Fair? No. Real? Yes.

The truth is, Utah, and the rest of the mid-major conference teams, are really not even eligible for the BCS title. Technically, they are, but in practice, they have zero chance of ending the season ranked in the top two. Perhaps this will change now that the non-BCS conferences are 3-1 in BCS games, including wins over Oklahoma and Alabama, but more than likely, it won’t change.

How are you supposed to work your way into the top two when no one has you ranked at the beginning of the season. If there was ever a more appropriate time to get rid of preseason polls, I can’t name it. Auburn, Tennessee, Arizona State and Michigan were ranked in the preseason, while Utah was not. Do you need anymore proof that these rankings are worthless. And these rankings are directly responsible for the way the season plays out in many, many ways.

I ask you this? What more could Utah have done? The answer, of course, is nothing. Therefore, the conclusion is that of the 119 Division-I teams, only about 66 of them are eligible for the national championship. That’s not parity or fairness, that’s just stupid.

You would think that this would also be the season that would get the powers that be in the BCS to remove their heads from their asses and start working on a playoff, but alas, it won’t be.

How hard was it for Utah to win the BCS? In the Harris poll, several voters admitted to not even watching the Utes play this season! You’re shitting me, right? You’re job is to rank college football teams, and you do it without watching them play? I have to ask then, why are they even ranked at all? Clearly, these voters have no clue as to how good or bad Utah is, so how did they end up ranked so highly in the Harris poll?

I suppose the NCAA will continue to push the myth of the superior conference on us next year, when every year it gets more and more clear that there is great parity in the NCAA, and we should just go with whatever two major conference teams lost earliest in the season again next year.

Alabama got whupped by Utah, Texas Tech got spanked by Ole Miss, and Penn State got embarrassed by USC. The only conference that went unbeaten in the bowls was the Pac-10, but they get no respect anyway, so people will quickly dismiss their success.

But one year from now, I can guarantee you that no matter what, two teams from major conferences will play for the BCS title, no matter what any non-BCS conference school does.

It is time for a playoff, and anything less should be considered unacceptable by college football fans. If we need to boycott ESPN or the sponsors, then so be it. Perhaps a walkout at a major football game could do the trick, but something must be done.

Utah is the most deserving team in the country of the title. They are the 2008-2009 champions. Florida or Oklahoma may get the trophy, but the Utah Utes are the true champions.

On an appearance on ESPN radio together, CollegeFootballTalk.com reports (HT: Deadspin) the following conversation:

“You tell me this,” Tebow said to Kiper during the radio exchange. “What do you think I need to do to be an NFL quarterback? You tell me that.”

Unfortunately, Kiper didn’t give Tebow a direct answer to his direct question.

“You’re just too good with the ball in your hands not to think, Could he be Frank Wycheck? Could he be Chris Cooley? That’s why,” Kiper said. “You’re too good, doing what you do, Tim, running with the football.”

First of all, Kiper has to do better than “you’re too good with the football. How about you struggle with the deep outs, you have not proven that you can take a snap from under center or perform a five-step drop, your release is too slow and the offense you play in is nothing like an NFL offense.

Tebow is good at what he does, which is be a college quarterback, but the guy is not an NFL quarterback. You can go ask my former colleagues in Phoenix if I’ve ever been wrong about college-to-NFL quarterback transitions. I spent quite a bit of time explaining to people in the past why Vince Young was not an NFL QB. Same with Matt Leinart (though I do think he has B-level or backup potential).

It’s difficult enough to make it in the NFL, but in order to have a chance, you need to have the basic skills. Being a good gimmick QB in college is not a basic NFL QB skill. Ask Timmy Chang, David Klingler, Scott Frost and Danny Weurfel how their stats translated to NFL skills.

There are two things that are true when it comes to NFL quarterbacks. One, you need to have a great arm. I don’t mean you can throw it far or you can throw it accurately, I mean you have to do both extremely well. And two, you need to know the game inside and out. You need to be able to read defenses and know everything about your offense. If you can’t do either of these, you need to be Michael Vick.

Vince Young will never make it because he doesn’t mentally comprehend the game well enough. He has great physical tools, but when you go your entire college career without having to make reads, you are going to struggle at the next level.

