Fans have been screaming about it for years; eliminate the BCS. It’s overly complicted, eliminates any sense of mystery or enthusiasm, and leaves commentators, players and coaches obsessing over little numbers. Every year I see how poorly it assesses true talent and how well it provokes speculation, argument, and rigidity in the rankings. The BCS is like the Bush Administration; we recognized from the beginning that it wasn’t ideal, despite the enthusiasm of its biggest fans, and after being saddled with it for too long we can’t remember why we even considered it in the first place.

The question has always been “what do you replace it with?” but to me that doesn’t seem such a difficult question. We already have a mechanism in place, one that relies on experts and logic and doesn’t eliminate the thrill of victory with numbers that can’t be overcome. The answer? Toss out the BCS. Do no rankings during the regular season. None. All the teams play twelve games, and good ones try to play strong schedules. After the last game, the coaches and the AP vote, considering wins and losses, strength of schedule, and all of the normal considerations. Another list rates teams from 0 to 12 based on the number of victories in the regular season. The results are collated and the top 48 teams are named.

A two round playoff ensues, leaving twelve NCAA bowl games to be played. I really don’t see much difference between a thirteen game season and a fourteen game season, especially at the caliber that the best college teams play at these days. The BCS is rigid and makes no room for the human element in the game. Individual voters may be flawed, but the broad pool of voters gives room for idiots and opinions.

It probably won’t happen — television and other commercial interests push the NCAA around in ways that bother me more and more each year, and my hopes that colleges would just flip them all the bird and go their own way are always in vain. But the BCS is so notoriously unpopular that I have to hope they’ll kick it to the curb. After two years of massive upheaval in the rankings, fans, players, coaches and critics alike have seen how arbitrary and useless a completely non-human system can be. It can destroy hopes of comebacks, underdogs, and dramatic victories, which is what makes sports fun to watch in the first place.