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For the next month, football will dominate water cooler and cocktail chatter. A lot of that talk will center around the BCS games. This year’s slate of BCS bowl games features Ohio State and Oregon in the Rose Bowl, Georgia Tech and Iowa in the Orange Bowl, Florida and Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl, Boise State and TCU in the Fiesta Bowl and Alabama and Texas squaring off in the BCS National Championship Game. While Alabama and Texas will play for title, the Fiesta Bowl match-up of TCU/Boise State seems to be generating the most discussion.

Both teams enter the game undefeated and ranked in the top 10. The two teams faced each other last season in the Poinsettia Bowl, which turned out to one of the most exciting games of the 2008-2009 season. By all indications, this will be one hell of a game. However, most Fiesta Bowl talk focuses on the controversy rather than the game itself.

Both teams play in non-automatic qualifying conferences and both had much bigger aspirations heading into the BCS selection. As members of the non-automatic qualifying conferences, the knock against both TCU and Boise State is that they lack the strength of schedule of the teams from the six BCS affiliated conferences. Never mind the fact the Boise State posted a dominating victory over Oregon, who plays in BCS bowl game this season, and TCU posted three wins over three top 25 teams.

TCU and Boise argue that they are willing to play any team, any time, any where, but many traditional powers refuse to play them for fear of losing. They felt that the in the BCS they would be afforded the opportunity to play one of the traditional powers, at a neutral site, in a prime-time, made for national television environment.   TCU even had faint hopes that they could be selected to play for the national title, but at worst given a shot to play Florida, Georgia Tech or Iowa. Instead, TCU and Boise State were paired together–two non-automatic qualifiers squaring off in a meaningless game.

It reminds me of jobs where they require you to have experience before applying, but there is no way to get the experience when all the related jobs require experience. For example, in order for an actor to make a living, he or she must be a member of Actors’ Equity Association. Almost all professional theaters in the United States are Equity affiliated and you must be a member of the union in order to perform. In order to join the union, you must have performances in Equity houses under your belt. Of course, there are exceptions to these rules, just like TCU and Boise State are the exceptions in the BCS, but in most cases the rule apply.

In order for schools like TCU and Boise to prove that they are worthy of BCS bids and legitimate national title contenders they need to prove themselves against BCS schools. The BCS denied this opportunity to these two schools out of fear of the BCS affiliated schools being embarrassed by the non-automatic qualifiers.

Some experts feel that TCU and Boise State deserve each other. Colin Cowherd, one of ESPN’s generic radio personalities, made the statement on his Monday program that TCU and Boise State should be happy to just be invited to the BCS, that TCU had “cankles” and didn’t deserve a big time BCS bowl game because they didn’t sell out all of their home games.

This is obviously flawed logic. A team’s fan support is not an indicator of the quality of their program. If we extended this logic to the NFL then the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings, the top two teams in the NFC, should not be allowed the right to play in the Super Bowl even if they win the NFC. Both the Saints and Vikings are small market teams and have had trouble selling out home games over the years. Indeed, the Vikings feared they would have to blackout home games this season until they signed Brett Favre.

The BCS fears schools like TCU and Boise State having success, because the more success these programs have, the more irrelevant the BCS becomes.

From now until early January, you will hear a lot about the BCS. I felt it prudent to provide a primer to the BCS system, just in time for your holiday parties & social gatherings.  I can assure you this talk will dominate the cocktail chatter.

What is the BCS?

While every other classification of college football employs some sort of playoff system to determine their champion, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)–the major classification–uses a bowl system.

For the 2009-2010 season, there are 34 bowl games, four of which–the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, AZ, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, the Orange Bowl in Miami and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA–comprise the Bowl Championship Series bowl games. Additionally, a fifth game, the BCS National Championship Game, is played at one of the sites at the completion of the bowl cycle.  Each venue hosts one title game during a four year rotation.

The conference champions from the six BCS conferences (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10 & SEC) earn automatic bids to BCS bowl games, leaving four at large bids.

