A Stanley Cup Final rematch is on the way.
There's hope for three championship-starved NBA fan bases.
Changes — and maybe more changes — are coming to the College Football Playoff.
Michigan Public sports commentator John U. Bacon joined Morning Edition host Doug Tribou to talk about those stories and more sports news.
Doug Tribou: Let’s start with the NHL. The Stanley Cup Final is set and it’s a rematch of last year’s final. The defending champs, the Florida Panthers, will take on the defending runners-up, the Edmonton Oilers. By my count, this is the sixth straight Stanley Cup Final to feature a team from Florida. Who would you like to win it all this time around?
JUB: A team not from Florida. That's what I want.
DT: [Laughs] You would just like some variety.
JUB: [Laughs] Well, also, here's the deal: the Canadians, of course, invented the game. The Montreal Canadiens got the most Stanley Cups. The Toronto Maple Leafs got the second most, but no Canadian team out of seven has won the Stanley Cup since 1993. That is, obviously, 32 years. And who's cheering for the Florida teams? Canadians who moved to Florida. This is an outrage. This is an outrage, Doug.
DT: Over in the NBA, half of the championship bracket is set. The Oklahoma City Thunder knocked off the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals. In the East, the Indiana Pacers will try to close out the New York Knicks in Game 6 Saturday night. You’ve got a lot of hungry fan bases in the mix there.
JUB: [Laughs] Yes, you do. Kind of like the Canadian equation. Look, Indiana has never won the title. Oklahoma City has not won it since they were in Seattle, and [they left] in 2008. And the Knicks have not won since 1973. So this is, again, several decades of futility. One of those teams has got to win it, right? So someone's gonna be happy.
DT: John, somewhere out there is the one fan who thinks that the College Football Playoff expansion last season, which increased the field from four teams to 12, was perfect...
JUB: [Laughs] If your question is: where is that fan? I don't know.
DT: [Laughs] Almost everyone else had thoughts, and in the upcoming season, more changes are coming. It will still be 12 teams, so what’s changing and what issues are the changes supposed to address?
JUB: Well, it's going to be the rich get richer yet again. In this case, it's because they're doing seeding only based on how good your team is, not if you won the Big 12 conference or the ACC conference, weaker conferences. They don't care anymore. So this is getting closer and closer to the NFL. College football used to be unique and special and something different. And now it's basically NFL minor leagues. This is one more step.
DT: Now, if you’re [a fan] out there thinking, “Well, surely that will settle it,” think again. It seems likely we’re heading for another College Football Playoff expansion — to 16 teams — as soon as the 2026 season. The Power Five conferences, including the Big Ten, have been discussing options. What’s your view of yet another change to the national title formula?
JUB: Inevitable, easy to predict, and I predicted it about 30 years ago when they went to the two-team format years ago in 1998. They said "Oh, this is all we want. You know, two teams is plenty.'
Here comes 16. Don't forget, Doug, that greed is undefeated and you're gonna get 16 teams before we're done.
DT: And as we speak, we’re still waiting on word about the final details of the NCAA settlement known as the House settlement. That is expected to have huge changes on college roster limits and name, image, likeness money — not just in football but beyond. That was expected to be finalized this week, we’ll talk about it whenever it’s fully settled.
Before I let you go, John, the Tigers are still hot. They’ve won four straight games, are in first place, in the American League Central Division still. Which Detroit players have stood out to you so far?
JUB: Spencer Torkelson is leading the team with 13 home runs. Casey Mize is leading a team with six wins. These guys were first-round [draft] picks several years ago. They hadn't really worked out. And now they're having career seasons. And don't forget, Tarik Skubal is the best pitcher in the major leagues, yet again.
Editor's notes: Some quotes in this article have been edited for length and clarity. You can hear the full interview near the top of this page.
