BCS Rankings Hopelessly Tainted

The first college football game is still more than a week away and already the BCS is off track.

The BCS, of course, is a formula that is supposed to bring together the two most deserving teams to play for the college football national championship at the end of the season.

The BCS-vs.-playoff debate continues to smolder, but there’s no point in rehashing it here because the BCS isn’t going anywhere as long as the current contracts with the bowls and networks are in place (through 2014).

(Continue to More From Les)

A Delayed Bolt of Lightning

All the praise, adulation, historical perspective – even reasoned skepticism – should have come to Usain Bolt a year ago.

A year ago, Bolt was doing almost exactly what he just finished doing in Berlin at the World Track and Field Championships, except he was doing in Beijing at the Olympics, on an immeasurably larger stage. That should have been his moment, his time, his chance to savor the global spotlight.

Problem is, the spotlight ran away from him, as fast as he ran away from his competitors. The only time it turned toward him was to rain dirt, disrespect and insult on him. What Bolt is getting – for taking three gold medals, for setting world records, for reveling in his own excellence and inviting the world to revel in it with him – is nothing more than a late payment on what was due him when he originally earned it.

(Continue to The Steele Drum)

Bucs' Morris Wears Heavy Headset

Raheem Morris, the youngish coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will turn 33 next month and he's finding out that decisions are a tough part of this high-profile job.

Media and fans were speculating on his big impending decision, the starting quarterback job for his football team. It was supposed to come down this week, prior to Thursday's preseason home game against the Miami Dolphins.

(Continue to Buccaneer Bow Shots)

25 Reasons to Be Excited About KU

The Jayhawks squeaked their way into the AP Top-25 poll by claiming the final spot. That might not be where true Jayhawk fans want their team to be, but let's be honest, preseason polls are about as accurate as my driving-the-fairway percentage-- somewhere between zero and not much.

So here are 25 reasons to be excited about the upcoming 'Hawks season.

25. Nebraska is returning to the site where it gave up nearly 3/4 of 100 points in 2007.

(Continue to Inside Jayhawk Nation)

USF Football: High Hopes ...

The University of South Florida has been a tease of a football team.

The Bulls have been a popular pick, a logical pick to make major in-roads in the Big East Conference the past three seasons.

Those three seasons have yielded an uneventful, under-achieving 10-11 conference record.

(Continue to Running With the Bulls)

Four Lessons We Learned from Cincinnati

1-God bless Father Roger
The Swiss champion didn’t seem too much diverted by his one-month-old twin daughters not to win his 16th Masters series title (in 25 finals), only one fewer than Andre Agassi, leader of this particular ranking. The surgical demolition of a slightly absent-minded Andy Murray and of Novak Djokovic are important signs of health, even more meaningful with six days remaining until the last Grand Slam tournament of the season, where he could face his old nemesis Rafa Nadal.

(Continue to ATP Tennis 360)