Please, oh please, let the BCS bedlam rain down

BCS chaos is on the horizon, and I’m enjoying it while I still can.


Four undefeated teams — Alabama, Kansas State, Notre Dame and Oregon — are vying for two spots. And since Alabama has as tight of a hold onto No. 1 as LSU head coach Les Miles does on grass eating, it’s really a race for No. 2.

In the latest BCS standings, Oregon is No. 4, Notre Dame No. 3 and Kansas State — led by its 73-year-old head coach and Heisman-leading quarterback with the best nickname in sports, Optimus Klein — sits at No. 2.

If everyone wins out, good luck deciding who deserves the chance to have their lunch handed to them by Alabama.

Of course, that assumes the Crimson Tide can beat No. 5 LSU on the road Saturday, then No. 16 Texas A&M before taking another highly ranked SEC east opponent in the conference championship game.

Speaking of avoiding losses, to this point of the season, Oregon has feasted upon a buffet of cupcakes like Arkansas State, Tennessee Tech and Colorado.

Can the Ducks beat USC twice (assuming they’ll play this Saturday and again in the Pac-12 championship), No. 14 Stanford at home and No. 11 Oregon State in Corvallis?

Kansas State still has two ranked teams on its schedule, and while the Irish take on Pittsburgh, Boston College and Wake Forest (the three are a combined 10-14) the next three weeks, USC waits on the other side.

If two of the top four lose, then any problems of deciding who “deserves” to reach the BCS championship are moot points.

But any other combination and the talking heads on TV may explode as they attempt to explain why one team did or didn’t get in ahead of another.

It’s this kind of controversy that has had college football fans clamoring for a playoff since, well, forever.

Howls and complaints from Boise down to Fayetteville, Ark., and up to Hartford, Conn., built a steady drumbeat among the masses demanding an equitable system that determines a champion on the field.

But as America’s second-most popular sport is on the precipice of leaving behind the controversy that has enveloped the game, I’m drinking up all this BCS talk like its holy water from the Grail in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.”   

That’s right, folks, I love the BCS.

Remember when Boise State (Bronco fans, plug your ears) missed a field goal against Nevada Dec. 4, 2010. For lovers of all things blue, it was a devastating, heartbreaking loss.

For all non-Broncos, however, it was captivating television.

Now think all the way back to last Saturday when Notre Dame beat Oklahoma. Going in, everyone knew that if the Irish wanted to stay in national championship contention, they had to beat the Sooners. Tell me that added pressure didn’t propel the meaning and importance of the game to another level.

Yes, playoffs are exciting. And the four-team playoff set to start in 2014 will keep the regular season nearly as dramatic as it is now. But four teams won’t be enough. Team No. 5 and its fan base will cry foul.

And just like the NCAA tournament (32 teams in 1978 and 68 teams today) and the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs (four teams in 1978 and 24 teams by 2013), the field will expand.

As the number of teams that reach the post season grows, the importance of games in September, October and November will diminish.

We’re giving up an entire season worth of playoff games.

It’s why I’d love nothing more than for complete and utter BCS chaos to finish off this season.

Just remember, while everyone is cursing BCS computers in the coming weeks, I’ll soak it all in knowing that soon, too soon, college football will lose a regular season that was pure magic for three months every year.