BCS Championship: It's LSU and Alabama in the Mulligan Bowl

Let's get this straight up front: I hate the Bowl Championship Series.

I'd rather eat a bowlful of Brussels sprouts dressed with battery acid than embrace this corrupt system that exists solely to funnel as much cash as possible to the elites of college football.

I have advocated a playoff for years, even though I understand the political reality of a playoff. The NCAA would have to get involved, and all the NCAA has proved is that it is more than happy to hand off the administrative details of governing the biggest cash cow in collegiate sports to an outside organization.

Then it can wring its hands soulfully, shake its head and mumble, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it."

However, there may be a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Supporters of this Big Cash System just saw one of their favorite arguments against a playoff at the highest level of college football get shot in the foot. 

We don't need a playoff, so goes the refrain, because the regular season IS a playoff.

Apparently, there is a little-known addendum to that refrain that goes a little something like this: Until it isn't.

How else do you explain the BCS National Championship turning into the Mulligan Bowl?

Once-beaten Alabama will head to New Orleans to take on undefeated LSU for the big crystal football on Jan. 9. The Crimson Tide is going to the big game at the end because the regular season is a playoff.

Until it isn't.

Alabama's one loss, of course, was a 9-6 overtime thriller at the hands of LSU on Nov. 5 in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

But in the final equation, the human voters determined that the greater quality of the loss suffered by Alabama (LSU in overtime) trumped the greater quality of the wins posted by bridesmaid Oklahoma State, which finished less than a whisker behind the Crimson Tide in the final BCS standings.

So why does 11-1 Big 12 champion Oklahoma State finish behind 11-1 didn't win anything Alabama? Because the regular season is a playoff.

Until it isn't.

Make no mistake. If you were to replace the brand on the front of the Cowboys jersey with "Ohio State," "Michigan," "Florida," "Texas" or even the team Oklahoma State obliterated Saturday night, "Oklahoma," that team would be making travel plans for the Big Easy in early January.

But Oklahoma State isn't a brand name in college football. So at the end of the day, the Cowboys had about as much of a chance of making the BCS jackpot game as Boise State does of being warmly greeted at a BCS board meeting.

So we learned one thing and had another suspicion solidly reinforced.

What we learned? The regular season is a playoff, of course.

Until it isn't.

What was confirmed is that nothing matters more at the end of the day than a recognizable brand. That can be the only explanation for the Sugar Bowl matchup between Virginia Tech and Michigan.

The Hokies—with zero victories over teams currently ranked in the Top 25—head to New Orleans for the under card of the BCS big game at the end to take on the Wolverines, who got hammered by the same team that narrowly lost the Big Ten Championship Saturday night.

This is happening for one reason and one reason only. To borrow a phrase from the inimitable Randy Moss, this is all about straight cash, homey.

Virginia Tech and Michigan are guaranteed to travel well to the Sugar Bowl. This is an important consideration for every bowl game now that the BCS has rendered all of them useless.

It's just another byproduct of a sport where the regular season is a playoff.

Until it isn't.