JORDAN BEANE
Right now there are six college football teams in the top 25. Six. Surely not all of them will make it through the season with an unblemished record, but I'm certainly pulling for it.
Anything to mess with the creators of the Bowl Championship Series is fine by me. The BCS is to college football what Ron Artest is to basketball. Every time you think you've solved the problem, something else pops up.
As for the people who run the BCS, they are simply behind the times. They're probably the same guys who own record players, use a Betamax to record television programs and believe Bon Jovi is still hip.
By stopping even a whisper of the word "playoff," they're continually hurting the sport. It just doesn't make sense. If a playoff system is good enough for every other sport in the country, including lower divisions of college football, how can they not want to make the switch?
Don't tell me it's because of finals, and that college football is all about the student-athlete. My roommate's friends go to Boston College and they always take the classes the football players take, knowing they'll be the easiest. And now, it's possible for college football to be played almost every night of the week, making the players lose days in the classroom.
If we must work with the system that these people will fight to the death to keep, then let's look at the top contenders to make it to the Rose Bowl.
Southern Cal: Every game, USC is down in the first half, only to say, "wait a minute, we're USC" and crush the other team in the second half. They also had their signature win against Notre Dame.
Hey, Notre Dame fans, why don't you wait until you win before you rush the field? Because there's no way you're going to win after you do that. While they might be a little questionable on defense, the Trojans' offense should carry them through to Pasadena.
Texas: Right now it's number one in the BCS poll, while USC's number one in every other poll in the country (yet another reason to hate the BCS). Still, these guys have become a steamroller, beating Texas Tech and turning a quarterback who throws 1,000 yards a game into a nervous fourth stringer.
This is a team to watch out for, especially since Vince Young is talking about staying for his senior season (looks like he doesn't want to be Alex Smith's backup in San Francisco).
Virginia Tech: Marcus Vick will be better than Michael Vick. He's faster and has a stronger arm. Unfortunately for him, and the rest of the Hokies (what is a hokie anyway?), they'll be on the outside looking in from the Atlantic Coast Conference, where many are just waiting till the start of basketball season.
The BCS has never had a year without controversy. Maybe it's time the good old boys realize that things change. Plus, it's got to be tough to get tapes for those Betamaxes.
