Conspiracy is a tough word to handle, for we immediately think of 9 -11, the JFK and RFK assassinations or other worldly events.  But with college football now achieving the billion dollar benchmark annually, do you think the television networks as well as the elite members of college football in terms of history and tradition are just going to sit around and watch the money stream go by without casting their net of significance?

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Go Ducks - Go Beavs

The BCS Busters Model:  Truly making every game a playoff in college football!

Since 2004, when Texas and the CFA fraternity campaigned for votes in overcoming Jeff Tedford and the Bears, I have seen the same themes running true for each of the last four seasons.

1) The season starts out every year with a bash the PAC-10 smear campaign, orchestrated by either the Big-12 Conference or the almighty SEC.

If you remember in 2004, the Big-12 Conference lauded the ineptitude of the PAC-10 conference on the defensive side of the ball throughout the season, and praised the BCS for getting it right when Texas Tech beat California in the Holiday Bowl, and Texas beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl that season.

Describing Arizona States comeback win over Purdue in the Sun Bowl as "Saving some face for the PAC-10," the networks got out of hand a week later when USC and Oklahoma lined up for the BCS national Championship game at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

Craig James, the outspoken Texan himself, proclaimed "who knows what's going on in the PAC-10" throughout the media hype in the preceding days before the game, and hours prior to the big dance itself, boasted of a Sooner Massacre in the Championship tilt. By halftime, of course, he and John Saunders were singing a different tune as the Trojans were responsible for one of the biggest massacres in BCS history, leading 38-10 before finally mushrooming the score to 55-19. It was, in fact, Men among Boys in that game, except someone forgot to tell the CFA that the wrong team won.

A year later, as Vince Young, Reggie Bush and company were matched up in one of the all-time greatest BCS championship venues, you could almost feel the jealousy and animosity ripping at the seams of those mighty Texas uniforms when USC was given all the hype precluding the match-up. John Saunders jumped right into the fray moments after Vince Young had scampered on a fourth a goal from the five to win the BCS title in the wanning moments by quipping "We knew when USC finally played a legitimate defense, they would lose."

Of course if you had watched the game, you would laugh at the absurdity of that statement as USC's defense was so bad that Texas had to come from 16 points down in the final quarter to win, and this after a series of USC blunders on offense opened the door.

I don't think Pete Carroll's call on fourth down from midfield inside the final two minutes was a bad call, because had they gained two yards the game was virtually over. I do think that the play of USC's dynamic Heisman duo - Matt Linert and Reggie Bush - as well as a greedy call by Carroll early in the first quarter, were in fact, the key culprits that tilted the scales of balance in the Horns favor.

It had nothing to do with the Trojan defense, but the CFA fraternity will never cease to take advantage of a 10-year smear campaign that has stigmatized both the PAC-10 and Big-10 as conferences that lack speed on defense.

Last year's whipping by the Gators over the Buckeye's does nothing but throw diesel behind the fuel of this flame.

Lost among all the hype was the fact that the SEC actually lost two of the three bowl match-ups with the Big-10. I guess the SEC sunglasses only allow people to see in shades of Orange and Blue.

The CFA fraternity is great at grandstanding, but is nowhere to be found when you throw actual numbers into the fray. Can you say front-runners?

The Texas defense was so stifling in the 2005 Rose Bowl BCS National Championship game that the Men of Troy gained over 500 yards on the night, had a significant advantage in total yards and time of possession, as well as putting up 38 points on the Horns, that the performance was eerily similar to UCLA's much publicized debacle at Miami in 1998, when the Bruins lost a tough game to a resurgent Hurricane program led by Edgerrin James, who shredded the UCLA defense to the tune of 299 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Completely missed among all the PAC-10 bashing was that Bruin Quarterback Cade McNown shredded the Hurricane defense to the tune of 515 yards passing and 5 touchdowns, but lost 45-42.

