Remember to check back in after each weekend for the rest of the season, to see how the playoff bracket matchups have changed...

Also... if you disagree with anything here (it's controversial for a reason), feel free to respond to it on the bulletin board (as many did last year and a few are beginning to do this year). Defeatism will never beat this thing... spreading the discussion around the country eventually will. Thanks.

--- 11:23 PM ET

A recurring argument in favor of the BCS:

"A playoff system would take away from the importance of regular season games." (Also expressed, in a different manner, as, "The regular season now is a playoff system.")

Tell that to all the MAC, Mountain West, WAC, Conference USA, and Sun Belt fans, as well as fans of numerous other teams that the BCS has already shown us will never be permitted to play in the championship game even if they were to go undefeated. These teams' games are inexpressably less important under the BCS system than they would be under a playoff system. Also, by losing 1 game, even some of the "major" conference teams are eliminated per se (Miami 2000, Oregon 2001, more to come), whereas others are not. Oregon lost 1 game last year, and rather than being more important, every single game it played for the rest of the season, turned out to be utterly, totally, worthless (as far as a national championship was concerned). With a playoff system, their games before and after their loss would have been infinitely more important. But much, much worse, is the fact that the BCS money monster eliminates well over 50% of the nation's college football fans and their teams from having a shot at their biggest sports dream, before the season even begins. One almost has to admire the haughtiness and arrogance that BCS proponents must have (and usually, they do) to tell the fans of one of these "lesser" programs that they don't even deserve a chance.

--- 10:35 PM ET

BCS stupidities of the week:

1) USC still #3 in the New York Times poll. (Is there even 1 USC fan that would argue they should be #3?)
2) The Anderson/Hester poll ranks the Big 12 as the 4th best conference, behind the Big 10. (Did anyone see the Ohio State/Purdue and Oklahoma/Texas A&M games? Big 10 better than the Big 12... whatever.)
3) The New York Times and Anderson/Hester have Ohio State ahead of Miami. (Does anyone in the country think that OSU (last second TD needed to beat 4-7 Purdue) would stay within 20 of Miami?)

And some people still say this system is fair.

--- 9:56 AM ET

The first release of the BCS-Sucks.com 2002 NCAA Football Playoffs Bracket is out!

1) Read the explanation of the selection process under "The Playoff System" link on the left. It explains why the smaller conference teams get automatic bids (as they do in the greatest American sports tournament, March Madness) over the 3 or 4-loss major conference teams.
2) Agree? Disagree? Give your feedback on the Bulletin Board under "Suggestions."

Just imagine December Saturdays filled with exciting, meaningful, memorable games... as opposed to Decembers filled with meaningless, boring, sparsely attended games, that very few people will even remember. (BCS games are played in January, after 3-4 weeks of nothing, and have averaged double-digit margins of victory, while creating endless controversy, and resolving almost nothing. The Louisiana state High School football championship game last year, the culmination of their playoffs was attended by twice as many people as the New Orleans Bowl, played in the same arena, a week later.)

--- 3:36 PM ET

One more reason the Coaches' Poll is a joke.

Bowling Green being ranked as the 17th best team in the country was cute while they were undefeated... but the coaches leave them as #25 even after they lose to Northern Illinois? Is there an honest person in the world that actually thinks Bowling Green would not lose to Auburn, Texas A&M, Nebraska, UCLA, etc... by at least 20 points? Yet Bowling Green is #25 in the poll that helps decide the college football national champion.

And some people still think this system is fair.

--- 1:52 PM ET