In December 2012, a little more than a month after we decide whether or not to re-elect Barack Obama for President of the United States, we should be sending our ballots in the mail once again.

This time, we will ultimately get to decide who we want to invest four hours of our time for the right to play football on a Monday night in mid-January.

That’s right—we should vote to decide who gets the right to play in the BCS National Championship game of FBS college football.

Here’s what I propose.

 

1) First and foremost, we need to form an electoral institution. So without further ado, let’s just go ahead and exercise conventional wisdom and hand the duties to ESPN. An appointment of this magnitude would create thousands of jobs, which the World Wide Leader could subsidize (and eventually rake in profits) through months of advertising.

 

2) One big advantage behind the voting process is early registration. The voters can begin to register online well before the season begins through ESPN’s newly created state-by-state websites. Voters (adults only) would need to be registered at least a month before the ballots are to be postmarked, which is the Tuesday following the release of the final regular season BCS standings.

 

3) To prevent as many potential voting inconveniences as possible (i.e. ballot lost in mail, insufficient time for ESPN to correctly count votes, etc.) the ballot itself will be sent out a few weeks before the conclusion of the regular season, listing every BCS eligible team.

The voter, however, can only choose two (and must choose two) of the top five teams in the final BCS standings who they desire to see play in the BCS National Championship Game. No write-ins, and only a fraction of a possibility of taking a vote away from a top-five team presents itself.

The ballot, of course, will not present the updated BCS standings. Therefore, it will be up to the voter to find the necessary information on his/her own. This may sound burdening, but it will be the year 2012, for goodness sakes. Information like that is all around us in now in 2008. ESPN will provide both state-issued hotlines and websites for registered voters who may have been locked in a closet for that particular week or two.

 

4) The two teams who receive the most overall votes, or popular vote, will play in the BCS Championship Game. Because the voting process will take more time to determine the final results as opposed to seasons past, the game itself will be pushed back a week.

 

When you consider the amount of dollars that a bowl game cashes in on (and amount of time to sell with), the idea that an eight-team playoff system will ever be installed still seems a little far-fetched. The playoff games, with only a week for sponsors to fanny shake and parade their product, will not appease corporate brass.

The only losers under this proposal could be the undefeated teams (like Boise State and Utah this season) from weaker or smaller conferences, because a playoff system gives them the best chance to compete for a national title.

This minor problem can be fixed, however. The BCS could work a deal with the NCAA to restructure its contract in the case a big fish from a smaller pond does run the table, then one spot could be made available in the top five of the final standings, therefore making them championship game eligible. If it happened to be two teams, like this season, then maybe a play-in game could be worked out.

The only glaring concern that stands out to me is the idea that we as voters ultimately get to decide. But we have to remind ourselves that the media, coaches, BCS formula, and a small group of teams dictate who makes up the top five anyways. This is a busy street, but the voters are guided across by hand. How much could voters screw up in selecting two of the top five teams to choose from?

For all you college football purists out there, you have nothing to lose. The Rose Bowl will still be played on Jan. 1, along with two handfuls of other bowl games on that same day. The rest of the BCS bowl games will still be played during their usual date and times as well.

An elected BCS Championship event would create a media buzz of unprecedented proportions. We’re talking Super Bowl-level hype here. Like Presidential candidates, coaches and universities can campaign all season long, while the media will eagerly provide the platform for them to do it on.

We’re talking about an election day for sports fans, with results finalized by sports fans.