And speaking of the dipshits that run the BCS, among the propaganda websites that they have to “debunk” the playoff theories, is my favorite, Playoff Problem. This is where these geniuses ask us common folk questions like who should get in, how to seed them, blah blah blah, then conclude that there is no good way to make a playoff. Well, on behalf of all of us college football fans with a brain and no financial interest in keeping the big six conferences the richest, here’s your answer.

The bottom line, as it is every year, is that if you want a proper postseason with a proper champion, a playoff is the only way to do it.

So as per usual, here is the playoff brackets for this year, based on the formula that I’ve spent years perfecting. If you’re not familiar with my entire manifesto on an NCAA playoff system, here is a summary of what the tournament will consist of.

REGULAR SEASON FORMAT

• 12 Game Maximum Schedules

• All teams must finish regular season play by the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

• Any conference championship game must be played within this time frame as well, even if that means cutting the regular season schedule to 11. This would be up to each conference. They could also choose to scrap the conference title game and determine a winner through standings.

• To be bowl-eligible, you must have at least six wins vs. I-A opponents

• To be eligible for the National Championship, you must have at least nine wins (can include conference championship, if applicable)

POSTSEASON FORMAT

• 16 teams in playoff to play in National Championship Playoff

• 16 teams in Second Tier Tournament similar to college basketball’s NIT

• 36 teams in 18 Bowl Games to reward players and schools and to keep small bowl-hosting cities in the mix

• Total of 68 teams in postseason (68 in recent years)

• Total of 48 postseason games (34 in recent years)

• Same number of teams in postseason, with 14 additional games.

Teams to play in National Championship Playoff

• Six major conference champions (must be ranked in BCS top 20 or be undefeated)

• Any other conference champions ranked in BCS top 20 or undefeated

• Independents must be ranked in the Top 20 for consideration, top 15 for guaranteed entry

• At-large bids based on BCS standings and an expert committee

• All undefeated teams will play in the playoff, regardless of conference standing (ie. two undefeated Big Ten teams with no conference championship would both get in)

• No more than three teams per conference

• Winner of previous year’s Second Tier Tournament, if in top 20 or ten wins

Teams to play in second tier tournament

• All other conference champions

• At-large bids based on expert committee

Teams to play in Bowl games

• Teams not selected in either tournament will be allowed to accept any invitations they wish from any Bowl. Individual bowls may choose to keep their current affiliations.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF FORMAT

• 16 teams in a single elimination tournament

• Seeding based on final BCS standings

• All first round games are at home field of higher seeded team

• Second round games are at neutral site

• Semi-Final games are at a neutral site

• National Championship game at a neutral site

• Neutral site games are a rotation of major BCS and other bowls

• Total of seven neutral site games to be at currently existing bowl sites

SECOND TIER TOURNAMENT FORMAT

• Winner of tournament can get into National Championship tournament the following year with a top 20 BCS finish, or nine Division-I victories.

• 16 teams in a single elimination tournament

• Seeding done by expert committee

• First and second round games at home field of higher seeded team

• Semi-Final and Championship game at neutral site

• Neutral site games are at currently existing bowl sites

BOWL GAMES

• All bowls to be played as they previously have in the past

• Single game format only

So, without further adeiu, here are your 2009-2010 playoff matchups!

Round One (all games hosted by higher seed)

Game 1
1 Alabama
16 West Virginia

Game 2
2 Texas
15 Miami, FL

Game 3
3 TCU
14 Penn State

Game 4
4 Cincinnati
13 BYU

Game 5
5 Florida
12 Virginia Tech

Game 6
6 Boise State
11 LSU

Game 7
7 Oregon
10 Iowa

Game 8
8 Ohio State
9 Georgia Tech

Round Two (using higher seed as winner for illustration, also top-seed hosts)

Game 9
Games 1 & 8 Winners
Alabama vs. Ohio State (Gator Bowl)

Game 10
Games 2 & 7 Winners
Texas vs. Oregon (Capital One Bowl)

