BCS, you are out of style. Please take the runway.

I love college football.

One of the reasons I truly love it is, unlike pro football, it's still somewhat pure. The vast majority of college players will enter the world as accountants, gym teachers, potted plants. They'll never have the chance to step into the NFL combine, or cash that rookie signing bonus. They're just like me, except with a slightly larger neck and a much faster forty.

And, one of my absolute favorite things about college football is the upset. The games are so unpredictable, and Any Given Saturday is so accurate and possibly never more than this year. Only in college football can an Appalachian State knock off a Michigan. Fantastic. (And, Notre Dame actually ran out of "gimme" schools this year. I think my high school football team may appear on their schedule for 08.)

But, I'm sick sick sick of the BCS. The voters, the prognosticators, the analysts, the old boys club determining (buying) the National Championships. Enough already.

It's such a money game. The BCS conference was born of a need to "fix" the problem of cronies voting to put each other's teams into the money, and leaving others out in the cold. But, when an undefeated team like Hawaii doesn't get a shot at the National Championship when every single other team lost, there's something so clearly broken it makes me want to scream that the Emperor is naked as a jaybird.

When Hawaii is left out, why as a football nation do we not stand up and protest?

And why do I have to watch Ohio State--who lost to Illinois--play for a National Championship against LSU--are you freaking kidding me?--who lost to TWO teams. Arkansas--and Kentucky. Yet, they continue to maintain the number 2 spot?

I want one single human being to explain to me how LSU losing twice (and to an UNRANKED Arkansas) should ever put them into the National Championship when there is an undefeated team out there...and other teams that have lost once.

In a NY Times article, this is how the end of the game against Arkansas was described: "L.S.U.’s fourth-down karma had finally run out. And its chances of playing for the national title, like the chances of so many other top-ranked teams this season, had disappeared."

But, apparently not! WHY??? I would really like to know why! Tell me! Make your case!

This is a travesty. At the end of the day Hawaii has a right to prove themselves.

Hawaii has won every game on their schedule, and against ranked teams mind you. Boise State was 17 when they played them, and I want to say Nevada was ranked as well, but I can't remember. And is it really their fault if their schedule is lighter than most, and their conference a little weaker? Outside of their conference who are they going to play?

How is Hawaii supposed to handle it? You try setting up schedules to play the LSUs and the Ohio States of the world and get them to take time away from their training, and put their kids on 14 hour flights to play in a four hour matchup. They'll laugh you right out of their offices. They aren't going to take the risk of taking time out of preparing for their "real" opponents, or take the risk of jet lag.

Hawaii already starts from a disadvantage. Their coach doesn't have enough in his budget to fly out to recruit his high school players! Instead, he must rely on them coming to him.

So, when all the stars align, and Hawaii has a Cinderella season. What do we do? We ignore them. Snub them. Circle the wagons, old boys club, and toss out a bone.

I am really disgusted.

What we need, and what we have always needed, is a playoff system. But we'll never get one unless we collectively make a big stink. It's, at the root of everything, a money issue. Isn't it always? It gets draped in all sorts of dressing, but it comes down to green. And, the money comes from us. The fans. So, I say enough already.

Play ten games to prove your mettle and get your ranking. Then the top 16 play bracket games to determine the National Championship. That means three weeks of games--so 13 total for the season...which is what the top schools are playing now anyway. The major bowls rotate through. And, then the "lesser bowls" host conference championships--which don't include the top 16. More money all around. More schools participating. More programs showcased nationally for better recruitment.

The BCS claims they haven't even researched a playoff system because the conferences and coaches don't want one. (And then they literally list a who's who of the perennial top 10 quoting about what a problem that would be.) How blatantly elitist does this have to be?

Interview Boise State. See what they think. When Boise State beat Oklahoma last year, was that just an accident? Did Oklahoma trip over their shoelaces, or did they get outclassed by a better team?

I do understand the strength of schedule argument. I do. But, I'm sorry, when you lose twice, and once to an unranked school...that argument completely goes out the window. If this polling system is supposed to be so accurate, then that slices both ways. Why is it, too, that some schools actually fell in the polls after winning this year, and some schools when they lost, gained position?

Do you need me to set this up for you? I can make some time. Here, let me get my calendar.

The argument that the playoff system would in some way diminish the football season is silly. There aren't that many games, especially if you narrow the regular season to ten. If every game is pretty much life or death to your team--which they already are--people are going to be watching even more closely.

Keep the "BCS" rankings. That's fine. You want to keep voting for LSU or Ohio State, but not vote for the Cals of the world or the Oregons when they stumble? Fine. But, the top 16 teams should go to a playoff. And, if they don't belong there, they're going to be exposed...even if it is in a 3rd OT.