Let them play

As each college football season develops, at some point, I think to myself, “This is the year that’s going to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the BCS doesn’t work and the sport absolutely needs a playoff.”

Every year, I’m wrong.

That hasn’t stopped me, however, from keeping that hope alive in 2010. Oregon, Auburn, Texas Christian and Boise State all are undefeated, and rank 1-4, respectively, in the most recent BCS standings.

With a win tonight over Nevada, Boise State should overtake TCU for the No. 3 spot, but in the BCS, No. 3 means very little. As far as Boise State and TCU are concerned, it probably makes no difference which of them finishes No. 3 and which is No. 4, because there’s a good chance they’ll end up playing each other again in a BCS bowl game.

If Oregon and Auburn win out, all that’s on the line for Boise State is which color jersey the Broncos will wear — and whether they’ll be the home or away team on the scoreboard — in their bowl game.

College football is broken, yet ignoramuses like Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee, who recently declared that Boise State and TCU have no business in a national championship game, cling to the BCS like Christians to the Bible — another outdated work.

Anyone who read the cover story in the Nov. 15 issue of Sports Illustrated has a good idea of why a playoff is unlikely anytime in the near future. The short answer is that bowl games earn far too much money for the powers that be to be done away with.

But if ever there were a situation that could convince the NCAA that a tournament is necessary, this might be it. What if the Ducks, Tigers, Horned Frogs and Broncos all finish undefeated? Auburn and Oregon will play each other in what, admittedly, could be a pretty entertaining title game, while TCU and Boise State beat on each other, and beat their heads against the wall, in one of the other big bowl games.

Wouldn’t you love to see Boise State play Oregon or Auburn for the national title? I would, but if all three finish unbeaten, it’s simply not going to happen.