We all know I hate the BCS, but I have now officially withdrawn my non-vocalized support for a playoff system in college football. I am fully in favor of restoring the old bowl system.

If we went to a playoff system, that’s at least 3 games that the national championship schools have to travel to. Does anyone think that the students will have the time and money to follow the team? Does anyone think that the alumni or any other fans will either? It would turn into a corporate event and the fans will be watching on TV. Ridiculous.

We have two major polls (and a fake one in the BCS standings). The Coaches and AP polls are what matter. The only way we have a split is if the two aren’t in agreement. In that case, the two top teams from each should be able to schedule (on their own) an exhibition game between themselves. They can play the same day as senior bowl. I doubt any of the seniors from the two teams will think playing in a senior bowl will get them more NFL exposure than an exhibition against the other best team in the country. I’ve yet to see a three-way national champion.

People like the playoff idea because at the end one team is left standing. But if you play enough games, every team will lose. And if the team doesn’t, did you really need a playoff to tell you that they were the best? Only if you’re ESPN and talking about the 2005 USC team that’s the 2nd greatest in history despite not winning a national championship and losing in the Rose Bowl.

Recruiting rankings mean nothing, but a higher ranking can’t mean anything bad. Washington is currently sitting around #12 in the country. I looked up our recruiting for the last few years:

Neuheisel:

2001 - #5 (2nd in Pac-10)

2002 - #23 (3rd in Pac-10)

2003 - #18 (2nd in Pac-10) 

Gilbertson:

2004 - #22 (4th in Pac-10, WSU was #21)

Willingham:

2005 - #55 (10th in Pac-10)

2006 - #35 (6th in Pac-10)

2007 - #29 (4th in Pac-10)

2008 - #15 (3rd in Pac-10)

The 2001 class is generally considered a bust (how much impact did Reggie Williams and Casey Paus really have?) Conversely, 2002 would have been a lot higher if people knew how good 1-star Nate Robinson was. Too bad he didn’t stick with football. I’m not sold on this year’s class. I don’t like a tight end being the big name, especially since a tight end was last year’s big name, and he spent the season redshirting.

How would things have been different if Reggie Bush went to Washington (which would have happened if it hadn’t been for Reggie’s dad)? I went back and read the articles from that recruiting class. You would have thought the recruit was his dad, Lamar Griffin, instead of Reggie. He was the one saying what he liked about each school. And he didn’t like the weather and distance at Washington because he wanted to be on camera after each touchdown. He didn’t even know that USC was a private school. He said that studying medicine was very important to Reggie and USC was “a top 5 medical school”.

“Q: Did you learn about the USC academics?

A: Definitely, well you know USC is one of the top five medicine schools in the entire country.

I don’t know too much about Washington. I know my cousin went there. It’s a decent school too, but you have to consider the weather out there. ”

That’s complete garbage. They’re #38 in research and unlisted in primary care; which is only top 5 to Lamar Griffin. Back in the real world, they don’t even come close to Washington as far as medicine goes. UW is #6 in medical research and has been ranked the #1 medical school for primary care for 15 consecutive years and the only medical school ranked in the top 10 for all 8 specialty fields. Unlike USC, Washington really is a top 5 medical school. Besides, did anyone really think Reggie was going to become a doctor in 3 years?

I hear that hotels in Eugene are filling up quickly for the UW weekend (the Red Lion is booked already). It might not hurt to get reservations in early. Anyone interested in going should let me know as soon as they can so I can determine if multiple rooms are needed.

It's never too early to start getting ready for next season (I miss the days when late December and early January were considered the "current" season, but that's another story).

I'm putting together this site to help prepare for another great year of football and tailgating. Hopefully, it'll help us keep on top of tricky things like dates, times, supplies and everything else we'll need. Look for more work on the site to be done soon!