Last weekend was a great one for college football fans who enjoy upsets. Three teams (Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Michigan) ranked in the top ten of the all important Bowl Championship Series standings were sent flying off their pedestals. The bullies returned home with their tails between their legs and in the cases of Nebraska and Oklahoma, visions of a date in the Rose Bowl vanished.

The shocking upsets now creates the question: Who will play Miami for the national championship? Nebraska and Oklahoma were ready to settle that question on Saturday in the Big XII championship game. Problem is, neither one will be playing in the game, thanks to Colorado and Oklahoma State respectively.

With Miami the only undefeated team remaining in the championship picture (sorry BYU, your weak schedule and conference eliminates you from the BCS bowls), the world of college football and media can now play the entertaining (although useless) game of scenarios and projections.

There are two weeks left in the college football regular season and there are too many games remaining to be played. The media should not be sending any team anywhere until the season is over. Nebraska most likely thought all they had to do was show up in Boulder for the victory. Michigan was probably too busy worrying about which BCS bowl they would play in instead of concentrating on Ohio State. As for Oklahoma, I don’t know what the hell happened to them.

The upsets produced a gaggle of one-loss teams that are now vying for the chance to play at the Rose Bowl in January. Florida, Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, Maryland, Illinois have all had outstanding season. Even with the devastating loss last Friday, Nebraska is 11-1 and a part of that crowd.

I remember when the BCS was first introduced, there were several statements made by the NCAA to the effect that much of the controversy of bowl pairings would be eliminated with the new system. So far that hasn’t been the case.

Last year, Oklahoma and Florida State played the “national championship game.” Although the Sooners won and remained the only undefeated team in college football, Miami felt that they deserved the chance to play Oklahoma because the Hurricanes had defeated Florida State earlier in the season and they finished the regular season with one loss apiece. “Wait just a second there Miami,” Washington said, “we beat you guys and we ended up with one loss.” So tell me, is the system working any better?

The BCS’s flaws are too many to give it the credibility that the NCAA wishes it to have. The NCAA feels that it is working toward a playoff system in the coming years, but that will be greatly hindered by the conferences. There is a lot of money in the bowl system that is in place now and every major conference places at least five teams in bowl games each year. That means beaucoup bucks for the schools. Disintegrate the system and the money from the bowl games will disappear as well.

Despite what happens in Pasadena on January 3, there will likely be grumblings about the BCS. Again. It doesn’t have to be this way. Playoffs are the answer and I hope that the NCAA implements it sooner rather than later.