Hiko checks back in with us this afternoon with his most recent installment of "Moot Points".  This week he pretty much uses his whole piece to opine on college football and the current mess the BCS has on its hands with a slew of deserving two loss teams all pining for the spot opposite the Buckeyes in the national title game.  Hiko also unveils his plan to end this madness.  A foolproof playoff system that would make everyone happy, and the fat cats pockets lined.

OR 

Big Cryin' Shame 

What a frickin' disaster. 

Let the whining begin. 

For those of you that don't live in a time-space continuum (or Pennsylvania), the #1 and #2 teams in College Football lost again this weekend.  #1 Missouri got ripped by Oklahoma, and #2 West Virginia pulled an epic choke job in getting manhandled by Pitt.  This, of course, propels the #3 Ohio State Buckeyes into the BCS Championship Game where they will play... somebody. 

There's undefeated Hawaii.  But you don't honestly expect a WAC team to get voted into the National Championship Game, do you?  In reality, the powers that be believe putting Hawaii in a NCG would be akin to handing the trophy to the other team. 

Then there's the other one-loss team (other than Ohio State) from a BCS Conference: Kansas.  But the Jayhawks didn't even win their conference, and lost the only tough game they played all year.  The odds of them getting voted into the Championship Game are about the same as me waking up tomorrow with 3 balls. 

So what's left are a plethora of really good 2 loss teams.  Here are the ones that won their BCS Conferences:  West Virginia, Virginia Tech, LSU, Oklahoma, and USC. 

You can cross WV right off that list, since you don't lose at home to a crap team like Pitt on the last weekend of the year and get into the NCG.  But the other 4 all have legitimate claims at being the 2^nd participant in the NCG, not to mention 2 loss Georgia, which is currently higher in the BCS than the rest, despite the fact that they didn't even get to play for their Conference title. 

What a frickin' disaster. 

There are only 3 good things that can come from this: 

1. Ohio State will be playing for a National Championship.
2. Most of the whining about Ohio State not being deserving should wash away.
3. Maybe we can finally get enough groundswell support to get a Playoff system.

Even though Ohio State will be #1 in the BCS, there will still be a few whiners that will insist that the Buckeyes are a weak choice, that they come from a weak conference, and played a weak non-conference schedule.  Some horse's rectum from ESPN even stated that OSU would be no better than .500 if they played in the SEC. 

That may all be true.  Then again, it might not.  We'll never know how Ohio State would fare if they played in the SEC.  They don't play in the SEC.  Speculating about it is sheer stupidity.  The SEC is a completely different animal than the Big 10, and just because the SEC is "good" and the Big 10 is "weak" this year doesn't mean it will be the case next year, two years from now, etc.

It's also a different brand of football, played in vastly different weather conditions.  You never know what might happen if you brought a LSU or a Florida up to Michigan in November and asked them to slug it out in the rain and snow and mud.  Big 10 teams are built to play in the conditions that exist in their conference stadiums. 

My favorite thing about sports journalism is that you don't have to prove the stupid shit you throw out there.  You don't even have to have a reasonable argument.  Any dumbass can say that Ohio State would be winless if they played in the WAC.  There's no grounds for argument when the statement is based on speculation.  It's easy - and fun - to make stuff up to suit your personal feelings.  I could just as easily argue that LSU would be a 6 loss team if they had to play in the Big 10.  Who's to say they wouldn't? 

And while I'm at it, if Georgia had to play Illinois, they'd lose by at least 30.  Oklahoma would lose to Minnesota if they played the game on Mars.  Ben Roethlisberger would be a cross-dressing sanitation engineer if he had been drafted by Arizona.  Hitler would've been a social worker had he played with Legos when he was young.  George Bush would've been smart had he done less coke. 

All sheer speculation. 

Honestly, the whining about Ohio State will most likely be drowned out in the whining from the jilted 4 of the LSU, USC, VA Tech, Oklahoma, Georgia grouping.  They will bitch and bitch that whichever team gets picked is no more deserving than they are, and they would be right.  How do you pick a team out of the group of 5?  It's all based on perception.  

Perception.  It'll get a random 2 loss team in.  It'll keep a Hawaii out.  Do I honestly believe that Hawaii is more deserving of a Championship bid than, say, LSU?  That they're a better team than pretty much anyone in the Top 10?  Hell no.  But how do we know?  Boise State proved last year that perception is often wrong. 

It's the Neolithic system that Division 1 College Football exists in.  Generally, the two best teams don't play in the BCS National Championship Game.  Just the two teams with the best records.  If you're using polls and computers and Ouija boards and crystal balls to decide just the top two teams, then you're gonna have vast amounts of dissent. 

Until there is a playoff system, this kind of pouting and foot stomping will continue year after year after boring year. 

And why isn't there one?  This is something I just don't get.  Don't the powers that be realize that a College Football playoff system would make them more money, that it would make College Football more popular, perhaps even rivaling the NFL?  For rich old men, these guys really lack perspective.  They refuse to see what people want and how they can profit from it. 

Here's my simple solution. 

All the Non-BCS Bowls remain as is.  The Holiday Bowl, the Taco Bell Bowl, and the Tampex Bowl all stay.  There'll still be plenty of useless, meaningless Bowls that no one cares about to suit even the greediest of college presidents. 

Keep the BCS - to an extent.  It will be used to determine the Top 8 teams.  Those Top 8 teams will still consist of:  Big 10 Champion.  Big 12 Champion.  SEC Champion.  Big East Champion.  Pac 10 Champion.  ACC Champion.  2 at large teams.  Seed them according to their rankings. 

