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1B Sports Wednesday January 8, 2014 The BCS got it right, but it was still the wrong system By JOHN FEINSTEIN Special to The Washington Post. In its 16th and final incarnation, the Bowl Championship Series got this one right, with Florida State completing a perfect season with a pulsating 34-31 victory over Auburn on Monday night. Of course, the complete truth isn't quite as simple: The BCS getting it right is a little bit like saying someone is brilliant for picking a winning lottery number. If Ohio State hadn't lost the Big Ten title game to Michigan State, it would have been in the title game instead of Auburn and the championship game might very well have been a 51-24 dud. Ohio State, it should be remembered, lost in the Orange Bowl to Clemson - a team that lost at home to Florida State, 51-14, in November. Sure, comparing scores is often silly, but if there is anyone outside of the state of Ohio who still thinks the Buckeyes would have been deserving of a spot in the championship game, raise your hand. The bottom line is this: The BCS got lucky that the pieces fell into place to create the Florida State-Auburn matchup. They were the two most deserving teams and the two best teams. And, when all was said and done, they produced a wonderful championship game. Next year, it all changes. There will be a four-team playoff, which means the No. 5 team in the country will be the one screaming instead of the No. 3 team. More importantly, it means that getting to the championship will be less of a lottery and more of a competition - though not nearly enough. A real playoff, one with at least eight teams, is what college football needs. That would mean that all five of the major conference champions would get a chance to compete for the title and it would mean that three at-large teams - at least one from the non-BCS conferences - would also get a chance. There was no real BCS-buster this season but teams like TCU, Boise State and Utah have proved in the past that they are worthy of competing with the big boys. That isn't likely to happen anytime soon, though, because the college presidents who made the BCS into a four-letter word couldn't wait to sign a 12-year deal with ESPN that will pay them close to $5.6 billion. That's the problem with greedy people: If you offer them far more than they are worth, they will grab the money and run and not care for one second whether they are doing the right thing or the wrong thing. Bill Hancock, the executive director of the BCS and the new College Football Playoff, says it will be at least six years before anyone even considers expansion. As long as the bigmoney teams can control most of the money and all of the playoff spots, why would they want to expand? God forbid Boise State should beat one of the big boys and actually advance to play another one of the big boys the way Butler, George Mason and VCU have done in the NCAA basketball tournament in recent years. That would actually be fair competition, and we can't have that in college football. No matter how poorly it is run, college football will continue to produce innumerable story lines every season. This past fall was no exception. On the Football Championship Series level, North Dakota State won a third straight title with a dominant 15-0 season. Duke - Duke - played competitive football. Stanford proved yet again that a school can mix great academics and great football. Michigan State provided an example of a team that didn't have to score 50 points a game to win, coming within a couple of shaky calls at Notre Dame of finishing the regular season 13-0. And, in the end, Jimbo Fisher proved emphatically that there is LAB (Life After Bowden) at Florida State with an immensely talented team led by quarterback Jameis Winston, who became the second redshirt freshman in a row to win the Heisman Trophy. That said, Auburn winning on Monday night would have been the more remarkable story. The Tigers were 3-9 in 2012, which got Gene Chizik fired just two years after he had won the national championship. Enter Gus Malzahn, who re-energized the program and got Auburn to within 17 seconds of a second title in four seasons a year after the school was 0-8 in the Southeastern Conference. Florida State's victory ended the SEC's seven-year run of BCS championships. It did not, however, change the fact that the SEC remains the best and deepest conference in college football. The SEC still finished with three of the top five teams in the country - Auburn, South Carolina and Missouri - and four of the top seven after Alabama dropped to No. 7 following its loss to Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. In all, the SEC finished with seven teams in the top 25. The Pacific-12 had six (but none in the top eight) and no other conference had more than three. So let's give credit to Florida State for finding its way out of the wilderness of ACC mediocrity to again be an important factor - and a national champion - on the college football landscape. But let's not forget that the SEC might very well end up with two or even three teams in next season's first CFP. For now though, it is time to bid farewell to the BCS. Farewell . . . and good riddance. Tehama Tracker Today's schedule WRESTLING Corning at West Valley, 6 p.m. NBA Golden State at Brooklyn, 4:30 p.m. Sports on TV MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL 4 p.m. ESPN2 — Kansas at Oklahoma FS1 — Georgetown at Providence 6 p.m. ESPN2 — Miami at North Carolina NBA 4 p.m. ESPN — Dallas at San Antonio 6:30 p.m. ESPN — Phoenix at Minnesota NHL 5 p.m. NBCSN — N.Y. Rangers at Chicago Daily News photo by Andre Byik Corning High's Michael Shoemaker, left, drives against Red Bluff's Greg DuFour during the third period of a basketball game Tuesday at Red Bluff High School. Spartans ground Cards, 40-33 By ANDRE BYIK DN Staff Writer Red Bluff High's boys basketball team kept county rival Corning in check Tuesday night at Red Bluff High School. The Spartans (8-3) rode their defense and a big second half scoring performance from Wyatt Clement to a 40-33 win over the Cardinals (10-2). Clement scored all