After a football game this quarter I flipped on ESPN to check out the highlights and game analysis, and what did I see? None other than Trev Alberts ripping on the Buckeyes for how bad they were.

My anger culminated as I sat in a friend’s apartment after the Purdue game, and once again Alberts was bashing the Buckeyes even though they won again. No one ever wants to give the Buckeyes a chance. Admittedly, Ohio State didn’t have the best game against Michigan, but 10-2 is still a pretty good record. And last I checked, Michigan has two losses as well.

For the last two years, people have constantly ridiculed OSU for their last minute and unimpressive wins. It seems that no matter what the Buckeyes do, they still get grilled for their actions. It’s tough to win every game in a season and last year almost gave everyone heart failure.

In this stage of college football, it is hard to go undefeated. OSU went unbeaten last year, and it is possible, but not likely. If college football converted to a playoff system, more teams would have a chance to compete for the title. What if TCU had gone unbeaten this year? Playoffs would give the smaller conferences a chance to play for the title.

The fact is the BCS needs to go. Too often there is controversy in the current system. A playoff would eliminate the question of who the top two teams are. This year especially, USC and LSU may each only have one loss, and who would be more deserving of the spot in the Sugar Bowl? And heaven forbid if Oklahoma was to lose a game, would USC and LSU jump them because of the time of the loss in the late season?

Take the top eight teams in the BCS ranking system and let them have a playoff, rotating the championship game to each of the major bowls. Another solution could be to take the top 10 teams and give the top two teams a bye until the semi-finals. Each system would add three and four weeks respectively. For those who say that’s too much for college athletes, why don’t we get rid of those pointless early non-conference games? Why not just play conference games and playoffs? What could be more exciting? It would bring March Madness to college football.

The system now all depends on when you lose, your strength of schedule and the polls. While most of the pollsters are haters of OSU, the BCS still has the Buckeyes ranked fifth even with being ranked seventh and eighth in the respective AP and coaches polls. The playoff system eliminates the bias of pollsters and who should be the top two teams. If the playoff system was implemented, people would not be able to complain because it would take either the top eight or 10 teams. The playoff system would mean that at least a few of the top eight or 10 would have a loss, because it is impossible that the top nine or 11 teams would be undefeated. If you have lost a game, you have a chance to be in the playoff, but not guaranteed.

College football is quality entertainment of unpaid, or mostly unpaid, athletes (we won’t say names of those paid, however). The playoff system would create a frenzy. I know how excited my friends and I get for March Madness – just think of it in a football setting. It’s a long shot to change, but the BCS is not the best way to determine a title winner in college football. Let the top teams in the country duel it out in a playoff. It would draw more attention to the sport, and more recognition equals more money, which in the end, seems to be all programs care about anyway.

Ted Williams is a senior in journalism, and thinks the BCS should go in favor of a playoff, and joins the rest of the Buckeye nation in thinking Alberts needs to stop being a hater. He can be reached at [email protected].