In every situation, the PAC-10 has been repeatedly bashed as a soft conference who can't play defense. So as you can probably imagine, it was of no surprise when Les Miles sounded off this past July proclaiming the PAC-10 akin to USC and the nine dwarfs. The Trojan road to the championship is obviously less stressing than what the mighty Tigers face on an annual basis. After all, defense reins supreme in the SEC.

2) The PAC-10 has always been a conference that cannibalizes each other, and by the end of the season, we have one or two legitimate title contenders on a national scale, and then we have a complete log jam with the teams located in third through eighth place.

It is a very balanced conference and the rest of the conference is just now finally catching up to the mighty Trojans, which has had more to do with all the coaching turnover in the last decade within the PAC-10 than any other reason of significance.

It wasn't as if the PAC-10 was that bad, but rather that the Men of Troy were that good, as evidence by the whipping that the Trojans put on all non-PAC-10 teams in the last 5 years. You may begin to understand the irony in all of this as this year, the SEC numbers on defense and well as the log jam within the middle part of their conference looks awfully...PAC-10 like.

But here is the interesting thing.

Have you heard one, single, solitary, comment this year rebuking the SEC as a soft conference who can't play defense?

Have you heard one, single, solitary, comment this year rebuking the SEC as a soft conference because the teams are log jammed in second through 8th place?

The similarities between the two conferences within the last two years is striking, and if you look across the country, at all of the BCS Conferences, the parity factor is occurring in all the conferences. The game has never been healthier.

3) In the SEC its a balance of power...in the PAC-10 its a conference of mediocrity, and since the Big-East lost its two most prominent CFA members in Virginia Tech and Miami in 2004, the SEC, as well as the media who is obviously drinking from the same Kool-aid trough, has extended the Bash The PAC smear campaign to the Big-East as well.

The problem here is that since the Big-East realignment in 2005, the SEC is 1-7 against the Big-East. Of course you will never hear that reverberated from any media pundits, because it doesn't sell the superiority of the south, which is the economic heart beat of college football.

4) The former teams who united to form the College Football Association (the traditional powers) are protected in the Poll system. It begins with the hype surrounding the ranking of each recruiting class in February and extends to the initial pre-season poll in August.

The recruiting class rankings, pre-season polls and the weekly performance polls that come on Sunday and Monday every week are almost archaic in evaluating the actual performance level on the field.

If you question this consider that Tennessee, Michigan and Notre Dame are constantly ranked in the Top-10 of the recruiting and pre-season polls. You could add Texas, Ohio State, Oklahoma and even UCLA to the mix.

Now, how does UCLA, Tennessee, Michigan and Notre Dame actually perform during the season?

Notre Dame hasn't won a bowl game in a decade, annually plays a soft schedule playing the bottom feeders of the BCS Conferences as well as the Academies (I swear they must have a Mock Commander in Chief Trophy stowed away somewhere in that archaic stadium of theirs), and when they finally stepped out of the shadow of their past and played even a marginal schedule (in terms of strength) this year, they are 1-9.

Still not convinced? Boise State, Oregon State, TCU, Northwestern, Boston College, Texas Tech and Missouri have a better bowl performance record in the last decade than Notre Dame.

In 2005, Tennessee started 3-3, and was still ranked in the Top-25. That same year, Michigan started 4-2, with weak wins over Notre Dame and the like, yet were still ranked close to the Top-10 for most of the season. This year, Texas is in striking distance of a BCS or upper tier New Years Bowl game and they have played woefully below their potential for much of the season. Compare their performance this year with a team like Kentucky.

Texas is (9-2) while Kentucky is (7-3). Which team is ranked higher? The best team Texas has beaten all year is Oklahoma State, and they struggled mightily to win that one.

Nearly every major media pundit or analyst condemns Kansas because they haven't played a legit team like Texas this year. Texas should be thanking its lucky stars that they didn't have to play either Missouri or Kansas this year!

The Texans schedule must have been conceived by their Hawaiian brethren.

5) Every game is a playoff. This is the most convoluted ranking system in the history of mankind and the fact that these cronies try to push the fact that they actually watch the games and know what they are talking about is painstakingly criminal to watch.

