How Superbowls and National Championships Are Won

The NFL season kicks off tonight with a rematch of last year's NFC championship and college football is in full swing. Congrats to Boise St. for taking care of business against Virginia Tech in a hostile environment. Although I'm not a believer in Boise St. their win is a perfect example of how the BCS operates. In college football it's not about if you lose a game but when you lose. It's better to lose a game early in the season so you have time to regain your ranking. All indications point to the SEC champion playing for the title (Florida or Alabama). The SEC is the power conference right now and the voters put a heavy emphasis on those teams. Any team that loses after week 8 has no shot of playing for the national championship against the SEC winner. Conversely the NFL season is broken down into 4 quarters. Every year some upstart team starts out 3-1 or 4-0 only to finish the season 6-10 while other teams start out 1-3 or 2-2 and sneak into the playoffs. This is because the NFL is all about adjustments and injuries. As the season wears on teams get more of an opportunity to study film and dissect a teams weaknesses. That's why we see teams that are 8-4 end up at 9-7 and miss the playoffs. You shouldn't read too much into into early wins in the NFL or early losses in college football. Strength of schedule in college football is the great equalizer and the 16 game season helps to balance the NFL. Let the games begin.