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The College Football Playoff people sent out a press release yesterday stating that they’d made a horrible mistake, listened to people, and were changing things to be better in the future.
“We had healthy discussions with a lot of people who love college football and we concluded that making these changes would be the right thing to do for our fans.” said Hancock.
“We tried to do something special with New Year’s Eve, even when it fell on a weekday. But after studying this to see if it worked, we think we can do better. These adjustments will allow more people to experience the games they enjoy so much. For these four years, our previous call is reversed.”
Here are the dates of the future semifinals (asterisks indicate years when the schedule has been changed):
2016-17 Saturday, December 31 Fiesta and Peach
2017-18 Monday, January 1 Rose and Sugar
*2018-19 Saturday, December 29 Cotton and Orange
*2019-20 Saturday, December 28 Fiesta and Peach
2020-21 Friday, January 1 Rose and Sugar
2021-22 Friday, December 31 Orange and Bowl TBD
2022-23 Saturday, December 31 Bowls TBD
2023-24 Monday, January 1 Rose and Sugar
*2024-25 Saturday, December 28 Orange and Bowl TBD
*2025-26 Saturday, December 27 Bowls TBD
As noted above, the semifinals will be played in the Orange, Rose and Sugar Bowls at least through 2025-26. The CFP expects to determine the other semifinals sites for the 2021-22 season and thereafter some time in 2018.
Husker Mike’s commentary on December 31, 2015 pointed out that for many people, New Year’s Eve is a work day, meaning that there were plenty of people who didn’t get to watch the games because they have to earn a living.
In another grand thought by the same people who brought you the BCS, the College Football Playoff Committee thought they could merge New Year’s Eve, the greatest partying night for amateurs who will puke on your shoes, with college football and everything would be okey dokey.
Now, after being beat over the heads by “a lot of people” (television executives) and because of a massive TV ratings drop they’ve changed their tune for the better.
This should give you hope. It should give you hope that even mindless, visionless bureaucracies can change their minds and reverse a horrible decision (especially when incentivized by capitalism). There might be hope for other bureaucracies. There might.
Zach Sterup offers size, versatility on Chiefs offensive line - Chiefs Digest
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Undrafted free agent rookies need to stand out to get noticed, and Zach Sterup definitely stands out. The offensive lineman from Nebraska is listed at 6-foot-9, 318 pounds. He’s hard to miss on the field, but he’s hoping coaches notice his play entering training camp more than his size.
Anton Gill May Become "The Guy" For The Nebraska Cornhuskers - BT Powerhouse
Anton Gill's redshirt year has come and gone. Now he's ready to take the court.
Big 12 expansion: Biggest questions for the conference | SI.com
For now, no one is quite sure if the Big 12 knows either. Is expansion such a naked money grab—up to $800 million—that it threatens the conference's relationships with FOX and ESPN after their television contract expires in 2024–25? “In my opinion,” said a television industry source, “you are basically saying eight years from now this is over, and we might as well take the money.”
What you need to understand is that the Big 12 is manipulating their existing contract, not looking for a new one. Their current contract predicates that if a school joins the conference that the conference is paid on a pro rata basis, or approximately $25M for each school per year.
Note that quote at the end. That’s the crux of the matter. Basically, in eight years, the Big 12 will be dead because they will have pissed off the networks to the point that no one will negotiate in good faith with them.
Notice the quote just before it - “threatens the conference’s relationships.... after their television contract expires....”
What about before?
What if Fox and ESPN decide that they don’t like the teams chosen by Texas and decide to
Big 12 prefers to decide on expansion teams before start of 2016 season - CBSSports.com
The Big 12 would prefer to wrap up the expansion process before the start of the 2016 football season, three persons with knowledge of the ongoing process told CBS Sports on Thursday. While it's not clear whether a final decision on timing has been made, all three sources said the Big 12 doesn't want expansion to overshadow the league's football season with a drawn-out process that would extend into the 2016 campaign.
Or, basically, Texas will decide on what teams get to join the conference. They’ll act like they’re allowing Oklahoma some feedback, but the Longhorns will choose and the rest of the bunch will happily go along because they’ve got no choice.
And somewhere, some boob is thinking that Nebraska wants back into that mess. Because they’re a boob, that’s why.
Top 50 Things To Blame Mitch Leidner For - The Daily Gopher
#BlameLeidner
Mitch Leidner and the challenge of conservative offense - Football Study Hall
When an offense focuses on precision and avoiding mistakes, they shrink their own margin for error. Can Leidner's Gophers be precise enough in 2016?
Iowa Potluck, Thursday: Pork Chops and Predictions - Off Tackle Empire
The prediction edition.
I linked this because it has pork chops and I love pork chops.
Eliminating the kickoff misses the point, ignores football's real problem
Debate surrounding the viability of the kickoff has existed for decades. It flared up when the NFL passed a temporary rule change for 2016 that places the ball at the 25-yard-line after touchbacks rather than the 20.
Olympics Committee Says Non-Sponsors Are Banned From Tweeting About the Olympics
The US Olympics Committee has gone off the deep end, when it comes to intellectual property. It’s willing to sue anyone to protect their trademarks, even when the use is no real threat. But the committee’s latest claim is an entirely new level of absurdity.
Apparently the Husker athletic department has been informed they cannot tweet about our athletics in the Olympics.
CN Staff has wondered how we’ll handle the events without using trademarks. Possible mentions:
- The Cesspool Olympics
- Those Games Down South
- Brazilian Events Extravaganza
- Brasil
- “There’s a Dead Body In The Water” Games
Your suggestions are welcome.
Famed Oak Tree From ‘Shawshank Redemption’ Is Toppled by Heavy Winds - The New York Times
The tree was one of the enduring symbols from the 1994 prison-escape film and attracted thousands of visitors each year to Lucas, Ohio.
Dwight Jones, 64, Big Man Ejected in First U.S. Olympic Loss, Dies - The New York Times
Dwight Jones, a power forward and center whose ejection from the 1972 Olympic basketball championship game in Munich contributed to the United States team’s controversial 51-50 loss to the Soviet Union, died on Monday in The Woodlands, Tex. He was 64.
I remember the 1972 Olympics. I remember this loss. I remember how they kept showing it on TV over and over and how we were just screwed over so the Commie motherfuckers could win. I remember the US team not showing up to accept their medals. Good for them. One wonders if someone would do the same now.
The other thing about the 1972 Olympics - the Palestinian Liberation Organization massacre of the Israeli athletes. Jim McKay announcing, “They’re all gone.”
I pray nothing of the sort happens this time around.
Events
If you have an event (or stuff) you'd like to promote, send me an email at cornnation@gmail.com.
The Heartland Cancer Foundation in Lincoln is raffling off season tickets (club seats and a parking pass) in the west stadium for the 2016 football season. This would include tickets for all home games. The drawing will be held at anupcoming golf event on Aug 4th.
You need not be present to win. Raffle tickets are $100 each. But hurry! Only 1,000 tickets are available for purchase. Go to the linked web site above to purchase a raffle ticket.