BCS finalists

The BCS announced today the list of teams still in contention for berths in BCS bowl games and the national championship game on January 7.

The champions from the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and Southeastern conferences automatically qualify for a BCS bowl game.  Here are the teams in each conference who are still contending for their conference's automatic berth:

ACC:  Florida State, Georgia Tech
Big East:  Louisville, Rutgers
Big Ten:  Michigan, Nebraska, Wisconsin
Big 12:  Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas
Pac-12:  Oregon, Stanford, UCLA
SEC:  Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M

In addition to these teams, the pool of teams under consideration also includes:  Boise State, Clemson, Florida, Kent State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Oregon State and South Carolina.

The final BCS standings will be compiled on Sunday, December 2 with bowl pairings announced at 8:30 p.m. ET that night.  The BCS games will be played as follows, all on ESPN:

January 1 - Rose Bowl presented by Vizio
January 1 - Discover Orange Bowl
January 2 - Allstate Sugar Bowl
January 3 - Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
January 7 - Discover BCS National Championship Game

The importance of a strong brand

Check out my blog post, on the importance of a strong brand, on the Premier Sports Management website:

http://www.premiersportsonline.com/blog/2012/11/06/never-underestimate-the-power-of-a-strong-brandeven-in-sports

Penalty flags, red cards, and helmet stickers

Red card:  Let's start down in Austin where Mack Brown thinks it's "disrespectful" of opposing team fans to use the upside-down "Hook 'Em Horns" hand gesture.  This, by the way, is from the who groused, the week before, about the amount of time he had to spend on interviews and such with the Longhorn Network.

Penalty flag:  Sporting KC, our city's lone hope at professional sports glory in 2012, dug a huge hole with the team's 2-nil loss in Houston on Sunday.  Here's hoping that the Cauldron can urge the SKC lads to a decisive victory in playoff action tomorrow night, given the goal differential needed to advance.

Helmet sticker:  Let's give it up for the NBA, who issued flopping warnings to Minnesota's J.J. Barea and Cleveland's Donald Sloan, the first such warning under a new league policy.  Could that policy possibly be adopted by the NCAA with a focus on the defensive tactics employed at Duke?

Penalty flag:  Life in Pullman, WA hasn't been all that much fun for Washington State first-year head coach Mike Leach.  Leach called out his linemen, after Saturday's game, calling their play "bordering on cowardice."  And now, WSU receiver Marquess Wilson has been suspended for an unspecified violation of team rules.  The Cougars are 2-7 overall and 0-6 in Pac 12 play.

Red card:  Kentucky did the expected and fired head coach Joker Phillips.  The school then announced that Phillips would be in charge for the final two regular-season games.  Talk about "dead man walkin'."

Helmet sticker:  Seriously, how cool is it to see Peyton Manning back after his neck surgeries?  Manning is the AFC quarterback leader with 20 touchdowns and the NFL leader with 2,404 total yards to date.