Sports On Monday is back after Thanksgiving break ...
Last Week's Won-Loss Smiley
New York Jets (vs. Titans)

The Big XII Championship has me going through a range of emotions:

Shock: I'm not going to talk about Saturday night.  Nope.  I can't.  I'm still trying to wake up from that nightmare.   There's just one thing I --- Geez, Gah, it hurts to even think about it.

Justification: I said, didn't I, that all "greatest team ever" discussions made me nervous?

Malicious Glee: We broke the BCS! We broke the BCS!

I do have some rational thoughts on the subject:

Can anybody explain why the same people screaming for a playoff in college football are the same ones saying Oklahoma shouldn't be in the title game because they didn't win their conference?  Yes, all other NCAA sports have playoffs.  Most of those playoffs also don't exclude also-rans in a conference from winning it all. 

And you think the human polls are so error proof?  Yeah, I'm sure having your overtired grad assistant fill in your ballot for the coaches' poll is something only basketball coaches do ...  As for the media, well we all know sportswriters make their own rules when it suits them. (See AL Rookie of the Year voting, or ask George Steinbrenner)

But to get back to that non-conference champion thing. Why should we penalize a team with a great season which did not win its conference championship game when not every conference plays a championship game?  Say USC had been the undefeated team going into Saturday and lost .... it wouldn't have changed anything, because the PAC-10 doesn't have a championship game.  Or you have a national champ like Ohio State last year, who never played the second-best team in its conference (Iowa).  Until everyone has the same basic set-up, the conference championships should be played for bragging rights, the automatic BCS bid, and nothing more.

Week 14 Won-Loss Smileys
Note: Due to the many, many games played by college basketball teams and the fact that S.O.M likes Women's b-ball, too, the teams eligible for smileys are much more restricted.
University of Oklahoma football (shudder ... I can't, I can't even say it ..)
University of Oklahoma women's basketball (6-0, Rank: 17)
University of Oklahoma men's basketball (5-0, with big road win vs. Mich. State; Rank (last week): 12)
Oklahoma State men's basketball (4-1, unranked)
NY Jets (vs. Buffalo Bills)

Sports on Monday People of the Week:
D'Angelo Alexander and Johnnie Gilbert, OU men's basketball team, for taking the charges that helped beat Michigan State. Honorable mention to Jason Detrick, returning from a red-shirt year with a career high 26 points. Good to have ya back, Jas!