Too bad BCS's future isn't on our ballots

Maybe the BCS will eventually fall perfectly into place. It's a long season. Oregon, currently No. 1 in the BCS standings, and No. 2 Auburn may well lose between now and Dec. 5, when all this becomes unfixable. So, too, Texas Christian and Boise State, though they're running out of potholes.

Call me a sicko, but I hope it doesn't work out. I hope Oregon and Alabama -- which has already lost at South Carolina -- meet in the BCS title game in January. I hope Boise State and TCU are still unbeaten at that point and file a lawsuit that President Obama orders heard before the national championship game can take place on Jan. 10, 2011, in Glendale, Ariz.

Having likely been crushed in the mid-term elections, Obama will be more sensitive than ever to any and every potential voter. Overthrowing the current BCS format in favor of Obama's preferred playoff system would no doubt soothe the savage beast in a few Red State voters.

As soon as the good citizens of the Deep South and wild West hear that Obama has convinced the courts to strike down the BCS in favor of an immediate playoff, they may even ask to recall Tuesday's vote.

This doesn't mean I necessarily think either Boise State or TCU would construct unbeaten campaigns if they played in the Southeastern Conference or Pac 10. Let either of them face the four foes in five weeks that Tennessee just endured -- at LSU, at Georgia, off week, Alabama, at South Carolina -- and they might be happy to go bowling, period.

But not everybody can play in the SEC. The Broncos and Horned Frogs have so far rather easily mastered the hands that were dealt them, which is certainly more than Ohio State, Alabama, Texas or LSU can say today.

Moreover, it's not like either Boise or TCU have worn out their rabbit feet remaining undefeated. Among all FBS teams, the Broncos are second in scoring (47.7) and third in points allowed (13.4).

The Horned Frogs are arguably nastier, scoring 40.8 a game while surrendered a nation's best 8.7 points.

Beyond that, Boise beat San Jose State worse on the road (48-0) than Alabama beat them in Tuscaloosa (48-3). That doesn't ensure that Boise would beat Bama, but it does hint that the Broncos might be in the same zip code when it comes to championship potential.

There are limits, of course, to just how many teams deserve to play for a football national championship at the end of the season. As the NCAA's FCS division that UT-Chattanoooga calls home proves every December during its playoffs, football isn't basketball. A full-blown 16-team playoff would strain both fans' pocketbooks and a pool worthy of competing for a championship.

You can argue about the top six or eight teams each season. But finding 16 schools deserving of fighting for a crystal football trophy is a different matter.

For those who continue to push for a plus-one game in years like this, that would certainly be better than the current format. Let's say Alabama-Oregon rank out the best in the BCS standings, but both Boise and TCU finish unbeaten. Let Oregon play Bama, Boise face TCU and the two winners meet a week or two weeks later for the championship.

No, it might not happen every year. And there would assuredly be some griping in some quarters that the No. 5 team could have beaten either Boise or TCU. But that's sports. Someone's always going to get left out or overlooked. There will always be the last team out.

But to view the resumes of TCU and Boise on the first day of November is to also know that if both remain undefeated, at least one of them deserves a shot at the championship, regardless of what transpires with Oregon, Auburn or anyone else.

Too bad we can't all vote on what to do with the BCS on Tuesday.

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