Game 11
Games 3 & 6 Winners
TCU vs. Boise State (Sugar Bowl)

Game 12
Games 4 & 5 Winners
Cincinnati vs. Florida (Orange Bowl)

Round Three – National Semi-Finals (neutral site games)

Game 13
Games 9 & 12 Winners
Alabama vs. Cincinnati (Fiesta Bowl)

Game 14
Games 10 & 11 Winners
Texas vs. TCU (Rose Bowl)

Game 15 – Championship Game
Games 13 & 14 Winners
Alabama vs. Texas (at Sugar Bowl)

Scheduling format for playoff would be as follows:

Round One: Saturday, December 12, 2009
Round Two: Saturday, December 26, 2009
Semi-Finals: Monday, January 4, 2010
Championship: Monday, January 11, 2010

Second Tier Tournament

Tier Two Seeds:

1 – Pittsburgh
2 – Oklahoma State
3 – Oregon State
4 – Arizona
5 – Stanford
6 – Nebraska
7 – Utah
8 – Wisconsin
9 – Central Michigan
10- Troy
11- East Carolina
12- USC
13- Houston
14- Texas Tech
15- Northwestern
16- Clemson

Tier Two Dates:

Round One: Thursday & Friday, December 10 & 11, 2009
Round Two: Thursday & Friday. December 17 & 18, 2009
Semi-Finals: Thursday, December 24, 2009
Championship: Saturday, January 2, 2010

The Tier Two Tournament would follow the exact same game format, including two home game rounds, followed by three neutral site games.

Rounds three and four games would be played at current Bowl Game sites not used in the National Championship Playoff. The Tier Two Tourney would get second choice of bowl tie-ins, before the final bowl games are played under the old bowl standards.

*****

So as you can see, a legitimate playoff is very possible. Not only is it possible, but it could be quite simple. Unfortunately, the powers that run the BCS have one priority — money. They make a boatload of money through the current BCS system, and since it is rigged, they get to keep that money being passed around to the big conferences.

Switching the format to a playoff allows the risk of a team like Boise State, TCU or Utah winning a national championship. Right now, that is their worst nightmare. The day that that happens is the day that the illusion of big conference supremacy is busted.

And until these teams get to prove it on the field, they’ll never get the respect in the polls, which sadly, determine everything.

Considering the fact that three of the voting coaches from the USA Today poll had Oregon ranked ahead of Boise State in the final poll tells you that these coaches (or rather the SIDs who vote for them) are either so biased or so uninformed that the system can’t overcome their stupidity.

Fact: When you go undefeated and shit on a team who ends the year with a 10-2 record, you have absolutely no justification for the 10-2 team to be ranked higher. No first downs for nearly three quarters for Oregon’s offense against Boise, and there’s coaches that have the gall to vote them higher? And you wonder why college football is the most corrupt system in American sports.

So until there is a major change (I’m looking at you Congress!), we’re stuck with this. It’s a money grabbing, old-boys network game and the fans, the athletes and the students at these schools all pay for it. The conference commissioners, meanwhile, laugh all the way to the bank.

The conference was trying to get changes made to the BCS system, going as far as the United States Congress to try to get changes made. Sen. Arlen Hatch (R-Utah) has said that he thinks the BCS clearly violates antitrust laws, and is leading hearings into the BCS practices in the House of Representatives.

The agreement with the BCS means that the conference will be much more quiet in the coming years when it comes to fighting for equality in college football’s postseason, but they vow that they are not giving up the fight.

Clearly the Mountain West wasn’t thrilled about having to sign the deal, saying:

“… The Mountain West believes it has no choice at this time but to sign the agreements. If a conference wishes to compete at the highest levels of college football, and the only postseason system in place for that is the BCS, no one conference can afford to drop out and penalize its football programs and student-athletes.”

This, to me, is the definition of anti-trust and monopoly. The Mountain West Conference is basically being forced to sign an agreement that they don’t agree with and know could be detrimental to them, but are left with no other options, so they must enter into an undesirable deal.

