Taking away the importance of regular season games is another 'concern' that doesn't hold water. Major programs in big-time conferences are always going to have important regular season games, and using the BCS formula to determine the at-large playoff bids ensures that independents and teams in lesser conferences will have to play competitive schedules, rather than the patsies they usually feast on. (This means you Notre Dame.)

A playoff would cheapen the regular season? Please. This year’s Ohio State-Michigan game was a classic that many viewed as the real national championship (until Monday night at least). Now imagine the intensity and importance of this season’s battle if it had been for an automatic berth, number one seed in the playoffs, a Big Ten championship, and an undefeated season all at once.

We all know that the biggest reason the BCS exists is money. As an outspoken fan of the greenback, part of me can’t argue with the BCS conferences for taking the loot and leaving the smaller fish out at sea. But compare the money the BCS gains from its TV contract against the windfall generated by college basketball’s March Madness.

Fox is paying roughly $80 million dollars a year for four of the BCS games (the Rose Bowl still gets its loot from ABC). Not bad, right?

Well CBS paid 1.7 billion dollars to air March Madness for four years… through 2002. I couldn’t find up to date numbers on how much CBS is paying currently for March Madness, but with a conservative estimate at inflation, I’m guessing it’s over two billion dollars for four or five years.

Last time I checked, $400 million is at least a little bit more than $80 million. I realize a 16-team, eight game tournament may pale in comparison to a 65-team, 33-game tournament when it comes to the number of TV ads a network can sell, but the quality of competition isn’t comparable. College football is a much stronger brand than college basketball, and a 16-team tournament would bring the best of the best in a head-to-head competition that has never happened before and would draw spectacular ratings.
 
From the outside looking in, the NCAA, BCS chairmen, and network television stand to gain a lot more from instituting a playoff than from shunning it.

I don’t care if they scoff at my idea, but something has to change. There is no reason an undefeated team should be left out of a chance at a championship because six conferences have the preordained right to some extra cash… especially when there is more money to be made with a college playoff.

If you really want the big bucks BCS, spot the ball for a I-A playoff.