Rule #71: Championships should be determined on the field, not in the polls

Quick Hits:

•  The NCAA selected a new president yesterday and already Mark Emmert is making headlines and worming his way into my heart. Not only is he on record as being a proponent of a college football playoff, but he wants to seriously address the issue of one-and-done players. Add to that the fact he hails from the Pac-10 and he supports the smaller expansion plan of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. I think we have a winner.
• Will they or won't they? At the beginning of the week we heard that JaMarcus Russell was as good as gone in Oakland, now not so much. The Raiders have 6.45 million reasons to cut a player who is, by every measure, a bust (Raider's fans rest assured, however, he still isn't the worst). But this is Al Davis we are dealing with, so when we see Russell on the sidelines next year in a black and silver jersey making an absurd amount of money to back up Jason Campbell, don't be surprised.
• Ted Miller has some excellent articles about USC quarterback Matt Barkley and head coach Lane Kiffin on his Pac-10 blog. On January 8th when it was first reported that Pete Carroll was leaving for the Seattle Seahawks did anyone expect to be this confident going into the new season without him? I certainly didn't.
• The U.S. National soccer team revealed their new home jerseys for the World Cup. Apparently the jerseys have two significant features. The first: they are styled after the jerseys worn by the 1950 team that upset England. The second: they are made entirely out of polyester recycled from water bottles.