With a week to go before the official kick-off of the college football "postseason," it's time to get serious about this, the most wonderful time of the year.

Watching the bowl selection show, which carried about 4.2% of the drama the NCAA tournament selection show carries, one thing struck me: some of these bowls have storylines that would make Vince McMahon weep with joy, others need a little help.

Say what you will about a playoff system, and I include myself as a proponent, but the bowl selection process is unlike anything else in sports. Once you get past the national title game and some loose conference tie-ins, bowls are essentially given carte-blanche to pick who they want. Then it becomes a matter of intriguing match-ups or story lines, fan base, and most of all money. Imagine if the Oscars subscribed to the same theory. You'd have your Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Film and Best Director as the BCS bowls, but beyond that you'd be faced with pitting two movies head to head, say, King Kong versus Pride and Prejudice for Best Costume Design. Doesn't sound like such a bad system.

Anyway, let's take a look at some of the most intriguing bowls by examining what the pre-packaged major story line will be versus what I think the story line should be:

Las Vegas Bowl
BYU vs. Cal
What the story line will be: I have no idea. I didn't even know BYU was bowl eligible.

What the story line should be: Why isn't this game a mid-major bowl instead of a pre-Christmas bowl? Who doesn't want to go to Vegas, gamble, drink 3-foot margaritas and watch their alma mater? Teams should be throwing games late in the season to get to Sin City. It should be like an XFL game, with the girls who are off from the Crazy Horse that night selling beer and working the sidelines.

What makes this particular story line even better is the fact that BYU is playing in the game. For the devout Cougar faithful, they may as well be playing this game in hell.

Champs Sports Bowl
Clemson vs. Colorado
What the story line will be: How will the Buffs respond following the departure of Gary Barnett?

What the story line should be: Will Colorado have more personal foul penalties than points? Seriously, this program has embarrassed itself on national television twice in its past two games, and for the better part of the last two years.

Insight Bowl
Arizona St. vs. Rutgers
What the story line will be: The State University of New Jersey playing in its first bowl game since...well...let's just say I'm 26 years old and I don't remember a bowl season ever including the Scarlet Knights. It's been a while.

What the story line should be: The lengths the folks at Insight will go to get Sun Devil fans to show up at what is essentially a home game in Phoenix when the opponent is Rutgers. Maybe the governor of New Jersey can step in and use his sway to get fans in the seats, threatening that if the ASU faithful don't show up and root for the Scarlet Knights, there will be no final season of The Sopranos.

Computers Bowl (Wherever possible, I refuse to use sponsor names.)
Boise State vs. Boston College
What the story line will be: How the Broncos had their sights set on a BCS bowl when the season started but they're happy to be here at home on the Blue Astroplay.

What the story line should be: The Eagles winning a trip to...Boise, Idaho!! I want cameras there when BC steps off the plane in Boise and it's 3:30 pm, pitch dark, 12 degrees below zero and there's used plugs of chewing tobacco in the airport urinals. The Eagles live in one of the poshest cities in the country, with probably the largest concentrations of undergrads anywhere and now they have to go to Idaho?

That and how does Boise always get a home game for their bowl bid? (Four out of nine since the game started in 1997.) Is the bowl formerly known as the Humanitarian Bowl committed to the champion of the BSU blue-orange spring scrimmage?

Alamo Bowl
Michigan vs. Nebraska
What the story line will be: Two traditional powers meet in a game that means a little less than they're used to and a lot less than their fans expect.

What the story line should be: How the two schools achieved the greatest heist since Ocean's 11 by actually replacing this year's squads with the teams from 1997, despite the fact that all the players are pushing 30, so the argument can be settled once and for all as '97 Nebraska crushes the '97 Wolverines. Additionally, Lloyd Carr is exposed as the one coach who does the least with the most by losing the only thing he sort-of won.

Holiday Bowl
Oregon vs. Oklahoma
What the story line will be: How Oregon got snubbed by the BCS because Notre Dame plays its own schedule and essentially dictates the rules to the NCAA because they have a TV deal with NBC.

What the story line should be: What will Oregon wear? Will they go all-banana, all-mallard or will they revive the black tire-track unis from the Civil War game. I want to be there in the war room when Oregon, I mean Phil Knight, decides what the Ducks will wear for the bowl game. Maybe Nike will just tattoo all the Ducks yellow-and-green camouflage from head-to-toe, inject silicone "pads" beneath their skin and just let them play in the nude. Is it any less feasible than what they've been wearing?

Sun Bowl
Northwestern vs. UCLA
What the story line will be: Two of the most prolific offenses in the country square off in El Paso.

What the story line should be: Which team gets in more trouble across the border in Mexico? Remember boys, the worm at the bottom of the bottle contains no special powers!

Car Care Bowl
USF vs. NC State
What the story line will be: One program on the come versus one program that crapped out this season.

What the story line should be: A week in the life of the one fan who will attend this game.

Fiesta Bowl
Notre Dame vs. Ohio State
What the story line will be: The meeting of two traditional Midwestern powerhouses who rarely face each other.

What the story line should be: How both teams ended up with logo-less helmets.

Orange Bowl
Penn St. vs. Florida St.
What the story line will be: Bowden versus Paterno. The record for sports cliches could be broken in the weeks leading up to this game as both coaches try to deflect attention away from themselves and onto the teams.

What the story line should be: A reality show with Bowden and Paterno living together in one house with 10 of the most highly touted recruits in the country. At the end of two weeks, all 10 will commit to either Penn St. or FSU. Mayhem ensues. Somebody call Fox.

Alternate: How Penn St. fans should be ecstatic they lost to Michigan because they weren't playing in the national championship game even if they were undefeated. Texas and USC were there all year, so the loss to the Wolverines saved the people in State College a lot of heartache and pointless talk about how they deserved a shot. The Nittanies are drastically improved but they're not the Trojans or Longhorns yet.

Rose Bowl
USC vs. Texas
What the story line will be: Take your pick. With 31 days leading up to the game, there isn't an angle to this game that WON'T be covered ad nauseum.

What the story line should be: Matt Leinart proposes to Jessica Simpson at half time while Nick Lachey and Bob Huggins, on the tail end of a three day New Years bender, stumble out of their courtside seats during that night's Cincinnati-DePaul basketball game, delaying the contest for 27 minutes as Lachey sings karaoke to 98 Degrees songs on the video screen in an effort to win Simpson, and his career, back.

I can't wait. Let's go bowling!