Be honest: What would you actually do if you didn’t have the ludicrous college-bowl system to complain about?
Would you write the very mediocre American novel? Complete that addition to the kitchen? Take your family on a Florida vacation to tranquil Isleworth? Finally fill out that application for the Redskins’ head-coaching job? You’d just find something else to drive you insane. And you might miss the amusingly predictable annual screamfest over why college football needs a playoff.
College football provocateurs were crushed Saturday when Texas squeaked past Nebraska and avoided sending the Bowl Championship Series into chaos. Instead, they get relative order: No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Texas in the BCS Championship Game, No. 3 Cincinnati against No. 5 Florida in the Sugar Bowl, and No. 4 TCU vs. No. 6 Boise State in the Nobody Respects Us Martyrdom Bowl (a/k/a the Fiesta).
Playoff advocates argue that a seeded showdown would settle the debate on the field. But settling on the field can be overrated. Did you watch Alabama versus Florida? Despite the hype, the electrifying presence of Verne Lundquist, and Tim Tebow’s alligator tears, it was generally as entertaining as a movie on a hot Greyhound bus.
We’re not dead-opposed to a playoff. But we suspect that pointless arguing is the secret lifeblood of college football. And if you don’t believe that, go finish that kitchen addition.
WSJ.com
12/7/9
Magnolia Tribune