That gives a BCS Playoff field of Ohio State, Oklahoma, LSU, West Virginia, USC, Virginia Tech, and the 2 at large teams, which would most likely be Hawaii and Georgia.  Using projected BCS standings, the seeding would look like this: 

1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Georgia
4. Oklahoma
5. Virginia Tech
6. USC
7. West Virginia
8. Hawaii

Not a bad playoff field, eh? 

Each of the four BCS Bowl sites would host the first round of the playoffs.  You even keep the names: the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, and the Orange Bowl all still exist.  They're just playoff games now. 

The first round of the 8 team playoff begins either the last or the 2^nd to last Saturday of December, depending on how the calendar unfolded.  This year, it would be December 22^nd.  That way, we don't have quite as ridiculous a layoff in between these teams' last regular season game and the start of the postseason.  You have a rotating seed-based bowl system, such as one year the Rose Bowl gets #1 vs. #8, then they get #2 vs. #7 the following year, etc.  For this year, let's say: 

Fiesta Bowl (#1 vs. #8) - Ohio State vs. Hawaii

Sugar Bowl (#2 vs. #7) - LSU vs. West Virginia

Orange Bowl (#3 vs. #6) - Georgia vs. USC

Rose Bowl (#4 vs. #5) - Virginia Tech vs. Oklahoma 

Now, logic would dictate that you re-seed after the 1^st Round of the playoffs, but, for the sake of all the fans traveling to the 2^nd Round, just establish that the winner of the Fiesta Bowl plays the winner of the Rose Bowl, and the winner of the Orange plays the winner of the Sugar.  The game is held at either Tempe or Pasadena on a rotating basis, just as it is with Miami and New Orleans. 

The 2^nd Round begins 2 weeks after the 1^st Round.  Why?  It gives the fans an even greater opportunity to make travel plans to get to the games, and it ensures that the teams have a greater chance to heal and be at 100%.  This year, the 2^nd Round would be held on January 5^th.  Using my own perception, I would guess that it would feature Ohio State vs. Oklahoma in (let's say) Tempe, and LSU vs. USC in Miami (since the National Championship Game is to be held in New Orleans this year). 

The National Championship game is played on a Friday night 2 weeks after the 2^nd Round.  Thus, the BCS NCG would take place on Friday, January 18^th.  It is held at one of the four sites on a rotating basis, and can't have just hosted a 2^nd Round game.  I would assume that it would be Oklahoma vs. USC, as I think both of those teams are playing better right now than either Ohio State or LSU. 

3 Rounds of Playoffs over a 4 week span.   

Imagine the increased revenue from the extra games and the increased interest in all the Playoff Bowl Games.  Imagine the media coverage over that 4 week period.  How could College Football not profit? 

What are the protests against the Playoff system?   

1. Too many games.  That one is horseshit and we all know it, but my response is Only 3 extra games.  Only 4 teams in the entire country would play an extra game, and only 2 teams would have to play two extra. And I'm guessing that they wouldn't complain. 

2. Takes away from the Bowls.  Uhhhhh... how?  All the other stupid Bowls remain in place.  And the 4 BCS Bowls take on added importance.  Each and every one of them has a hand in the eventual National Champion. 

3. Takes away from the Regular Season.  Well, only 8 teams get into the Playoffs.  6 of them are Conference Champions.  So, unless you're one of those 2 lucky at-large teams (who would obviously have to have a glitzy record themselves), you had to win your way in.  Thus, the regular season is every bit as important as it is now. 

4. It's too hard for fans to get to multiple games.  They get to the Bowl games as it currently stands.  They have 2 weeks to make plans.  Fans get to the Superbowl in the NFL, and they only have 2 weeks.  Plus, I'm sure a number of the tickets will be pre-sold to corporate entities and fans that have an annual renewal, as my friend DJC has for the Orange Bowl each year. 

5. You'll still have teams complaining that they didn't get into the Top 8.  True, but if you can't get into the Top 8, then I don't feel that sorry for you.  The bitching about who's #8 and who's #9 - to get into a 1^st Round Playoff - would be far less than the bitching about who's #2 and #3 for the right to get into a Championship Game.  Besides - there's gonna be bitching no matter what the system. 

What are the advantages?  Added interest.  Added quality games.  A true National Championship Game.  A true National Champion. 

Time to start the grass roots campaign for Hiko as Lord Governor of NCAA Athletics.  I solemnly swear that - if elected - I'll get this shit cleaned up quicker than a dead goat in the Sistine Chapel. 

***I hope that Les Miles does decide to go to Michigan.  ‘Cuz I already hate that guy. 

What a slimy spastic little bitch he is.  Don't you just want to stick a scorpion in his mouth and sew his lips shut? 

***I'm quitting drinking for a week - just to see what it's like. 

And I apologize to everyone at the Martini Bar for my behavior.  I was at a Christmas party since 11 that morning, Open Bars should be outlawed, and outdoor patios seem like a natural spot to relieve oneself. 

I'm getting too old to be acting like I'm still in college. 

***A Steelers' Carol - sung to the tune of Silent Night. 

Sister of mine.

You are so fine.

I want you more

Than Pappy's moonshine. 

You sure are purdy.

You don't have much fleas.

You sure make me happy.

There on your knees. 

My trailer waits for you and me!

Come on, let's share some disease.