Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
College Football
Saban gambling again with early purge of Kiffin
Y
ou can only poke the
Washington.
bear so much.
Two days later, Saban
Lane Kiffin kept
stunningly announced that
running his mouth , and it
Kiffin wouldn’t be around
may have cost him a chance
for the championship game,
to stay at Alabama for one
giving way immediately to
more week.
offensive coordinator-in-
But Nick Saban is
waiting Steve Sarkisian.
taking a real gamble here,
The head coach issued a
even more than the onside
vague statement that created
kick that helped
more questions
turn the tide in last
than it answered,
year’s national
something about
championship game.
the “time demands
If Alabama’s
of managing both
offense performs
jobs” being too much
well against
for Kiffin to handle
Clemson and
even though this has
helps deliver a
become a familiar
Paul
fifth national
arrangement for
Newberry assistants moving
championship
AP Sports
in eight years,
on to head coaching
then Saban will
jobs.
be vindicated in
Kirby Smart
his decision to switch up
stayed on as Saban’s
offensive coordinators a
defensive coordinator
week before the big game.
through the national
If the Crimson Tide
championship game last
falters — and, frankly,
season after being hired
they didn’t look all that
by Georgia. Two seasons
impressive offensively
ago, Tom Herman finished
in what turned out to be
out Ohio State’s title run as
Kiffin’s farewell at the
offensive coordinator before
Peach Bowl — then Saban
becoming the head coach at
is sure to face plenty of
Houston and, now, Texas.
questions about the wisdom
Kiffin may have sealed
of carrying out what has all
his fate at Alabama with
the looks of a Soviet-style
some inflammatory
purge.
comments in the days
Kiffin, of course,
leading up to the Peach
was already set to leave
Bowl. When asked about
Tuscaloosa at the end of the
the happiest moments of
College Football Playoff to
his three-year tenure, Kiffin
take the head coaching job
said he only remembered the
at Florida Atlantic . He was
many times he was chewed
supposed to stay through the out by his boss. Kiffin
end of the Crimson Tide’s
also said that he thought
season, and indeed was on
Sarkisian’s personality
the sideline last Saturday,
would be a better fit with the
flip card in hand, for a
demanding Saban.
24-7 semifinal victory over
Given that Saban
AP Photo/LM Otero, File
In this Sept. 5, 2015, file photo, Alabama head coach Nick Saban, right, looks on as
offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin calls a play on the sidelines during the second half
of an NCAA college football game against Wisconsin in Arlington, Texas.
extended a coaching
lifeline to Kiffin after he
was unceremoniously fired
at the airport by Southern
Cal, those comments surely
didn’t go over well.
Considering the way
Alabama played in the
Peach Bowl, passing for
57 yards and getting just
17 points from the offense
(one touchdown came off an
interception return), Saban
had further reason to push
up Sarkisian’s start date,
even if that meant ditching a
coach the offensive players
are much more familiar
with — some for as many as
three seasons.
As an analyst, Sarkisian
wasn’t permitted to have that
sort of relationship.
“They’re involved in the
planning. They’re involved
in the organization.
That’s where they make
their contribution, in the
coaching meetings,” Saban
said. “They’re not really
allowed to be involved with
the team.”
It will be interesting to
see how that dynamic plays
out next Monday night in
Tampa.
Just don’t expect Saban
to spend any time talking
about it.
“I don’t know why you
all keep asking me what
changes we’re going to
make,” Saban said during
a previously scheduled
teleconference Tuesday, one
that he surely would have
preferred to skip.
Then, he added
sarcastically that Clemson
coach Dabo Swinney “is a
good friend of mine. Maybe
I’ll just call him up and tell
him what we’re going to do.”
Saban got especially testy
when asked to elaborate on
why it was the best interests
of Kiffin and Alabama that
he not hang around for seven
more days.
“I don’t have anything
else to say about this,” Saban
said. “We did what we did
for the reasons that I’ve
stated many, many times
before, and there’s really
nothing else to talk about. So
there’s no why, there’s no if,
there’s no but. It just is what
it is. The statement says
what it is. We’re moving
forward, so let’s talk about
the game. I mean, it’s only
fair to the players who have
worked hard on both teams
to have an opportunity to
play in a great, competitive
venue, and that’s what we’d
like to talk about.”
Not long before Saban
spoke, Kiffin made it sound
like it was his decision to
leave, which really stretched
the bounds of credibility
— especially when he also
raised the idea of essentially
flipping jobs with Sarkisian
to stay on with the Crimson
Tide as an analyst through
the title game.