And there is no other option. To not sign the deal would be to risk subjecting all of the teams in the Mountain West to financial disaster. Not being a part of the BCS, when there is no other option, means that you are not in position to get your piece of the pie when the money is spread at the end of the season. Right now, there are no other options, so the Mountain West was forced to sign a deal they don’t agree with. If you can find a better definition of a monopoly, more power to you.

With this deal being signed, it is not necessarily the end of the battle. There are far more of us that want things changed, and clearly the legal system is on our side. The BCS thinks that since they are simply a college football postseason system that the law won’t bother with them, but they couldn’t be more wrong. The BCS controls the finances of major educational institutions. Once the effects of their unfair practices are explained to the lay non-sports fan, more people will be on board with the government doing something about this.

At the end of the day, there is far too much money at stake, and the money is essentially for legitimate educational institutions. I’m pretty confident that once legitimate hearings take place, the BCS will be broken up.

As for the Mountain West, they say that their fight will continue, despite being a part of it for a few more years:

“The Mountain West will continue its efforts for change, including a request for dialogue with representatives of the BCS. Our goal is to ensure the eventual outcome of these endeavors is what our universities and student-athletes need, what the vast majority of American sports fans want, and what is long overdue: an equitable system.”

Bottom line: The Mountain West is right, the BCS is wrong. It’s just a matter of time before the right people get involved in this.

In a recent Gator Club appearance, Meyer took issue with comments in the last year by former players, specifically but not officially former Gator quarterback Shane Matthews. While Matthews wasn’t called out by name, it was apparent to most that he is who Meyer was referring to.

You see, Matthews had the audacity as a radio host to question some of the decisions made in Florida’s embarrassing 31-30 loss to Mississippi last year.

At the time, Matthews said, “When I watched the Ole Miss game and Ole Miss played our wide receivers about 90 percent man-to-man, it was a slap in the face to our wide receivers and passing game. I can’t understand why we didn’t take advantage of that.”

Apparently, Meyer didn’t like that. And while Matthews has absolutely nothing to be sorry for and no need to explain himself, he still cleared the air with Meyer and made nice.

Now, with Matthews in mind, Meyer sent out a clear message to former players:

“If you want to be critical of a player on our team or a coach on our team you can buy a ticket for seat 37F, you’re not welcome back in the football office. You’re either a Gator or you’re not a Gator.”

So get it straight, former Gators. If you want to take a job in television, radio, or in coaching (not at Florida), you are likely forfeiting your Gatorhood.

Of course, it doesn’t matter if Matthews was right. All that matters is that you don’t dare question Sir Urban and the Mighty Gators, else Lord Tebow will strike down upon you.

I mean really, come on. Criticism is part of the game. Let’s face the facts. Urban Meyer cost his team the game against Mississippi in 2008 with terrible play calling. You are not being anti-Gator to point that out, you are being mildly educated in football. When down by one, in field goal range and facing a 4th and 1, you don’t call a shotgun quarterback sneak. Simple as that. If all Matthews said was what is quoted here, he was being soft on Florida and Meyer.

But hey, Meyer’s got himself two national championships, so he calls the shots. Let’s see what happens when Tebow himself criticizes Florida in four years if Meyer is still there. How do you banish the football Messiah to seat 37F?

It is just unreal the power that college football coaches (think they) have. It’s this mentality that keeps most of them from succeeding in the NFL.

In an interview with Real Clear Sports (Thanks: SbB), Markell points out the facts of the NFL and NCAA and their stances on gambling. Both the NFL and NCAA are against all sports betting in their sports on the record, but both are extremely hypocritical of themselves in the process.

Some samples:

• Markell on the NFL:

“Clearly the NFL is benefiting handsomely and mightily from the these networks that talk about the spreads and all that. I think that as a result it’s odd that they’re trying to limit our ability. Frankly there are so many people who are betting illegally. We’re basically saying: ‘Why don’t we bring a type of regulation to this?’”

