A few things ...

-- It will be interesting to see what ex-Oregon coach Mark Helfrich does next.

He doesn't have to make up his mind today, tomorrow or this year thanks to the $11.6 million buyout he is getting from the Ducks.

Some guys live to coach football, and it's hard to imagine them doing anything else. Former Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson springs to mind. Erickson, who recently retired at 69 as running backs coach at Utah, reportedly will join the staff of his son, Bryce, at an Idaho high school.

I've never seen Helfrich as one of those guys.

He once planned for a career as an orthopedic surgeon before being bitten by the coaching bug.

Andrew Greif wrote about it in this excellent profile from 2013:

Helfrich is a family guy and, in my experience, unpretentious and multi-faceted.

Joe Rexrode of the Tennessean opines that Tennesee coach Butch should tap Helfrich to be his offensive coordinator.

I suppose that could happen. I think it's also possible Helfrich could choose not to continue in coaching.

-- Stewart Mandel of FoxSports.com tackles the question of what criteria should determine which four college football teams should be selected for the FBS playoff.

It's a worthwhile discussion, because I think games in November should matter more than games in September.

I've never bought the power conference propaganda that the major college regular season is a form of a playoff because every game matters.

The reality is some wins and some losses appear to matter more than others.

There isn't much question in my mind that USC was one of the best four teams in the country by the end of the season.

And the College Football Playoff committee left Penn State out of the Final Four and invited Ohio State despite the inconvenient facts that Penn State beat Ohio State head-to-head, and the Nittany Lions won the Big Ten championship.

Of course, the easy answer to all of this is to expand the playoff and let the teams themselves determine the Final Four on the field.

OK, more links:

College football's bowl games could get a makeover in 2020.

Andy Staples of SI.com: Too many bowls? Who says so?

The O/OLive ranked the 16 best Oregon sports teams for 2016. As you can imagine, none of the state's Division I football teams made the list. But the UO track/cross country program was well represented.

Three key members of the Washington defense say they will leave school early for the NFL.

Four Huskies overall now have made plans for early entry to the NFL.

The Merc's Jon Wilner reviews the Pac-12 bowl results and pronounces them mediocre.

Wilner's all-Pac-12 bowl team.

David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times: USC might just be the third-best team in college football at the moment.

USC is just a few pieces short of being a national championship contender.

USC athletic director Lynn Swann praises the job coach Clay Helton did this season.

Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune: It's time for Utah coach Kyle Whittingham to get out of the way of his offense, and, maybe, he knows it.

Returning Colorado players want their 2016 season to be a springboard into 2017.

Doug Robinson of the Deseret News: Brent Musburger needs to stick to the play-by-play and leave commentary and analysis to be someone else.

Musburger defends his comments about Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon.

Minnesota players lash out at the school in the wake of football coach Tracy Claeys' firing.

Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com: Clemson looks like this season's team of destiny.

Jon Solomon of CBSSports.com: Alabama and Clemson are different teams than the two that played for the national title last year.

Lindsay Schnell of SI.com: Clemson beware, Alabama's defense is as good as advertised.

Nancy Armour of USA Today: Nick Saban hasn't heard the last of Lane Kiffin.

The links from Duck Sports Now.

The links from Beaver Sports Now.

-- Ken Goe

503-221-8040 | @KenGoe