“This was not something
that Nick Saban forced me
to do by any means,” Kiffin
insisted. “If I wanted to
coach this game, I would
have coached this game. I
just thought that it wasn’t the
best thing for the players.”
Saban quickly shot down
the idea of Kiffin helping out
next Monday.
“It’s really not even
possible from a legal
standpoint for him to do
those things,” the Alabama
coach said. “That’s not
something that we’re
interested in pursuing.”
Saban is rolling the dice
again.
Let’s see if it pays off
with another championship.
———
Paul Newberry is a sports
columnist for The Associated
Press. Write to him at pnew-
berry(at)ap.org or at www.
twitter.com/pnewberry1963
. His work can be found at
http://bigstory.ap.org/content/
paul-newberry.
Fewer games? Games on campus? Bowls could get a makeover
By RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
Meaningless bowls. Too
many bowls. Made-for-TV
bowls. Shrinking bowl atten-
dance.
There have never been
more bowl games, and three
years into the College Foot-
ball Playoff era there are more
questions than ever about
why these games are being
played at all. Especially when
high-profile players such as
Christian McCaffrey and
Leonard Fournette choose to
skip the postseason to protect
their bodies for the NFL draft.
There is currently an
NCAA-imposed freeze on
the creation of new bowls that
caps the field at 40 through
2019. Over the next few
years the people invested in
the bowls — commissioners,
athletic directors and bowl
executives — will consider
ways to improve the bowl
system and answer the ques-
tion: What should bowls be?
Chances are there will
be fewer bowls, data-driven
limitations on how many
bowls a conference can lock
in and maybe even postseason
games played on campus. But
for those who long for the
days when there were a dozen
or so bowls that rewarded
only the very best teams in
college football, well, you
might as well wish for the
return of leather helmets.
Neither is coming back.
Everyone seems to agree
that while the bowl system is
not perfect, it does not need
to be razed.
Andy Bagnato is a former
sports writer who also
worked for four years as a
public relations executive for
the Fiesta Bowl. He now runs
Bagnato Pflipsen Communi-
cations, a consulting firm
that helped Phoenix land the
this year’s Final Four and
last year’s College Football
Playoff championship game.
“The question for people
in college football is: What’s
the utility of the bowl?”
Bagnato said. “Is it a great
trip for your alumni? For
your student-athletes? Is it
television exposure for four
hours for your program? Is
it a branding exercise for the
school and for a conference?
For the communities I think
the questions become: Are
they tourism magnets? Is the
utility of a bowl game the
fact that it attracts tourists?
All those are factors.
“I don’t know there is one
reason to have a bowl game.”
The main reason is the same
as it ever was. “The first thing
we want them to be is a reward
for the players,” said Big 12
Commissioner Bob Bowlsby,
who also leads the NCAA’s
football oversight committee.
The problem is that bowls
also reward competence, not
excellence.
Albert Cesare/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP
In this Dec. 17, 2016, file photo, fans watch during the
Camelia Bowl NCAA college football game between
Toledo and Appalachian State in Montgomery, Ala.
Once the minimum for
postseason eligibility was
drawn at 6-6 when the
regular season expanded to
12 games, pressure built on
conference officials to place
each eligible team in a bowl.
Coaches want the extra
bowl practices to develop
players and the ability to sell
a bowl game to recruits.
“Mr. Commissioner, if
my 6-6 team stays home
I’m going to be your worst
enemy,” Football Bowl
Association
Executive
Director Wright Waters
recalled hearing from one
university president back
when he was commissioner
Sun Belt Conference.
The bowl lineup grew
to 40 games as Power Five
conferences locked up spots
in most existing games and
other conferences such as the
American Athletic Conference,
Sun Belt and Mountain West
worked to create new games —
often with the help of ESPN.
The result is that during
the last two years 5-7 teams
played in bowl games.
“Beginning in 2020 I
seriously doubt there will be
40 bowl games,” Sun Belt
Commissioner Karl Benson,
who has previously been the
commissioner of the Western
Athletic Conference and the
Mid-American Conference.
But no conference is
about voluntarily shut down
one of its bowls.
That’s where the over-
sight committee will come
in. Bowlsby said the group
has been analyzing data to
determine how many bowl
slots each conference can
typically fill. When bowl
lineups are reset for 2020
and beyond, conferences will
likely be limited to a number
that matches a five-year
average of the eligible teams
they have produced.
