Lehigh Football Nation

Cruel doesn't begin to describe what Stan Kroenke has done to fans of the St. Louis Rams. He didn't only move the Rams back to LA this week.  "On his way out he decided he had to torch the city, saying 'Any NFL club who signs on to this proposal in St. Louis will be well on the road to financial ruin,'" a not-so-cheery recap from the fans recapped on MMQB .  "This from a guy who proudly claims he was named after two amazing St. Louis baseball players. It was a completely classless act of revenge from a little man who profited greatly by being in St. Louis. He not only made himself look pitiful, he also made the NFL look like a heartless organization that only cares about money." St. Louis is now left with a stadium that isn't yet paid off, the Edward Jones Dome, and no football team to play games there. Nobody asked me, but to me, this presents the opportunity of a lifetime for the private, Jesuit Division I school in St. Louis.

To many sportswriters who have followed English Premier League soccer in any capacity, the holy grail is promotion and relegation. United States sports leagues, for a wide variety of reasons, do not allow its teams or franchises the ability to get "promoted" to the top flights of their professional leagues.  That's largely to protect the teams at the bottom, which can stink as much as they'd like, but will still share in the profits of the league. In the EPL, however, the teams that finish in the bottom are "relegated" to the "Championship" division, and the teams that finish on top get "promoted" to the EPL. Many sportswriters have tried, and failed, to devise a promotion/relegation system for a variety of pro sports.  But I think where it could best work is in the worlds of FCS and FBS football. Hear me out.

Let's get something straight off the bat: I am not against bowl subdivision football. Sure, it's patently unfair in that more than half of the "subdivision" is essentially unable to compete for their championship.  Yes, it's a money play.  Yes, it's overhyped. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy it.  I'm a huge college football fan.  I love Army/Navy, big rivalry games (as long as they don't interrupt my Rivalry game), and marquee matchups.  When Temple played Notre Dame, I listened, and watched.  College football narratives remain the best narratives. Tonight I'll be watching Alabama play Clemson, a most worthy conclusion to the FBS football season.  Let's take a look at what the CFP did right, and what to expect tonight.