FORT BENNING, Ga., (Jan. 8, 2014) -- The Bowl Championship Series came to a fitting end Monday with the Florida State University Seminoles beating the Tigers of Auburn University 34-31 in an electrifying finish that ranks right up there with some of the best championship games of all time.
Florida State, a two touchdown favorite, had all they could handle from Auburn but were able to pull the game out in the final seconds.
Although I'm not a fan of either team, nor the format used to decide the national champion during the past eight years, the two best teams in the nation did play for the title this year.
Next year, the college football national champion will be decided in a four team playoff system, which I am sure after the first year will be just as controversial as the BCS format when it first became the format du jour.
A selection committee of 13 will determine who the four best teams are in the nation and with their selections is where the controversy will begin.
Five of the 13 are current athletic directors at universities, two are former head coaches, one former college reporter, one former National Football League Player, one retired Air Force lieutenant general, a former commissioner of the Big East conference, a former NCAA executive vice president and a former Secretary of State.
All have very extensive backgrounds in college, including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was the provost at Stanford University in four stints from 1981 to present.
What many do not know about Rice is in her capacity as provost for the university, she was on the football search committee in 1988, hired head coach Tyrone Willingham in 1994 and she oversaw budget, recruiting, coaching personnel and bowl appearances for the athletic department.
So, with so many "football" people on the committee, why would there be a controversy?
Because fans are never satisfied with any format that doesn't have their team playing for a national title -- just like the rants over the years caused by the BCS.
I am not a fan of the BCS format either, but this year the two teams playing in the title game belonged in the title game.
FSU and Auburn played one of the most hard-fought games I have seen in college football in a long time.
Both teams turned in a game of the ages -- that is undeniable.
Were they the best two teams in the nation? Who really knows, but after Monday I doubt anyone could argue they weren't -- BCS or not.
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