New ways to pick College Football Playoff, LSU's villain era and Aggies on the rise? | Bohls

AUSTIN – While I got ya, here are nine things and one crazy prediction:

1. Any volunteers? 

Found myself with some free time around 4 a.m. last night when I couldn’t sleep. So I thought I’d solve the College Football Playoff problem. You know, the selection committee picking the teams. I’m on record as saying the current makeup isn’t the best option possible. Athletic directors don’t have the knowledge or insight into football or if they do, their priorities are not right. Coaches know the game but are too biased. All former players might actually work but again, they’re biased. … So here are my suggestions. (1) Put 13 bookies and oddsmakers on it. They have more inside information than anyone, right? (2) Put only people who  are already the most hated or most polarizing people because they have the thickest skin and are used to harsh criticism. Like Lane Kiffin, Pat McAfee, Jane Fonda (read: Vietnam), Elon Musk, Lance Armstrong, He Hate Me (read: XFL), Aaron Rodgers, Sophie Cunningham, NCAA prez Charlie Baker, Cody Campbell, Paul Finebaum, Connor Stalion, Jim Harbaugh, anyone from Michigan, Lincoln Riley or Don Denkinger. (3) Put the most beloved folks on it. We’ll call it the Dolly Parton Committee. Who would dare question them? Like Taylor Swift, Paul Finebaum (yes, he qualifies for both), Tim Tebow, Mack Brown, Tom Hanks, Kirk Herbstreit’s dog, Caitlin Clark, Frank Beamer, the late Mr. Rogers, any soccer fan from Norway. (4) Let AI pick the teams. Or ChatGPT, which my wife Vicki calls “Chad.” (5) If we must have athletic directors, try relegation. Pick the ADs of last year’s 13 worst FBS teams because their teams won’t likely be CFP contenders, so no conflict of interest. What’s the worst that can happen?

Sign up for Kirk Bohls’ newsletter

Sign up for Kirk Bohls’ new newsletter for news, exclusive analysis and insights on University of Texas sports.

2. Villains not so anonymous

You’ve all heard the grumbling by LSU over its ability to take football players who are waived by NFL teams, and you’ve heard its pushback against a near-unanimous vote by SEC presidents to forbid such practice and grant commissioner Greg Sankey the authority to punish teams for doing so with very harsh penalties. LSU apparently abstained. We’ve started to hear some rumblings that the SEC should just kick LSU out of the league if it does not want to abide by the rules the other 15 schools accept. Sounds reasonable enough even though we all know LSU does not want to bolt for browner pastures. That said, I’m guessing Lane Kiffin and Will Wade could probably dominate the Sun Belt or even the American Athletic Conference. Yeah, LSU wouldn’t quite get the same financial revenue from either of those leagues than it does the SEC, but the Tigers would make a great bully in one of those leagues. Yes, we know this is not a serious possibility, but for the sake of argument, whom should the SEC go after for a replacement if LSU takes its ball and go home? We know Texas Tech wouldn’t be an option, given its tendency to decline to abide by rules that ultimately made quarterback Brendan Sorsby ineligible for the season for gambling. Besides the usual targets – Notre Dame, Florida State, Miami and Duke – we have a few possibilities the SEC should consider. Heck maybe USC because the Trojans could at least play in front of big crowds on the road. … If LSU really gets feisty and is expelled from the SEC, here are some fun teams for expansion. North Dakota State. Heck, they might win the SEC. Tulane. SEC stays in the New Orleans area. Houston. Big market. Kelvin Sampson and Willie Fritz are awesome. Boise State. That blue field is mesmerizing. San Diego State. What SEC fans don’t want to go to San Diego? Nebraska. The Cornhuskers deserve to be relevant again. Steal Michigan. That would really poke the Big Ten, but the Wolverines don’t exactly follow the rules either. So take Northwestern for trips to Chicago to see the Cubs. … I found it very comical that Kiffin went to his player leadership council to get their thoughts about picking up NFL players and they were all on board. Of course, I’m sure, none of those players susceptible to being cut by LSU are on said council. At this rate, there is no way Kiffin wins the league’s Mr. Congeniality Award. … Finally, call me a bit surprised what Aaron Donald came out of retirement and chose the Los Angeles Rams over LSU. … Texas’ Steve Sarkisian said Monday. “I think our presidents got it right. They voted (almost) unanimously that if you have been a professional, you can’t come back to college. It wasn’t like it was a split vote. It was unanimous. If you’re taking a player off an NFL roster and telling someone who’s been on your roster for nine months to go kick rocks, that doesn’t sit well with me. I think that’s wrong. I think that’s morally wrong.”

