Haven’t you seen I, Robot? How about The Matrix? Hollywood believes that computers are eventually going to turn against us. I guess they haven’t been paying attention to detail, though. We don’t have to jump into the future and wait for the adaption of artificial intelligence, the BCS has been screwing us for years now.

Yesterday morning was just another notch in the series of embarrassments the BCS has supplied us with. The newest ratings have Texas ahead of USC even though every other poll has USC No. 1.

USC has won two straight National Championships, 29 straight games and have made mockeries of its last two national championship games.

Until they lose, no human in their right mind would rank anyone ahead of them. The only legitimate top-20 team that Texas has beaten is Ohio State. Between the two of them, USC will get fingers pointed at them for having a weak conference. Check the numbers, the Pac-10 has another undefeated team and more ranked teams. Texas has been pounding on cupcakes ever since escaping Columbus.

For some reason the NCAA has decided that a computer can decide more fairly than the overwhelming majority of sports writers and coaches. It appears that the computer does nothing more than take some pressure off the writers when they perenially have to tell an undefeated team that they didn’t earn a chance at the championship. The BCS sucks, but the finger should be directly pointed at the NCAA.

The NCAA turned to instant replay, thus proving they have the mental capacity to see a problem and fix it. It is finally time to realize that the BCS no longer works; Oregon couldn’t shine Notre Dame’s shoes apart from their rankings. We know that the old system doesn’t work because it didn’t have a bona fide National Championship game. So where do we go from here?

The same direction that every other major sport in America has gone. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and we need a playoff.

Did you see the faces on the Auburn players last year. They did everything they could by running the table, and then because a computer thought they were the third best, weren’t allowed to prove themselves.

It’s possible the same thing will happen this year, so when is the NCAA going to learn? Their March Madness held for college basketball is the greatest sports event of the year. If they had an eight or even four-team college football playoff, the sporting world would celebrate.

During the duration of the season, if a team loses one game, even early on, its championship dreams are gone.

Teams are now playing more games during a season than ever before. If the season was regulated at 12 games, the maximum number of games a team could play is 15, a plateau some teams already reach.

Nobody would feel whole-heartedly cheated, and we couldn’t point the finger at anyone other than those who doubted the beauty of the new system.

I know a lot more about football than the Dell that rests on my desk, and I have watched enough sports to know that only one team rightfully stands after a playoff.

Ian Gold is a senior in Communications. He can be reached at [email protected].