This is the year of the playoff. The BCS has died and gone away. Now instead of objective computers mixed with subjective polls, we have moved to a group of people who will subjectively select the four best teams in the country, based on their opinion. It will certainly not end all the debate and bellyaching at the end of the season as coaches and fans state their case for why their team should be included over a different team. Will it be better? We don’t know yet. Let’s take a look at who will be making the decisions.

COMMITTEE MEMEBERS:

Jeff Long – Chairman
Barry Alvarez – AD Wisconsin
Lieutenant General Mike Gould – Former Superintendent Air Force Academy
Pat Haden – AD University of Southern California
Tom Jernstedt- Former NCAA Executive Vice President
Oliver Luck – AD West Virginia
Archie Manning – Legend
Tom Osborne – Also Legend
Dan Radakovich – AD Clemson
Condoleezza Rice – Stanford Professor, Former Secretary of State
Mike Tranghese – Former Big East Commissioner
Steve Weiberg – Former USA Today CFB writer
Tyrone Willingham – Former Head Coach

We’re going to double up again this week as we get closer to the committee actually meeting. Let’s take a look at the paths of Archie Manning and Tom Osborne.

Archie Manning

Archie Manning set the SEC abuzz when he was quarterbacking for Ole Miss from 1968 to 1970. Manning was named to the All-SEC team in both 1969 and 1970. In 1969 was was named the Mississippi Sportsman of the Year. Also in 1969, he was named Most Valuable Player in the SEC as a recipient of the Nashville Banner Trophy. He was the second overall pick in the 1971 draft. From 1971 to 1975 and again from 1977 to 1982, Manning was the QB for the New Orleans Saints. He then played for the Houston Oilers for the 1982 and 1983 seasons. From there, he moved on to play for The Minnesota Vikings in 1983 and 1984. He retired from the NFL in 1985. During his NFL, he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1978 and 1979. He was an All-Pro selection in 1978, as well as being selected to the All-NFC Team that year. Manning achieved further acclaim in 1978 as the NFC Offensive Player of the Year, and NFC Player of the Year. The year prior, in 1977, he was selected as the Byron “Whizzer” White NFL Man of the Year. Some of his most impressive accomplishments include being named the SEC Quarterback of the Quarter Century(1950-75), being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989, and having his jersey (#18) retired by Ole Miss. Manning is currently a spokesman for several companies, and is a motivational speaker.

Tom Osborne

Tom Osborne got his start in football back in the mid 1950s. He was named the Nebraska High School Athlete of the year in 1955. Osborne then played quarterback at Hastings College from 1956-1959 before moving on to the NFL. In the NFL, he actually played wide receiver. He was with the San Francisco 49ers in 1959 and the Washington Redskins from 1960 to 1961. Shortly thereafter, Osborne began his coaching career at Nebraska as an assistant coach from 1967 to 1971. In 1972 he became the assistant head coach. Osborne rose up to take the head coaching job in 1973 and remained the coach through 1997. During his tenure at Nebraska, Osborne won 13 conference championships (1975, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1997) and three national championships (1994, 1995, and 1997). Not surprisingly, he was named coach of the year a number of times. He was the Big 8 Coach of the Year in 1975, 1976, 1980, 1988, 1992, 1993, and 1994. In 1996 he was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year. He was also named the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year in 1978. In 1994, he was named the National Coach of the Year, and was also inducted into the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame. Osborn was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998. The next year, in 1999, he was named ESPN’s Coach of the Decade. Following that honor, he received the Jim Thorpe Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. In the year 2001 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and remained in office until 2007. In 2007, Osborne returned to the University of Nebraska as their Athletics Director and served in that role until 2012.

Hot Seat Questions We Would Totally Ask If We Had A Sponsored Hot Seat Segment:
*answers are what we think they would probably say when given the chance

Hey guys, how does it feel like to be huge legends in college football:
AM: Uh, well, pretty good I guess. I’m learning that the Manning name is prone to producing legends
TO: Almost as good as serving my country as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives

Archie, who would you say your favorite son is?
Probably Cooper, with him I can talk about things other than football, you know? The other two are all football and commercials. It can be tireson.

Tom, what do you think your favorite memory coaching at Nebraska was?
Running the ball 1,000 times for 10,000 yards against Florida in the 1995 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. I didn’t know it was possible to dominate a team that completely, so I really enjoyed that.