Happy Memorial Day ...

The official kick off to Summer has begun in America with Memorial Day. Our thoughts and prayers are with those families and for those who have passed in service for our freedom.

The countdown of the 2014 College Football Season has also begun. Less than 100 days, until the opening weekend of College Football!

Two preseason magazines have hit the shelves.

Lindy's Sports College Football National Edition 2014 Preview, as well, as The Sporting News College Football are on the racks at Barnes and Noble and other fine retailers.  

The preview for the College Football Playoff inaugural season can begin. Out with the BCS poll and in with the 13 member Selection Committee.

Rutgers may not want Dr. Condoleeza Rice for their commencement speach in 2014, but Rice is the sole women headlining the 13 member Selection Committee for the College Football Playoff.

Five current athletic directors will serve, along with the patriarch of the Manning family, a former NCAA executive vice president, a former Big East Commissioner, a former sportswriter, a former superintendent of the Air Force Academy, two former head coaches and Ms. Rice.

Four teams will be chosen for the College Football Playoff, as The Selection Committee uses their iPad specifically loaded with software allowing them to watch any game in the country at any time. America would love to carry that iPad, since the committee members will not travel to games as special guests.

The Selection Committee will rank the Top 25 beginning with the midseason to the end of the regular season. But, votes and totals will remain private.

Lindy's Sports and The Sporting News both like the same four programs, but not in the same order: Alabama, Florida State, Oklahoma and Oregon.

Out with the BCS National Championship Game and this season: the Rose and Sugar Bowl games will host the semi-final games, so the Big Ten or Pac Ten will not likely play in the Granddaddy of Bowl Games this season.

The Selection Committee will determine who plays in the Rose, Orange,  Fiesta, Sugar, Cotton and Peach Bowls each season, as part of the new College Football Playoff. Those bowls will rotate over the next 12 years as semi-final hosts, each getting to host four times over the 12-year span.

Notre Dame has a twice in 12-year period guarantee to play the ACC champion in the Orange Bowl. One spot in the six bowls will be reserved for the top-rated team from the so-called non-Big Five (Sun Belt, MAC, Mountain West, American and Conference USA).

With the BCS, a conference (Big 12, Big Ten, Pac 12, ACC and SEC, for example) was limited to two BCS teams in the old BCS bowls, but not anymore.  The College Football Playoff is not limited in any way, other than to  the choices of 13 members of The Selection Committee.

ESPN will enjoy the slate of lesser bowls to highlight upcoming big Bowls, a traditional New Year's Eve and Day slate of games and four-team College Football Playoff.

College Football has its Final Four in 2014.

We say good bye tonight: Final BCS Title Game: Florida State (13-0) vs. Auburn (12-1)

BCS Championship: Auburn vs. Florida State at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN (HD) - The Tigers try to keep the SEC dominance going in the Final Game of the BCS, as the ACC's Seminoles counter in the final BCS Title Game.

Sugar Bowl form New Orleans: Alabama vs. Oklahoma

Sugar Bowl :
Alabama vs. Oklahoma at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN (HD)

Nick Saban and his defending back to back BCS champions from the SEC team face off with Bob Stoops and his Big 12 team in New Orleans. It is not quite a remark of the Last Days of Disco, but the final season of the BCS is coming to an end.

The final season of Leaders, Legends and BCS has come: The envelop please ...

Michigan State vs. Stanford in Rose Bowl, in the 100th Game!

At least Ohio State made the B1G Title Game for the first time in three years. Michigan, not at all. Little Brother in MI is at the top of the B1G!

B1G East in 2014 

1) MSU (8-0) - Rose Bowl bound for the first time in 26 years!

2) OSU (8-0) - at large BCS for Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes!

3) PSU (4-4) - probation

4) Michigan (3-5) - hearing they may be headed to Tempe for a date with K-State?

5) Maryland (3-5 ACC Atlantic) - Will they be in the Military vs. someone like Marshall or could they fall to B1G spot in Detroit?
6) Rutgers (3-5 in AAC) - and the will play Notre Dame in Pinstripe Bowl!
7) Indiana (3-5) - The Hoosiers are in the cellar, with state rival Purdue headed to the B1G West.

B1G West in 2014
1) Wisconsin (6-2) - Should be Cap 1 for 2013!
2) Iowa (5-3) - Should be Outback for 2014!
3) Nebraska (5-3) - Next, would be the Gator for the Cornhuskers?
4) Minnesota (5-3) - The Texas Bowl is not on January 1, so Big Ten fans can see it ...
5) Northwestern (1-7) - The season didn't pan out ...
6) Illinois (1-7) - Welcome back to Iowa's schedule for the first time, since '08.
7) Purdue (0-8) - Still in the cellar, though it is out West.

With departures, division realignment and new schedules, the Big Ten pecking order will likely see wholesale changes in the coming season. Here's to the Holidays!

The era of Leaders and Legends has passed. The Leaders won the first two titles, but the Legends finished it off in Year 3, with the Michigan State Spartans winning it all.

If the new Final 4 was happening this season:

1. Auburn (12-1) - the SEC schedule in the West was better
2. Florida State (13-0) - the ACC is a little soft, but they made the playoffs
3. Alabama (11-1) - the reigning champs would still be in the hunt
4. Michigan State (12-1) - the B1G isn't as soft as once suspected ...   

But, we will have to wait until next year ...

So, the final BCS Title Game will be Florida State (13-0) vs. Auburn (12-1) in Pasadena for the final game.