The top two teams, as determined by the BCS rankings (see below), qualify for the BCS National Championship Game (played this year at the Rose Bowl).  Additionally, the conference champions of all BCS conferences, with the exception of the Big East, have contracts with specific bowl games, unless those conference champions finish #1 or #2 in the BCS rankings and thus in the national championship game.

The Rose Bowl matches the Big 10 champion against the Pac-10 champion. The ACC champion plays in the Orange bowl, the SEC champion in the Sugar Bowl & the Big 12 champion in the Fiesta Bowl. After these spots are filled, the bowls take turns in selecting teams to fill the four “at-large” spots. This season the Orange picks first, followed by the Fiesta & Sugar.

“At-Large” Bids

If the conference champion from a non-BCS conference is ranked in the top 12 of the BCS standings, an automatic bid must be awarded to that team. If two non-BCS conference champions finish ranked in the top 12, only the higher of the two teams receives the automatic bid.

The remaining “at-large” bids are selected by the individual bowls, in the order outlined above.  Almost always the bowls make their selection based on the top ranked team available, but in the past some selections have appeared to be “business” decisions,” with the bowls selecting a team that will generate the most revenue.

BCS Rankings

The BCS Rankings are determined by using a complex formula to analyze two human polls (one voted on by the coaches, the other voted on by the media) and six computer ranking systems. This system have been widely criticized in the past, as so much of it relies on computers. Computers the average person will never see. Imagine a HAL 9000-like system as the evil genius behind the entire BCS system.

Tomorrow, we take a look at the BCS contenders and possible controversy surrounding this season’s national championship game. Later, we will look at ways of possibly correcting this obviously flawed system.

On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wore their creamsicle throwback uniforms, possibly the most outlandish uniforms in modern day sports history. Personally, I love this uniform. It’s one of many uniforms I wish would make a return to sports. Here are the top 5 NFL uniforms, from my lifetime (1978-Present) I wish would make a comeback:

1.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1976-1996 – Discussed above. I was 4 years old when I first saw this uniform and instantly fell in love with the helmet logo and color scheme. Somehow, it just fits Tampa Bay.

2.) Seattle Seahawks 1983-2001 – I am a huge fan of the way the Seahawks integrated three of my favorite colors: blue, silver and green, into a uniform. Plus, the Seahawk logo on the helmet was much more intimidating than their current logo.

3.) New England Patriots (merger-1992) - Though I hate the Patriots more than any other professional sports franchise, I love this uniform. The color scheme fits the name Patriot better as well.

4.) Denver Broncos (1968-1996) – This uniform, in part, gave rise to the nickname, “Orange Crush.” The Broncos have since opted to go with more muted shades of blue and orange.

5.) Houston Oilers – The NFL should have forced Bud Adams to release the Oilers name, uniform and history to Houston when they were awarded their new franchise. Instead, “Love Ya’ Blue” belongs to the folks up in Nashville. Pure blasphemy!

I recently attended a cocktail reception hosted by the Texas Women Lawyers.   Since this was a group of women attorneys, I did not expect to need many sports talking points to engage with attendees at the reception.  I was wrong.  Several men attended the event and, yes, sports talk arose in conversation but in a unique way. 

While I was talking to one male attendee, another man named Doug Williams joined our conversation.  The other man began talking to Doug by stating, “but you aren’t ‘the’ Doug Williams.”  I concluded from this statement that there must be a famous Doug Williams.  As the conversation continued, I realized the famous Doug Williams was indeed a sports figure.  Of course, I did not show my ignorance by asking about Doug Williams, but I did Google the name after the event and learned that he is a former NFL quarterback. 

Remember the name Doug Williams.  If you meet a man named Doug Williams at a networking event, perhaps you can begin conversation with him by referencing the famous Doug Williams?

I hate(d) the Yankees, beginning with their corners, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, two self absorbed cancers, linked by a common agent, Scott Boras, and committed only to him and their bank accounts. My hatred doesn’t stop there. This is an organization that has won 26 World Series, put over 30 players into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and has millions of fans worldwide. Of course, there’s also my beloved Texas Rangers and their three first round playoff losses–their only playoff appearances–to the Yankees.

