Unfortunately, everybody knows there should be a playoff in college football except for the people who make the decisions.

They can't see past their contracts and agreements and the ideas they have invested. They can't see the end is disappointing and second-rate.

Disappointing like Boise State never having a chance to win the national championship. Second-rate like never witnessing TCU's defense take on Tim Tebow.

The Bowl Championship Series -- the college presidents, bowl executives, corporate sponsors, etc. -- should know by now that rankings and predictions should only be used for seeding, not deciding the two national championship contenders. More times than not, the BCS system misses the mark.

It's arguably criminal that some teams and conferences never have a chance to compete for the national championship, as evidenced by Congress discussing antitrust issues surrounding the BCS on more than one occasion. Hopefully that will continue.

It's not that the traditions college football is trying to protect don't have noble beginnings. It's just that in this day and age, real powerhouses and real underdogs crown true champions in games of winner-take-all. That's what the public expects, and rightly so.

Boise State has won 100 more games than it has lost since 1999 (120-20). It's beaten the biggest of opponents (Oklahoma) on the biggest of stages (2007 Fiesta Bowl). A program like this deserves a chance.

Playoffs wouldn't even have to kill the bowls. The bowls could go on. Heck, even more teams could get a chance to play just one more game. And some bowls could be the different steps along the championship tournament bracket. They'd be memorable for hosting quarterfinals around Christmas and semifinals around New Year's in games that sell out for their sheer excitement and significance.

It would be an exciting end to the season, unlike the perpetual disappointment we experience now with college football's second-rate ending.

A Little Faith Pays Off

In a second case study of "homerism" in this season's Pilot football pick'em contest, just 18 of 95 entries picked N.C. State to upset North Carolina last week, which the Wolfpack did on Saturday.

That's just one more entry than the total that took the Buffalo Bills, the least picked of the NFL winners.

Oh ye Wolfpack fans of little faith.

Picking the college games right paid huge dividends last week. Our weekly winner, E.M. Kopecky, of Aberdeen, not only picked up a point with N.C. State, he correctly picked Wake Forest over Duke and South Carolina over Clemson to become one of only two pickers to get all three college games correct. He also took the Bills over Miami to finish with 13 points.

He wins over four other entries with 13 correct picks and 20 with 12 correct picks by predicting 47 points in the tiebreaker, in which Minnesota downed Chicago 36-10.

Chuck Latham, of Vass, finishes second with 13 correct picks and 41 points predicted in the tiebreaker, and Kathy Latham, of Vass, finishes third with 13 correct picks and 40 points predicted in the tiebreaker.

Dick Maag, of Pinehurst, maintains his two-point lead (139-137) over the team of Noah and Aidan Lyons in the overall standings, with both entries correctly picking 12 games last week.

I picked 11 right, probably a little bit above average, and this week, I'm rolling with Chicago to dump St. Louis, Atlanta to edge Philadelphia, Cincinnati to stomp Detroit, New Orleans to blow past Washington, Carolina to rebound hosting Tampa Bay and Jacksonville to continue Houston's slide. Also give me Indianapolis hosting Tennessee, Pittsburgh to get off the snide hosting Oakland, Denver to beat Kansas City and New England to rebound hosting Miami. I'll also take San Diego at Cleveland, Dallas at the New York Giants, San Francisco at Seattle, Minnesota at Arizona and Green Bay hosting Baltimore, and in the college game, give me Alabama to upset Florida for the SEC championship.

Yearly standings are as follows:

Dick Maag 139

Noah and Aidan Lyons 137

Matt Robbins 135

David McKinnon 134

Marilyn Norris 134

David Weaver 133

Amanda Latham 132

Cecil Brewer 132

Brad Robbins 131

Tony Grausso 131

Jennifer Britt 131

Ralph Tindall 131