movers and shakers at Royal Troon

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As college football prepares for the final Bowl Championship Series, featuring a Florida State-Auburn championship game, its easy to see why the coming four-team playoff wont solve all the post-season problems. Heck, we might just miss the BCS. Maybe? It sort of worked out this season. Top-ranked Florida State (13-0) was the only team to get through the regular season unbeaten, and the Seminoles did it in dominating fashion. Auburn (12-1) won the Southeastern Conference, and among the teams with imperfect records the Tigers resume is best. "We all complain about the BCS, but isnt it funny how often they get it right," Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. The pairings became official Sunday night when the final BCS standings came out. There was no question about 1 and 2. Itll be the Noles and Tigers at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 6 for the national championship. In the other marquee bowls: -- Alabama will play Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. -- Clemson will play Ohio State in the Orange Bowl. -- Michigan State will play Stanford in the Rose Bowl. -- Baylor will play UCF in the Fiesta Bowl. Of course, Big 12 champion Baylor (11-1) and Big Ten champion Michigan State (12-1) might argue with that top two. But over 16 seasons college football fans have built up what can be called BCS acceptance, learning to live with the fact that there is only room for two. Fans of particularly aggrieved teams (2000 Miami, 2004 Auburn, 2008 Texas, just to name a few) still burn over the slights. Generally, though, by the time the championship game kicked off, most everybody was on board. And only eight times before the BCS did No. 1 play No. 2 in a bowl game. "Its been a remarkable seismic change for this sport," executive director Bill Hancock said. "That was unthinkable before the BCS." Now think about this season playing out under next seasons format. In the new world order known as the College Football Playoff, a selection committee will pick four teams to play in national semifinals. The winners play for the championship. So how would a panel that includes Tom Osborne, Archie Manning and Condoleezza Rice sort out this seasons top four? Florida State and Auburn, of course. And ... Baylor and Michigan State? But what about Pac-12 champion Stanford (11-2)? Sure the Cardinal have two losses, but as Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said Saturday at the end of a week in which he and the rest of the SEC practically begged voters to overlook the number in the loss column and focus on quality of opposition: "I have nine words. Strength of schedule. Strength of schedule. Strength of schedule." Among this seasons best teams, Stanford played the toughest schedule. And then there is two-time defending champion Alabama (11-1). "Were not a natural playoff sport," said Duke coach David Cutcliffe, who was the offensive co-ordinator at Tennessee when it won the first BCS championship game against Florida State in the 1999 Fiesta Bowl. "I think we can make this work with four. "And the reason I think well make this work is I think what were all going to find out is the arguments are going to get bigger. Were going to go from a few schools being angry to a lot of schools being angry, and maybe thats going to be a good thing. I just want to be in the argument." Florida State showed Cutcliffe how far away Duke is from being in the argument in a 45-7 victory Saturday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game. In a season defined by blowouts, the only drama for Florida State came off the field, when quarterback Jameis Winston was investigated for sexual assault. The state attorney said there was not enough evidence to charge the redshirt freshman with a crime two days before the Seminoles played Duke. Winston is the runaway favourite to win the Heisman Trophy next Saturday. Auburn completed its worst-to-first run with a 59-42 victory in the Southeastern Conference championship game against Missouri. The Tigers didnt win a conference game last season. "This time last year, we were home, hanging out watching other guys play ball," running back Tre Mason said. "Thats not really what you want to be doing." Mason ran for 304 yards and four TDs against Mizzou to make a late Heisman push of his own. The Tigers have had some good fortune, including improbable plays to beat Georgia and Alabama. That left Auburn to try to extend the SECs BCS championship game winning streak to eight games against the school that played for the first three BCS titles under Bobby Bowden. Hydro Flask Water Bottle Sale . The 49ers, 6-2 and riding a five-game winning streak following the bye week, also waived cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and activated cornerback Eric Wright from the reserve/non-football injury list. Manningham made 42 receptions for 449 yards and one touchdown in 12 games and 10 starts last season before injuring his left knee in a loss at Seattle Dec. Cheap Hydro Flask Sale .Mallais and his team out of Saint John defeated James Grattan 5-4 in Fredericton.The 2015 Tim Hortons Brier from Feb. http://www.cheaphydroflaskfromchina.com/. Louis Cardinals are one of Major League Baseballs model franchises. Wholesale Hydro Flask China .C. -- Gleason Fournier scored the shootout winner as the Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Abbotsford Heat 4-3 Friday in American Hockey League action. Cheap Hydro Flask Water Bottle . For the Athletics, hes extremely important at the top of the order, especially with Coco Crisp hurting. Jaso drove in three runs Sunday night, helping Scott Kazmir and Oakland beat the Texas Rangers 9-3.Colin Montgomerie had the honour of hitting the first shot of The 145th Open, although things didnt go entirely to plan on the first hole. The 53 year old, who is an honorary member at Royal Troon, made Open history on Thursday by hitting the first shot broadcast live for the first time as part of Sky Sports round-the-clock Open coverage. The Open Leaderboard Follow the movers and shakers at Royal Troon Montgomerie came through qualifying at Gailes Links to secure his place in the Open field for the first time since 2010, giving the Scot one last chance to play his home course. The three-time senior major champion teed off alongside last years runner-up Marc Leishman and former world No 1 Luke Donald.Monty creamed a tasty iron shot to the middle of the first fairway but as youll see from the video below, he went onto suffer double trouble courtesy of one of Royal Troons deadly bunkers. After starting with the opening tee shot of The Open, Colin Montgomerie gets stuck in a bunker on the first hole and has to shoot sideways to get out He went onto to card a double-bogey at the first but regained his composure to tear up the front nine, making five birdies.dddddddddddd Watch The Open Watch the first round of The Open for free, no contract Watch the video of his historic first shot by the hitting the play button at the top of the page. Remember you can watch all four days of live coverage from Royal Troon on Sky Sports - the proud new home of The Open. Also See: Live Leaderboard Latest Open news Harringtons Happy Gilmore Get Sky Sports Cheap Jerseys China