BCS Chaos

Not to toot my own horn too much, but recently I've been hearing a number of arguments for a playoff system in Division I college football. I know this is nothing new -- I mean, really, I know that because I was doing the same thing seven or eight years ago on the pages of Channel 4000.

The plan that most closely resembles the 16-team bracket that my friend Smooth Jimmy helped me assemble is the one I saw from Yahoo.com's Dan Wetzel, cleverly titled "The Wetzel Plan." If I remember correctly, we had a much snazzier moniker for our tournament, something like "Holiday Hysteria." And we incorporated the bowl games into the system -- the top 15 bowls would host the 15 playoff games, with the championship game rotating between the bowls that are now designated as BCS games.

Regardless of the plan, it's time for it to happen. The system right now just doesn't work. Consider this: If Missouri loses to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game, Ohio State will play in the national championship. Missouri would have two losses, both to Oklahoma. Ohio State lost to Illinois, but doesn't have to face the Illini or anybody else in the Big Ten Championship game because there is no such thing.

And with so much parity in the NCAA these days -- due mostly to scholarship limits and TV exposure for more than just a handful of big-ticket programs -- it's ridiculous to let computers, coaches and sportswriters determine which two teams deserve to play one game to determine the national champion. The so-called "mythical national champion" that we once referred to has become more mythical than ever under the BCS.

Then again, I should be hoping Ohio State gets to face West Virginia in the title game. Wild horses couldn't keep me from laying the kids' college fund against the slow-footed, rusty Buckeyes in that one. That's one betting tip I'm giving you for free -- during the bowl season, whether you're here in Vegas or just in an office pool, you're best to bet against the Big Ten. We'll go over the matchups when they're announced, but Illinois is really the only Big Ten school that's playing a style (and has the talent) requisite to challenge a team from one of the other power conferences.

Parlay update: Last week, I went 3-for-5, with the stunning Patriots near-miss serving as an anchor to my ticket. But in a sense, I'm glad they didn't cover, because that would have been one tough 4-for-5 to swallow.

To wit: My other miss was the over on the Titans/Bengals game. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Titans were inside the Bengals 5, trailing 35-6. One more TD and we'd be over the 47.5 spot for that game. Titans running back Chris Brown found the end zone and I thought I had that one salted away ... but the Bengals challenged the spot, saying he was down inside the 1. Replays supported their challenge, leaving the Titans with a 3rd-and-goal inside the 1. Of course, they got stuffed on 3rd down, and Vince Young threw the ball away on 4th down, and the Bengals basically ran out the rest of the clock.

And that's why they call it gambling.