If you question the CFA alliance thing I have been touting throughout this blog and soon to be throughout my book project, consider the 2004 season. After the AP Writers and ESPN pulled out from under the BCS process of determining the national championship participants, college football administrators were at a crossroads.

When they had every opportunity to fix the poll process, they imploded inward and created the Harris Poll. And who exactly helped create the Harris Poll? The same two leaders who were behind the College Football Association movement - Chuck Neinas and Vince Dooley.

Now consider that Harris Poll voter Eddie Crowder has significant ties to the CFA with Chuck Neinas and admitted during the mid point of the season that he hadn't seen a clip of South Florida play all season and if push came to shove he would vote LSU ahead because they have a greater lineage in the game.

6) The polling process quietly positions the elite members of the CFA within striking distance for the final vote to commence on the first week in December. After all the smoke has cleared, and the BCS grandstanding subsides, the controversy will fester through the new year and into the early days of January when the NCAA national convention rolls around, and then the controversy will fade away, flaring up again after intermittent bouts of hibernation occurring on signing day and again in June when the official 100 day countdown to the new season begins, only to see the controversy renew itself, with the same reoccurring themes - Bill Murray take a bow - Ground Hog day continues!

This brings us to the present (2007) with the stretch run ready to commence. Yesterday, I announced my prediction that Oklahoma and LSU will in fact play for the national championship this season.

Throughout the 8-year history of the BCS, there has never...let me repeat - NEVER - been a non-CFA team who participated in the BCS National Championship Game.

NEVER!

With Oregon, Missouri, Kansas, Arizona State and West Virginia lurking, Oklahoma, Georgia, Texas, Virginia Tech and the rest of the CFA fraternity are ready to pounce. Look for these teams to suddenly and inexplicably rise in the final weeks of the polls. Georgia, Texas, and Virginia Tech have already began their meteoric rise in the polls.

Let me break it down for you.

The BCS Championship Contenders:

Pat Forde of ESPN, Mark Schlaback of ESPN and Stewart Mandell of Sports Illustrated have come out with articles in the last two days breaking down the remaining contenders and the top stories for this season of parity. The themes behind these stories serve as a microcosm for the same themes I have been harping on in this very article.

Most of the year, Mandell has both raved about the SEC superiority and then at the same time, written articles condemning the flame bashing emails ragging on any cyber board found on the Internet pitting one conference against the next.

If you look at Schlabacks article breaking down the front running teams you confront the same themes I have transposed in this very article. Take the LSU and Oregon examples into consideration.

Schlaback touts LSU's strength as the top team due to the fact they have played a murderer's row of a schedule within the confines of the SEC Conference. Claiming that LSU has beaten #9 Virginia Tech, #12 South Carolina, #9 Florida, #17 Auburn and #19 Alabama is certainly impressive...until one looks at the reality of those numbers.

I don't pay much attention to the rankings, perhaps because I actually put myself in the voters shoes and began the process of performing my own BCS Busters ranking poll. I watched upwards of 15-20 games every Saturday, often times staying up until 3 or 4 AM the next day to try and get my ballot put together. After five weeks I quit the process, not because I didn't feel competent in performing my duties or dedicated to the process, but because after a five week exhaustive process, I couldn't reasonably or prudently tell the difference between the top tier teams.

The issue needs to be settled on the field because how can you compare Oklahoma's loss to Colorado any differently than Oregon's loss to California, LSU's loss to Kentucky, or West Virginia's loss to South Florida against the fact that Kansas has gone undefeated playing a skeptical schedule, which compares quite similarly to The Ohio State and Texas schedules as well.

How do we, the pollsters, put that together in a valid nature without tints of bias in terms of a teams history and tradition in the game?

The answer is you can't and if you claim you can, you simply haven't been watching the games this year - Crowder are you listening?

And more importantly, how can we penalize both Kansas and Ohio State when their schedules were made 6 to 8 years ago? In many cases, when comparing similar schedules around the country, the athletic director who scheduled the event is no longer working at that particular institution. The entire polling process is a complete fraud and has been for years, which Mandell alludes to in his article today.

