A Cup Of Coffee...And Why the Big XII Championship Site Rotates

Fellow college football fans, could Saturday have been more fun or more controversial?  With all the conference title games and the annual Army/Navy game, everything was going great.  Then the end of the Big 12 title game came and after blowouts, comebacks, and fun, all talk turned to officiating.

I'm not going to sit here and complain about the officiating.  Heck, every reasonable college football fan in the country knows that if Nebraska had a inkling of a offense, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about it.  I would even venture a guess that it would be Texas fans traveling to San Diego and not Nebraska fans.

No, I am going to sit here and talk about another subject that has me fired up, the fact that the Texas schools want all the Big 12 championships played in the state of Texas. 

Saturday in a nutshell proved why this is a bad idea. 

First, let's put the shoe on the other foot.  Do you really believe if that was Nebraska driving for a winning field goal, the officials would have stopped the head coach in mid stride and called for a review?  Heck, if you have video proof that the end of a game has ever been decided like that before in college, pro, or even high school I would love to see it. 

I have watched plenty of football in my lifetime and never before has the end of a game been replayed like that.  I would venture to guess you would have to go to the Munich Olympics and the gold medal basketball game for even the casual fan to see a ending so controversial in terms of adding time to the clock.

Second, the Big 12 South would like to keep all games in their area because they want to play in a controlled climate. Well, in St. Louis they do have a dome since you're so scared of playing outdoors in the snow.  Come on, that right there shoots down that argument.

Third, the Big 12 says there won't be home field advantage with the football championships played in Arlington.  Once again, Saturday proved that is wrong. 

Let's take another sport, men's basketball.  Let's say every championship is played in the Qwest arena in Omaha.  Be honest Big 12 south fan, do you really believe at the end of a close Kansas/Texas match-up you're going to have a close iffy call go your way? 

You're only fooling yourself if you say yes. 

This is collegiate athletics, one of the most passionate fan bases in the world.  Referees are in decent shape because they want to get the heck out of town fast when they make a close call that goes against the home team.  It would be the same with conference titles played in North or South dominated areas.  KU fans are rabid and they will travel to Omaha for that game.

Texas, you can have the win in this title game, but don't think in an instant that every title game should be played in the heart of Texas.  There are controlled environments in the North, so your players don't get cold.  As for close calls, they will come as well, but might as well have a call go for a Big 12 North team every other year or so.  Unless of course, you're scared to come north of the Mason-Dixon line to play.