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college football playoff

Flashback: Illinois Football Has Five National Championships

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Since we're talking about Illinois football playoff possibilities this upcoming season, and thus, dreaming of bigger things, let's do a Flashback Friday to the program's five national titles. Yes, Illinois football has five, count 'em five national titles on their program CV. Of course, these were all in the days long before the polls, like the Harris interactive, UPI, BCS … [Read more...] about Flashback: Illinois Football Has Five National Championships

Brent Musburger Nails It Regarding New Year’s College Football

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Legendary broadcaster Brent Musburger doesn't just "get it." He absolutely knocked it out of the park on this one. Just like during the 2017-18 bowl cycle, the semifinals are on January 1st, and the consist of the Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl. They're on New Year's Day, where they belong! This isn't like 2015, 2016, 2021 or 2022, when College Football desperately tried to … [Read more...] about Brent Musburger Nails It Regarding New Year’s College Football

Kirk Herbstreit Perfectly Articulates the Transcendent Rose Bowl Setting

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When the time came to choose a setting to paint in my intro to oil painting class at the Art Institute of Chicago, the choice was obvious. I selected the most cinematic scene in all of sports, "the end of the yellow brick road" as the legendary broadcaster Keith Jackson used to call it: The Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.  The iconic stadium and the game affectionately known as … [Read more...] about Kirk Herbstreit Perfectly Articulates the Transcendent Rose Bowl Setting

Florida State Football Disaster Recovery Should Focus on NIL, Not Lawsuit

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This past Thursday night, at a random diner in Buffalo Grove, Illinois I overheard two old men discussing how Florida State football had got totally shafted five days earlier. Such is the impact of the College Football Playoff and its ranking system- everyone, everywhere wants to debate and discuss it. Controversy sells and ESPN, who pays rent on the CFP, knows this. You see … [Read more...] about Florida State Football Disaster Recovery Should Focus on NIL, Not Lawsuit

New College football playoff officially named ‘College Football Playoff’

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(Update: the new college football playoff system has an official name, and it's "college football playoff") So they went literal. To the point. No frills. Short terse direct prose. Like an Ernest Hemingway novel. Like the book: "Death to the BCS ," and it's officially here as the University presidents announced approval of a 4-team seeded playoff for college football last … [Read more...] about New College football playoff officially named ‘College Football Playoff’

ESPN gets new college football playoff broadcast rights

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ESPN and the group that will administer the new college football playoff have reached an agreement in principle to present the playoff games and selected other games for 12 years on an exclusive basis across ESPN’s platforms. The agreement will begin after the 2014 regular season (including January 2015) and continue through after the 2025 regular season (January 2026). … [Read more...] about ESPN gets new college football playoff broadcast rights

What will become of BCS with new playoff structure?

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Is 2014 the end of the term BCS? Notre Dame A.D. Jack Swarbrick had an answer. Sort of. "I have no idea, from time to time we've touched on that, and some people want to change, but it's a brand that's highly recognized, I would guess for the foreseeable future, whether we cause it to happen or not, it'll be the term people are using," he said. … [Read more...] about What will become of BCS with new playoff structure?

Presidents approve BCS consensus on 4 team playoff model

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The BCS meetings in Chicago concluded minutes ago with some great news for college football fans: a consensus was reached regarding the four team playoff proposal. A four team seeded playoff model was completely agreed upon, and now the conference commissioners will take it to their University Presidents and Athletic Directors. (update: the Presidents have met in D.C. and … [Read more...] about Presidents approve BCS consensus on 4 team playoff model

Big Ten conference bigger player in national football power structure

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There were a lot of topics on the table of discussion in last week's Big 10 meetings. First and foremost, is the rapid move towards a four team playoff in college football, which could get here in a couple years. I asked Northwestern Athletic Director Jim Phillips what his biggest takeaways were from the meetings. "Couple things – tremendous collaboration between all 12 … [Read more...] about Big Ten conference bigger player in national football power structure