The college football season is winding down, and by the time we all return from our glorious winter break, the winner of the national championship will have been decided at the Orange Bowl in Miami. And if you believe that, I have some swamp land to sell you, also located in Florida.

The way that college football decides on its national champion is ridiculous. Instead of a playoff format that would pit all deserving teams against one other, a special few are selected in what is known as the Bowl Championship Series.

The Bowl Championship Series takes a school’s record, various polls, strength of schedule, how much it has outscored its opponents, the meaning of life, its mom’s age divided by the number of No. 1 Beatles songs, combines that with some fuzzy math, and voila! It magically comes up with the best college football team in the nation.

Right now, Oklahoma stands at No. 1 because it is the only undefeated school. Fair enough. But what about second place? Who should be ranked second is not quite so clear.

So far, Florida State looks like it will be second. Miami is ranked third and Washington is fourth. Even though Miami defeated Florida State and Washington knocked off Miami and each has only one loss, they are ranked in reverse order.

Why is this? Well, first off, people back East don’t like any team that is not from the East, especially those from the West Coast. Also, football “”experts”” are infatuated with schools from Florida, especially Florida State. I don’t know what it is, but the football people in this country love Florida State.

Another question arises: What if Oklahoma loses to Kansas Sate this weekend in the Big 12 championship game? That would leave a plethora of teams with only one loss. The top team will be determined by some computer, run by some guy who has never ever been within a mile of a football field. Boy, that’s fair.

If Oklahoma loses this weekend to Kansas State, which very well may happen, Florida State will become No. 1 and Miami will be No. 2. The two teams will duke it out in the Orange Bowl, played in Miami. So, a pair of colleges from Florida will play in a bowl game in Florida. Whoopdee freakin’ doo.

What is needed is a playoff format. Take the top 16 teams and start a tournament the first weekend in December, and have it run until New Year’s Day. Yes, there will be a lot of argument when it comes to who should be the 16th team, but at least this guarantees that the top elite eight or 10 schools will all be given a shot at playing in the national championship.

This is the only sport to act so absurdly. Professional football has playoffs. College basketball has one of the biggest playoffs in the nation in their much-hyped Road to the Final Four. Football would be just as big, if they would only do it.

Why don’t they? The sponsors of the bowl won’t let them. There is a lot of money involved in this business, but just as much can be made with a playoff. The powers that be must realize this.

College football needs a playoff format to legitimize itself. Until then, it will wallow in the bullshit of polls and computers, with each year culminating in nothing more than a mythical national champion.