Shatel: Big Ten's 'playoff' slanted, but fair

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You gotta love the Big Ten. And, you gotta love the Big Ten's proposed plan for a college football final four and championship game.

The Chicago Tribune reported on Monday that Big Ten officials have been kicking around a playoff that would take the four teams in the final BCS poll and have them play two semifinal games on campus sites.

Presumably, the top two teams would host: No. 4 at No. 1, No. 3 at No. 2.

Then, the two winners would play for the national championship at a neutral site, which would be bid on by cities with NFL stadiums.

I like this plan. Then again, I'm not from the South, specifically the Southeastern Conference.

What's the beef? If this plan had been in place this year, Stanford would have played at LSU and Oklahoma State would have gone to Alabama.

Sound good? Yes. Well, until the SEC has to play up in the frozen tundra of Michigan or Ohio Stadium in the toasty month of December.

Which is exactly the point of the Big Ten's plan. Big Ten Boss Jim Delany and the Big Ten frat have traditionally been anti-playoff, in the name of tradition and, mostly, the Rose Bowl.

Now they not only back a playoff, they've come up with their own idea? You bet. It keeps the Rose Bowl intact. And it sets up a system in which the Honey Badger might have to play in 20-degree temps against the Wisconsin Badgers.

You see the Big Ten working. Propose a playoff that could benefit the Big Ten.

Whatever. It's the fair way to do it. Play important games on campus sites; make the regular season even more important.

Minimize travel for fans. And balance the playing field: If a Big Ten or northern team earns home field, it earned the advantage.

If the SEC schools earn home field, so be it.

There are issues, and one is that last year No. 5 Oregon beat No. 4 Stanford, but the BCS computer saw otherwise. I'd still put a committee together to pick the four. But those are issues that can be worked out.

More than likely, this will face staunch opposition. The BCS bowls (minus Rose) will scream. Politics may not let the Big Ten choose the method to the madness. But if the playoff folks can get the Big Ten on board, maybe they agree.

Either way, it's good to see the Big Ten appears to be a willing participant in the future, not a road block.

• By the way, if the Big Ten plan had been in place back in 2001, you would have had No. 4 Oregon at No. 1 Miami and — drum roll — No. 3 Colorado at No. 2 Nebraska, in the rematch at Memorial Stadium. Oh, the humanity.

In 1999, No. 3 Nebraska — which it says here was as good as any team in the country at season's end — would have gone to No. 2 Virginia Tech, while No. 4 Bama played at No. 1 Florida State.

• Nebraskans are frugal, practical types. And they're also looking for the next great hope in recruiting.

Thus, I've heard from many readers who want to know if Nebraska could free up three scholarships by having Barney Cotton put his three sons on the "free tuition for employees" plan. Some Creighton fans have wondered the same about Doug McDermott.

Not so fast. There's a misconception about that employee status.

According to Jeff Jamrog, NU's assistant athletic director for football, employee status at NU gets you this: 15 free credit hours per year, not semester. No room, no board, no books. Just 15 hours of class. Which is good for walk-ons like Trey Foster and Justin Jackson, who have parents who work at the university. But not so helpful for guys named Cotton, already on scholarship.

At Creighton, A.D. Bruce Rasmussen says that the school pays for 50 percent of the tuition if the parent has been an employee at the school for a minimum three years, 75 percent for four years and 100 percent for at least five years. So Doug McDermott better hope his dad keeps him on scholarship.

• Danny Woodhead is the Tom Kropp of this generation: the small-town Nebraska folk hero with the mystique and legendary status that precede him.

The Patriot from North Platte and Chadron State added to his legend by scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl. But his validation came in a quieter sense.

You never hear anyone, from Al Michaels on down, bring up Woodhead's diminutive stature or underdog status. In fact, Woodhead is now treated like any other player on the field: like he belongs, which he does.

He's arrived, and it was never even announced. That's something Woodhead can appreciate.

• The loss at Northern Iowa was only damaging to Creighton egos. Everything remains intact for the Jays: They still control their destiny in the Missouri Valley. And, lo and behold, they only dropped two spots, to 16th, in the NCAA's RPI released on Monday.

That says a lot about the Valley. Also, the Jays apparently helped themselves. The win elevated UNI to No. 49 and gives CU another top-50 win. And a top-50 loss, too.

• Giving Bill Callahan his pink slip was a no-brainer. And yet, Tom Osborne still laid out a plan for Callahan to keep his job, if he could meet certain victory requirements. It was more than fair.

But will Osborne lay out the same plan for Doc Sadler? And what would those requirements be? What's the standard, in Osborne's eyes, for Husker Hoops?

Eight conference wins? Six? Make a postseason tourney? Average a certain attendance number?

Osborne will be fair. That's a given. But if Osborne decides that it's time for a change, it needs to happen this year. Prolonging the inevitable wouldn't be fair to the coach, the fans or the program. But that's for Osborne to decide.

• Never found a Sports Illustrated cover with Creighton on it. Dr. Thomas Connolly, an SI collector since 1972, wrote that former CU great Paul Silas made the cover with the Denver Nuggets on March 21, 1977. And Bob Gibson appeared on Oct. 7, 1968 — not the only time Gibson made it.

I did receive a link to an SI story on "The Travelin' Jays," which ran in SI on Feb. 25, 1974. It was a short feature on coach Eddie Sutton's 1974 team that logged some serious miles.

• Mario Manningham made a big play on a tough ball to catch. Wes Welker didn't. That's the Super Bowl. Some step up, some don't. This changes the legacy of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick — until they get back and win another one. If they do.

• Fist Bump: To Eli Manning. The Brady Era may not be over yet, but the Eli Era has just begun. What a gutsy throw to Manningham down the sidelines. That's a play that elite guys make. He's carving his own legend, and he may end up bigger than all of them. The way things have gone in San Diego, I can't blame him anymore for spurning the Chargers. And I'm about ready to do that myself.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com

twitter.com/tomshatelOWH

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