Now that our politicians have finally taken care of that little thing called health care reform, perhaps it's time they try to solve a different problem. The issue I'm referring to is none other than the money-driven, archaic and, quite frankly, boring way college football decides its national champion.
OK, so maybe it's not something politicians should be worried about when we're in the middle of two wars and a seemingly interminable economic slump, but in the never-ending search for bipartisan cooperation, pushing college football towards a playoff system could be the magical elixir our politicians have been looking for.
Sports have a certain way of bringing people together and that's never been more apparent than it is now as we head into the Final Four of what has been a captivating NCAA men's basketball tournament. If you ever needed an example of why great American sports need great American playoffs, look no further than the excitement created by this season's March Madness.
In one of the most perplexing, shocking, and thoroughly astonishing upsets in recent sports history, the unsung Northern Iowa men's basketball team toppled the mighty Jayhawks from Kansas, simultaneously destroying 99 percent of America's brackets and reaffirming the very thing that we love most about sports—the unpredictability.
Year after year in the NCAA tournament a David takes down a Goliath. The Davids don't have as much talent or athleticism and they may lose their games nine times out of 10, but when the final buzzer sounded, it was the little guy left standing. If there's one thing all Americans love, it's an underdog.
While football is a more grueling sport and the chances of a David beating a Goliath are much smaller than in basketball, putting a glass ceiling over all but the few elite programs in the nation is downright un-American. The Boise States and Utahs of the world deserve a chance to become national champions if they defeat everyone on their schedule. When Boise State beat the mighty Oklahoma Sooners—a team that boasted the talents of All-World running back Adrian Peterson—in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl, they proved that they and programs that are similarly successful in their respective conferences can play with the big boys. So what's the solution?
The champion of each of the six major conferences should have a chance to play for the national title. Two wild card spots could be open for undefeated teams from the smaller Division I conferences, I-A independents or highly ranked runner-ups from the six major conferences. The teams could each be given a seed for the playoffs, and that seed would determine the matchups. Like the NCAA basketball tournament, the highest seed would play the lowest seed; the second seed would play the seventh seed and so on.
It's a solution so easy with a result so entertaining and undoubtedly profitable it's hard to fathom why the decision makers governing college football continue to stand by the tired and controversial BCS system. The Bowl Championship Series creates controversy where there need not be any. It also ensures America is far more enthralled by the NFL season by creating a two month gap between the final game of the college football regular season and the BCS championship game.
Reforming how college football decides its champion may not be at the top of our politicians' agendas, but maybe it should be. Americans are tired of listening to politicians argue and we're tired of party politics ruling decisions in Washington. If politicians want to do something that would make us all happy, they should find a way to deliver a college football playoff. Now that would be change we all could believe in.