Former FSU QB Chris Rix Shares His Thoughts on the Upcoming 2010 CFB Season

In some way, shape or form we are all busy people. Yet, we all strive to complete tasks in a timely manner so that we may pay, with what little time we have left, attention to the rest of our 24/7 lifestyles.

Playing phone tag can add a little hitch to that giddy-up.

The constant back and forth when trying to connect with somebody as you stand in Eastern Standard Time and your phone-a-friend is located in Pacific Standard Time just adds a degree of difficulty to the process that even the Russian judge can appreciate.

But as I started to track down former Florida State quarterback Chris Rix to become Whatifsports.com's NCAA football insider, never was I happier to hear his voicemail kick on last week.

The nuts and bolts of the message were present: name, number and reason for calling, but it's the way he ended his voice mail message that struck me.

"Make an impact today," Rix said before the beep.

The reason I spoke after the beep and not to Chris directly was because he was on the verge of making his own impact in the days to come. He took a trip to a remote island to spread the word of the ministry that he now represents.

On top of raising a family, dabbling in broadcasting, competing in a semi-pro football league, and running a football academy, the former Seminole is the Director of Ministries for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in a suburb of Los Angeles.

Boom. Impacted.

Rix's passion for life matches his passion of the sport he excelled at during his time under Bobby Bowden.

He is still the only four-year starter at quarterback in FSU history. During his tenure, the 'Noles won three ACC titles and qualified for four straight bowl games.

Though he missed most of his senior season due to an ankle injury, Rix made an impact while at Florida State and with his new gig at FCA, wants to continue that trend off the field.

Now that I've brought you up to speed on Chris Rix, then and now, it's time to impact your life.

The reason Whatifsports.com chose Rix as our NCAA football insider is because he still follows, cares about and delivers strong takes on the game outside the X's and the O's.

He's providing the color commentary, while some other "experts" bring vanilla ice cream to the party when we are really in the mood for some "Birthday Cake Remix."

So, I hit Rix with three (don't say burning, don't say burning, don't say burning) timely questions as the 2010 college football season kicks off tonight.

Because it's one of those unwritten rules of sports journalism and a topic that takes a defibrillator to the chest each fall, I started off by tackling the topic of the current BCS system.

Play Rix SimMatchup
'02 FSU vs '02 Va-Tech

Rix, being the man of faith that he is, hopes the NCAA creates a more perfect union for the BCS and is asking for that entities' hand in marriage.

"The fact is, millions (of fans) want a playoff and millions like the bowl games and want to keep it as it is," Rix said. "So why not make both parties happy?"

Will you, BCS, accept this rose (bowl)?

"My solution is using the four major BCS bowls (Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange) as the 8 team playoff bracket," Rix said. "The only difference is that I would not have two more games with the remaining teams. I would have one."

Rix believes that based on an entire regular season body of work and a first-round playoff against one of the four "best" teams in the country, one should have a better gauge of who earned the right to play for a national title. On top of that, few coaches and universities would relish the thought of preparing for two more bowl games.

Remember, these are student-athletes.

"Out of the four winners from these games, I would have a system made up of coaches, writers, and yes-some computer elements to calculate the statistics," Rix said.

"That determines the two best teams out of those four based on their whole season AND how they performed in their bowl game. I am confident that we would be closer to determining who the best team in the land is, not primarily by computers, but on land."

Some fans of the mid-majors and those aficionados of blue turf think that if Boise State can beat Virginia Tech on Monday night, the Broncos are in prime position to make a run at a national title.

Rix, a stand-out at a college football power, is embracing the little engines that could as smaller schools work their way up the college football food chain.

Raw Deal

Rix believes coach Bowden deserved better

"I do like the fact that some of the smaller schools are beginning to be treated as equals," Rix said. "I like it especially because they are willing to play the 'big boys' from the AQ (automatic qualifier) conferences and teams with recruiting classes ranked higher than theirs.

"While a team like Boise State's "WAC" schedule (no pun intended) might not compare week in and week out with say Oregon, Oregon State, and a perennial top-5 school like Oklahoma, the fact is when the Broncos have played all three of those teams - they have BEAT them."

Speaking of winning, Rix won a whole bunch of ball games for Bobby Bowden. Recently, the former FSU coach made it publicly known that he did not leave the Seminoles on his own terms. He was gently shoved out of the program in order to make way for Jimbo Fisher.

"First off, I never liked the coach-in-waiting arrangement that FSU and its "officials" put in place a few years ago with Fisher and coach Bowden," Rix said.

"That whole circus was forced upon coach Bowden, just as his "retirement" was. In my opinion, FSU should have honored their word to keep coach Bowden as the head coach through the 2010 season, and in 2011, the program would be handed over to Fisher."

With coach Bowden taking advantage of the media circuit to share his side of the unfortunate end to his storied coaching career, I asked Rix, if he was a player under coach Fisher, what he would want to hear from him on the subject of Bowden's early dismissal.

"I would want, and even more appreciate, coach Fisher's approach to the situation to be along the mindset of, 'Coach Bowden built this program from the ground up, let's do him proud and bring Florida State back where it belongs.'"

Leave a message at the beep.