Florida State Wins The National Championship or, The BCS is Dead and Buried

By Justin Cates

The final five BCS football games were all wonderful.

This season's games were exciting, evenly matched and generally without controversy. The national championship game between Florida State and Auburn was for my money the best championship of the entire BCS system—save for the first three quarters of the title game in 2000.

For the most part, the results of the BCS actually turned out to be the "right" ones pretty much every time. There was some healthy debate regarding the participants on occasion, but almost every national champion crowned under the system was considered the best team in college football.

But that's all no more.

Now we can all look forward to a future where we sit in our post-apocalyptic bunkers regaling the youth with tales of this antiquated system.

"When I was growing up computers decided the national champion in football."

"You mean like Skynet?"

"No, no. This was back before the machines became self-aware. Humans fed a bunch of data into a formula we created and the machines spat out the two teams allowed to play for the championship."

"So the computers didn't even design the formula?"

"Nah. Actually, most of the data we used was based on subjective human observations too. It was really one of the last times we controlled the machines..."

"This is a bad story Grandpa. Tell us again about telephones that plugged into the wall!"

Pictured: A visual approximation of the BCS computers.

Right. Where were we? Ah yes, FOOTBALL! 'MURICA! CHAMPIONS!

Some general thoughts about game:

Florida State is here to stay. I knew he could recruit, but now we know Jimbo Fisher is a full-on football coach which is scary. He also seems pretty classy and humble.

Even seeing him cowed by old age, I still had an uncontrollable desire to punch Bobby Bowden in the neck. I hope he spends his days sitting on a fishing boat staring wistfully into the distance muttering "dadgummit" under his breath.

Brent Musberger gets worse with each passing moment.

I'm sure there was a time before I was born when Musberger was cogent and delivered crisp calls without fawning over hot coeds in the stands or accidentally announcing himself as Kirk Herbstreit.

That being said, I want him gone before he does to Kirk what Tim McCarver did to Joe Buck. This can't end well.

ESPN kept billing their "mega-cast" as some revolution in broadcasting. I found it annoying as it really just amounted to dozens of their analysts—some of whom have no particular football expertise—clogging their various platforms with half-cocked observations and hooting and hollering. I did all that on my own thank you kindly.

On the bright side for ESPN, Nick Saban was terrific and Tim Tebow was actually pretty tolerable.

Both were impressive in their game predictions with Tebow calling for a 35-31 FSU win and Saban saying Auburn would need to score 35 points to win. Bravo gents.

Florida State's win ties a nice bow on this college football season and now we can all look forward to the new college football playoff.

Anticipation is one thing but please, pace yourselves friends! There's still 233 days until the opening game between Ole Miss and Boise State.

Frank Beamer is the Coolest and the BCS Is Dead (Almost)

The head coach of the Hokies isn't the only one dancing today as a presidential oversight committee, led by Virginia Tech President Charles Steger, finally granted approval to a four-team playoff system for college football.

In an interview with the Daily Press, Steger told David Teel, “The ACC presidents were unanimously in favor of the four-team playoff, and I wanted to be sure they [Athletic Director Jim Weaver and Beamer] were comfortable with it. Frank’s the one who’s got to coach the team. Not me. He’s very supportive."

And why wouldn't he be? The Hokies are consistently on the cusp of being a top team, but usually fall just on the outside of the national championship picture.

Therein lies the biggest criticism of Beamer, he can't win the big one.

You know the rest of the drill, Frank Beamer is class personified. He's nice to a fault in the minds of many, and there aren't a lot of public sports figures these days criticized for being loyal and considerate of one's opponents.

Those detractors are few and far between, a product of the semi-professional SEC and the envious eyes fixed upon its success by the rest of the college football world.

Hokies certainly aren't immune to that, and there is a crazed group of folks who whisper too loudly for my tastes that Beamer will never win the national championship and can't get Tech to that level during his last handful of seasons in Blacksburg.

I get that to some extent. I want a national championship too and Frank wants it more than anyone. There have been plenty of eggs laid by the Hokies on the big stage and maybe he won't win the big prize, but that's no reason to hasten his retirement.

The man is Virginia Tech football. His record is 209-98-2. He has never had any recruiting violations or academic scandals. If anything, maybe you could say he's given troubled athletes too many second chances. Oh for shame!

There's only one thing hanging over his legacy, and it's the empty trophy case in the Merryman athletic center reserved for the national championship trophy.

This case overlooking the practice field is reserved for the national championship trophy.

People are quick to blame Frank for that emptiness, but they forget he's the only reason it's there in the first place.

Now, the four-team playoff format brings new hope to those not confident in Tech's ability to finish in the top two spots of the BCS.

The BCS is dying and we will all dance on its grave and welcome the purer playoff that gives more teams a chance to win the national championship.

Really it's all about money, but don't tell Frank. He's first in line to dance a jig.