Late Thursday night, either Florida or Oklahoma will be the “National Champion” of major college football for the 2008 season.
I place the phrase “National Champion” in quotation marks because we really should call it a mythical National Champion.
With still no playoff system in big-time college football, that’s all we have, a mythical champion.
It continues to amaze me, as well it should anyone who knows the difference between a first down and a fourth and long, how the powers-that-be who run big-boy college football refuse to install a playoff system. Oh, we’ve heard all the excuses time and time again.
“It can’t be done because of the bowl system.”
“These are student-athletes, it would be too much on them.”
“We already have a system that determines a national champion.”
Hogwash. Baloney. All of it. None of the worn-out excuses hold water anymore. Frankly, I never bought any of them anyway.
When every other level of college football has a playoff system, then there is no reason Division I-A can’t have one.
Until there is one, then the winner of Thursday night’s “National Championship” game between Florida and Oklahoma will be a mythical national champion. That doesn’t take away from what the two teams have accomplished on the field this season.
Both the Gators and the Sooners are quality teams and the game itself, in theory, has the makings of being fun to watch.
However, what have we come to when we rely on some magical computer to determine who plays in the final game to decide who’s No. 1? What about the Texas Longhorns who defeated Oklahoma during the regular season? Both teams have only one loss but the computer says Oklahoma gets to play for the title. Not only do we not have a playoff system, no longer does it matter what you do head-to-head on the field I guess.
What about Utah, the lone undefeated team which just showed it is pretty darn good by defeating Alabama, a team which was No. 1 for a good portion of the season? Kyle Wittingham’s team has a legitimate claim to the top spot defeating the Crimson Tide by a larger margin than Florida did in the SEC title game.
Here at “First & Ten” headquarters, we’ve been referring to the BCS (Bowl Championship Series) by its real name for years. We call it the BS championship and once again that is what the fans have had thrown in their face this season.
Unfortunately, don’t look for things to change. The powers-that-be will continue to throw more BS at the fans and expect us to just take it. The fans are actually partially to blame because we keep watching and keep selling out these mythical national title contests.
Changes are needed in big boy college football and needed fast. The integrity of the game is at stake. You can see a little more of it slip away Thursday night when the mythical crown is placed on the mythical champion’s head around midnight.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. E-mail comments about this column to chris@mainstreetnews.com.