Benson said when Texas
State went 6-6 in 2013 but was
shut out of the postseason, the
conference broached the idea
having the Bobcats play a
13th game on campus.
“It could be a way to
navigate when we have too
many teams for the number
of bowls,” Benson said.
Maybe it would help atten-
dance, which dropped 4.94
percent this season from last,
according to data compiled
by the Football Bowl Asso-
ciation. Average attendance
went from 43,018 in 2015-16
to 40,893 this season.
“I think the industry is
healthy,” said Pete Derzis,
senior vice president for
ESPN Events, which owns
and operates 13 bowls, mostly
matching teams from outside
Power Five conferences. All
but four of the 40 FBS bowl
games, plus the national
championship game, are tele-
vised on an ESPN network.
Derzis called the TV
ratings for this season’s
bowls respectable. Waters
said those final numbers
were still being compiled.
But ratings for one particular
game provide part of the
explanation why ESPN is so
heavily invested in bowls.
The Las Vegas Bowl
on Dec. 17, in which San
Diego State beat Houston
34-10, drew 3.7 million TV
viewers on ABC, ESPN’s
parent network. At the same
time, Kentucky and North
Carolina, two of college
basketball’s
traditional
powers, played a thrilling
game won by the Wildcats
103-100. The game drew 3.6
million viewers on CBS.
The ratings for the Rose
Bowl, a down-to-the-wire
52-49 victory by Southern Cali-
fornia over Penn State, jumped
percent 20 percent from last
year, but at 9.4 they are still
way behind the days when that
game would consistently draw
double-digit ratings.
Now the playoff draws
the most attention and every-
thing else feels more like an
exhibition.
Even if the playoff
ultimately expands, college
football will never have a
huge tournament with dozens
of participants. Reaching and
winning a good bowl game
is still a major goal for most
programs.
“But I don’t think there’s
anything wrong with ending
your season with a victory,”
Clemson
coach
Dabo
Swinney said. “And if we
just go to a total playoff, then
there’s only one team happy.”
SCOREBOARD
Local Slate
BOYS’ PREP BASKETBALL
Thursday
Mac-Hi at Riverside, 7 p.m.
Echo at Nixyaawii, 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Pilot Rock at Imbler, 3 p.m.
Irrigon at Grant Union, 6:30 p.m.
Dallas at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Helix at Cove, 7 p.m.
Union at Heppner, 7:30 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Enterprise, 7:30 p.m.
Mitchell/Spray at Arlington, 7:30 p.m.
Ione at Condon/Wheeler, 7:30 p.m.
Joseph at Echo, 7:30 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Powder Valley, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday
Mountain View at Hermiston, 3:45 p.m.
Redmond at Pendleton, 4:30 p.m.
Ontario at Mac-Hi, 4:30 p.m.
Stanfield at Imbler, 5:30 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Enterprise, 5:30 p.m.
Elgin at Heppner, 5:30 p.m.
Arlington at South Wasco, 5:30 p.m.
Condon/Wheeler at Horizon Christian
(Hood River), 5:30 p.m.
Sherman at Ione, 5:30 p.m.
Helix at Powder Valley, 5:30 p.m.
GIRLS’ PREP BASKETBALL
Thursday
Mac-Hi at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Echo at Nixyaawii, 6 p.m.
Friday
Irrigon at Grant Union, 5 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Imbler, 6 p.m.
Union at Heppner, 6 p.m.
Weston-McEwen at Enterprise, 6 p.m.
Helix at Cove, 6 p.m.
Mitchell/Spray at Arlington, 6 p.m.
Ione at Condon/Wheeler, 6 p.m.
Joseph at Echo, 6 p.m.
Nixyaawii at Powder Valley, 6 p.m.
Saturday
Hermiston at Mountain View, 2 p.m.
Redmond at Pendleton, 2:45 p.m.
Ontario at Mac-Hi, 3 p.m.
Stanfield at Imbler, 4 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Enterprise, 4 p.m.
Elgin at Heppner, 4 p.m.
Arlington at South Wasco, 4 p.m.
Condon/Wheeler at Horizon Christian
(Hood River), 4 p.m.
Sherman at Ione, 4 p.m.
Helix at Powder Valley, 4 p.m.
PREP WRESTLING
Friday-Saturday
Mac-Hi, Irrigon, Heppner, Echo at JoHi
Invite (Joseph), 9 a.m.
Saturday
Riverside at Grandview (WA) Winter
Classic, 9 a.m.
Pendleton at Brunner Invitational (Dallas),
9 a.m.