of his 12 points in the second half, and sank two free throws with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game to give the Spartans a 38-33 lead. Corning's offense struggled throughout the game, and its problems were compounded by less than careful ball handling, which led to turnovers. But after the first period ended with Corning and Red Bluff tied at 2 points apiece, the Cards' Michael Shoemaker scored six points in the second. That was followed by 3 apiece from Nick Hoag and Jesse Bennett, and the Cards took a 15-12 lead to the half. Shoemaker, who was guarded by the Spartans' Greg DuFour, finished the game with 10 points and 15 rebounds. Hoag, who briefly limped off the floor in the fourth but returned, finished with nine points and six rebounds. Red Bluff regained the lead in the third, which saw Clement score eight off crisp jumpers from the corner. The Spartans outscored the Cards 14-7 in the period and took a 26-22 lead to the fourth. The Cards trailed 36-28 with 2:06 left in the game before Shoemaker drove for a contested layup and Bennett followed with a 3-pointer to cut Red Bluff's lead to 36-33. Clement extended Red Bluff's lead to 38-33 by sinking two free throws, and Matthew Fox, who finished with 11 points, sank two free throws of his own down the stretch. Red Bluff's Curtis Twitchell added nine points in the game. Critics question Rodman's diplomacy PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Former NBA star Charles D. Smith says he feels remorse for coming to Pyongyang with Dennis Rodman for a game on the North Korean leader's birthday because the event has been dwarfed by politics and tainted by Rodman's own comments. Smith and other former NBA players are scheduled to play with Rodman against a team of North Koreans on Wednesday that organizers say leader Kim Jong Un is expected to attend. Many of the players on Tuesday privately expressed second thoughts about going ahead because of an outpouring of criticism back home in the United States. Smith, who played for the New York Knicks, said the North Korea trip has been dwarfed by politics and Rodman's frequent boasts about his close friendship with Kim. ''What we are doing is positive, but it is getting dwarfed by the other circumstances around it,'' Smith told The Associated Press. ''Apparently our message is not being conveyed properly due to the circumstances that are much bigger than us, and I think that has to do with politics and government.'' Rodman arrived in Pyongyang on Monday with seven former NBA players and four streetballers for the game on Kim's birthday, believed to be his 31st. Along with Smith, the squad features ex-All Stars Kenny Anderson, Cliff Robinson and Vin Baker. The game would be another milestone in Rodman's surprising relationship with basketball fan Kim, who rarely meets with outsiders and is possibly the world's most mysterious leader. Rodman has called the game a ''birthday present'' for Kim but says he has received death threats for his repeated visits to this country and for calling Kim a ''friend for life.'' AP photo Former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman holds a cigar as he speaks to North Korean basketball players during a practice session in Pyongyang, North Korea on Dec. 20. ''The way some of the statements and things that Dennis has said has tainted our efforts,'' Smith said. ''Dennis is a great guy, but how he articulates what goes on — he gets emotional and he says things that he'll apologize for later.'' The White House said Tuesday it would not have approved Rodman's latest trip to North Korea if it had any say in the matter. Spokesman Jay Carney said the visit was considered private travel and not subject to government review. NBA Commissioner David Stern has distanced his organization from Rodman's squad. ''The NBA is not involved with Mr. Rodman's North Korea trip and would not participate or support such a venture without the approval of the U.S. State Department,'' he said in a statement. ''Although sports in many instances can be helpful in bridging cultural divides, this is not one of them.'' Rodman is the highestprofile American to meet Kim since the leader inherited power after his father, Kim Jong Il, died in late 2011. He traveled to the North for the first time last February and came back just before Christmas to hold tryouts for the North Korean basketball team, though he did not meet with Kim then. The plan to hold the game has been criticized because of the North's human rights record, its development of nuclear weapons and its threats to use them if a conflict breaks out with Washington or Seoul. Rodman, in particular, has been slammed for not trying to use his influence with Kim to secure the release of Kenneth Bae, an American missionary with health problems who is being held in North Korea on charges of ''anti-state'' crimes. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. remains gravely concerned about Bae's health and is ready to send U.S. envoy on North Korean human rights issues, Robert King, to seek his release if Pyongyang reinstates an invitation that was withdrawn in August. Psaki declined to say whether Rodman's visit was complicating those diplo- matic efforts. Asked in a CNN satellite interview Tuesday whether he would raise the issue of Bae, Rodman yelled in response, ''I don't give a rat's ass what the hell you think. ... One day this door is going to open because these 10 guys here.'' Smith placed his arm around Rodman's shoulder and a hand on his arm in an attempt to calm Rodman down. ''I feel bad for Dennis, I feel bad for the players,'' Smith said afterward, adding that when he played for the United States in the 1988 Olympics he felt elation. ''I felt huge, I felt on top of the world. But I feel the reverse now,'' he said. ''I feel a lot of remorse for the guys because we are doing something positive, but it's a lot bigger than us. We are not naive, we understand why things are being portrayed the way they are. We can't do anything about that, if we could we would. ''We're not skilled in those particular areas,'' he added. ''Dennis is definitely not skilled in those particular areas.''