What happens when Tebow gets to the NFL and he’s not a threat to run. The NFL will laugh at his “running ability.” His running skills are three or four yards a carry. He’s not a big play threat on the ground, so the NFL will simply stick a linebacker on him all game and he won’t run. In college you can’t do that because A) he can throw at the college level, and B) linebackers aren’t as big or disciplined.

And before anyone tries to bring up the Wildcat formation and how good Tebow will be at it — stop. He will be good at it. For five or six plays a game, Tebow will be a legitimate threat. I don’t deny that he’s got a chance to earn a living in the NFL, but he must find something he’s good at other than being a quarterback. Be a running back, contribute on special teams, work as an H-back — any of these are better options that trying to be an every down quarterback. It’s just not going to happen.

Of this current crew of college quarterbacks, I think there are some quality NFL-caliber guys. For the first time in a generation, there are Big 12 quarterbacks who have a shot at making it in the NFL, but I’m not ready to crown them like some others are.

I’m still not completely sold on Sam Bradford, though he appears to have all of the skills. Colt McCoy is a true playmaker, but I’ve seen too much inconsistency through three years to say he’s a lock at the next level, and Graham Harrell has amazing physical skills, but like Tebow, may be in for a shock when it comes to playing NFL style football (no shotgun, getting sacked, etc.).

And more importantly, what I think has been the biggest downfall of Big 12 quarterbacks in the NFL, these guys have to prove they can beat a real defense. The Big 12 historically plays very basic defenses, which allow for very basic offenses on the other side. This leads to Big 12 QBs getting to the next level and being lost. This year may have been the most extreme we’ve ever seen the Big 12 defenses suck. That may lead to some overvaluing of these Big 12 quarterbacks, even compared to previous seasons.

Tebow has a shot to be an NFL player, but I don’t think he’s got a shot to be an every down quarterback. Mel Kiper knows this, so it shouldn’t have been hard for him to explain it to him.

The simple answer to Tebow’s question would have been, “you have to become better at the things NFL quarterbacks do. Read the defense, perform a five-step drop from under center, and execute all of the passes.” Until Tebow proves he can do these things, he won’t rise above being a second or third round pick as an X-factor guy.

Evil Chandler Bing is rarely right, so when he is, he needs to have the balls to tell it.

Here’s hoping that Obama Claus brings us a playoff.

The Seeds

#1 - Oklahoma
#2 - Florida
#3 - Texas
#4 - Alabama
#5 - USC
#6 - Utah
#7 - Texas Tech
#8 - Penn State
#9 - Boise State
#10 - Ohio State
#11 - TCU
#12 - Cincinnati
#13 - Georgia Tech
#14 - Georgia
#15 - BYU
#16 - Virginia Tech

Round One

Virginia Tech at Oklahoma
BYU at Florida
Georgia at Texas
Georgia Tech at Alabama
Cincinnati at USC
TCU at Utah
Ohio State at Texas Tech
Boise State at Penn State

Round Two

Va. Tech/OU winner vs. Boise/Penn St. winner
BYU/Florida winner vs. Ohio State/Texas Tech winner
TCU/Utah winner vs. Georgia/Texas winner
Cincy/USC winner vs. Ga. Tech/Bama winner

Final Four

Va.Tech/OU/Boise St./Penn St. winner vs. Cincy/USC/Ga.Tech/Bama winner
TCU/Utah/Georgia/Texas winner vs. BYU/Florida/Ohio State/Texas Tech winner

Championship

Oklahoma vs. Florida?

Could be. Could be a major upset somewhere. That’s the beauty of a tournament like this. If we could determine the best team by computers and mere observation, there would be no need for any post-season in any sport. But we can’t. You play the games on the field. The national championship this year was supposed to feature Ohio State or Georgia or Missouri or Auburn. But guess what? They didn’t prove it on the field. So why should we just ignore the possibilities now.

Now, would you rather have this, or just a plain old bowl system.

Of course, my plan also includes another tournament (NIT style) of the also rans, plus a fine selection of regular bowl games, to serve as a reward to deserving teams.

The increase in the number of games, the importance of the games, and the talk about the games will no doubt result in a major increase in revenue.

You’d be a fool to stick with a bowl system.

I guess that explains why we still have a bowl system.

While you’re at it, you can join USC at that same party. And the many, many teams that were simply screwed out of BCS games in general, from Kansas State to Marshall to TCU.