PREP SWIMMING
Saturday
Pendleton, Hermiston at The Dalles Meet
(at Hood River Aquatic Center), 10 a.m.
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Today
Treasure Valley at Blue Mountain, 8 p.m.
Friday
Warner Pacific at Eastern Oregon, 7:30
p.m.
Saturday
Blue Mountain at Big Bend, 4 p.m.
Multnomah at Eastern Oregon, 7:30 p.m.
WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Today
Treasure Valley at Blue Mountain, 6 p.m.
Friday
Warner Pacific at Eastern Oregon, 5:30
p.m.
Saturday
Blue Mountain at Big Bend, 2 p.m.
Multnomah at Eastern Oregon, 5:30 p.m.
COLLEGE WRESTLING
Friday
Eastern Oregon vs. Embry-Riddle (at
Menlo Duals), 6 p.m.
Saturday
Eastern Oregon at Menlo Duals, TBD
Prep Scores
BOYS BASKETBALL
Banks 60, Elmira 41
Beaverton 55, Jesuit 47
Canby 47, Sherwood 46
Cascade 53, Valley Catholic 48
Century 73, Glencoe 49
Corbett 47, Stayton 44
Crescent Valley 69, North Eugene 43
Davis, Wash. 82, Hermiston 59
Fruitland, Idaho 69, Baker 58, OT
Jefferson PDX 66, Cleveland 50
Kennewick, Wash. 82, Umatilla 50
Lake Oswego 60, Newberg 26
Lakeridge 57, Tualatin 54
Lebanon 58, Milwaukie 50
Lincoln 59, Benson 47
Madison 72, Franklin 47
McKay 80, McMinnville 79
McNary 86, Forest Grove 68
Philomath 72, Southridge, British
Columbia 25
Putnam 47, Central 42
Silverton 50, Marist 46
Sisters 54, Redmond 33
Siuslaw 52, Waldport 38
South Albany 64, North Marion 58
South Umpqua 63, Cottage Grove 57, OT
Springfield 68, Sheldon 58
Summit 57, Churchill 54
Sunnyside, Wash. 62, Pendleton 53
Tillamook 55, Gladstone 48
West Albany 79, North Salem 65
West Linn 69, Tigard 54
West Salem 54, South Salem 47
Westview 72, Sunset 51
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Banks 56, Elmira 25
Benson 45, Lincoln 35
Cascade 62, Valley Catholic 47
Century 56, Glencoe 36
Churchill 76, South Eugene 55
Cleveland 74, Jefferson PDX 37
Corvallis 58, Springfield 35
Cottage Grove 38, South Umpqua 27
Crescent Valley 63, North Eugene 49
Franklin 55, Madison 36
Grant 81, Roosevelt 29
Hermiston 53, La Grande 25
Jesuit 56, Beaverton 32
Lake Oswego 58, Newberg 37
Lebanon 46, Milwaukie 43
McMinnville 64, McKay 20
McNary 43, Forest Grove 41, OT
Newport 43, Junction City 29
North Marion 47, South Albany 45
Nyssa 55, Ontario 39
Redmond 47, Sisters 28
Sherwood 45, Canby 42
Silverton 50, Marist 32
Siuslaw 56, Waldport 31
South Salem 72, West Salem 40
Southridge 60, Liberty 18
St. Mary’s Academy 54, Tualatin 45, OT
Stayton 52, Corbett 38
Sunnyside, Wash. 67, Pendleton 60
Tigard 53, West Linn 47, OT
Union, Wash. 54, Astoria 47, OT
Westview 45, Sunset 44
Football
NFL
Wild-card Playoffs
Saturday
Oakland at Houston, 1:35 p.m. (ESPN)
Detroit at Seattle, 5:15 p.m. (NBC)
Sunday
Miami at Pittsburgh, 10:05 a.m. (CBS)
N.Y. Giants at Green Bay, 1:40 p.m. (FOX)
Divisional Playoffs
Saturday, Jan. 14
Seattle, Green Bay or N.Y. Giants at
Atlanta, 1:35 p.m. (FOX)
Houston, Oakland or Miami at New
England, 5:15 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday, Jan. 15
Pittsburgh, Houston or Oakland at Kansas
City, 10:05 a.m. (NBC)
Green Bay, N.Y. Giants or Detroit at
Dallas, 1:40 p.m. (FOX)
NCAA
Bowl Glance
Monday, Jan. 9
National Championship
at Tampa, Fla.