• Markell on the NCAA saying that they will ban NCAA playoff games from Delaware if gambling passes:

“…the Western Athletic Conference hosts its men’s and women’s tournaments in the Reno. And the winners in those tournaments go on to play in the big tournament. You can actually bet on the Las Vegas Bowl, which is played obviously right there in Vegas. So what appears to be fine in other states for some reason from the NCAA’s perspective, doesn’t seem to be fine for Delaware. So we think they’re being inconsistent and retaliatory.”

I happen to agree wholeheartedly with Markell on these issues. If it weren’t for gambling, the NFL’s billion dollar industry would take a huge financial hit. While Roger Goodell and the owners would like to think that their sport is so popular because of the action and the games, they’d be wrong. The NFL is so popular because of the millions of dollars that are on every game, and the huge rise in fantasy football. The NFL injury reports were created for the sole purpose of gambling. The league knows that it needs gamblers to survive, yet runs and hides from any association with it. It is hypocritical and wrong for the NFL to fight legalized gambling in any state.

As for the NCAA, who do they think they are kidding? Saying that they will bar NCAA playoff games from taking place in Delaware is about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. How about the Mountain West Conference tournament being played in Las Vegas? Or the WAC in Reno? Or the Las Vegas Bowl? How about the legal sports betting that Oregon has had over the years? I didn’t hear any of this then. Without gambling, there is zero interest in college sports that aren’t played between top 10 teams. The MAC, WAC, Conference USA, and all the other mid-majors would be worthless to many, many people. The TV ratings are terrible now, but they’d be non-existent without money on the games.

Gov. Markell is absolutely right about this. If you want to oppose sports betting for moral reasons, I’ll disagree with you, but I understand. But to pull the fake BS that the NFL and NCAA are pulling is pathetic. I hope the betting is legalized in Delaware and the the governor tells the NCAA to take their playoff game and stick it up their asses. Go ahead and try playing a Division I-AA playoff game at a neutral site and see how many people show up.

You don’t have to embrace gambling to co-exist with it. Las Vegas has done more to alert the NCAA on point-shaving and game fixing than any illegal bookies will ever do. The betting is going to happen. Embrace regulating it and use the power of the sportsbook to regulate your own sports.

Kudos to Gov. Markell for having balls and being right.

Raji, a defensive tackle from Boston College, missed an entire season in college due to academic issues, and also had a previous positive test for marijuana at Boston College.

He had an amazing Senior Bowl week and a great combine and had moved himself from late first round pick all the way to potential top-five pick. Now, with his name set to show up on the official “tested positive” list that gets sent to NFL teams this month, Raji’s stock could fall quickly.

Raji is getting compared to Warren Sapp as a great defensive tackle who had a positive test drop him down the draft boards, but the difference was that Sapp (as far as I recall) didn’t have nearly as much baggage as Raji, and wasn’t built up primarily as a workout warrior. A guy like Raji could fall much further than Sapp did, but we’ll have to wait and see how far.

In related news, NFLDraftBible.com is reporting that Illinois cornerback Vontae Davis and Florida wide receiver Percy Harvin also tested positive for the weed.

While those reports are unconfirmed, it raises the question once again: How stupid do you have to be to not be prepared for a drug test that you knew about that coincides with the biggest job interview of your life. Is getting high one night before the combine really worth it?

Thanks to Utah’s undefeated season, and years of criticism, the sports world’s most blatantly unfair and ridiculous postseason season may be facing a legitimate legal challenge that could change college football in the next few years.

The heart of the argument is that the current BCS system creates an unfair playing field, realistically only allowing about 20-25 major conference teams to actually compete for the national championship. Considering the enormous sums of money that come with making it into a BCS game, and even more money that comes with making it into the title game, the unfair advantages may be crossing legal lines that lawmakers are no longer willing to brush aside as simply sports issues.

With President Obama being as outspoken as he was last year about supporting a playoff, there are reasons to believe that fixing the BCS could be Obama’s steroid scandal. When President Bush addressed steroids in baseball in his State of the Union address, it forced baseball to play be legal rules, rather than live in their own little protected bubble.

