Bowl Games Should All Be Done By January 2nd

What to make of an uneventful ending to a very exciting college football season while having to spend a couple of days in the worst state in America...

Nobody's got the right idea when it comes to a college football playoff system (especially after a mess like this year's going to end up like). But can we all agree that every Bowl Game, including the BCS Championship, should be played between December 15th through January 1st?

Because having to prolong games for another week -- when some don't mean anything unless oh, you're Mark Mangino -- doesn't make a lick of sense and only suggests that if things were wrapped up January 1st, what's another week or so to determine a true National Champion?

And here it is, January 5th, we've got another meaningless Bowl Game tomorrow and the BCS Title Game Monday. If there's no "playoff" and the rest of the world has moved on with their wicked little lives after the holidays, can't College Football at least join the rest of us? Let's have these Bowl Games over before January 2nd. Use some of those open Saturday afternoons during the NFL Season, since the pros obviously don't seem to want to play then anymore.

But as it is, we didn't get to have one final game between two undefeated juggernauts to settle things right, ala Texas/USC after 2005 or Nebraska/Florida following the 1995 season. Instead, next Tuesday, other than the Ohio State/LSU winner, here's a list of teams who have a legitimate gripe to thinking they should have (had) a shot at the title (especially if LSU and their two losses beat the Buckeyes):

1. Kansas (stunner of all stunners, I figured Virginia Tech would absolutely destroy the Jayhwaks. Now you've got a one-loss team from one of the best conferences thinking they're ready for prime time. Yes, KU should have taken care of Missouri when they had the chance, but we also can't blame Mangino and Company that their dream season just "happened" to take place during a year when they didn't have to play Oklahoma and Texas -- which they will next year. After seeing what the Mangenius did against VT, you really have to wonder how he would have handled "Big Game Stoops" in the Big 12 title game.)
2. USC (Pete Carroll is becoming our modern day Bear Bryant, you can't pick against him in big games, and go back and look at the schedule they played. Gamblers take note: Pete's philosophy is that if his team's should ever lose any big game, it won't be by much.)
3. Georgia (put on a monster statement against an under matched Hawaii team who looked like they were still getting over the passing of Don Ho than being involved in a football game)
4. West Virginia (everyone had "Big Game" Bob Stoops winning this game big, now it just looks like WV simply had that slip up against Pittsburgh -- and by the way, what was the last "Big Game" Stoops won? That National Championship he got against a clueless Bobby Bowden?)
5. Missouri (The Tigers are more pissed off they didn't get a BCS game, and suggest that THEY would have sold out an Orange Bowl, unlike Kansas. Yes, they lost to Oklahoma twice, and they're behind USC, Georgia and WV in the complaint line, but unlike LSU, didn't Mizzou beat Arkansas and beat them up pretty bad?)

So we really haven't learned anything, at least what to do when nobody runs the table through the regular season. I think we can all agree that FOX television's coverage of these games has been absolutely horrific. Poor Jimmy Johnson, who's actually very good on television, looks like he's being forced to work a few extra days during the year and wondering where Terry and Howie are. I think I know members of these schools bands better than I do the players, what with all the reaction shots of them and...uhm...actually showing the bands during halftime??? Fox wakes up Pat Summerall once a year to do exactly...one game, and it sounds like he's calling it from his own bed. It's like college football television during the regular season is Bob Gibson, and they hand the ball off to Mitch Williams for the BCS Bowl games. After Gibby's given us eight brilliant innings, we get an overlong 9th from Wild Thing where we have no idea what the hell's going on.

For the record, you're pre-season top 2 were USC and LSU. Come Monday night, after a season of chaos, maybe everyone was right before the first snap. Other than the fact that Mangino's team didn't receive a single vote...