The Bowl Championship Series got lucky this weekend when its #1- and #2-ranked teams were beaten, sparing the nation a Missouri-West Virginia national championship game that only a computer could love. And now the BCS has skirted major controversy by giving fans an attractive title showdown, matching two storied football programs, Ohio State and LSU. from two historically powerful football conferences, the SEC and the Big Ten. And it doesn't hurt that there is currently a rare consensus, that these two teams sit 1-2 atop all the polls. 

Of course, an attractive title showdown shouldn't be confused with a game between the two best college teams in the nation. With memories of last season's Florida romp over Ohio State still vivid, LSU has been established as a six-point favorite. And I suspect that Oklahoma and USC, two hot teams which are headed to the Fiesta and Rose bowls respectively, would be favored over the Buckeyes too. After all, USC was quickly established as a 14-point favorite over the University of Illinois, the team that marred Ohio State's perfect season with an upset in Columbus.

I have already stated my case that Ohio State is rewarded by the BCS year after year for dominating what has arguably become, as talent continues to gravitate away from the snow belt, the weakest of major conferences. This season not a single Big Ten team defeated another major conference team with a winning record. And because the Big Ten doesn't have a title game, Ohio State didn't have to earn its way into the BCS mix, as LSU, Oklahoma and Virginia Tech all did, by winning one additional game against a tough, conference opponent at a neutral site.

But one could just as easily ask why LSU? Going into the final weekend, Virginia Tech was rated #6 on the BCS maze, one spot ahead of LSU. Virginia Tech proceeded to beat 11th-ranked Boston College by two touchdowns in the ACC Championship while LSU slipped by 14th-ranked Tennessee in the SEC Championship. In the new rankings B.C. is still above Tennessee (#14 to #16). Yet somehow LSU leapfrogged Virginia Tech. We may all agree that LSU is the better team, but that doesn't mean such computer machinations make sense. Maybe the computers factor in New Orleans mojo; LSU may be the only team capable of sustaining a party there for the entire five-week run-up until the Jan. 7th kickoff.

There are plenty of other gaping holes in the BCS system. Georgia and Kansas got rewarded with BCS bids for not reaching their conference championships while Missouri got punished--odd team out along with Arizona State--for actually beating Kansas on its way to getting pummeled in the Big 12 championship. But beyond the obvious--that the BCS system is inherently flawed, even ridiculous--I have no complaints. In fact, I kind of relish the chaos emanating out of this season of parity.

LSU or Ohio State will be crowned with the BCS championship trophy. But USC, Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and even Hawaii could muster legitimate claims to the number-one ranking with impressive showings in their respective bowl games. And then the national championship can be settled where it once was an always should be--in the nation's bars where fans convene and debate such things. You know the places: the ones where folks are still arguing Notre Dame-Michigan State 1966.