The reality of LSU's schedule is that Virginia Tech is now ranked 10th, South Carolina is now unranked and will likely finish 6-6, Florida is now ranked 12th, while both Auburn and Alabama have fallen completely out of the Top-25, and yet LSU (since they have been pigeon holed into the top position as early as the final stages of last years bowl games) has been virtually given top billing.

The two best teams on LSU's schedule are 10th ranked Virginia Tech (8-2), who has lost to the two best teams on their schedule by a combined score of 63-19, and 12th ranked Florida (7-3).

The SEC is constantly described in these words: mighty, strong, juggernaut, murderers row, incredible, speed, powerful, gigantic, titanic and the best conference in the country with unbelievable defenses.

Oregon in the meantime, like most of this year, has been described in the following terms. I will quote Schlabacks article.

1. LSU (9-1, 5-1 SEC)

Pros: The Tigers have already beaten five opponents that were ranked at the time they played: No. 9 Virginia Tech, No. 12 South Carolina, No. 9 Florida, No. 17 Auburn and No. 17 Alabama. LSU already has secured a spot in the Dec. 1 SEC championship game in Atlanta's Georgia Dome by winning the SEC West and should be an overwhelming favorite against the SEC East winner.

Cons: Unlike Oregon and West Virginia, the Tigers will have to play in a conference championship game. LSU should be a heavy favorite in its last two regular-season games: at Ole Miss on Saturday and against Arkansas on Nov. 23. LSU had to win its share of close games, with four games decided by seven points or fewer. LSU beat the Gators by four points, Auburn by six and Alabama by seven. The Tigers lost to then-No. 17 Kentucky 43-37 on Oct. 13. A 12-point victory over South Carolina and the win over the Crimson Tide aren't as impressive as they were when the games were played.

2. Oregon (8-1, 5-1 Pac-10)

Pros: The Ducks are as explosive as any team in the country, scoring at least 24 points in each of their nine games. Quarterback Dennis Dixon might now be the Heisman Trophy favorite. The Ducks seemingly have the easiest path among the BCS title contenders in winning out with three unranked opponents left to play. Oregon plays at Arizona on Thursday night, then travels to UCLA on Nov. 24 and hosts rival Oregon State on Dec. 1.

Cons: The three-game finish is hardly daunting and doesn't give Oregon much of a chance to really make a statement to voters. The Ducks have to win each of those games by a sizable margin. They have beaten only two ranked opponents: 24-17 over No. 12 Southern California and 35-23 over No. 4 Arizona State. They lost to then-No. 6 California 31-24 in Eugene, Ore., on Sept. 9. Oregon has suffered its share of injuries, losing receivers Brian Paysinger and Cameron Colvin and tailback Jeremiah Johnson, but the Ducks have been able to mask those personnel losses so far.

LSU has only beaten two ranked teams all year, because the only rankings that truly matter are those occurring in the final month of November. Even when comparing the ranked teams they have beaten against Oregon's slate, it doesn't measure up.

Did you notice the hypocrisy here? LSU can get away with winning by small margins...Oregon on the other hand, even though they have dominated most of their opponents this year by large margins, cannot afford such a luxury.

For Oregon to play in the Championship game they will have to score over 50 points a game and win by at least three touchdown margins in their final three games and even then I wouldn't count on it. The CFA alliance will once again prove itself to be too big of a hurdle to overcome, and since it will flare its ugly head on the final vote, there isn't a damn thing that anyone can do about it!

Oregon has actually beaten three ranked teams because Michigan is currently ranked in the BCS Top-25. Oregon has beaten #8 ASU and #11 USC (a Trojan team who through all their injuries, penalties, youth and quarterbacking struggles, is 8 points away from being undefeated and playing arguably in yet another national championship game) and yet Oregon has had the easier road (according to every major media outlet from ESPN, to Sports Illustrated and every major talk radio network in the country).