Over the past few seasons, I’ve enjoyed watching the Yankees’ post-season futility, but realize that the streak is probably about to end. The Yankees currently hold a 3-2 game lead in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) and need only one win to advance to the World Series. I thought about boycotting the World Series entirely if the Yankees advance, but then I had an epiphany. I hated the Yankees for the same reason so many people hate the Dallas Cowboys–success. The New York Yankees franchise is the best franchise in their business. Instead of hating the Yankees, I should be in love with the Yankees. Indeed, the Yankees are free market capitalism at its best.

At a time when capitalism faces daily attacks from the Federal government, the media, the entertainment industry and disillusioned Millennials across the nation, the Yankees stand as a monument to the beauty of capitalism. Compared to other leagues, Major League Baseball is very loosely regulated. No salary cap and a very weak revenue sharing policy, allow owners to spend as much money as they want to improve their product–their team. The system engenders a sense of personal responsibility among owners, rewarding the franchises willing to spend and the franchises with the best front offices and punishing those with frugal owners or those who make bad business decisions.

Throughout his career, George Steinbrenner has experienced success. He’s made a ton of money, a lot of sound investments and has spent that money wisely to add to the Yankee legacy. The Yankees spend almost $60 million more on payroll than any other team in the Majors. Alex Rodriguez’s salary alone is more than the entire payroll for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Every year, the Yankees go out, find the best talent and offer that talent more money than anyone else.  Every year, the Yankees field one of the most competitive teams in the League. Their success generates more revenue, which the front office uses to improve their product/team. This is capitalism in its purest form.

Other teams complain about the unfair advantages caused by the discrepancies in capital between the Yankees and the rest of the league, just as other nations complain about the “unfair advantages” the American economy created during the 20th Century.  Instead of complaining, these teams should learn from the Yankees, take their capital and create greatness. The system rewards hard work and creativity.

While Josh will post a summary of the important NFL games over the weekend, I thought it was worth noting that I’ve seen two headlines this morning (and, it’s only 5:20 a.m.) that lead me to believe you better know know about the New Orleans Saints when you arrive at the office this morning. 

• All Saints’ Day in the Big Easy (Wall Street Journal)
• Saint-Sational (www.msnbc.com)

Apparently, the New Orleans Saints played the New York Giants yesterday and both teams were undefeated (5 wins, 0 losses for the season) upon meeting.  That is my very simple interpretation as a sports novice.  It also appears most expected the Giants to win.  Read one of the above articles for a detailed analysis … just know this for your Monday morning board meeting:  the undefeated Saints played the undefeated Giants yesterday and unexpectedly won!

Every college football season features a signature weekend, a weekend of upsets and statement victories that separates the serious title contenders from the rest of the pack. It appears that we just experienced this season’s signature weekend, which just so happened to proceed the release of the season’s first BCS rankings.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, allow me to explain the BCS for the college football novices in the audience. The NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the college football division of the largest and most widely known college football programs (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, Pac-10, etc.), decides its national champion through the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), a collection of four bowl games and a national title game. The BCS rankings, a ranking system combining several computer ranking systems and two human polls, decides the top two teams in the nation who play for the national title game. The first BCS rankings are usually released in mid-October and serve as an early indicator of which teams appear headed towards the national title game. The computer ranking systems rely heavily on strength of schedule, meaning a victory over a higher ranked opponent counts for more than a victory over a lower ranked opponent. Similarly a loss to a higher ranked opponent hurts far less in the rankings than a loss to a lower ranked opponent.

Prior to the weekend, speculation abounded about the identity of the top three teams in the BCS rankings. It appeared clear that the University of Florida and the University of Alabama would be ranked #1 and #2 respectively, but since they hail from the same conference (SEC), they will likely meet in the conference championship game with the winner eliminating the other from the national championship game. Therefore, the #3 spot was the most the eagerly anticipated ranking to be unveiled.

