss will not be in the Playoff discussion late in the season again.
27) TCU and Baylor will be in the Playoff discussion late in the season again.
28) I was impressed with Cardale Jone’s Press Conference announcing he is returning to school. I hope he does get his degree.
29) The odds of me keeping this blog going are 100,000:1.
30) The odds of anyone actually reading this blog are even greater than that.