You see, the BCS is a joke. Everybody knows it, but no one is willing to do anything about it. Every coach in the country knows it is a joke. Every player on every team knows it. Every fan of the game knows it. Hell, the President-elect knows it.

But the school presidents and the conference commissioners like to look like assholes. At least, that’s the only explanation I can come up with.

These bright people have chosen to accept less money, less happiness from their constituents and a terrible situation for fans and players. They have done this despite every level-headed mind in sports telling them how wrong they are.

But they have the power and that’s all that matters to them.

So Florida, enjoy your BCS at-large bid if you get it, because there is a legitimate chance that Oklahoma and Texas both stay ahead of you in the final BCS standings. And when that happens, you are off to play Utah in a not-quite-as-important BCS game.

You had your shot, you lost to Mississippi. And in the fantasy world of the BCS, you lost your playoff game three months ago. That’s the argument right? Every week is like a playoff game because our regular season is so important?

Maybe if the SEC didn’t suck so bad this year, you’d be sitting pretty right now. Perhaps if Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Arkansas and Tennessee didn’t all become laughing stocks in the course of one year, you’d have some strength of schedule and a win on your resume that looks good at the end of the year.

Look, I think Florida is the best team in the country right now. But if them getting screwed out of the title game is what it takes to get some of these asshole BCS suits to see reality, then I’m all for it.

So bring on the Red River Rematch. It’s not really for the national championship, but it will be a good game.

Well, Pete Carroll wants to bring the tradition back, and he’s willing to sacrifice a few timeouts to do it.

Under NCAA rules, visiting teams must wear their white uniforms on the road. If they don’t, they will be penalized a timeout in each half. To fix this inequality, Rick Neuheisal said he will call timeout before the opening kickoff to support Carroll’s traditional idea.

I’m a huge Pete Carroll fan and I think this idea is awesome. Football, particularly college football, is built on tradition and I respect Carroll for not only doing this, but for being so excited about it.

I’m not a huge Rick Neuheisal fan, but I have nothing bad to say about him on this one. Kudos to him for not only going along with Carroll’s idea, but for being willing to sacrifice his own timeout to make sure that USC is not disadvantaged for being penalized.

The Pac-10 has petitioned the NCAA for a rule change so that this can happen without penalty and expect an announcement forthwith.

After three years away from the team, former super-coach Bill Snyder will return to coach the team next season.

Snyder was the captain and architect of one of the most impressive turnarounds of a program in college football history.

In his 17 seasons at K-State, Snyder won 136 games. That’s as many as all of the coaches from 1935 to 1988 won combined.

Snyder will return to coach at Bill Snyder Family Stadium, replacing Ron Prince who was recently let go.

Snyder is fondly remembered in the gambling world as the king of the “run it up” offense, often openly playing to the point spread, seeing the spread as a measuring stick of what is expected of his team.

He is also the coach of record for my own personal favorite football gambling story. Opening week, 1999, Snyder and the Wildcats are 39 1/2 point favorites against the awful Temple Owls. Up 40-0 late in the fourth quarter, the K-State defensive backups allow Temple to get a first-and-goal from the one-yard line with a minute to play.

Some say it was to preserve the shutout, but I prefer to think it was to preserve the cover, Snyder called timeout to put the starting defense back in the game. The starters promptly stopped Temple on four straight plays to preserve the 40-0 shutout.

Some covers you just never forget.

Beware K-State football in the new Bill Snyder era. Bring back the cupcakes and wake up the scoreboard operator — it’s gonna get fun.

You see, this genius didn’t hurt himself during the play. He hurt himself by jumping up and bumping hips or chests or whatever is hip (no pun intended) these days. He got Gramática’d. If you recall, Bill Gramática tore up his knee while celebrating a meaningless field goal against the New York Giants when he was kicking for the Arizona Cardinals. There is nothing dumber in sports than injuring yourself celebrating. Ask Gus Frerotte. Or Ted Ginn. There’s just no reason for it.

Not to mention, there may not be a worse fad in football history than this new jump up and bump hips in mid-air. What the hell is the point? Wait, I take that back. The stupid “shooting a jump shot” celebration from two years ago was worse. So was raising the roof. But at least those were minimal injury risks.

I hate to see anyone get injured, but you gotta be somebody real special to feel sympathy for this guy. Whatever happened to the high five. Hell, a fist bump. Acknowledge that you just did something good and go nuts, just don’t jump as high as you can in the process. And don’t headbutt the solid goal post.

