So, after the USC Trojan dude shoved the sword into the 50-yard line prior to the game, the USC Trojans went out and did the same to the Ohio State Buckeyes. USC went out and did what they had to do: put on an impressive show in destroying a quality opponent. Two things are clear now: first, Ohio State (and the Big Ten) was overrated this season. I know not having Beanie Wells hurt, but he wouldn't have changed the outcome. Every reasonable person needs to acknowledge that. But, more importantly, we all witnessed the death of high profile, Top 25 September games.

I must give props to Jim Tressel and Pete Carroll for scheduling this game (even three or four years ago or whenever it was schedules, USC and OSU were still good teams). This game was what has become a rare treat: an important September game. Most big schools schedule cupcakes, a fact lamented by a lot of people recently. They do this for 2 reasons: (1) it seems like an easy win; and (2) it pads the win total for prestige, recruiting, and coach resume reasons. So, we need a reason for good teams to play other good teams.

That reason, shockingly, lies with the BCS. Now, I have no love for the BCS, but we're stuck with it. And, since they don't want to have a playoffs we'll have to make due with the very flawed polls. So the solution is to make the regular season a kind of playoff. If a BCS team schedules another BCS team (or a Top 25 team or a potential BCS buster), they should get a reward in the computer-generated BCS standings. Something like this: for scheduling the game and going through with it, each team gets 1 BCS point to be added to their total in the BCS standings for the rest of the season. The winning team gets 1 extra point, for a total of 2. It doesn't have to be 1 point, it could be 1000 or 500 or whatever works best. The point is that there's an incentive for, say, Oklahoma to play Florida. Or USC to take on Georgia. In this way, two wrongs (scheduling cupcakes and the BCS) might make a right.

I'm sure it's unfeasable but I figured I'd throw it out there. Comments? Suggestions?