If Oregon doesn't win by a sizable margin in the final three weeks they will be overcome by the three teams from the Big-12 as well as LSU.

This is why I predict an Oklahoma - LSU match-up. Whoever wins the season final between Missouri and Kansas will have to get up for yet another huge game within 7 days while Oklahoma has virtually had the last three weeks to tune up for the game.

Oregon will not win by large margins in their three games with Arizona, UCLA or Oregon State. Everyone focuses on the fact that UCLA has been so up and down. I don't think the Bruins are a great team under the direction of Dorrell as I didn't rank them within my Top-25 at the start of the season. Other than the Utah game, when they turned the ball over 9 times, the Bruins have played every team tough. There is considerable talent on that team and in spite of some horrific coaching, they can rise and beat people.

The Arizona game in Tucson is a bit of trap game for Oregon as this rivalry has developed into a bit of a grudge match as the recruiting issues have taken center stage this week with the Register Guards reporting of the fact that the Ducks have taken several Wildcat recruits after they have verbally committed to the Cats.

Stoops victory last year was, in his words, "the most gratifying of his career," and when given the fact that Stoops was raised on the CFA side of the equation (both Mike and Bob were hired by Chuck Neinas's consulting firm), while Bellotti was raised on the NCAA side of the equation, the plot thickens.

Brother Stoops would love nothing better than to help Brother Stoops out by eliminating Oregon from the big dance and delivering Oklahoma to its restored CFA /BCS order.

The game is played in Tucson and given the fact that the PAC-10 is a complete cluster-SNAFU in the officiating world, you wonder if Chuck Neinas and Mack Brown may actually conceive a plan to fly in the same officiating crew that worked the Texas - Texas Tech game to deliver the CFA fraternity to its destined promise land.

After all, these teams have contributed the most in terms of the development of the game and if you compare Oregon's schedule to Oklahoma's 50 year history, tradition and named brand market appeal with the television networks, you might as well mark it down.

Oklahoma will be a shoe-in to play against LSU in New Orleans and I will even go as far to say that both teams will play in New Orleans even if LSU loses the SEC title game.

After all, how can we penalize LSU for playing such a juggernaut of a schedule, three ranked teams in a thirteen game schedule when Oregon plays such a pathetic slate in the Patsy-10?

By the way, that was used the last time Oregon was squeezed out of the title game in 2002, when Nebraska was vetoed into the title game after failing to win its Division, let alone playing in the conference championship game.

With all of the themes running congruent year after year, it wouldn't surprise me in the least. The more things change with the parity in the game, the more they remain the same!

Mark it down, the CFA will strike again for they both rule and control the BCS and when the vote comes down in December what can we actually do about it, other than bitch, whine and moan!

Oregon fans be warned, especially considering the Oklahoma -Oregon debacle last year in Eugene, payback - CFA Style - will be quite the witch to handle!

With the impending perfect "BCS" storm brewing on the horizon (by the way, did you get Gundy's weather forecast in the last article?) wouldn't it be great if we came upon the first week of November refreshed with some unbelievable heavy weight match-ups to look forward to? Match-ups that actually accounted for something?

The current BCS system is so convoluted that the loser often times ends up being the winner. One thing I've never understood regarding the BCS is the fact that a team like Ohio State can go undefeated for 10 weeks, and lose a game in week eleven, and fall completely out of the championship race altogether.

Not that I'm a Buckeye believer, because if they faced a true schedule they would most likely be in Michigan's shoes (3 losses), but isn't Ohio State's record similar to Oregon, LSU, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Arizona State or Missouri? Only upstart Kansas has a record superior to the Buckeyes.

Of course, If Kansas played a true schedule they would likely be in USC's, Florida's or Georgia's shoes. I think you know where I'm headed. We will never know who the best team in the nation is with this convoluted system.

So why does it continue and where will we be in December? That is anyone's guess but I can promise you one thing, the smell looming from this stink bomb is sure hang around for awhile.

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict an LSU - Oklahoma national championship game. Not because I believe these two programs are the absolute best and deserve it, but because they are heavily connected to the College Football Association movement, which I believe orchestrates the puppet strings behind the BCS.

