Montana Football

Heading to the Big Show! The Carroll College Saints are heading to the NAIA National Championship game after a 23-7 victory over St. Francis Saturday. Congratulations!!

The Saints will play the University of Sioux Falls (South Dakota), who beat Missouri Valley College 11-10 on Sunday in a weather-delayed game in Sioux Falls.

The NAIA championship game will be held at Savannah, Tennessee, on December 15. Go Saints!

Big Time College Football

Don’t read this if you are a fan of the BCS: #1 Missouri and #2 West Virginia both lost games on the final weekend of college football. This screwed up an already screwed up Bowl Championship Series (BCS).

Poor Missouri. It’s too bad they had to play the Oklahoma Sooners twice this year.

In January 2006, I commented about the 2005 College football system and why there needs to be playoffs. There were two undefeated teams, Texas and USC, that year. Things are much much worse this year. The BCS is a worthless system.

Here are the final BCS standings for 2007 bowl season:

1. Ohio State 11-1
2. LSU 11-2
3. Virginia Tech 11-2
4. Oklahoma 11-2
5. Georgia 10-2
6. Missouri 11-2
7. USC 10-2
8. Kansas 11-1
9. West Virginia 10-2
10. Hawaii 12-0

There are five BCS bowl games:

Rose Bowl: USC -Illinois
Sugar Bowl: Georgia-Hawaii
Fiesta Bowl: W. Virginia -Oklahoma
Orange Bowl: Virginia Tech – Kansas
BCS National Championship: LSU – Ohio State

So, if you are in the top 10 in the BCS, you should get a ticket and a big pay day to one of these bowls, right? Not so fast my friend, #6 Missouri was left out of the BCS bowl show because the Conferences can only have two teams.

It’s too bad that the Big 12, which is the conference of Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas, has so many good teams.

LSU is the first two loss team in the history of the BCS to play for a National Championship. Ohio State, who does not play in a conference championship and lost to #13 Illinois, will meet LSU in the National Championship game.

These BCS idiots replaced #6 Missouri with #13 Illinois (9-3). Illinois? Yes, the same Illinois that Missouri beat this season. Kansas is in, too. Kansas? Yes, the same Kansas that Missouri beat this year.

Missouri was invited to play Arkansas (8-4) in the Cotton Bowl on January 1. It’s a step up from last year for Mizzou, but the players and fans must be thinking, “What the hell?”

The BCS is a ridiculous system in which their members appear to make most of their selections in a smoky backroom and cuts deals to make the bowls money. The BCS is more about money and the tourism then it is about finding the best teams. The BCS has created controversy, not real champions.

The BCS bowl games are kind of like driving up on a car wreck. You don’t want to see it, but you will look anyway.

Until the football conference presidents and the university presidents decide there’s the need for a playoff system with at least 16 teams participating, the title of National Champion will ring hollow. There are plenty of plans out there. Pick one for 2008 and let’s choose a real champion. The fans will love it. So will the teams. You might even make more money with a playoff system.

Pro Football

I pretty much sucked with my picks this weekend. I am 8-7 going into Monday night’s game. I know I should have not used the dart board! The playoff picture is starting to take shape.

Here’s the AFC:

1 New England 11-0
2 Indianapolis 10-2
3 Pittsburgh 9-3
4 San Diego 7-5
5 Jacksonville 8-4
6 Cleveland 7-5
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7 Tennessee 7-5
8 Buffalo 6-6

And here’s the NFC:

1 Dallas 11-1
2 Green Bay 10-2
3 Seattle 8-4
4 Tampa Bay 8-4
5 N.Y. Giants 8-4
6 Arizona 6-6
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7 Detroit 6-6
8 Minnesota 6-6
The top six teams make the show.

The weekend started out early with the Thursday night game between the Packers and Cowboys that hardly anyone was able to watch.

Probably the biggest questions left this season is if New England can run the board and stay unbeaten and if Miami will go winless.

Next week, (Week 14) has a few good games: Pittsburgh plays at New England. San Diego plays at Tennessee. Kansas City goes to Denver. Oakland, which has won two in a row, plays at Green Bay.