Well, at least Florida State has one smart player this year, which is about as many as have rolled through the Bowden tenure combined.

Congratulations to Myron Rolle, regardless of whether or not he wins the scholarship. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I applaud Florida State, Maryland and the NCAA for doing the right thing and allowing Rolle to take a private plane from his interview to the game. It was the right move, and in a sports world so over-legislated, it’s nice to see the right move made.

This move will put the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Fiesta Bowl all on cable television, while the Rose Bowl will continue to air on ABC until 2014, thanks to a prior agreement with the folks at Disney.

I mentioned earlier that I think this is the point of no return for the BCS, as this move will effectively shut down any and all talk on the WWL about a playoff, while demoting the most important games of the year to cable television, leaving 22 million homes unable to watch. This was all about money and what’s best for the people that run the BCS, and has nothing to do with the good of the game.

Unfortunately, I think this is proof that there is no one in the NCAA or BCS that is looking out for the good of the game. They are all looking out for their own best interests, which certainly are not about the integrity or the promotion of the game itself.

CNBC’s SportsBiz writer Darren Rovell goes a step further and asks why the NCAA is even willing to let this cash cow be in the control of external influences. Says Rovell:

“College football is under the jurisdiction of the NCAA along with every other sanctioned varsity college sport. Yet, the Division I college football postseason is under the jurisdiction of 11 NCAA Division I conference commissioners, Notre Dame’s athletic director and a presidential oversight committee (comprised of the likes of Notre Dame, Pitt, Penn State, and Oregon to name a few) simply known to the masses as the BCS. It must be all about the money, right? Why is it, then, Myles Brand’s NCAA team is fit to run point for a March Madness that fetches approximately $400 Million per YEAR in CBS rights fees alone, more than the entire Fox BCS contract?”

We, as sports fans, have lost all control over sports, and are now completely at the mercy of the Worldwide Leader. If ESPN wants a playoff, we’ll get a playoff. If they want to play one singular bowl game between the two teams they find the most deserving, that’s what we’ll get.

If they have a game to be aired, they consider Mike Patrick qualified to call it. That’s the kind of network we’re talking about here. They thought “Who’s Now” was a good idea.

ESPN has successfully completed its complete takeover of college football. When they win the rights to March Madness, they will put that on cable as well. Perhaps then there will be an appropriate outcry.

They killed hockey (with some help from hockey), they put Monday Night Football on cable, and they have taken over sports reporting to a level that if they don’t report it or confirm it first, they don’t acknowledge it.

They hired Rick Reilly and are paying him $10 million for Christ’s sake.

Do you really want these people in control of college football any more than they are?

The results of this playoff scheme would be more interest, more money and most importantly, a true champion. I would love to hear a rebuttal from anyone at the BCS or the sponsors that actually make the decisions for the BCS, but I’ve never had that luxury.

I have written about the idea more in-depth before, as well as with a summary of criteria, and I have also updated with recent season’s playoff trees to see it in action.

Now that President-elect Obama is behind a playoff, I can only hope that someone on his staff will get this in his hands. Politics aside, I would gladly serve this nation his Secretary of College Football Playoffs. If this isn’t “change we can believe in,” then I don’t know what he plans to do for the next four years. What’s his other line, “yes we can”? Well, Mr. President-elect — yes I can provide change we can believe in in college football.

Here, I will provide a summary once again of my genius plan, and once again, I invite anyone to find where it won’t work.

If you try to tell me that it takes away from the best regular season in sports, don’t bother because I already know you’re an idiot if you believe that. College football’s regular season is arguably the worst in all of sports, due to the fact that you don’t control your own destiny, no matter how good you are, and losses at different times of the year have different weight and value. It’s the most ridiculous idea ever to believe that college football has the best regular season in sports.

Here is my copy-and-paste of the bullet points I outlined in my original writing. As always, I challenge anyone to tell me where it won’t work.

REGULAR SEASON FORMAT

• 12 Game Maximum Schedules

• All teams must finish regular season play by the Saturday after Thanksgiving. In 2007, that makes for 14 Saturdays from September 1 to December 1

• Any conference championship game must be played within this time frame as well, even if that means cutting the regular season schedule to 11. This would be up to each conference. They could also choose to scrap the conference title game and determine a winner through standings.