3. Making a living

Sarkisian commended those ex Longhorns who have made active NFL rosters. Texas’ count of pros is 45 with four on injured reserve. “We need to get back to the mid-2000s when we were in the 50s,” he said. … Georgia leads all colleges with 73 on NFL rosters, followed by Alabama (72) and Ohio State (71). … Congrats to ex-Longhorns defensive end Ethan Burke, who made the Ravens as a free agent. He said he used to dress up in Ravens uniforms for Halloween, and now his play did the trick in preseason. “I knew he was going to make a roster,” Arch Manning said. “He’s a glue guy.” Asked who the glue guys are on the Texas roster, he said it’s hard to tell so early but named linebacker Justin Cryer and edge rusher Lance Jackson. … But it wasn’t the best of weekends for the Longhorns as several prominent ex players got cut. I presume most of them will sign with LSU soon. They include Cowboys running back Jaydon Blue (Klein Cain), quarterback Shane Buechele, offensive linemen Cam Williams and Christian Jones (Cypress Woods) and defensive back Jaylon Guilbeau. But Blue was picked up by the Eagles and could come back to haunt the Cowboys. … Sam Ehlinger killed it in his last Broncos preseason game with three touchdowns and safely made the team.

4. Speaking of QBs

Now Quinn Ewers was never considered a dual-threat quarterback during his record-breaking days at Texas, but he’s on the move again and has run from the mess that is the Miami Dolphins. He was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round draft pick in 2028. The Dolphins discarded him for a song. At this point after starting just three games and going 1-2 in his first year in Miami, he might just be a career backup because he doesn’t run and he doesn’t have the strongest arm. … That tells you how hard it is to play quarterback in the NFL but also maybe Sarkisian deserves more credit for milking two College Football Playoff semifinal appearances out of the former No. 1 recruit in the nation. Ewers had a spectacular career at Texas and should be considered one of the school’s top five quarterbacks ever. But it also leaves the Longhorns without a big prospect of a starting quarterback in that league. Neither Vince Young nor Colt McCoy wowed the NFL, Buechele was cut and Ehlinger and Ewers appear to be backup quarterbacks, a job that still pays well but leaves much to be desired. Ewers is only 23 but played in just four games last season with three touchdowns and three interceptions. Arch, you’re up next. … Arch Manning said Monday he feels so much more comfortable and relaxed in Year 2 as a starter. “Everything is moving a little slower, which is a good thing.” … He did say he does set personal goals. When pressed to name one, Manning said, “To win every game.” … He said he watched some of the TCU-Florida State game Saturday. When he was asked if he’d like to play overseas like the Horned Frogs did and are now Doubted in Dublin, he said, “Maybe that’d be cool, but I don’t like long flights.” Who does? … Manning was asked to explain why he says “Butter” after a great pass completion. He said, “I don’t know if you guys can do (say) it in your field. Maybe if you ask a good question, then you will say it (butter).” We’ll work on that, Arch.

5. OK, Texas A&M, what have you got?

This is a fascinating season for the Aggies because they have shown signs of arriving on the big stage with last year’s 11-2 season and CFP berth. Third-year head coach Mike Elko had the line of the week at SEC Media Days when he was asked how he’d keep his players from getting overconfident. Elko said, “We’ll show ’em our trophy case. It’s empty.” That’s exactly the kind of no-nonsense, keep-it-real attitude that is necessary to help A&M sustain that success. I applaud Elko for that approach. … The Austin American-Statesman’s Cedric Golden, TexAgs columnist Olin Buchanan and I spoke to the Texas Medical Association in our annual college football preview last week, and our friend Olin got off the line of the day when he said about the Aggies, “Everybody can have an off century.” Yeah, been a minute since they won a title in 1939. Buchanan does, however, think A&M will be very good this fall as do I. “I think Elko is the guy who could do that,” Buchanan said about winning a championship. “He’s the coach A&M’s been looking for since the (R.C.) Slocum era ended. It looked like Jimbo (Fisher) was the guy, but he got lazy with his hiring.” … Right now I have the Aggies ticketed for a 9-3 record with losses to LSU, Alabama and Oklahoma and no CFP appearance but a win over the Longhorns. Four new offensive line starters and more accuracy from Marcel Reed (12 interceptions last year, four against Texas and Miami) will be the keys. … Reed addressed the rivalry in an interview with USA Today last spring that was published Tuesday. “I hate the color orange,” he said. “The colors just look so ugly. Everywhere you go (in Austin), you see that color orange. Burnt orange? Who likes burnt orange? Texas, it’s the rival, bro. You gotta hate them.” Reed maybe hates them but hasn’t beaten them and will get another chance Nov. 27 in College Station. He hasn’t played well in the two losses to the Longhorns. He’s averaged just 163 yards passing and thrown three interceptions with no touchdowns. “It sucks that we’ve lost to them twice,” he said. “But they’re coming here this year, so they’re gonna have to pay. I’ve got something for them, for sure.”

