Let there be no more doubt about No. 1

Before I begin, I just want to let all of you out there know what\'s going on with this column. Once a week, I get to go off about any topic of national significance in the sporting world based on how I see fit. You might agree with me, or you might not. If you don't agree, too bad, because I\'m the one with the column, and you\'re not. Remember, you can always let me know what a moron I am; which I am accustomed to. And now, on to my first topic of college football.\nI love college football. Love it. It is up there as my No. 1 or 2 sport, fighting for position with hockey. With the season beginning this past weekend and all of the pre-season classics going on, this time of year is one of my happiest. Soon, every team in the country will be playing every Saturday, with the drunken hopes of their fans riding on every play, hoping their team will be the one that wins their conference, bowl game or maybe a national championship.\nI find that the bowl season is great. I am a huge fan, often being found glued to my TV watching whatever game it may be, from the Toilet Bowl (starting in 2004 maybe?) to the granddaddy of them all, the Rose Bowl. But the bowl season is one of the problems with college football -- along with the polling system and the Bowl Championship Series -- and if each were changed, it would make the sport I love even better. \nTo start with, a playoff needs to be established instead of the bowl games. While I will be sad to see this tradition end, the minute the BCS was instituted, the tradition was starting down the trail of death anyway. So, I say scrap all that, and start a multi-team playoff system. This will help to eliminate the debate of every season about who should meet for the national title and also whether the winner of the so-called championship is actually the winner. These playoff teams could be selected by taking the winners of each conference and some wild card teams based on records and ranking. The seeding would also be based on the ranking.\nThis brings me to my second change, the weekly polls. I think they start too early. Sure, it's great to see who is the preseason No. 1, and if members of the national stage think that your team has a shot this year, but the polls can be a handicap to several teams. If your team is the "Cinderella team" of the season and isn't ranked, it could end up hurting the team's final ranking. Also, if a team is ranked high and ends up not being as good, they still might finish the season ranked higher than they deserve. So, if you wait until the third or fourth week of the season to start the polls, a team won\'t be handicapped or unjustly helped by the pre-season ranking. And, if all of my thoughts are instituted, the BCS can be done away with. After all, there is no reason some computer nerds should be in charge of the national title of college football. \nWhile I will be sad to no longer sit down on New Year\'s Day and watch so many bowl games, I can\'t even think about football anymore. These changes are necessary to turn college football into an even better game than it is.