1. Oregon's Mark Helfrich was the least heralded of the four coaches whose teams reached the semifinals, but he is, by football standards, an amusing guy. The inaugural College Football Playoff brought a change in the day-before coaches' press conference. Rather than let each have a half-hour to himself, Helfrich and Ohio State's Urban Meyer were paired on the dais. They played off one another, with a question to Meyer about how the Buckeyes had prepared for the hurryin' Ducks being pre-empted. "Be specific, please," Helfrich said. Which prompted this from Meyer: "Without going into too much detail … next question." Also of interest: The transcribed quotes were streamed live on video screens in the hotel ballroom and for the first couple of minutes, the head Duck's surname was displayed as "hell ridge."
2. Ohio State safety Vonn Bell willingly left the South but still hates cold weather. A sophomore who leads the Buckeyes in interceptions, Bell was a five-star recruit from Ridgeland High in Rossville. (He lives across the state line in Ooltewah, Tenn.) He and his family, he said at Saturday's media session, "were well suited" to Ohio State. "Coach Meyer came in and has that family atmosphere." He visited and considered Georgia but decided "it wasn't the best fit for me." His final three teams were Ohio State, Alabama and Tennessee, and he picked the place that gets the most snow. "Weather is a challenge," he said. "It's something we don't see down South. They clear it — they've got their little snowplows — but it can be just as cold the next day."
3. Should we dress the SEC in pinstripes? In conversation Saturday, CFP executive director Bill Hancock was asked if the absence of an SEC team from the title game was plus or a minus. "From my standpoint, I'm neutral," he said. "But I would ask this: Are the Yankees good for baseball?" And that, like most Hancock points, seemed salient. Baseball fans tune in to see the Yankees play, but many among those viewers are rooting like crazy for the Yankees to lose.
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