The University of Texas was ranked #3 in both of the human polls, but skeptics questioned their strength of schedule, with no real signature victories. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech, the #4 ranked team in the human polls, continued to impress pollsters with impressive wins over quality opponents. Lurking in the background were fellow undefeated programs the University of Iowa and Boise State and with only one loss, USC, a traditional college football power, could not be omitted from the title talks.

All six teams were involved in close games over the weekend. The #1 ranked Florida Gators entered their game with the Arkansas Razorbacks as a 24 point favorite, but needed a last second field goal to escape with a victory. Similarly, Alabama needed a fourth quarter touchdown to put their game with South Carolina out of reach. Texas struggled to move the ball offensively, but managed to secure a 16-13 victory over their arch-rival Oklahoma. Iowa fell behind to Wisconsin, 10-0, before they mounted a come from behind victory. Boise State and USC had to survive 4th quarter rallies to emerge with victories. And poor Virginia Tech would have gladly traded places with any of them, as the Hokies fell to Georgia Tech 28-23, all but eliminating them from the national title hunt.

As expected, Florida and Alabama were ranked #1 and #2 respectively in the first BCS rankings, followed by Texas. It now appears that if Texas wins the remainder of their games, they will play the winner of Florida/Alabama in the BCS title game. However, if the Longhorns should lose one of their remaining games things become a little more interesting.

As always, CocktailSports.Com offers you its talking point from the recent football weekend:

1.) Denver Broncos – Few teams experienced as much off-season turmoil as the Denver Broncos.  After the Broncos failed to make the playoffs last season, they fired their long time head coach Mike Shanahan and hired 33-year old Josh McDaniels, a former offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots. McDaniels wasted no time in attempting to put his stamp on the team, beginning with former quarterback Jay Cutler. The two never saw eye to eye and the Broncos ended up trading Cutler to the Chicago Bears for Kyle Orton and draft picks, a move many criticized the Broncos for making.  McDaniels new style didn’t mesh with temperamental wide-receiver Brandon Marshall, who spent most of the off-season complaining about his contract and became an even bigger problem during training camp in a series of incidents that have been forever memorialized in YouTube clips. The first year in any career is always a difficult one, especially as a NFL coach, especially taking over a team in as much turmoil as the Broncos. The undefeated Broncos are the biggest surprise story in the NFL right now. Indeed, their 5-0 record already matches the season win total predicted by Sports Illustrated in their NFL preview.

2.) Terrell “T.O.” Owens – Every sport features a select few athletes that transcend the sport, names recognizable even to non-sports fans. Buffalo Bills mercurial wide receiver, Terrell “T.O.” Owens, is one of those players.  Cut by the Dallas Cowboys in the off season, the Bills brought T.O. in expecting him to be a huge weapon on the offensive side of the ball.  Currently, Owens ranks tied for 103rd in the league in receptions with 12, which is actually one more than Roy E. Williams, who replaced Owens on the Cowboys’ roster (although Williams has more receiving yardage at 214 to Owens’ 202). Fortunately, the Cowboys found another replacement for Owens in Miles Austin, who had more receiving yardage in one game, 250 yards, than Owens has on the entire season. The Bills expected more, much more, from Owens than what he has produced on the field and with the team struggling, you know every one in the organization is waiting for Owens to have one of his trademark sideline or locker room tirades.

3.) Ryan Mallett – Entering the 2009 college football season, much of the talk centered around three quarterbacks–Tim Tebow (Florida), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) and Colt McCoy (Texas). Tebow and Bradford had won the past two Heisman Trophy Awards respectfully and McCoy was the runner up for the prize in 2008. All three chose to return to school instead of entering the NFL draft early and all three were set to lead teams expected to challenge for the national championship. While none of the three have looked quite as sharp as years past, they continue to dominate the national talk at the position.

