Love it, Love it, Love it.

This is further proof that USC is not the only football power west of Austin.

It also proves, in some ways, that the teams chosen for the BCS championship game are chosen based on their membership in either the Big 10, Big 12, or SEC.

Honestly, I think SC would beat Oklahoma, Florida, or Utah--but in the current system, only a select group of schools (Florida, Ohio State, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas) seem to have any chance of playing for the BCS championship.

Last years championship game? Pure politics--just like Heisman
voting. What did LSU have that other schools lacked?

A select group of schools and players are given consideration, and if ya' ain't from that group, ya' ain't gonna win. Florida has the kiss right now, and next year you can bet the farm that the BCS championship will be another SEC team verses either the Big 10 or Big 12. The only way to change this scenario is if USC goes undefeated.

As for Lou Saban? He meant exactly what he said. In his mind, if it ain't the SEC, it ain't football.

I enjoyed watching this whoopin' of Alabama, I only wish I could have seen the beginning, and could have stayed awake to watch 'Bama eat humble pie.

Good Job Peter with the early post. I don't think Roch is even awake yet!

Pete , I couldn't agree more , this makes the BCS look like a cheap office pool,,,,,,,,,,,,,Only thing is , it's about the money , not about the players and providing the country with a true National Champion like all the other sports...........Big money follows several bowl games as it now stands and they don't want it going to one big bowl game...........the 'so called' nat'l championship game' coming up is a joke , Utah fans should be up in arms today , the BCS committee should bury their heads in shame...............but since it's about the money , they won't............

Pete,
I'm in favor of a playoff system, also. But how is an 8 team system going to work? There are 11 conferences and 4 independents at this level in college. Some proposals want to use the top 8 BcS teams. Under that system you might get as many as 4 teams from one conference. To me the BCS ranking system is part of the problem and should not be part of the solution. Others propose using the 6 conference champions from the BcS conferences and 2 at larges. (Pac10, Big 12, Big 10, SEC, ACC and Big East). This could leave conference champions from the other 5 conferences out of the playoffs. Since UTAH plays in the Mountain West, they might not get in. I think its going to take aleast a 12 game playoff with 11 conference champions and one at large bid. This would take 4 rounds with 4 teams getting a 1st round bye. It could easily be expanded to 16 teams and eliminate the byes.

I think an 8 team system would only lead to a 12 or 16 team system. I like that system but what do think?

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Pete's reply: We all have to accept the fact that no matter how many teams are involved, there will be controversy on the edge. If it was eight this year, there would still be a Boise State-type team sitting at No. 9. I think eight is the most workable number if you want to keep some of the traditional bowls. I would also prefer just going back to a straight Bowl-and-Poll system to what we have now.

Hi Pete ! - since today is Wild Card playoff weekend , would you like provide us with your asessment of today's Cards vs Falcons and Colts vs Chargers ? And tommorow's Ravens vs Fins and Vikings vs Iggles ? I like to think there many NFL bloggers reading your blog too .

BCS ? Who cares ?

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Pete's reply: I had a good year picking for the Sun, but these are some tough matchups. The oddsmakers say all the road teams win. I picked the Cardinals, Colts, Ravens and Eagles. And, as Davey Johnson liked to say, I always bet on me.

Bring on the 8 team playoff.

College football is political and of course it is about money so will they really ever change?

I am tired of the excuses and the mumbo jumbo that spews forth as a diatribe against the playoff system. It is time for D 1 football to embrace a playoff system that could include the bowls. Every year there is something that just argues against the continued status quo.

Dump the status quo. It is time for real change. The Utah game should be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but will the broken cause change?

Okay, I am biased on this subject as I am an alum of the U, but this is the second undefeated season in the last five years for Utah. Neither time has Utah won the National Championship nor have even been considered. Why? Becasue they do not belong to a big money conference. This has nothing to do with strength of the conference and everything to do with the fact that conferences such of the Mountain West and WAC and not classic big name conferences with money.

The PAC-10 and especially the Big 10 and Big East are no better then the Mountain West.

BCS should include all schools and include a playoff. The PAC-10, Big-10, and Big East should be forced to add a couple of teams and implement a championship game like the Big-12, SEC -- in fact all conferences should either have a championship game of maybe a championship game between conferences (Mountain West vs. WAC? -- how fun would a Boise State vs Utah game for a playoff spot have been?).

If you break these up with eight conferences of dual conference championship games, you end up with eight teams that have played their way into the National Championship playoff.

Maybe if enough of the sportswriters vote Utah number 1, we can have a split National Championship and make the BCS look even move foolish.

The fun is in the argument. You set up a playoff system and folks will have to find something else to argue about; seeding, venue... what have you. With the current bowl system in place, nearly all the decent teams get a "playoff" game. What are you going to do, have teams play 14 or 15 games, or take away regular season game or conference title games to fit in playoffs? It'll never happen. Give it up.