College football is the same, with school presidents living in their own little bubble, ignoring calls for a playoff and insisting they are right, despite 100 percent of the evidence to the contrary. Now that they are going against Congress and the president, perhaps they’ll see the light.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is leading the charge, having watched first-hand how his hometown Utes got screwed out of a BCS championship last year. There are no details to Hatch’s plans as of yet. There is also legislation in the house that would make it illegal for the BCS to call any game a “championship” if it is not the direct result of a playoff.

The argument stems from the fact that right now it is nearly impossible (until proven otherwise, it is impossible) for a team from a non-BCS conference to make it into the title game. With the six major conferences getting automatic bids and the majority of the at-large bids, all of the BCS money is going to the same schools and conferences. With well over 100 Division-I teams, there is clearly not a level playing field in college football.

The effect of this money down the road is what is causing the legal issues. The teams that get into BCS games or the BCS title game get far more money that the teams that don’t. The money is then shared with the other teams in their conference. Over several years, the same six conferences keep getting more and more money, while the mid-major conferences get less and less money. This creates an imbalance in the system and leads to more disparity between schools. In the end, it puts the smaller schools at an unfair advantage in any aspect of running a university that requires money.

If the BCS were to say what it really is, which is a league in which the “championship” is only available to the 20-25 teams that it deems worthy prior to the season starts, then this would all be over real quickly. Advertisers and fans are being duped into believing that the BCS is a system to crown a champion, when it clearly is not. By pulling off this jest, the BCS is also denying millions of dollars to schools that should be getting it. They are allowing their major conference biased politics to play God with the fates of smaller schools. They have, in essence, created a monopoly on the college football postseason, and it is about time that someone called them on it.

Since the school presidents and BCS folks aren’t going to see the light on their own — being blinded by their stacks of cash and all — it may be up to Congress to fix things. Don’t these Congressmen have better things to do, you may ask? Well, to a lot of people in this country, college football is important. Yes we want our banks fixed and 401(k)’s secure, but in the meantime, I’m all for our elected representatives working on things that I care about. Fix the BCS, legalize sports betting and online gambling, lower my taxes, and cut the shit with the Barry Bonds witch hunt. Other than that, just don’t make anything else worse and we’re good.

With any luck, this will at least move us in the direction of having a real discussion on the future of college football. It is too big of an industry to be run by a half-a-dozen idiots who have only their own personal interests in mind.

And Senator, if you’re interested, here is my college football playoff plan. Feel free to use it, in exchange for credit and a position as United States Sports Czar.

Stafford scored a 38 on the problem-solving test, an outstanding number. Fellow quarterbacks Mark Sanchez and Josh Freeman did well also, scoring a 28 and 27, respectively.

While scoring well means you won’t hurt your draft stock, bombing the test can drop you a few slots. Unless you’re Vince Young and score a 6, and despite having all the information in the world that the kid is an idiot, still got drafted too high. Now he is holding a clipboard for Kerry Collins because he isn’t smart enough to run the offense. But a 6 is the extreme — and no one bombed like that this year.

Only one football player in the history of the test ever aced the Wonderlic and scored a perfect 50, and that was Pat McInally, a Harvard receiver who went on to be an NFL punter. The lowest score of all-time was a 4 by Iowa State running back Darren Davis.

The highest score of those released in this year’s draft was from Kevin Barnes, a cornerback out of Maryland who scored a 41 on the test.

Other players of note include a group of extremely average to below-average wide receivers when it comes to smarts, including Percy Harvin (12), Michael Crabtree (15), and Darrius Heyward-Bey (14). Jeremy Maclin of Missouri scored a 25, a very good score for a wide receiver.

Andre Smith took time out from killing his draft stock to score a 17. Well, maybe he wasn’t taking time out from hurting his draft stock, but he certainly wasn’t helping it with that average score.

Overall, the general consensus is that no one killed their draft stock with their Wonderlic scores this year. There were some disappointing scores, but they were not so bad that they will cause a player to fall down the board, and there were some very good scores, but that won’t make a team reach for those players.