• To be bowl-eligible, you must have at least six wins vs. I-A opponents

• To be eligible for the National Championship, you must have at least nine wins vs. I-A opponents (can include conference championship, if applicable)

POSTSEASON FORMAT

• 16 teams in playoff to play in National Championship Playoff

• 16 teams in Second Tier Tournament similar to college basketball’s NIT

• 32 teams in 16 Bowl Games to reward players and schools and to keep small bowl-hosting cities in the mix

• Total of 64 teams in postseason (64 in 2006-07)

• Total of 48 postseason games (32 in 2006-07)

• Same number of teams in postseason, with 16 additional games.

Teams to play in National Championship Playoff

• Six major conference champions (must be ranked in BCS top 20)

• Any other conference champions ranked in BCS top 20

• Independents must be ranked in the Top 20 for consideration, top 15 for guaranteed entry

• At-large bids based on BCS standings and an expert committee

• No more than three teams per conference

• Winner of previous year’s Second Tier Tournament, if in top 20 or nine I-A wins

Teams to play in second tier tournament

• All other conference champions

• At-large bids based on expert committee

Teams to play in Bowl games

• Teams not selected in either tournament will be allowed to accept any invitations they wish from any Bowl. Individual bowls may choose to keep their current affiliations.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYOFF FORMAT

• 16 teams in a single elimination tournament

• Seeding based on final BCS standings

• All first round games are at home field of higher seeded team

• Second round games are at neutral site

• Semi-Final games are at a neutral site

• National Championship game at a neutral site

• Neutral site games are a rotation of major BCS and other bowls

• Total of seven neutral site games to be at currently existing bowl sites

SECOND TIER TOURNAMENT FORMAT

• Winner of tournament can get into National Championship tournament the following year with a top 20 BCS finish, or nine Division-I victories.

• 16 teams in a single elimination tournament

• Seeding done by expert committee

• First and second round games at home field of higher seeded team

• Semi-Final and Championship game at neutral site

• Neutral site games are at currently existing bowl sites

BOWL GAMES

• All bowls to be played as they previously have in the past

• Single game format only

As you can clearly see, my plan is perfect. Not only do you not lose a single game from the college football postseason, the number of important games is increased. More important games means higher ratings. Higher ratings means more advertising and sponsors. More advertisers and sponsors means more money. More money for everyone makes everyone behind the scenes happy. Better football games and a proper end to the season means the fans and players are happy.

If you want what is best for college football, pass this along to anyone that cares. Email it, link it, Digg it — whatever it is that you kids do these days on the Interwebs to share information.

Together, we can save college football.

The negotiations are especially newsworthy because of the rumor that ESPN is planning on putting all of the BCS games on cable television, as opposed to the current system which has all five BCS games on over-the-air networks. Fox currently airs four games, while ABC airs the Rose Bowl.

ESPN is currently available in 98 million homes. Nearly 22 million homes don’t have cable or satellite television and rely on over-the-air signals.

ESPN’s likely move of the games to cable is due to the fact that ESPN can shamelessly cross-promote the games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPN Classic, ESPNU, ESPN.com, ESPN Radio, ESPN the Coloring Book, ESPN 360, ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Deportes and any other Disney owned entity. This, of course, means that ESPN can package the advertising they plan to make, as well as offer more exposure to the sponsors, theoretically resulting in more money.

In the business that is college football, unfortunately money is the bottom line. If ESPN thinks it can make back its $125 million per year in their own way, they will pay for the chance to do so. There is no interest in what the fans want, or how college football is best able to air its product.

This also means that there is a chance that Mike Patrick is in the booth for a BCS game. This is a scenario that no one wants. Mike Patrick is just simply not good at calling football games. There are only so many games that Brent Musberg and Kirk Herbstreit can call.

This is just another attempt by ESPN to be a part of the news, rather than just a reporter of the news. They will take the BCS and make it a part of their network. Mark my words, they will influence who plays in what games. They have too much power with their regular season contracts that they will be able to tell the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl what matchups they’d prefer.

Add in the reality that we will likely never hear an announcer, reporter or host on ESPN even mention the possibility of a college football playoff again, and this is something that disappoints me.

None of this is good for college football, and unfortunately, no one cares about what is good for college football.