The Oregon - Oklahoma debacle from last year has left a sour taste in the minds of the majority vote (Harris and Coaches Polls) behind the BCS and you can bet your bottom dollar that Oklahoma will certainly surpass Oregon as 75% percent of the Harris Poll and Coaches Poll members are tied directly to Chuck Neinas and the CFA movement.

Remember the California-Texas debate from 2004 when Dee Los Dodds (athletic director) and head coach Mac Brown campaigned for votes in overtaking the Bears? Dodd's worked closely with Neinas during the CFA era and Brown and Neinas vacation together annually.

Although there is no love loss between Texas and Oklahoma, the two are in cahoots with the CFA alliance, and the relationship between the CFA and the Big-10/PAC-10 alliance has been shaky at best over the last 30 years.

The CFA alliance would like nothing better than bumping PAC-10 member Oregon out of the BCS title game, or even Arizona State out of the Rose Bowl for even if Oklahoma loses to Kansas or Missouri in the annual Big-12 championship game, the conference will still have two BCS participants in the bowls, and look for the loser of the Big-12 title game to bump a PAC-10 school out of the Rose Bowl, especially if either Oregon or Ohio State falters in the next two weeks.

Get ready for the CFA bowl shuffle ladies and gentlemen as Texas and Oklahoma are in prime position to pounce! Of course, the BCS Buster regular season playoff model would solve all of this and Ohio State would have an equal chance at the title absolving the penalties behind losing a single game at the tail end of the season.

If we started with the conference games first, eliminating the bogus September match-ups between the powerhouses and the patsies, we would have room in the vital month of November for some incredible football.

The match-ups in the BCS Bracket alone would in fact look something like this:

ACC

Virginia Tech @ Clemson

Boston College @ Virginia

SEC

Mississippi State @ Georgia

Florida @ LSU

BIG-10

Michigan @ Illinois

Penn State @ Ohio State

BIG-EAST

South Florida @ West Virginia

Cincinnati @ UCONN

BIG-12

Texas @ Kansas

Missouri @ Oklahoma

PAC-12

USC @ Oregon

BYU @ Arizona State

Rocky Mountain

S. Miss @ Boise State

Hawaii @ Tulsa

C-USA

Troy @ New Mexico

MAC

C. Michigan @ Miami (OH)

After this four week bracketed tournament, a true champion would emerge as a result of head-to-head competition. Wouldn't it be fun to fill out this bracket and watch it evolve in the vital month of November, knowing full well that at its conclusion we would still have some unbelievable bowl game match-ups, as well as a true national championship tilt?

So remember, when your stooping over that broken 60-inch wide screen (because you've just thrown your cocktail right through the middle of it) after the BCS cronies announce the most atrocious national championship match-up yet, in spite of all the parity evidenced this season, due to the fact that the final two participants will once again be two of the founding fathers behind the CFA movement, you only have yourself to blame.

Remember where you heard it first. After all the dust settles it's LSU and Oklahoma again, which begs me to ask the question, why did we even have to play the games to begin with because this every game is a playoff bullschitzky is only valid for the CFA elite?

************************************

If only someone with vision, a little clout in college football, and a huge set of testicles would recognize the potential for reform and pounce upon the opportunity. Unfortunately, what passes for foresight from the BCS Nostradaumus wouldn't provide enough visibility for a plane to land.

If only we had someone who could clearly see the tree's through the forest, the irony among the college football story, or the riddle wrapped inside the hidden agenda of the BCS enigma. Instead, every year in August, we get the phony pre-season rankings setting up the elite in college football for a destined title run before a single game even begins.

Every year we get the smear campaigns against those we fear the most, self-fulfilling prophecies boasting of the strength of our own, and the aristocratic Godfathers of College Football threatening to throw gasoline on an already inhospitable fire.

