And we thought the BCS was a mess.

Where once computer geeks held the key to college football’s promise land, now it is left up to some of the game’s legends.

They even doubled the number of spots available.

Still, the impossible job of picking came down to not what you did on the field but rather what others think of you. And never underestimate the power of a good story line. We got two.

It appears the playoff committee did get it right. The four best teams are in the final four. I doubt if the good people at Baylor and Texas Christian would agree.

The four teams which won conference championship games will play for the national title. The Big 12, without a league championship and final showcase, was left out in the cold.

This was not an easy job for the committee, 12 folks with different degrees of knowledge on the game of college football joining to find common ground. 

They promised to be unbiased, but that is impossible when strong-minded folks argue sports. 

How the committee got to this point is more troublesome, as each week they seemed to start fresh.

Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Ohio State all deserve to be in the playoff. All are power programs from power conferences.

But two relative newcomers from the only major conference with 10 teams never really had a chance.

This is about the big guys taking care of the big guys.

Look at the games set up. 

Alabama and Nick Saban against Ohio State and Urban Meyer in the Sugar Bowl. 

Saban used to coach in the Big Ten, Meyer in the SEC. The two have a history against one another and it is a perfect made-for-television event.

So is the other game, the Rose Bowl. Heisman trophy winner of a year ago Jameis Winston and Florida State against the likely winner Marcus Mariota and Oregon.

Another perfect made-for-television event.

Committee chairman Jeff Long said T.V. had nothing to do with this, nor the money.

Let’s not be stupid here, money and television have everything to do with all of this. Always has, always will. 

More jerseys are sold in Columbus, Ohio, than Waco, Texas.

The Buckeyes are one of the top programs in all the nation, while TCU and Baylor are fighting to try and be third in their own state.

Even more troubling is what Long said about the last minute impressions and how they changed.

In the past we were told the margin of victory didn’t matter, but clearly style points count. Running it up is the message this committee sent to all teams.

Also, don’t expect big schools to keep playing teams like McNeese and other FCS teams in the future. The committee doesn’t respect those games as wins. They can only cost you.

It would be nice to have all conference winners in the playoffs. Win and your in, but we appear years away from that. 

For now this is about style points. 

And, of course, ratings.

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Jim Gazzolo is managing sports editor. Email him at jgazzolo@

americanpress.com(MGNonline)