The BCS doesn't work. Well, that's not quite right. It works in creating a lot of money for the power conferences in Division I football. It also works in creating discussion on who should get to play in the Championship game.

Let's get this out right now. Division I college football is in desperate need of a playoff. The BCS has only worked three times. In these cases, the regular season ended with two undefeated teams. Certainly an overly complicated system isn't necessary to figure out that if there are only two undefeated teams left at the end of the season, they should play each other. Let's take a look at the history of the BCS.

98-Tennessee 12-0 beat Florida St. (11-1)
leaving out:
Big 10 champ Wisconsin 10-1
Pac 10 champ UCLA 10-1

99-Florida St. 11-0 beat Va. Tech 11-0
no other undefeated teams

2000-Oklahoma 12-0 beat Florida St. 11-1
leaving out:
Big East champ Miami 10-1, who beat Florida St.
Pac 10 champ Washington 10-1, who beat Miami

2001-Miami 11-0 beat Nebraska 11-1(Nebraska did not play in Big 12 title game)
leaving out:
ACC champ Maryland 10-1
Big 10 champ Illinois 10-1
Pac 10 champ Oregon 10-1

2002-OSU 13-0 beat Miami 12-0
no other undefeated teams

2003-LSU 12-1 beat Oklahoma 12-1 (OU lost the Big 12 title game)
leaving out:
Pac 10 champ USC 11-1

2004-USC 12-0 beat Oklahoma 12-0
leaving out:
SEC champ Auburn 12-0

2005-Texas 12-0 beat USC 12-0
no other undefeated teams

This year, the argument seems to be whether or not a rematch between Ohio St. and Michigan should happen for the BCS title. Let me explain why this is such a bad idea.

In the absence of a playoff, there need to be some meaningful designations. And a conference championship has to be one of them. In 2001, Nebraska played in the BCS championship game without even playing in the Big 12 title game. In 2003, Oklahoma played for the title right after losing the Big 12 title game.

So here's the rule:

In the absence of a playoff, a team must win its conference to play for the national championship. An independent must have a truly exceptional year against quality opponents.

If a team isn't its conference champ, it can't be national champ.

The real reason this happens is pre-season polls. Take a look at the 2004 regular season. If Auburn had started the year at #1 or #2, they would have played for the title. No one expected Auburn to be good that year. So they go undefeated, win the SEC, and can't break into the big game.

Let's take this one step further. Just imagine that Boise St. started this year ranked #5. By going undefeated, they'd be in position to play Ohio St.

For those of you laughing, take a look at last season. Everyone 'knew' the Big East was no longer any good, with Miami, Va. Tech and BC going to the ACC. So West Virginia goes 10-1, working their way up to #11, wins the Big East, gaining the automatic BCS bid and plays SEC champ and 7th ranked Georgia. Final score: West Virginia 38, Georgia 35.

It's a broken system. No matter who plays Ohio St. in January, a worthy team will not get the chance.

Last summer, Dave Woodley-Director of Athletic Bands at IU sent me an e-mail asking if I'd like to play with Hundred (IU's Marching Band) again this year. Considering what a great time I had last year, I was ready to say yes. But this year, Dave had something more in mind. Hundred takes a road trip to one Big 10 game every year. This year, the plan was to go to Ohio St. In addition, the Indianapolis Colts asked if the band could play halftime of the Redskins game. So the road trip became Ohio St. on Saturday-Colts game on Sunday. There was no way I was going to turn that down.

On Saturday morning, we got to be part of one of the coolest events I've seen. The Ohio St. Marching Band has a "Skull Session" the morning of each game day. It's held in St. John Arena, which holds more than 10,000 people. The "Skull Session" is a pre-game concert. And the place is absolutely full. Seeing all of those people there to watch the band was fantastic. After the OSU Band made their entrance, Hundred played their pre-game show and halftime show, which included the tune I was playing on. Then OSU's Band played their pre-game show and halftime.

As a musician, it was just amazing to see that many people out to support the band.

As a sports fan, the cool part was this: Jim Tressel brings the whole football team in coats and ties to the concert for a tune and says a few words. Then both the men's and women's basketball coaches come up and say a few words. It's great to see that kind of appreciation from the coaches.

Carl Lenthe, one of my colleagues at IU who teaches trombone, sent me this picture taken by his brother who was at the game. It will give you some idea of the size of the place. It does seat 101,568.





Although the game wasn't close (OSU won 44-3), I had a great time. The stadium is just amazing. The fans are incredibly supportive. And the OSU Band was a terrific host.

Sunday we drove to Indianapolis. The RCA Dome is attached to the Indianapolis Convention Center. So we left our cases in a ballroom, walked down a hallway, turned left, walked through a revolving door, and there we are standing on a football field. It's a little odd.

They brought us out to the field with 2 minutes to go in the first half. At halftime, we rushed on the field, played our show, rushed off the field and went back to Bloomington.

Erin Woodley, Advisor in the School of Music, took this picture (Thanks Erin):






The RCA Dome seats 60,272, which means we got to play for over 160,000 people in two days. How cool is that.

What a great weekend. I'm hoping for one more performance...at a Bowl Game.

Go IU,

Joey