BCS Picture Hazy as Season Wraps

It will be nothing short of fascinating to watch watch the BCS picture fully unfold over the next two weeks. Does Michigan---with its season already finished---somehow stay at #2 in the rankings and make it to an Ohio State rematch and all-Big Ten national title game? Does USC win its last two games over Notre Dame and UCLA to grab a spot in its third straight championship game? Or does the SEC Champion---be it Arkansas or Florida---get a needed stumble from the Trojans and close out with enough momentum to slip into the second spot for Glendale? Can Notre Dame upset USC and ride historic sentiment all the way up the BCS ladder? So much left to be decided in a short amount of time, it's no wonder so many heads are spinning . . .

This much I already know for sure: Ohio State and Michigan should not rematch for the national championship. Plain and simple. The Wolverines had their shot at the Buckeyes and came up short. Say what you want about the final score being just a three point spread---anyone who actually watched the game knows the outcome was never in doubt. Ohio State controlled the flow of the contest pretty much from halfway through the first quarter on, allowing a meaningless touchdown to Michigan with a little over a minute left. To give the Maize and Blue another shot at the Buckeyes would be a supreme disservice to every other one-loss BCS contender in the country. Big Ten football is good, for sure, but it's in no way the best conference in the nation, let alone being that much better than every other league.

If life isn't fair (and we all learn early that it's most definitely not), then college football's BCS system is downright unjust. Surely, it's better than the way it was before 1998, when not having a ranking system that guaranteed a #1 vs. #2 matchup made the end of the season an absolute joke very year. But the joke is only slightly less funny now. The future of college football is bright, but to really take it to the next level of the American sports consciousness, an end of the year playoff system is required.

The way I see it, the BCS ranking system can still be used to help decide who makes it into the tournament. Whether it's four teams or eight (and I prefer eight), adding an extra game or two at the end of the year is in no way a major detriment to the student-athletes participating in the games. They're in winter break at Bowl Season every year anyway! The "missing class" argument went out the window a long time ago. And if the added time and effort for an extra game is such a big deal, then why not limit regular season slates to no more than 11 games? Some may urge caution before proceeding, and argue that the lesser bowls still have their place; I absolutely agree with that point as well. We all know the bowl system has survived as long as it has because of all the money in play. So I think you keep those money bowls for teams that don't qualify for the bigger payday BCS playoffs at the end.

Try looking at it like this: if an eight team playoff system were in place right now, Michigan's national title hopes would be not finished. Based on their strong overall season, the Wolverines would be no less than the #4 seed in an eight team tournament for the title. But as it currently stands in this deeply cruel world of NCAA Division I football, Michigan is got beaten by a better team in Columbus and is now headed to Pasadena for an at-large BCS date in the Rose Bowl.

As for now, the debate continues over who will play Ohio State in Glendale, Arizona, on January 8th, but clearly the conversation has been diverted from the more important issue of why college football still doesn't have a playoff system in place.

You know, the more I think about it, a playoff system will probably never happen. It just makes too much sense.

-JAB