For a guy like Stafford, however, a 38 may very well be just what he needed to officially convince a GM that he should go as high as he will likely go. He may have made himself a few extra bucks by scoring so well.

**

More: FanIQ
Chicago Tribune
Deadspin
Philly.com

On the offensive side of the ball, we told you that the biggest stories were injuries and disappearances. Michael Crabtree showed up with a broken foot and missing two inches of height, Andre Smith showed up and left, and Brian Mandeville showed up and had all of his hopes and dreams crushed when they told him he couldn’t play football ever again. Sadly, those were the top stories on the offensive side of the field.

On the field, Mark Sanchez surprised a lot of folks by working out and throwing, Pat White surprised a lot of folks by throwing so damn well (he’s quite fast, too), and the wide receivers may have stolen the show (ESPN Insider required for link). Jeremy Maclin and Percy Harvin were good (not great), but the not-so-big names flashed some wicked speed. Johnny Knox, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Mike Wallace were all impressive on their feet and have put the pressure on the DBs to show similar speed.

One of the biggest stories coming out of this combine is that the entire top-end of the draft, the marquee players, are all showing some kind of disappointment. Between Smith’s disappearing act and Crabtree’s shrinking act, there were already enough “uh-oh’s” from the projected top-ten picks. Then Sanchez and Matthew Stafford, the projected top two quarterbacks in the draft, both measured in at under 6′3″. That’s not good.

I’ve long been a believer in the theory that the worst thing you can do on draft day is take a quarterback high in the first round, and I think this year’s crew is going to reaffirm that theory. Next year will too, when Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow all turn out to be busts. The risk just isn’t worth the investment.

Well, after the weekend of not-so-stellar offensive combining, the defense took the field. One thing that immediately stood out — Aaron Curry is the real deal. Freak on the field, Workout Warrior. That is what makes someone a high draft pick. The linebacker out of Wake Forest was the fastest linebacker at the combine, and was outstanding in all of his other drills. He came in as the guy to beat, and probably solidified his high draft pick status. He may be the best football player in the draft, but is the NFL ready for a linebacker to be the first guy taken?

The defensive backs were the last ones to hit the field, wrapping things up at the combine on Tuesday. All eyes were on Ohio State’s Malcolm Jenkins, the perceived top pick at corner in the draft. But, like most of the other players not named Aaron Curry, he probably hurt himself more than he helped himself. His 40 times were in the 4.5-range (very average) and he was anything but spectacular in his on-field drills.

The most impressive defensive back at the combine may have been Jenkins’ former teammate at Ohio State, Donald Washington, who gave the best overall performances in both the vertical jump and the standing broad jump. But he too struggled with the 40. While some thought that his amazing leaping ability would translate to a sub-4.4 40, he landed in the 4.5-range as well.

There will likely be a lot of spin and debate about all of the performances, but the bottom line is that each team is looking for something different. Some teams want pure speed at corner or receiver, and others value hands. Since there is no “hands drill” that objectively measures the skill, us non-scouts can only take so much out of the combine.

Really, the combine has just become like any other job interview, where the most important thing is to show up, be prepared and make a good impression. If you do that, your proven football skill will determine where you get drafted. The majority of players don’t really hurt or help their status a whole lot at the combine, but some do (see: Smith, Andre).

As it was last year, top-notch performance by the NFL Network. Rich Eisen and friends cover the combine as well as one could want the combine covered. In fact, their coverage is so good that several NFL coaches have hinted at not showing up in person next year, since the television coverage is so good that you can get most of your information from home. Eisen also just missed out on making the top performers list with his 6.35 40-yard dash. But he did score a 35 on the Wonderlic, which was better than everyone at the combine in 2008.