6. Things I think I know

I think it shouldn’t be taunting or unsportsmanlike conduct when an offensive player signals first down in college football. And I despise the practice of taunting. … I think this Lionel Messi guy is pretty decent. Four goals in one game? Really? I see that he just retired from international competition. Wonder if LSU has a men’s soccer team he could join. … I think Miami is really trying to get that No. 1 draft pick. The Dolphins are the youngest team in the NFL, averaging just 25 years and 270 days, according to Bookies.com. They kept 14 rookies. … I think TCU may have found its run game with Jeremy Payne, but he only ran well on the perimeter. Ed Small, the sophomore receiver from Austin Anderson, looked good with nine catches for 65 yards. Remember, he was once committed to play baseball for the Longhorns. … I think I was astounded when I heard North Carolina’s early 12-10 lead over the Horned Frogs marked the first time Bill Belichick’s Tar Heels team had held a halftime lead over a Power 4 opponent in 13 games. That’s progress. … I think USC quarterback Jayden Maiava must be the Heisman frontrunner now since he barely had an incompletion, alas against San Jose State. … Unless it’s Virginia’s Beau Pribula, who Missouri somehow let get away. The Cavaliers look strong and are my dark horse to win the ACC. … Unless the Heisman lead goes to Austyn Modrzewski of Central Connecticut, who had six touchdowns in his debut. …

7. Setting down her bucket

Longtime Texas athletics staff member Chris Plonsky will be retiring from her current role as chief of staff/executive senior associate athletics director and senior woman administrator at the end of the 2026-27 academic year, the school announced Tuesday. After 39 years on campus, she will give up her duties but continue to work with Longhorn athletics in a different role. … Last week ,Texas women’s basketball coach Vic Schaefer announced he’d signed 6-foot Australian guard Jayda Clark for the upcoming season. Clark has not played college basketball, but she should add a veteran presence to a young Texas roster that has five freshmen. Clark, 21, has played professionally in Australia for two years, but I suppose this is pending the SEC rule aimed at forbidding adding pro athletes. She scored 36 points and made eight 3-pointers in her last WNBL game. “We are thrilled to add such a great young lady and her family as well as a tremendous player to our program,” Schaefer said in a statement. “Jayda has been playing in the WNBL Professional League in Australia for the past two years and she is coming to us after having a great season this year. Jayda will bring experience and the ability to score the basketball at all three levels. She is a veteran player with size and strength at the guard position being able to play multiple positions.”

8. Scattershooting

While wondering whatever happened to former Texas receiver Alfred Jackson. Last week’s target, former linebacker Bill Hamilton, who is in the UT Hall of Honor, was actually recruited to Texas as a quarterback and should have been given that chance in Darrell Royal’s final season. Hamilton is a retired orthopedic surgeon who worked at Baylor Scott & White in Temple. He and wife, Caren, live on Lake Belton. Bill was the longtime team doctor for the Temple Wildcats. Teammate and fellow linebacker Morgan Copeland told me, “In addition to being the linebacker I would like to have been, Bill is a really great human being. He had a very distinguished professional career, and today has a large universe of friends, as he did back in the day.” Asked if he would let Hamilton operate on him, Copeland cracked, “I might have considered it if he was only on his first beer.”

9. On the couch

If you want the latest scary movie, try out “The Whisper Man” on Netflix. This taut thriller starting Adam Scott and Robert De Niro about a serial killer of young boys and the whole father-son dynamic will keep you entranced. It’s not exactly a horror movie, just more suspenseful with a twist borrowed from Sixth Sense without the same jaw-dropping reaction. Gave it 8 ducks.

Crazy prediction

Virginia will win the ACC.

Subscribe

There’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.

This article originally published at New ways to pick College Football Playoff, LSU’s villain era and Aggies on the rise? | Bohls.