The Rose Bowl Alliances (better known as the Big-10 & PAC-10 Conferences), who have whole-heartedly supported the NCAA on matters related to the idealistic destiny of the student-athletes who participate in college football, have fought for years with the historical backbone of the sport - better known as the unionized College Football Association members - who have now developed the much maligned Bowl Championship Series and the controversy that spews forth from its jaws with each passing season.

It's the Rose Bowl Alliance, representing the intellectual destiny of the collegiate institution versus Southern sensibilities, representing the electrified tradition of zooming football's, human bodies, helmets and beer hurling through the air on autumn Saturday afternoons... a classic battle between idealism versus realism.

It can be compared to British Royalty versus the Freedom Fighters of the American Revolution. The Hatfields and The McCoy's of today's football world hold all the keys to success in developing perhaps one of the greatest and equally unifying sporting venues of the new century.

While the south hurls its venom towards the west, clamorously shouting of superior strength in terms of numbers, weapons and armour, the west simply replies, "careful or we'll take our marbles and play-on at our grand-daddy-of-them-all Rose Bowl venue without you."

Boy...teamwork...cooperation...sportsmanship! The tributes and characteristics that make athletic competition the special venue that seemlessly transcends race, religion, gender and political barriers, which supposedly spews from the administrative halls of these very institutions - these higher intelects priding themselves on qualities of fairness, opportunity, freedom and integrity.

Both have honorable intentions, neither has compromising values. The fans and players are stuck in the middle and receive nothing but gamesmanship, political beauracracy and unionized alliances that have transcended generations.

As more participants dive into the political baitball, eager for a voice and branding identity; able and willing to grab equal shares, the oblong pigskin continues to bounce away, along with the hopes of many die-hard football fans.

The radical plane overhead, waiting for the idea to grow into a movement - full of potential reform for college football -continues to circle in turbulent skies, hoping for the day when the dark, foggy, inhospitable attitudes among those who administrate the sport slowly burn or die away.

Two years ago, the governing bodies of the fall spectacle set themselves up nicely for a potential playoff in college football with the inclusion of the 12th game in the regular season. The fan base - as the primary stakeholders in the game - salivated with anticipation of more heavyweight match-ups of the Texas - Ohio State variety.

Unfortunatley, we are getting the Michigan - Appalachian State variety. Of the 69 games marking the opening weekend of the Division I season, beginning Thursday, August 30th - 2007 at 7PM when Buffalo takes on Rutgers, only 14 are truly worth watching.

Hidden among our excitement after nearly 9 months of apathetic football hibernation, is the realization that the first month of the season involves some really horrific match-ups.

It's like waking up ravenous...starving for football nutrition...only to find an oasis of fruit with zero caloric benefit.

It's like eating Tofu and stale Tostitos with warm-flat beer while watching the never ending re-runs of the 1984 Miami-Nebraska Orange Bowl on the FOX Network...We know the outcome but we watch anyway...It's great for the heart but leaves the soul empty and searching. None-the-less, here are your empty calorie and Tofu tasting week one match-ups.

The Good..."food, friends, wine, spirits are plentiful" - games.

Tennessee vs CAL
Oklahoma St vs Georgia
Wisconsin vs Washington St.
Georgia Tech vs Notre Dame
Kansas St. vs Auburn
Houston vs Oregon
BYU vs Arizona
Missouri vs Illini
TCU vs Baylor
Oregon St vs Utah

The Good Conference..."time for desert" - games.

Florida St vs Clemson
LSU vs Mississippi State
UCLA vs Stanford
Wake Forest vs Boston College

The Marginal..."it must be periodic nap time" - games.

West Virginia vs W. Michigan
Nebraska vs Nevada
Washington vs Syracuse
Colorado vs Colorado St.
East Carolina vs Virginia Tech
UTEP vs New Mexico
Ole Miss vs Memphis
Minnesota vs Bowling Green
Eastern Michigan vs Pittsburgh
Central Michigan vs Kansas
Arizona St vs SJSU
Texas Tech vs SMU
Army vs Akron

The UGLY..."it must be time for that last minute yard work before fall sets in" - games.

