Bert's lobbying for 10 second rule "played to perfection"

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House of Cards is one of my favorite shows. I think it's amazing television.

For those of you who haven't seen it (and considering it airs exclusively on Netflix, that's the vast majority of you) here's House of Cards in a nutshell: Kevin Spacey plays Frank Underwood, a Congressman from South Carolina that ruthlessly outworks and outmaneuvers his rivals in an effort to arrange Washington's political chessboard in an effort to serve his most important constituent: himself. Underwood is a master at playing people right in front of their faces without them even suspecting they've been played.

With season two of House of Cards debuting tomorrow, I've been thinking about Underwood a lot lately. It turns out Underwood has a college football counterpart, and his name is Bret Bielema.

The Arkansas head coach is all-in against the tempo offenses that have engulfed the sport in the past two years. Wednesday's proposed rule change has been dubbed by some as the Saban-Bielema Rule, but Bielema has beaten the drum harder than anyone.

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The rule is still a ways away from formal adoption, but this was Bielema's Frank Underwood moment. In a world that was bending away from his worldview, Bielema campaigned and lobbied to bend it back. For the coach of a 3-9 team, this was the only move he had to play. And, so far, he's played it to perfection.

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