One of the most common complaints about the BCS system is that sportswriters or coaches shouldn't vote for who the best team is. Critics claim that college football should be like all other sports and have a playoff to prove which team is best. The championship should be "settled on the field."

While there is no doubt that playoffs successfully crown an undisputed champion, it's equally clear that playoffs don't always match up the best teams in the final.

For example, in NCAA's basketball tournament they have been seeding the top teams for the last 30 years. In only one of those years have the four regional No. 1 seeds all made it to the Final Four.

"Cinderella" teams regularly knock out teams who are clearly superior. This cheats fans out of an opportunity to watch the best teams play against each other at the end of the playoffs.

While this isn't as big a problem in 4 out of 7 playoff series in basketball and baseball, it has a much greater impact in single game elimination tournaments like football.

I often call college football's regular season a kind of playoff. The BCS polling system also has its version of a "Cinderella" team.


For example, right now just about everybody agrees that Florida looks like the best team in the country. But, in September, the Gators were beat by Ole Miss. 

Is Ole Miss a better team than Florida, or did it just play over its head for 60 minutes and catch some breaks that day?

If it had been a real playoff, we wouldn't get a chance to see Florida play in a final game for the national championship.  But because of the BCS polling system's "second chance" opportunity for one loss teams, now we just might get that chance.

It's true that, year in, year out, a playoff crowns an undisputed champion. But it's also true that, year in, year out, the BCS does a better job of matching up the best two teams in a final.