Football Championships

The Buckeyes are back. So are the Louisiana State Tigers. So, too, is the annual angst driven by a flawed system that leaves fans clamoring for changes in how college football crowns its king. The proof is as easy as U-S-C. Think 2003, when the Trojans topped two national polls but finished third in the Bowl Championship Series standings and could only watch as LSU defeated Oklahoma in the title game.

Storm clouds seem ready to appear again in 2008 when it comes to the relationship between private and public schools. At least one league is expected to make a proposal to have separate playoff divisions for private and public schools. Mike Herrington, the football coach at Newhall Hart and a member of the Southern Section football advisory committee, said "inequity concerns" are fueling a movement to take action.

As Concord De La Salle concluded its 37-0 victory over San Ramon California in the North Coast Section 4A championship game on Saturday, Spartans supporters no doubt were shouting, "We're No. 1." A better cry would have been, "We're coming back." De La Salle (12-0) is the only team of the six in last year's inaugural CIF state bowl championship games lineup to return for Round 2 this weekend.

On Sunday, commissioners from the 10 sections that make up the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school sports in the state, will meet to determine the pairings for the three CIF state football championship bowl games that will take place on Dec. 15 at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

Football championships will be decided in 15 City and Southern Section divisions this weekend. Here's a look at some of the upcoming games: CITY SECTION CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION Carson (11-2) vs. Lake Balboa Birmingham (12-1) at Coliseum, 8 p.m. Friday -- It's a meeting between the top-seeded Patriots, seeking their fourth City title in six years, and second-seeded Carson, which has won 11 City championships with the last one coming in 2003.

The nation's top high school football players now have one more opportunity -- and decision to fret over. A new nationally televised showcase all-star game has begun a two-network competition for their attention. ESPN announced Monday that more than 40 high school seniors have accepted invitations for the first ESPNU High School All-American Game on Jan. 5 at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Fla.

Buffalo was described by Sports Illustrated recently as the "losingest city in sports." That makes for quite a snappy headline. But is it accurate? The claim that Buffalo has never won a major professional team championship is hazy at best. The Bills won consecutive American Football League titles in 1964 and 1965. Bills' statistics from those seasons are considered major enough to be included in the NFL record book.

If Florida's winning national championships is starting to sound like a broken record, well, record breaking is what the Gators are about these days. Al Horford heaved the ball skyward and into history Monday night only moments after Florida's 84-75 dissection of Ohio State in front of 51,458 at the Georgia Dome. The confetti fell and discussion began.

Big news from Chicago: Payton loses at Payton's Place. Bigger news from Indianapolis: PEYTON WINS! Sean Payton couldn't extend the New Orleans Saints' inspirational run past the franchise's first NFC championship game on Sunday, so the Chicago Bears are going to the Super Bowl for the first time since the days of Walter Payton running wild at Soldier Field.