After absolutely demolishing Missouri 62-21 in the Big 12 Championship Game on Saturday night, will the Oklahoma Sooners take on the Florida Gators in the BCS National Championship Game?

Considering they set a record for scoring 60-plus points in five straight games, it’s going to be hard to deny the Sooners a trip to Miami. I realize they played a high school secondary in MIZZOU, but lighting up the scoreboard for 62 points is impressive – I don’t care if it’s done against a woman’s flag football team. If Oklahoma leapfrogged Texas in the BCS standings last week, than there’s no way the idle Longhorns top the Sooners in the new standings.

OU’s victory Saturday night was impressive. And their non-conference schedule was harder than UT’s. But even considering all that, the Longhorns deserve a chance to play for a nation title – as does USC, Penn State, and yes, even Boise State. Nobody will convince me that the current BCS system is fair. And nobody will convince me that the current system is the best way to determine who the best two teams are in college football.

A playoff wouldn’t solve everything, but it would certainly be better and more exciting than the crap way college football relies on computers to determine what teams are more deserving to play for a title. I would love to see Texas get another shot at Oklahoma and to see what Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford could do against USC’s defense. That would be exciting. What’s not exciting is playing the “what if� game – what if Texas played MIZZOU on Saturday night and won 62-21?

If it winds up being Florida and Oklahoma in the title game, nobody is going to argue that it isn’t an exciting matchup. But that’s not the point. The point is that the current system is full of loopholes. And it’ll be the same mess next year, only probably with different teams.

Think about this, the system is so screwed up that the announcers during the end of the OU-MIZZOU game were actually debating whether or not the Sooners should score just once more (they were already up 55-21 by the way) with under four minutes remaining to make sure they appeared dominant enough to the BCS. How sad for a team (and announcers for that matter) to be worried about something like that with the game already in hand.

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald thinks the BCS format in college football is just fine and that a playoff wouldn’t be any better than the current system.

Instead it looks as if we will be getting an Oklahoma Sooners team that would be 12-1 against either a 13-0 Alabama or a 12-1 mighty-hot Florida. Sounds like a legitimate championship game to me. Sounds like if you don’t agree, you are either insane or turning sour grapes into whine because your beloved Texas Longhorns just missed. The odd-team-out always claims an entitlement that does not exist.

True, we should get a good game this year in the national championship. But nobody is debating that.

A playoff is impractical because it would require a significantly shorter regular season, which would fail to win support from schools and conferences, if only for financial reasons.

No problem. Take Michigan Technical School for the Blind off of Michigan’s schedule, Reading Rainbow Camp off of Texas’s schedule, ITT off of Florida’s schedule and every other no-name program that the bigger schools play twice a year and that frees up two weeks. Start conference play Week 1 or Week 2 if you’re worried about having enough time at the end of the year.

If you had a four-team playoff based on the current BCS rankings, you don’t think No. 5 Southern California and No. 6 (and unbeaten) Utah wouldn’t be crying foul?

Make it an eight-team playoff, and how do you think No. 9 (and unbeaten) Boise State would be feeling right now?

An arguably deserving team always will be left out, whether it’s whatever playoff format you choose or whether it’s two teams in a championship game.

The BCS works because, in effect, it is a playoff to reach the championship. Teams in the top six or so are in it every year, and it kicks in around mid-October, when the BCS rankings begin. The way the format works is, don’t lose late. Period.

So if teams will be left out no matter what, why not give college football fans (essentially) two playoffs? Teams would be fighting to get into the eight-team playoff in October (which, in Cote’s words is like a playoff), and again when the actual eight-team playoff starts. What’s the harm in that? And at least teams that potentially could be left out (teams like Boise State and Utah) have a better shot to play for a national title in an eight-team playoff than they do in the current system where they have zero chance.

The absence of precise black and white is college football’s unique, enduring asset. The BCS maintains the tradition of bowl games while ultimately deciding the champion on the field, not by polls.

You get a recognized champion and you get the inevitable debate. That’s the best of both worlds — and that’s what the pro-playoff crowd never seems to get.

The bowl games are a joke. And if crowning a champion and getting to bitch about the current BCS system is getting the best of both worlds, than I must be missing a few brain cells because it’s not fun to watch this mess take place every year. What would be fun is a damn eight-team playoff. What would be fun is watching USC come from a 6 seed and knock off a 5 seed and then a 3 seed and on and on.

Cote’s idea that it’s fun to debate about this crap system every year is ridiculous. Debating isn’t part of the fun – it’s part of the frustration.

I used to have a friend in college named Paul. He was a great guy – loved football, although he couldn’t care less about the NFL. He was a college football fan through and through.

Paul and I used to get into heated debates over which was better – college or pro football. One time we almost came to blows in his living room, although it’s important to note that there may have been some alcoholic beverages involved that contributed to the debate growing into a fight.

His main points were that NFL players only cared about money and essentially weren’t playing for the love of the game. Conversely, since college players weren’t being paid, they played more for the competition and the love of football. He also noted that the game-day atmosphere in college football was way better than in the NFL and that the regular season games had more meaning because if a college team lost, than their season could essentially be over.