If you really want to impress your clients or colleagues, throw the name Ryan Mallett into the top college quarterback discussion. Mallett began his college career at the University of Michigan, but transferred when the school made a coaching change. This marks his first year playing at the University of Arkansas. He probably won’t get invited to the end of the year awards shows and his team won’t be playing for a national title at the end of the season, but Mallett may be the quarterback with the brightest future ahead of him. While some question the role McCoy and Tebow will play in the NFL, there’s no doubt what NFL scouts see in Mallett. His game fits perfectly into the mold of the traditional NFL drop back pocket passer. He has the size and skills to succeed on the next level.

The day Bill Parcells stepped down as coach of the Dallas Cowboys, I celebrated.  In my mind, Parcells’ departure represented the end of a bitter reconstruction era for this franchise and the beginnings of a new Cowboys’ dynasty. Parcells served his purpose in rebuilding the roster, but he never embraced the star. The Cowboys ended the 2006 season with a heart breaking first round playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks. In spite of yet another early playoff exit, the pieces appeared to be in place for a championship contender for years to come. All the Cowboys needed now was a coach to guide them to the “promised land.”

Parcells’ fast-talking, Jersey boy ways never meshed with the Cowboys. The arrogance of the man to replace the 4-3 defense, a defense that the legendary Tom Landry perfected, with the 3-4, a system he preferred and the audacity to invite former New York Giants greats, bitter enemies of the star, to practices rubbed many fans the wrong way. The Cowboys franchise needed another Texan at the helm, one who would embrace the legacy of this great franchise and write a new chapter in the Cowboys’ history book.

Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, interviewed 10 candidates to replace Parcells. On January 30, 2007, he interviewed Mike Singletary, a Hall of Fame linebacker from Houston who grew up a Cowboys’ fan. Since his playing days ended, Singletary had made a name for himself as a well respected defensive coach in the NFL. Though he had no head coaching experience, everyone felt he had a very bright coaching future ahead of him. In the end, Jones opted for a Texas born coach with head coaching experience, Wade Phillips, son of the legendary, “Bum” Phillips. Looking back, it’s clear to see that Jones made the wrong decision.

The Wade Phillips’ era began with a bang, a 13-3 season, the NFC East title and the number one overall seed in the playoffs. However, from the beginning, it was obvious Phillips lacked the leadership necessary to lead a team to the ultimate prize. The 2007 season ended the same as the seasons of the past decade, with the Cowboys falling short of their goal and a first-round, home playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants, but the teams actions leading up to the game were more troubling than the game itself.

By virtue of having the best record in the NFC, the Cowboys earned a bye during the first round of the playoffs.  Instead of using that time to rest and prepare for their next opponent, many players treated the time as a mini-vacation. Tabloids ran wild with coverage of Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson jetting off to Cancun with Jason Witten, Bobby Carpenter and their significant others. Other players traveled to their alma mater’s bowl games to partake in the revelry. Clearly, this team was not focused on their job at the time. Since that time, the team has experienced several embarrassing incidents both on and off the field–the T.O. fiasco, Pac-Man Jones’ brawl at a local hotel, and games like last December in Philadelphia when it appeared that the team quit on their coach.

Wade Phillips will point to his 24-12 record as head coach of the Cowboys, but the only record that matters is his 0-1 record in the playoffs with this franchise. As coach of the Dallas Cowboys, fans expect you to win championships. Though not the most talented team in the league, the Cowboys’ roster contains enough talent to compete for championships year in and year out. A good coach bridges the gap of talent between teams, this coach has failed to do that.

What has Mike Singletary done during this time period? On October 20, 2008, Singletary took over head coaching duties for the San Francisco 49ers, a team with a 2-5 record and a perennial cellar dweller . Singletary made clear from the beginning the way things would work with him in charge. In his first game at the helm, Singletary sent star tight end Vernon Davis, arguably the best player on the team, to the locker room during the game because of the player’s attitude. After the game, Singletary issued a passionate response to the press where he said, “I will not tolerate players who think it’s about them, when it’s about team.” Makes you wonder how many players he would send to the showers early if he was coaching the Cowboys.

