College Football Cupcakes: Quit Eating them

Recently there has been much ado made about college football powerhouses Ohio State, Louisville, and Miami (FL) scheduling games versus FCS opponents Florida A & M, Florida, International, and Savannah State. More than that is the money these teams receive before being humiliated on the field.

And while I think these games should go away, let's not ignore the elephant in the room. The problem is not that these teams are on the schedule, it is the large margin(s) of victory that the FBS schools rack up.

But let's not be ignorant about this. It's not like Alabama and the rest of the SEC aren't scheduling cupcakes of their own. In fact, the Crimson Tide face Chattanooga, an FCS squad that struggled to a six win season in 2012, a week before they play hated rival Auburn to end the season.

Alabama isn't the only one from the South to play weaker teams, either. Texas A&M feasted on Sam Houston State a week before hosting the Tide, and No. 6 LSU plays Furman.

And where was all the uproar when Oregon beat Nicholls State 66-3, an FCS school that WON ONE GAME ONLY in 2012?  Actually in the eyes of the Associated Press, that opening week victory vaulted them to No. 2 in the nation above Ohio State, who beat FBS school Buffalo handily, but didn't put up 70 on them.

Point is that teams need to stop scheduling these games, regardless of conference. And that everyone is guilty of doing it, not a few select schools. It's no less of a travesty whether it happens in week 4 (in the case of OSU, UL, and Miami), week 9 (LSU), or week 11 (Alabama).

So we should all stop pretending that this goes on among a few schools that are looking to rest their players, and hope the new playoff format results in better scheduling across the board.

2013 NCAA Tourney: Harvard Wins, And Chaos Reigns

Round one of the NCAA tournament is over and my bracket is busted.

Not really, but it almost happened yesterday afternoon. With Georgetown falling to previously unknown Florida Gulf Coast, at least one of my brackets is bound to lose.

You see, I filled out four different brackets before the tournament started. And while the one I feel most confident in is still in play (Louisville, Ohio State, VCU, and Miami are my final four), in another bracket I had the Hoyas going all the way to the final. And they totally blew it.

Of course, right now you are saying how much confidence can I have in any of my brackets if I completed four different ones. To be honest, I don't really know what is going to happen. Neither does anyone else. Which is why less than 5% of America correctly predicted that both Harvard and Florida Gulf Coast University would advance to the second round.

The point is that this tournament is wide open. The fact that two no. 1 seed, Kansas and Gonzaga, barely survived and advanced to the round of 32, only emphasizes this point. Which is, of course why I don't have either team in my final four.

Among the highlights of this year's first round:

Kentucky will not repeat as National Champion.

As a matter of fact, the Wildcats, not even selected to this year's tournament, will not win the NIT. They lost to Robert Morris in the first round on Wednesday.

All four no. 1 seeds still remain intact.

Although it seemed for a while that Gonzaga and Kansas might become the first top seeds to fall to a 16 seed.  For now, however, the possibility of an all chalk final four still exists. Whether that remains true after the second round is something that even Charles Barkley can't tell us.

Harvard once again proved that schools with the smartest kids can also produce athletes.

Try telling that to the New Mexico Lobos. According to one report, the Crimson's win provoked one writer to quit according to reports from Yahoo . But it'll take more than that to get rid of me, even if I lose every one of my brackets, and Ohio State gets booted on Sunday (but they're not, of course.)

Not only did Ohio State score more points than any other team, but they also provided us with the highlight of the first round:

Well, maybe not just one highlight. From Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith making diving saves that end up in Buckeye points, to Sam Thompson's high flying acrobatics, the No. 2 seed in the West dazzled the thousands of fans that made the trip from Columbus to Dayton. To go deep into the tournament this year, they will need more than just fancy plays. They must continue to play the hard-nosed defense that has help them win their last nine contests.