His first point about college football players loving the game more because they’re not being paid is a bit flawed. Some NFL players only play for the money. But some college football players are only playing so that they can make it to the NFL…so they can make money. I really don’t see the difference.

But Paul had a point about the atmosphere being better in college – I would rather tailgate with a bunch of rowdy college kids than some stuffy executive types that got their NFL tickets for free at the company picnic.

However, after Oklahoma leapfrogged Texas in the BCS standings this week despite the fact that the Longhorns beat the Sooners earlier in the year, I refuse to agree with anyone who says regular season games in college have more meaning than in the NFL.

Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City-Star reacts to Texas getting the shaft after Oklahoma leapfrogged over them in the BCS standings.

AP and Harris voters could comprehend a simple, unavoidable fact: On a neutral field, Texas beat Oklahoma 45-35 this season.

There’s nothing left to debate. It doesn’t matter that Oklahoma’s nonconference victories are more impressive than Texas’. It doesn’t matter that Oklahoma is playing “better� football at the end of the season.

Texas beat Oklahoma.

And I don’t care about the three-way tie, and the fact that Texas Tech beat Texas. We’re allowed to use common sense when deciding a complex situation.

The Red Raiders lost a game by 44 points this season. The Red Raiders barely beat Baylor this season.

The Red Raiders needed a last-second touchdown to slip by Texas.

Tech had a magical year, beat up a bunch of cupcakes early and hung on for an 11-1 season. It’s a fluke. Oklahoma exposed the Red Raiders and Mike Leach’s gimmicky offense.

Look, my main point is that it’s criminal Oklahoma will get to play for the Big 12 crown and not Texas.

Everybody allegedly wants a playoff system, but it appears we reserve the right to ignore what happens on the field when it suits our purpose.

As Whitlock points out, there really is nothing to debate. Texas beat Oklahoma on the field. Texas beat Oklahoma on…the…field. Texas beat Oklahoma on the field. TEXAS BEAT OKLAHOMA ON THE FIELD!

Only in the BCS system could a team beat another team on the field and not benefit from it. It’s a complete crock of crap, but unfortunately not even something as ludicrous as this will force a change. I’m of the mindset now that we’ll never see a college football playoff.

This makes me sick on so many levels. I have no alliegence to Texas, but they got completely screwed by this retarded system. Texas beat Oklahoma. Enough said.

Even worse, Bob Stoops is being rewarded for being a complete ass. I understand that style points matter, but do we really need coaches who run a no-huddle offense in the fourth quarter with a 50-point lead? Every year we watch Bob Stoops run up the score during the regular season, only to have his team choke in bowl games.

Of course, we need a playoff system, but even BCS critics like Ivan Maisel seem unable to get past the arguments advanced by BCS apologists.

A playoff is not the panacea to cure college football’s ills. A playoff would present as many problems as it does solutions. A playoff is politically unfeasible unless the regular season is shortened, which is financially unfeasible. A playoff could suck the life out of the regular season, much as it has done to college basketball.

A playoff wouldn’t ratchet up the tension throughout November — National College Football Arguing Month — the way the BCS does.

His first sentence makes no sense. If you assume an eight-team playoff, only five games need to be added – four playoff games one week following the regular season, and then one championship game following the bowl games that would cover the semi-finals.

His second sentence is even worse. Is he really comparing an eight-team playoff to the 64-team tournament used in March Madness? This year there would have been a mad scramble for the last several seeds, as teams like Utah, Boise State, Ohio State and Georgia would be playing for a spot in the playoffs. Also, we’d have a huge fight for the first four seeds, who would be hosting first-round playoff games in their home stadiums under this proposed system (wouldn’t it be great to see a Big-Ten team hosting Florida in a playoff game up north in November?). This would create plenty of tension in November.

Remember when baseball purists argued that expanded playoffs would ruin pennant races? They were wrong.

With their 61-10 plastering of Fresno State on Friday night, No. 9 Boise State officially wrapped up its season unscathed. For the second time in three years, the Broncos finished the regular season undefeated, and yet the only thing they can hope for is a chance to play in a BCS bowl game.

Do they deserve more? Do they deserve to play for a national championship?

Some say they do because they were one of only three teams (Utah and Ball State being the others) to finish undefeated. But most say they don’t because the only team with a pulse on their schedule was Oregon, who the Broncos beat 37-32 in Eugene earlier this season (which is more impressive than people are letting on).

Personally, I say they do have the right to play for a national championship, just as Utah and Ball State do. It’s not fair to assume anything in college football. It’s not fair to say, “Well, if Boise State played Alabama in the national championship, they would get waxed.�

Guess what? We already played that game two years ago with Boise and they produced one of the greatest bowl games ever when they beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. We can’t assume anything in college football and that’s what makes the game so exciting.

