It’s Time for a Real Champion

We want a college football champion. Understand? Hello? NCAA? Anybody home? We don’t want a Richard Nixon proposing which school should be national champion, or a Georgia Tech hailing itself as our nation’s “co-champion,” or a Brigham Young feeling (boo hoo) unfairly neglected, or an Arizona State being cheated of its chance because of a nonnegotiable commitment to the “wrong” bowl.

We want a champion. One.

You know, like in pro football, pro baseball, pro basketball, pro hockey, college basketball, college baseball, soccer, wrestling and even bleeping lacrosse.

We don’t want some loony “alliance” that lets a team with a 10-2 record in Laramie, Wyo., sit home on the front porch whittling, while a four-time loser from Austin, Tex., gets to play on New Year’s Day, only because it won its conference.

We don’t want a BYU team winning 13 of 14 games, but still unsure after the 14th game if any New Year’s game will kindly extend it an invitation.

We don’t want the so-called “national championship game” (the Sugar Bowl) being a rematch between two schools that met a couple of weeks ago, when a team in another bowl game (the Rose) is undefeated and possibly superior to either one of them.

We don’t want a Nebraska playing for a shot at No. 1-ranked Florida State, when that same Nebraska has already lost to No. 2-ranked Arizona State.

We want a tournament.

Begin with 16 seeded teams, in brackets. How do you seed the teams? Same way the NCAA basketball tournament does, with a selection committee. You use the weekly rankings as a guide, then go from there.

You say some unlucky 17th school will get left out, after 11 games?

Tough. In basketball, some unlucky 65th school always gets left out, after 30 games.

You say the season is already too long, after 11 games?

Don’t hand me that. BYU just played 14 games. Penn State began its season in August, nearly 16 weeks ago. Meanwhile, Texas--the opponent of Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl--didn’t end its season until the second week of December. So, don’t give me that “too long” nonsense. The season is as long as you care to space it.

But the bowl games, you say. What about the bowl games?

No problem. The bowl games become the NCAA regionals. East, West, Midwest, Southeast.

First round:

EAST (Gator Bowl, Carquest Bowl): No. 1 seeded team vs. No. 16 seeded team; No. 2 vs. No. 15. WEST (Copper, Holiday): 3 vs. 14; 4 vs. 13. MIDWEST (Sun, Independence): 5 vs. 12; 6 vs. 11. SOUTHEAST (Peach, Liberty): 7 vs 10; 8 vs. 9.

Second round:

EAST (Citrus Bowl): Gator winner vs. Carquest winner. WEST (Fiesta): Copper winner vs. Holiday winner. MIDWEST: (Cotton): Sun winner vs. Independence winner. SOUTHEAST (Outback): Peach winner vs. Liberty winner.

Final Four:

SEMIFINAL (Rose Bowl): East champion vs. West champion. (Orange Bowl): Midwest champion vs. Southeast champion.

National championship:

(Sugar Bowl): Rose Bowl winner vs. Orange Bowl winner.

This is simply a diagram. The NCAA title game would move around, year to year, same way the Super Bowl does. One year it’s in New Orleans, next year in Pasadena, next year in Miami, and so forth.

Other bowl games--Alamo, Aloha, Las Vegas--could still be held, or could bid as alternate regional sites.

Is this so difficult?

The best part is, you could still have a Rose Bowl, an Orange Bowl, a Sugar Bowl, same way you do now. Still have a parade. Still have a queen. Still have a tournament committee, in colorful knit blazers.

With the coincidence of Pete Rozelle’s death, we are reminded that all it takes to eliminate one system and create another is a little foresight, a little brains and a little courage. Rozelle made the NFL work. He gave us one true champion. The NCAA should follow this example.

Otherwise, we will end up with more seasons like this one, when a team such as Arizona State could end up undefeated and all dressed up, with no place to go.