Tide, not Buckeyes, get last playoff berth
Back in January 2012, the day after Alabama beat LSU in the Bowl Championship Series title game, the commissioners of the FBS conferences gathered in New Orleans to discuss the future of the college football postseason.
There had already been movement toward tearing up the unpopular BCS, but the all-SEC championship game was the final blow. The College Football Playoff was created soon after.
On Sunday, the field for the fourth College Football Playoff was set, and for the first time two teams from the same conference made it. Alabama (11-1) will face Clemson (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl, and fellow SEC member Georgia (12-1) will play Oklahoma (12-1) in the Rose Bowl.
Another all-SEC championship game could be on the horizon, and for the second straight year the value of a conference championship was diminished. Unlike in 2012, though, the winds of change are not picking up — even with both the Big Ten and Pac-12 sitting out this playoff altogether.
“It doesn’t change my view that the present structure is best for college football,” Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany said during an interview with ESPN. “I can be supportive of (the selection committee) and at the same time be disappointed and a little bit surprised.”
When Alabama got the nod for the fourth and final spot over Ohio State, the Big Ten was left out for the first time — and for the second time in four seasons the Pac-12 was shut out, too. When the conference commissioners were putting the playoff together, ensuring only conference champions would be included was considered. Eventually, the compromise was to craft a protocol that emphasized conference championships, but not make them mandatory.
“I don’t see anything that’s happened in the first four years in the work of the selection committee or the playoff that is inconsistent with how it was designed or what was possible,” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott told said. Edwards deal: Former NFL coach Herman Edwards was named head coach at Arizona State, pending approval by the Arizona Board of Regents, the school announced.
Edwards, 63, has not coached since 2008, when he was fired after a 2-14 season with the Kansas City Chiefs. He coached the New York Jets from 2001-05 and has spent the past nine years as an analyst for ESPN.
Edwards last coached at the college level in 1989, as a cornerbacks coach for San Jose State. Briefly: Gus Malzahn reportedly has agreed to a seven-year deal to remain at Peach Bowlbound Auburn, putting an end to the questions about his future . ... Washington hired Atlanta Falcons quarterbacks coach Bush Hamdan as its offensive coordinator to replace Jonathan Smith, named head coach at Oregon State last week . ... Georgia linebacker Natrez Patrick has been arrested on an undisclosed misdemeanor charge after starting in the Bulldogs’ SEC championship game win over Auburn, his second arrest of the year and third in three years.