Did Boise State play anybody outside of Oregon? No. But you can make the argument that nobody plays anybody. College football teams are lucky to get two teams worth a damn on their schedule every year. The SEC is down this year and so is the Big Ten. But just because the Big 12 is arguably the power conference this year, doesn’t mean that Oklahoma or Texas would roll over Boise in a bowl game. Granted, I’m not suggesting that Boise plays a similar schedule to any team in the Big 12 or SEC, but the point is that not a lot of teams are playing daunting schedules.

And this is why the BCS is so screwed up. It assumes things. It assumes things based on schedule, and points and everything else but what really matters – beating another opponent on the field. The only way we would know if Boise could hang with the “big boys� in college football is if they played them in a playoff.

But I guess the Broncos don’t deserve that shot. Why? Because a computer says they don’t. It’s the most ridiculous thing in all of sports next to some NFL teams not having cheerleaders.

A couple weeks ago Ball State University turned in an unimpressive victory against fellow MAC opponent Miami of Ohio and I wrote how the Cardinals and the BCS were a joke.

Well, the BCS is still a joke – but Ball State isn’t. I was wrong about this team and I’m more than willing to eat crow. (I know a couple of Ball State fans that would be more than willing to watch me eat every bit of that crow, too.)

There are a lot of media outlets that assume that just because a team isn’t in one of college football’s main conferences (i.e. SEC, Big 12, Big 10, Pac-10, etc.), that they would never be able to compete with the big boys. I fell into that trap after watching the Cardinals a few weeks ago, but I was wrong in my assumptions. After beating top MAC teams in Central Michigan and Western Michigan the past two weeks, Ball State has more than proved that they are legit.

How do we know that Ball State wouldn’t compete with Oklahoma? Boise State certainly did when they beat the Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. It’s time to stop assuming that just because a team plays in the MAC that they couldn’t hold their own.

BSU’s Nate Davis has been one of the best quarterbacks in the nation and while he doesn’t face defenses as good as Alabama, Texas, Florida and Oklahoma every week, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t deserve the opportunity to see what he could do on a national stage. He has tremendous arm strength, great leadership and has showed all season that he’s a tremendous competitor.

We need a playoff in college football. Undefeated teams like Ball State, Utah and Boise State deserve the opportunity to see if they can compete against the likes of ‘Bama, Florida, Texas and Oklahoma. If they get waxed like Hawaii did last year against Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, so be it. But maybe they’ll surprise some people, too. The main thing is, they deserve a shot. And college football fans deserve a better system.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, RealClearSports.com ranks the top 10 least thankful people in sports.

2. Roger Clemens
Want a sure-fire way to tarnish your Hall of Fame career in a few short months? Follow the blueprint Clemens laid out for you.

First, have your name referenced 82 times in a report about steroid use in baseball. Then sue your former trainer, appear before a Congressional committee, and go under investigation about whether or not you lied under oath about using performance-enhancing drugs. After all that, have the New York Daily News report you once had a long-term affair with both Mindy McCready, who was 15 at the beginning of the relationship, and Paulette Dean Daly, the ex-wife of John Daly. And don’t forget to come across as a smug, arrogant jerk throughout it all.

5. BCS Haters
This slide could have just as easily been more broadly titled “College Football Fans.” According to the New York Times, 84% of fans want a playoff system to determine the national champion. With this level of unanimity combined with some important institutional voices — Pete Carroll, Joe Paterno and the soon-to-be leader of the free world — you might be tempted to think the BCS was doomed.
And yet, as much as ever, fans seem destined for everlasting dismay. The BCS and ESPN signed a television contact through 2014 worth $500 million over four years, meaning the BCS is too profitable to die. Moreover, it means we’ll continue to read more about the “season-long playoff” and watch a national championship determined by computers rather than play-in games.

Eighty-four percent of fans want a playoff system? Eighty-four?! So essentially the BCS is only making 16% of college football fans happy. Awesome.

Oh yeah, and Roger Clemens is a turd.

While they remain undefeated, the Alabama Crimson Tide aren’t the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation according to some voters.

Alabama, which was idle this weekend, retained the top position with 56 of 61 first-place votes. The Crimson Tide are the only remaining undefeated team from one of the six conferences with automatic BCS tie-ins.

Third-ranked Florida, an easy winner over The Citadel, claimed the last No. 1 vote. The Gators will square off with Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game in two weeks. If both can handle their in-state rivals over Thanksgiving weekend, the winner is sure to claim one spot in the BCS championship game.

Hmm. How can an undefeated Alabama team not receive 61 of 61 first place votes? I thought the BCS system was set up so that a clear No. 1 and No. 2 would be determined?

Nobody should be surprised that ‘Bama didn’t receive all the first place votes, because it’s still unclear at this point if they are truly deserving. Everyone wants to point to Florida’s loss to Ole’ Miss as proof that the Gators shouldn’t be ranked No. 1, but in the back of many people’s heads they’re not so sure that Urban Meyer’s team isn’t the best team in college football. The same could be said for Oklahoma, which absolutely crushed Texas Tech over the weekend and got four first place votes. And what about Texas? They lost to Tech on the final play of the game and beat Oklahoma, yet received no first place votes.

The system is a mess, which is a dream scenario for supporters of a playoff, because it proves that the BCS doesn’t work.