The great debate right now in college football is over how to determine its champion. We've seen teams like Oklahoma last night and Hawaii, among others, show they are not primetime players with blowout losses. The mess that is the BCS (or Blowout Championship Series) resembles a car with four worn tires and no spare; it needs a rotation in the worst way (thanks for the quote, Tom Heinsohn!). Or an overhaul. The burning question I have is this; whose in charge here? Britany Spears?

This convoluted season, where the number two ranking was a virtual death sentence, where a two loss team (LSU) vies for the title, where no one is truly better, clearly, over another, needs a playoff. The BCS has provided few clear answers (which was the whole point of creating it in 1999) and too many questions. Yet it revels in the (negative) publicity it generates, just like Ms. Spears. In their own stupid logic, they love having everybody mad at them and rolling naked in the massive cash they get. In what other sport does getting it wrong somehow make the system a success?

The cash, of course, is a major obstacle, as is the big conferences and schools like USC, LSU, Ohio State, etc. getting the vast majority of that cash. Not only does it rewards these 'places of higher learning' with undue millions, the players, who often risk their health, get little, or none, of the reward. And while Hawaii's flameout may prove they didn't belong in the elite, whose to say a school elsewhere doesn't belong? And yet only big conferences get automatic berths? It's time for a change!

You'll probably get a tired refrain; the NCAA saying "Well, a tournament would disrupt the schooling of the players, so it wouldn't work". Bull! Where's that logic when college basketball has March Madness? It takes place during the semester, and nobody loses sleep over that. That's just an excuse to keep the (wealthy) status quo, and it loses credibility quickly.

You'll then hear that what would be an ideal amount of teams. Should it be eight, ten, twelve, even sixteen? And how would you put it up during the bowl schedule? Here's the solution; Play the big bowls as you would (with the top eight teams, if its four big bowls) and seed those teams based on their national rank. Then, a few days after that, schedule the semis during the off days of the NFL playoffs (that's another fear; that they would have to compete with the NFL) and the finals the next day. You'd settle it on the field, which is where the championship should be decided.

One more compalint; the regular season is really a playoff. Well, if that were the case, shouldn't LSU and Ohio State be eliminated? In a playoff, you eliminate those teams that lose. But Ohio State and LSU are still there. So, no, it's not a playoff.

The powers to be in the college football world need to see the 21st century and create a playoff. The current system has been a waste of time, and when you see sham games like Oklahoma-West Virginia, all it proves is that teams don't take these bowls seriously. Let's put the excitement back into the bowls and make the championship earned, not by convoluted logic.