Two-Bid Group of 5
In breaking news of a recommendation for expansion of the College Football Playoff Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde and Ross Dellenger noted the 12-team proposal doesn’t include automatic bids for all Power 5 champions or limit Group of 5 teams to one bid for the highest-ranked conference champion.
Because the field would include the six highest-ranked conference champions (from any of the 10 FBS conferences) and the six remaining highest-ranked teams, it could, realistically, feature multiple Group of 5 conference champions. To my surprise, this detail has too often been overlooked, misunderstood, or misrepresented in coverage since the news broke on Thursday.
And that detail is a really big deal. In 2020, for example, it would’ve resulted in two bids for Group of 5 conference champions—Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina—and zero bids for the Pac-12. Both the Bearcats (No. 8) and Chanticleers (No. 12) finished ahead of the Pac-12 champion, Oregon (No. 25).
It would’ve been the first instance of a two-bid Group of 5 playoff if that 12-team system existed since 2014. Not once in the first six years did two G5 conference champions finish ahead of a Power 5 champion, nor would two G5 teams have reached the playoff with a combination of auto-bids and at-large bids.
More playoff expansion notes: Expansion would come in 2023 at the earliest … It’s a refreshing change to see college football getting it right … Expansion might level the playing field and enhance the regular season … Two U.S. senators are concerned it’s a “cash grab.”
Odom v. Carter
Do you remember Celebrity Deathmatch?
The clay animation series ran on MTV from 1998 until 2002 and returned in several different formats in different countries on different networks for another five years.
That’s the only thing I thought of when seeing Lamar Odom fight Aaron Carter in a celebrity boxing match on Friday night. Unfortunately, as Odom knocked out Carter in the second round in Atlantic City, Judge Mills Lane wasn’t the referee.
El Loco
Go to Sebastián Abreu’s Wikipedia page. On the right side in the bio section, check out the 44-year-old soccer player’s list of clubs.
Abreu, aka “El Loco,” recently joined Sud América, a club in the Uruguayan Segunda Division. He played four games before retiring with 676 career appearances and 326 career goals across 31 different clubs.
“The curtain comes down after 26 years,” he said. “I decided with conviction obviously, understanding that it is the right moment, being active, playing in the first division. I think that is the way, the team is well, it is the right time.”
Forgot About This Catch
New Trailers
Follow me on Twitter, check out my podcast, and bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.