Here’s your top performers from the 2009 Combine:

Fastest 40-yard dash

Darrius Heyward-Bey (WR, Maryland), 4.30
(though Johnny Knox did run an unofficial 4.25, Heyward-Bey had the fastest official time

Most bench reps

Louis Vasquez (OL, Texas Tech), 39 reps

Fastest 3-cone drill

Malcolm Jenkins (CB, Ohio State), 6.59

Highest vertical jump

Donald Washington (CB, Ohio State), 45″

Longest broad jump

Donald Washington (CB, Ohio State), 11′3″

Fastest 20-yard shuttle

Kevin Barnes(CB, Maryland), 3.96

Fastest 60-yard shuttle:

Brian Hartline (WR, Ohio State), 10.92

lukekohler.com Workout Warrior One

Aaron Curry (LB, Wake Forest), 4.56 40-yard dash, 25 bench reps, 37″ vertical, 10′4″ broad jump

lukekohler.com Workout Warrior Two

David Buehler (K, USC), 4.54 40-yard dash, 25 bench reps – That’s right — a kicker.

Here is a list of all combine performers and their relevant numbers.

Unfortunately, the biggest stories of the weekend at the combine came from off the field. The news that Michael Crabtree is actually only 6′1″, rather than the 6′3″ he was listed at did not go over well. Coupled with the discovery of a stress fracture in his left foot, this combine could not have gone much worse for him. He will instead run the 40-yard dash in March, then have surgery to put a screw in his injured foot.

Also off the field, Alabama tackle Andre Smith went AWOL. At one point, Smith was considered the top player in the entire draft, but his suspension from the team’s bowl game, as well as his decision to not work out at the combine because he was “not in shape,” and then his subsequent decision to hop a plane to Atlanta in the middle of the combine has left him looking at being a mid-first round pick instead of first overall. He’ll still be employed in the NFL next year, but his wallet just got a whole lot thinner.

As for Brian Mandeville, a tight end out of Northeastern, he was informed by doctors at the combine that he has a heart condition, and he was advised to retire from the game before he even worked out. He’ll get some further tests done, but I can’t imagine anyone drafting him at this point.

On the field, there have been some good performances, but no Mamulas yet. Pat White busted off a 4.55 40, the fastest of all the quarterbacks, and more importantly, he backed it up with a solid day throwing the ball in drills.

Percy Harvin out of Florida was impressive as well, running a solid 4.41 40, and throwing up 19 reps on the bench press, good enough for seventh and fifth best of the receivers, respectively.

The anticipated quarterback showdown between Mark Sanchez and Matthew Stafford did not materialize as Stafford chose not to throw at the combine. Sanchez said he had to throw, on a count of his competitive nature and what not. Sanchez’s workout was considered solid, but not spectacular by those grading him.

Generally speaking, there isn’t too much the layman can read into combine numbers. We can all compare raw data, but it’s the overall picture that only those on the inside have access to that allows teams and scouts to make their final decisions.

More on the combine as the defensive players hit the field.

Smith is a beast of a lineman, but has had issues following him before. He was suspended for Alabama’s BCS bowl loss to Utah for a violation of team rules.

He showed up this week for the combine but opted not to work out because he was “out of shape,” something you don’t want to be on the day of the biggest job interview that you will ever go to.

After not working out, Smith just disappeared. His “agent” told officials that Smith went back to Atlanta to resume working out, an answer that was not satisfactory to most observers.

The NFL Network’s Mike Mayock was the most vocal, saying that this behavior drops Smith down his board.

“I’m dropping him down on my list. You don’t show up in shape for the biggest job interview of your life. You don’t lift. You don’t run. You don’t show up. It’s the worst thing you can do. How can you not show up in shape for this?”

What better way to prove to your future employer that you are worth the multi-million dollar contract that you are after than by skipping your biggest workout?

I suppose if he was looking to erase the memory of his bowl game suspension, it worked. Just not in the way that he wanted it to.

Smith is a top three draft pick in talent, but his off the field issues, combined with his apparently poor work ethic has him dropping down draft boards, perhaps going in the middle of the first round or later. This potential drop could cost Smith several million dollars.

This is one of those times that I go against what I previously said and am fine with a player being judged by his combine performance over his on-field performance. At the end of the day, these teams are making investments, and they need to know that they are investing in someone that is willing to go to work for them.