Shocked with his move and his speech, critics began to question how long Singletary would last as a coach. He ignored the critics and led his teams to a 5-4 record to finish out the season. During that time, the 49ers played an inspired brand of football rarely seen in the NFL. While the Cowboys led the league in penalties last year with almost 60 yards a game, Singletary’s team averaged a mere 36 yards a game in penalties. Defensively, the 49ers looked impressive as well, especially against the run, given up only 94 yards a game on the ground. The Cowboys, on the other hand, gave up 106 yards a game on the ground, and it was the lack of a rushing defense that led to collapses against Baltimore and Philadelphia in the final two games of the season, eliminating the Cowboys from the playoffs.

Then you see video clips like this, and you see how Singletary deals with adversity during the course of a game. Is there any doubt that the mentality of the Cowboys team would different under Singletary? What would the Cowboys look like without the mental errors?

In the book The Catch, author Gary Myers explains in detail how the Dallas Cowboys almost drafted Joe Montana. Coming out of college, not many NFL teams placed a very high value on Montana. However, Tom Landry loved the kid, as did Gil Brandt. However, the Cowboys thought they had their quarterback of the future in Danny White and felt taking Montana would be wasting  a draft pick. They passed and the 49ers took Joe Montana. In 1982, Joe Montana would lead the 49ers to a victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship game, with a play that has become known simply as “the catch.”  The 49ers would go on to win the Super Bowl that season and three more times under Montana’s leadership. Danny White never won a Super Bowl and the Cowboys sank into the futility. As a Cowboys fan, I can only hope that this odd connection between the Cowboys and 49ers repeat itself with Mike Singletary.

Another week is in the books and it’s time for another edition of the Monday Morning Quarterback, where we give you 4 talking points regarding the previous weekend’s football action.

1.) Bret Favre – Over the course of the past two weeks, Minnesota Vikings’ 39-year old quarterback Bret Favre has shown he still has the ability to play professional football on an elite level. Last week, Favre engineered a last minute, come from behind touchdown drive.  Tonight, Favre faced his former team, the Green Bay Packers, for the first time and threw three touchdown passes.  If you haven’t followed the story from the beginning, Favre had a ton of success in a long career with the Packers, but prior to last season, the Packers decided Favre, at the age of 37, was too old for their system, so they cut ties. You have to think that Favre had just a little motivation to come out and show his former team exactly what they were missing.

2.) Manning Brothers – Four weeks into the NFL season and five undefeated teams remain, but the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Giants seem to be a step ahead of the rest of the league. While question marks surround the other three undefeated teams, the Giants and Colts seem to be pretty solid, in spite of some key injuries. The teams share more than just records; they also share a bloodline, quarterbacked by the Manning brothers (Eli with the Giants and Peyton with the Colts). Even more intriguing is the prospect of the two teams facing each other in the Super Bowl, which at this point is a very real possibility.

3.) Alabama – While the NFL has two teams separating from the pack, a triumvirate of teams head up the college football world. The national media outlets have covered the exploits of Texas and Florida extensively, mainly because of their Heisman candidate quarterbacks. Lost in the shuffle have been the Alabama Crimson Tide, currently ranked #3 in the nation.  All three teams have looked really impressive in all of their games this season, but it appears that the Crimson Tide, led by junior linebacker Rolando McClain, are a bit better defensively and as the old adage goes, “offense wins games; defense wins championships.”

4.) NFL Overtime Policy – The NFL has a vastly different way of dealing with tie ball games at the end of regulation than college or high school football. Currently, the NFL has a “sudden death” policy, where the first team that scores wins. Critics claim that this policy is unfair to the team on defense first. Additionally, if no team scores at the end of the 15 minute overtime period, the game ends in a tie. Many would like to see the NFL adopt an overtime policy similar to the NCAA. In the NCAA, each teams gets the ball at the opponents 25 yard line. The game ends when one team outscores the other in an overtime period–each team has the opportunity to score and there is no possibility for the game to end in a tie.