“Playoffs? Don't talk about the playoffs!”

           Ah yes, Jim Mora's epic post-game rant will live on forever in the list of all time meltdowns, along with Dennis Green's memorable "they are who we thought they were" crack-up after losing to the Bears. Playoffs. It's always the buzz word in the world of football come December, at least for the professionals that is. The "amateurs," or student-athletes, if you will, have to rely on computer calculations and human voting to determine their post-season fates.

        By now, I'm sure you've concluded that I'm referring to the BCS and it's controversial selection methods. This is the 14^th year the Bowl Championship Series has been in existence, and it's the 14^th year people have been clamoring for a playoff system, with the chatter growing each year. You'd think that a tipping point would be reached at some point in more than a decade, but that's not the case. The fat cats in all facets of college football are content with all the cash they're making, and as usual, the fans are the ones who suffer.

        This year, the National Championship Game in New Orleans will be a rematch of LSU and Alabama, two SEC powerhouses who collided in the first week of November in what was dubbed "the game of the century." That "game of the century" yielded all of 15 points, as in five field goals, as in the most boring "game of the century" of... the century.

        LSU, the only remaining undefeated team in the FBS certainly deserves a spot in the title game, and one could certainly make the case that Alabama, whose one loss was against LSU in that 9-6 field goal fest, deserves to be ranked No. 2 in the nation. But we've already seen that. Nobody except Alabama fans wants to see that snooze fest again. LSU fans are just content being in the title game; they don't care who they play.

      So, enter every other one or two loss team that was ranked in the top-10; the Oklahoma States, the Stanfords, the Boise States and so on. While Alabama, who already had their shot to beat the best team in the nation, gets a second chance, the rest get consolation prizes or just get snubbed.

      No. 7 Boise State gets to play the 6-6 Arizona State Sun Devils in the Las Vegas Bowl, while every other top-10 team, besides South Carolina gets to be in an official BCS game. No. 9 South Carolina at least draws a ranked opponent in No. 20 Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl.

      Wouldn't all of this just be easier, and actually make sense with a playoff system? I'm not the first and I for sure won't be the last to beg for a playoff system in FBS football. The way it's done now makes absolutely no sense. The best teams in the nation shouldn't be decided by computers and voting, that just sounds ludicrous, and yet, it's been that way for more than a decade.

     Supporters of the BCS would argue that the tradition of bowl games would be lost if the FBS went to a playoff system, but that is simply not true. There is room for compromise and a way that everyone (sane people) can be happy.

     The FBS can use the BCS ranking system until the end of the regular season, and then select the top-12 teams for a playoff, with the top-4 getting first-round byes. Those playoff games can serve as the coveted BCS games, and they can even use the same names and sponsors if they want. All of the other bowls with teams not in the top-12 can still happen as they normally would.

      In that scenario, the playoffs would consume four weeks, and the time table for the current title game could still be preserved.

      To put things in perspectives for fans, this season's final top-12 teams have all of the top Heisman candidates including Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck, Trent Richardson, Montee Ball, Kellen Moore and the Honey Badger, Tyrann Mathieu. Wouldn't everyone love to see them potentially play a few more games? Based on projections, all but Mathieu will be going to the NFL draft next year, and their college careers, some of the most prolific of all time, will come to an end in just one more game.

      In that scenario, all of the questions such as Big 12 offenses vs SEC defenses would be put to the test, and some of the best possible college football would potentially be on display. Also, more games mean more money for everybody.

       It's inexplicable to me why we still rely on the broken system that is the BCS, but I do believe that a playoff system will be implemented eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later. Everybody wins, especially the fans, and certainly the athletes.