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I think the really fun math would be to throw Tressels vote into the mix. If he had voted for Michigan at #2 and Florida at #3, would that have been enough to push Michigan over the top?

I doubt it. Also, Arthur keep in mind that Lloyd Carr started playing his second string at the end of the 2nd quarter against Ball State. When asked whether he put his subs in too early Carr said, "Had we lost the game, you all would've had a good time with that one." Did Florida even do that against the 1AA team they played a few weeks ago?

Also, I think that Auburn's treatment last year had some impact on this outcome. The BCS system is supposed to reward the big conferences, and had UM gone to the BCS Championship game that would have marked two consecutive years that the SEC got looked over. Just food for thought.

Michigan's job now is to defeat USC by a large margin. I think even if Michigan rolls USC, a UF victory gets them the crown.

Arthur, I think one of the key lines in your piece is regarding the playoff: "only if everyone really wants a true National Champion."

Crowning a true national champ still seems to be secondary to creating good matchups for TV. That's why the fifth game was created, rather than using one of the original four (Rose, Sugar, Orange, Fiesta).

The current "system" works for the schools, conferences, sponsors and TV networks, so it's never going to change. The only group it doesn't completely work for is the fans. It's not the first time fans have taken a back seat (and it won't be the last).

So we can play along and debate the matchups and rail against the injustices, or we can accept the fact that any college football national championship is still going to be "mythical" -- because it isn't decided on the field -- and just sit back and enjoy some good football.

I vote for the latter.

Lofty: I agree that the mythical works ok. I said I kind of liked the old "system" instead of the current "system". What fries me is the BCS line of stuff that says this is a great thing they've got there. It's now better than what went before. And in the past, each major bowl game was an event unto itself. Now....

And by the way, I wonder if the players would rather play a three-game playoff with eight teams and a champion.

You're probably right, that's not going to happen.

Chicago: I don't know if the Ohio State Florida match is the best, and better than Ohio St. Mich would have been. But it's what we got. Your point about the SEC getting stiffed last year makes sense (and having Slive in the admin post this year couldn't have hurt).

If all the people making noise about this system working would just say 'it doesn't work worse than what we had before and now we've got you fans another game' instead of blathering on about the system, I'd be happy.

Here's a great comment from TMQ (Greg Easterbrook):

And in college news, the sports-yak world is agonizing over whether Michigan or Florida "deserved" to meet Ohio State in college football's final game. Either choice would be arbitrary -- without a playoff format, it's impossible to know who "deserves" to play the Buckeyes. Bear in mind, the BCS formula was never intended to ensure a clear on-the-field champion. It was intended to maximize television exposure for the big conferences. Note that the formal name of the Ohio State-Florida event does not involve the phrase "national championship." Rather, what will happen on January 8th is the BCS Championship Game. Get it? The winner becomes champion of the BCS -- a system devised to maximize the income of BCS founding schools -- not champion of college football. TMQ thinks the event's formal name should be College Football's Final Game of Another Controversial Season.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/061205

Actually, and not too surprisingly, Easterbrook is wrong.

The BCS WAS set up to determine a 'national champion' and to stage a 'national championship game.' I don't think they do that but that is their stated and official mission.

Here are two paragraphs from the BCS official website (run on the Fox Sports website):

"The Southern California Trojans and the Texas Longhorns met on opposite sides of the football in the 2005 season's national championship game, but they shared one thing. They were playing for the national title because the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was in place. Without the BCS, USC would have played in the Rose Bowl and Texas would have been in the Fiesta Bowl and the debate about the better team would have raged endlessly.

"The BCS was established to determine the national champion for college football while maintaining and enhancing the bowl system that's nearly 100 years old. The BCS has become a showcase for the sport, matching the best teams at the end of the season."

For more on what the BCS says it is, and, then in turn how it's screwing up what it says it does,

http://www.bcsfootball.org/bcsfb/definition

Read it when you get a minute. Your point is correct, the game Jan. 8 will determine the winner of a system not the winner of the National Championship. But that is exactly what the BCS bozos would have you believe, Easterbrook notwithstanding.

Please join the coalition for the restoration of the original bowl system.

As long as it's not the Coalition for the Restoration of the Antiquated Bowl System.

this bowl system is a load of crap and the arguments against a playoff system are specious and obfuscatory. sure it's about tv and money. the reason it's a bowl of poop is that they claim it's about crowning a champion. they only made that change because they know how unpopular it is among the fans (and coaches and players too, according to some polls). it's a smokescreen to keep everyone quiet a little longer. call it what it is, or make it what you call it, but enough with the blatant lies. we're not that dumb.

Well, Burger King guy is...but the rest of us aren't

Guys you're all forgetting, IT DOES NOT MATTER WHO THE BUCKEYES PLAY. Have u seen Troy Smith? Line 'em up as far as I'm concerned boys.

Things were better before the BCS came along. Doing this half system of a Championship is ridiculus. Let the Big Ten play the Pac Ten in the Rose, etc. etc. If the voters are deciding who should be in the BCS Championship game - isn't this the same as the voters deciding who should be crowned #1 through polls like it was in the past? We've just shifted the controversy 6 steps back.

In my mind, with the old bowl system, we might have had USC vs Ohio State and Michigan vs Florida. Now those are the two matchups I'd prefer to see!!!! In reality, it would have provided a playoff-esque situation. If Ohio State had beaten USC, then they would remain #1, but we would have a clear cut #2. If USC had somehow beaten Ohio State, the winner of Michigan/Florida would have been #1.

Woody, it doesn't matter who the Buckeyes beat, but a lot of people think it matters who they play. The problem with the BCS system is that the bozos who keep re-creating it each year try to make it sound like it works. THE THING DON"T WORK.
Maybe this is the time there'll finally be real discussion of a real playoff? Nahh, the BCS championship game has a long TV deal so we get to do this again next year!

Exactly Arthur, I very much understand that the system is lacking at best. You're right, maybe will get a playoff after the tv deal, but that seems like a big maybe.

What's interesting is that a playoff system always was set aside because the Bowls did not want to be marginalized. What could marginalize the Bowls more than what's happened now? Once the Rose, Orange, Sugar, Fiesta could possibly decide the National Champion. Now none of them can. Nice job, guys.

Simple solution: have Ohio State/Boise State in the national championship game. They're the 2 remaining unbeaten teams. Whoever wins gets the crown. That simple. But there's too much money involved so that will never happen. Oklahoma and Nebraska got free rides to the title game in the last 5-6 years(thanks to some number movement by the BCS) because those universities could bring more people to their respective venues; NOT because they were the better team. And what happened in both cases? They got their doors blown off. Auburn got screwed twice in the last 15 years because of these politics. Simply put, this Bowl Crock'a S(you fill in that word) does not work!

Nothing crazy about your points Tom.

I think that the national championship is right to me the two best teams in the country are playing in glendale arizona. Ohio State is undefeated and should be there and Florida who won the championship in the best conference in the country which is the SEC they should have been undefeated except for a shaky call against auburn. The coaches made the right decision.