Since we have no respected system for choosing a national champion, I feel that I too can choose. Therefore I am awarding The National Football Championship for American Universities (NFCU, which is not to be confused with the National Federation of Credit Unions) to
USC - University of Southern California

The Final Top Five
1) USC
2) Utah
3) Florida
4) Texas
5) Mississippi

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Pete's reply: I like the way you think.

when it comes to strength of schedule, correct me if I'm wrong, but Utah beat Oregon St., the only team to knock off USC, who just may be the best team. Perhaps Utah and USC should play, and then play the winner of OK-Fl....we all can dream. If this year doesnt bring about change in the system...an undefeated team that throttled the previous #1 in their bowl, what will??

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Pete's reply: I'm with you. I wouldn't complain (and I'm a USC fan) if the AP poll picked Utah, since they did beat the common opponent.

USC should be # 1 in the AP. Best team, most talent, better loss than the wannabe's. Pac -10, 5-0 in bowl games; toughest conference with the best coaching. A playoff would make way more money than the BCS system. 16 teams; 1st round at the higher seed (2nd week of December), then use secondary bowls in the quarters. Rotate one quarterfinal, the semi's and the final between the big four bowls. Teams ranked 17 and lower go to the other bowls.

Go Frogs.

Pete,

Your right on! The BCS is an abomination. Did you know that 3 of the 4 NON-BCS entrants have won when given a chance to play in a BCS game, 3 out of 4! Additionally, Utah's schedule was quite tough, they beat Michigan to open the season, no one would have predicted a terrible Michigan team, then they beat Oregon State, remember they were the team that beat your beloved USC Trojans and then they finish it off with a destruction of the Team that held the number 1 position longer than any other team in 2008! Quite frankly the AP MUST do the right thing and make them #1. Really, is it their fault the money grubbing outfil call the NCAA gives every benefit of the doubt to the larger schools with greater football history and when another school does something remarkable they are supposed to be satified with just getting a BCS bowl game! This whole process is flawed and needs to be addressed immediately! GO UTES

I just don't see I perfect resolution. To eliminate argument a playoff would have to consist of 12 teams, not 8. Penn State was ranked 9th but the winner of the Big 12, however the 12th team would have been either Ohio State or TCU and neither has an argument if left out since both lost 2 games.

Though great matchups could have been throughout the playoffs the National Champion could possible play 17 games, minimum 16. Then there is the issue of all the other bowls which has sponsors and cities relying on that income. And lets not forget that the coaching ranks would take a beating since 10 wins would be required to be a playoff team.

It is a massive overall required to make things match up, possibly reducing schedules to 11 games, removing some bowls, and maybe even requiring all conferences to have a championship game. That being said, College Football is as much a business as all the major professional sports so the all mighty dollar speaks loadly. The BCS format was put in place to help the old system, maybe the dollar can push it to the next level.

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Pete's reply: I wholeheartedly agree with you that there will never be a system that satisfies everyone.

If they don't go to a playoff, here's one suggestion for improvement: Stipulate that any automatic bid conference champion must be ranked in the BCS top 10 or 12 or they forfeit their bid. I can think of more deserving teams than Va Tech and Cincinnati.

Peter,

If you truly wish to determine which Division One Football team is the “best college football team “ in the land then you will have to put them all in some kind of league.

Otherwise, the whining will continue. It’s obvious Alabama did not take this game as seriously as Utah did. However, will anyone argue that Utah is better than Alabama? Of course not.

But the football powers will always wish to steer their programs as far away from the possibility of upsets as possible so that they can continue trading in the myth of their invincibility (which is worth quite a lot in terms of dollars and cents). A playoff system with knockout games will always have upsets and best of 3, 5 or 7 series seem to be impractical when it comes to football.

Look at soccer. In the English Premier league there are 20 teams, they all play each other home and away for a total of 38 games per season and at the end of the season, there is little dispute that the Champion is indeed worthy of the name. The bottom three teams are kicked out of the division to a lower division and the top three teams are brought up from the lower division to replace them. Can you imagine the lawsuits if Auburn had a bad year and was dropped to Division 2? It would be worth it just to see the whining.

The powers that be then will always resist a playoff system. What will everyone (especially the sponsors and the networks) do when Appalachian State meets Utah in the final?

I believe that this is the beginning of the end of the BS Championship Series". Its definitely time for a 16 team playoff. To have a one loss team declared a national champion and have an undefeated team sitting in the top 10 is rediculous. College football is the ONLY sport (whether major or minor) that has this crap! And for what, money? Have a 16 team playoff and name the games after the bowl games. That way all of the little greedy corporations will get their endorsements and everybody will be happy.