Rutgers vs Buffalo
Louisville vs Murray St
Boise St vs Weber St
Michigan vs Appalachian St
Texas vs Arkansas St
Kentucky vs E. Kentucky
S.Florida vs Elon
Penn St vs Florida Int
USC vs Idaho
North Carolina vs James Madison
Miami (FL) vs Marshall
Northwestern vs Northeastern
Oklahoma vs N. Texas
Vandy vs Richmond
S. Miss vs Tenn-Martin
Arkansas vs Troy
Alabama vs W. Carolina
Maryland vs Villanova
Florida vs W. Kentucky
Texas A&M vs Montana St
Indiana vs Indiana St
Rice vs Nicholls St

Just remember, as we watch these horrendous and equally stupendous match-ups dotting the landscape in the month of September, this is the critical hour of competitions that prevent a regular season bracketed playoff from occurring in NCAA College Football!

A regular season bracketed playoff that could be orchestrated with a bit of an open mind, some intestinal fortitude, an entrepreneurial spirit, and good old fashioned brotherly love sprinkled with southern hospitality among our administrative Godfathers.

QUESTION FOR ALL CONCERNED COLLEGE FOOTBALL FANS!...wouldn't you rather see the conference games first, saving the all important month of November for four weeks of head-to-head action between the heavyweights of college football to determine the bowl games - in a sense allowing all teams with an equal opportunity to EARN their schedule and EARN their way to a BCS or Upper Tier Bowl game - and even EARN the right to be called a heavyweight in the first place?

Or, would you rather watch the boring month of September with a landslide of games that border on the ridiculous...where the big boys are afraid to schedule each other - due to the BCS implications?

For even if they do schedule each other they have to hold their breath for seven years, hoping that they can keep their coaches from bolting to the NFL which might hinder the chances of maintaining their elite status in the game - all of which ends up biting them in the ass in the end - as most end up politically smearing their opponents, or other conferences, because they believe their own conference, or their own schedule, is better than the next.

With only one BCS football to grab, and many hands lurching...stumbling...bumbling and fumbling into the BCS bait-ball, is it any wonder we are at this point today?

It is time for the fans to demand that the game move forward. The BCSBusters Regular Season Bracketed playoff would have all teams begin the 2007 season with the conference games first in weeks 1-8. All teams would qualify for one of four brackets in weeks 9-12 of the regular season based on the results of their conference play.

The BCS Bracket determines all the conference champions for all conferences (in weeks 9 & 10), as well as, the BCS and Upper Tier Bowl games by aligning the best 32 teams in the country in a POD like bracketed regular season format allowing most of the games to be regionalised so the fans can attend.

Thus, in weeks 11 & 12, we would get the thunderous match-ups involving the SEC Champion vs the ACC Champion; PAC-10 Champion vs the Big-12 Champion, BIG-10 Champion vs the Big-East Champion and the two best teams filtering through the bottom end of the bracket involving the MWest Conference, WAC Conference, MAC Conference and C-USA. The month of November would be unbelievable!

I'm not intellectually challenged enough to involve the Sun-Belt Conference in the race for the BCS Moneypit... just look at their all-time record against the conferences who have competed in BCS events (14-240). They get their opportunity for bowl events in the NIT Bracket.

The Holiday Bracket would involve the next best 32 teams, as determined by their conference finish, and would determine the remaining lower tier bowl games.

The NIT Bracket involves the next 32 teams, and only the teams finishing this four week bracket with an undefeated or 3-1 record would qualify for a newly created bowl extravaganza, to be played on Christmas-eve day and Christmas day in Hawaii.

This would essentially kick-off bowl week, but would bring 10 teams and hoards of fans into one site, where 5 games would be played in two days at Aloha Stadium.

The final bracket, called the Eddie Robinson Sportsman's Bracket, would involve the the final 24 teams and provide these teams with the opportunity to finish their 12 game season. No bowl opportunities for these teams.

Am I missing something here or does this just make too much sense? Oh well, back to reality...enjoy Buffalo and Rutgers!