Bowl game lacks bang

It's all over. The Alabama Crimson Tide hoisted the national championship trophy after a lop-sided victory over the Louisiana State University Tigers that left many fans with a sour taste in their mouths.

Millions of people watched across the nation as the Bowl Championship Series let them down again, in a replay of a game that happened earlier in the year. The game was virtually a snore fest, leaving many people yearning for a playoff system in college football.

The BCS is a system that places the top 10 college football teams into five major sponsored bowl games. The teams are selected based on a combination of coaches' polls, a convoluted computer-calculation system and the Harris Interactive Poll, a poll that takes former players, coaches, administrators and members of the media, current and former, and has them vote on the top 25 teams.

A four-team playoff system would be the ideal solution. The playoff would put the top four teams in a national semifinals game, leading to the national championship. This would be the best solution as it would lessen the likeliness of a same conference championship, like this year's matchup, which featured two teams from the South Eastern Conference.

Also, many believe it would increase the likelihood of the two actual best teams playing instead of those who got voted there.

Recently, a major push has been made to promote the four-team playoff system. With the current BCS contract ending in 2013 and earning extremely low television ratings in this year's championship game, it appears that something has to change.

The commissioners of all the major conferences met recently in New Orleans to talk about the possibility of a playoff system.

When the playoffs were originally proposed in 2008, they were abruptly shot down by a majority of the commissioners. This year attitudes have changed. For example, Jim Delaney, commissioner of the Big 12, was against a playoff system five years ago but has been very open to the idea as of late, stating that everyone is ready to have the conversation now.

President of the NCAA Mark Emmert has also shown support for a four-team system. After his state of the association address, Emmert said if a playoff system is what the commissioners agreed on he would strongly support it. Although the NCAA has no direct power over the BCS, Emmert's endorsement would be a good one.

The current bowl system has been challenged as easily corrupted and often flawed. A playoff system could be the remedy to determine who really ranks among the best teams in the country. Boise State fans would welcome a playoff system as they have argued that their team is the best, but have never gotten the chance to prove their powerhouse football team because coaches and other polls don't rank them among the top two in the country.

After a national championship that held very little competitiveness and disappointed many avid college football fans, it appears something needs to change--now the ball is on the commissioner's side of the field.