Alabama (14-0) vs. Clemson (13-1), 5:30
p.m. (ESPN)
Basketball
NBA
Monday’s Late Game
L.A. Clippers 109, Phoenix 98
Tuesday’s Games
Philadelphia 93, Minnesota 91
Indiana 121, Detroit 116
Boston 115, Utah 104
San Antonio 110, Toronto 82
Dallas 113, Washington 105
Phoenix 99, Miami 90
Sacramento 120, Denver 113
L.A. Lakers 116, Memphis 102
Today’s Games
Atlanta at Orlando, 4 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Charlotte, 4 p.m.
Milwaukee at New York, 4:30 p.m.
Chicago at Cleveland, 5 p.m.
Memphis at L.A. Clippers, 7:30 p.m.
Miami at Sacramento, 7:30 p.m.
Portland at Golden State, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday’s Games
Brooklyn at Indiana, 4 p.m.
Charlotte at Detroit, 4:30 p.m.
Utah at Toronto, 4:30 p.m.
Atlanta at New Orleans, 5 p.m.
Oklahoma City at Houston, 5 p.m.
Phoenix at Dallas, 5:30 p.m.
San Antonio at Denver, 6 p.m.
L.A. Lakers at Portland, 7:30 p.m.
NCAA
Men’s Top 25
Tuesday’s Games
No. 3 Kansas 90, Kansas State 88
No. 6 Kentucky 100, Texas A&M 58
No. 7 West Virginia at Texas Tech, 6:15
p.m.
No. 13 Wisconsin 75, No. 25 Indiana 68
No. 14 North Carolina 89, Clemson 86, OT
No. 24 Florida 70, Mississippi 63
Today’s Games
No. 1 Villanova at No. 18 Butler, 3:30 p.m.
No. 2 Baylor vs. Iowa State, 5 p.m.
No. 8 Duke vs. Georgia Tech, 4 p.m.
No. 9 Louisville at No. 23 Notre Dame,
6 p.m.
No. 10 Creighton at St. John’s, 5:30 p.m.
No. 11 Virginia at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m.
No. 15 Oregon at Washington, 6 p.m.
No. 21 Virginia Tech at N.C. State, 6 p.m.
Thursday’s Games
No. 4 UCLA vs. California, 6 p.m.
No. 5 Gonzaga at San Francisco, 6 p.m.
No. 17 Arizona vs. Utah, 7 p.m.
No. 19 Saint Mary’s vs. BYU, 8 p.m.
No. 20 Purdue at Ohio State, 4 p.m.
No. 25 Southern Cal vs. Stanford, 8 p.m.
Women’s Top 25
Tuesday’s Game
No. 11 Ohio State 94, Northwestern 87
Today’s Games
No. 1 UConn vs. East Carolina at the XL
Center, Hartford, Conn., 7 p.m.
No. 2 Baylor at No. 17 West Virginia, 7
p.m.
No. 3 Maryland at Nebraska, 8 p.m.
No. 15 Texas at Kansas, 8 p.m.
No. 20 Oklahoma vs. Kansas State, 8
p.m.
No. 22 South Florida at Tulane, 8 p.m.
No. 23 DePaul vs. Creighton, 8 p.m.
Thursday’s Games
No. 4 Mississippi State at Arkansas, 8
p.m.
No. 5 South Carolina at Auburn, 7 p.m.
No. 6 Florida State at North Carolina, 7
p.m.
No. 7 Notre Dame vs. Wake Forest, 7
p.m.
No. 8 Louisville at Virginia, 7 p.m.
No. 13 Duke at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m.
No. 14 Miami at N.C. State, 7 p.m.
No. 24 Kentucky vs. Missouri, 7 p.m.
Hockey
NHL
Tuesday’s Games
New Jersey 3, Carolina 1
Buffalo 4, N.Y. Rangers 1
Washington 6, Toronto 5, OT
Columbus 3, Edmonton 1
Winnipeg 6, Tampa Bay 4
Montreal 2, Nashville 1, OT
Los Angeles 2, San Jose 1, OT
Today’s Games
Winnipeg at Florida, 4 p.m.
Montreal at Dallas, 5 p.m.
N.Y. Rangers at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.
Colorado at Calgary, 7 p.m.
Arizona at Vancouver, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Anaheim, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday’s Games
Columbus at Washington, 4 p.m.
Edmonton at Boston, 4 p.m.
Nashville at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m.
Carolina at St. Louis, 5 p.m.
Buffalo at Chicago, 5:30 p.m.
Detroit at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota at San Jose, 7:30 p.m.