Once again, for your enjoyment, I present the "real" BCS (otherwise known as the "Blair Cash System") for NCAA Division I football playoffs. Taking most of the current bowls (eliminating a few where they are doubled up in the same place) and mixing in a couple of others, and calling them (where possible) by their original names rather than their corporate names, each of the 11 conference champions and the next 21 at-large teams (arrived at by combining the point totals for each team in the AP and Coaches' polls), then pairing them up more or less regionally, here is what the football playoffs SHOULD look like - IF certain conferences, commissioners, school presidents, and bowl officials would get their heads out of their collective ... armpits.

Pick your favorites and enjoy. After the bowl games are over, I'll be back with the tabulated results and let you know who the REAL national champion would be if this system were in place.

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2008-09 NCAA DIVISION I FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

Dec. 19 – Aloha Bowl, Honolulu, HI: #5 Southern California (11-1) vs. #27 Iowa (8-4)
Dec. 20 – Raisin Bowl, Fresno, CA: #11 Texas Christian (10-2) vs. #24 Missouri (9-4)
Dec. 22 – Emerald Bowl, San Francisco, CA: #3 Texas (11-1) vs. #30 California (8-4)
Dec. 23 – Humanitarian Bowl, Boise, ID: #16 Georgia (9-3) vs. #18 Michigan State (9-3)

Dec. 19 – Copper Bowl, Tucson, AZ: #7 Utah (12-0) vs. #28 Florida State (8-4)
Dec. 20 – Desert Bowl, Albuquerque, NM: #9 Boise State (12-0) vs. #21 Northwestern (9-3)
Dec. 22 – Sun Bowl, El Paso, TX: #14 Oregon (9-3) vs. #20 Virginia Tech (9-4)
Dec. 23 – Armed Forces Bowl, Ft. Worth, TX: #2 Oklahoma (12-1) vs. #31 Buffalo (8-5)

Dec. 19 – Independence Bowl, Shreveport, LA: #8 Texas Tech (11-1) vs. #25 Oregon State (8-4)
Dec. 20 – Music City Bowl, Nashville, TN: #10 Ohio State (10-2) vs. #22 Mississippi (8-4)
Dec. 22 – Iron Bowl, Birmingham, AL: #4 Alabama (12-1) vs. #32 Troy (8-4)
Dec. 23 – Azalea Bowl, Mobile, AL: #15 Georgia Tech (9-3) vs. #19 Pittsburgh (9-3)

Dec. 19 – Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, FL: #13 Oklahoma State (9-3) vs. #17 Brigham Young (10-2)
Dec. 20 – Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL: #1 Florida (12-1) vs. #29 East Carolina (9-4)
Dec. 22 – Capitol Bowl, Washington, DC: #6 Penn State (11-1) vs. #26 Boston College (9-4)
Dec. 23 – International Bowl, Toronto, ON: #12 Cincinnati (11-2) vs. #23 Ball State (12-1)
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Dec. 31 – Holiday Bowl, San Diego, CA: Aloha vs. Raisin
Jan. 1 – Silver Bowl, Las Vegas, NV: Emerald vs. Humanitarian
Dec. 31 – Fiesta Bowl, Glendale, AZ: Copper vs. Desert
Jan. 1 – Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX: Sun vs. Armed Forces

Dec. 31 – Cherry Bowl, Detroit, MI: Independence vs. Music City
Jan. 1 – Liberty Bowl, Memphis, TN: Iron vs. Azalea
Dec. 31 – Outback Bowl, Tampa, FL: Gator vs. Citrus
Jan. 1 – Carolina Bowl, Charlotte, NC: Capitol vs. International
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Jan. 10 – Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA: Holiday vs. Silver
Jan. 10 – Bluebonnet Bowl, Houston, TX: Fiesta vs. Cotton
Jan. 10 – Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, LA: Cherry vs. Liberty
Jan. 10 – Peach Bowl, Atlanta, GA: Outback vs. Carolina
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Jan. 17 – Alamo Bowl, San Antonio, TX: Rose vs. Bluebonnet
Jan. 17 – Hoosier Bowl, Indianapolis, IN: Sugar vs. Peach
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Jan. 24 – Orange Bowl, Miami, FL: Alamo vs. Hoosier

Why would the Orange Bowl be the NC game?

No particular reason. I rotate it every year, usually among the major bowls such as the Orange, Fiesta, Rose, and Sugar, sometimes in domes such as the Peach (Atlanta) or Alamo (San Antonio). I think this year's BCS title game is back in Miami, though not specifically the Orange Bowl, so I just put it there as the only game in Miami this year. Nothing hard and fast about the sites at all; I just like the idea of a playoff similar to the NCAA basketball tournament.

The results of the "real BCS" (Blair Cash System) are in, and your true national college football champion is ... FLORIDA! (What a surprise!) The Gators edged the USC Trojans 26-24 in a matchup that would have been fun to watch.

Some notes from the results:

Most of the first-round games went as expected, with only two "upsets" by lower-seeded teams - Oregon State stuns Texas Tech and Pittsburgh upends Georgia Tech. Three one-point thrillers in the oepning round (State over Tech, Oregon over Virginia Tech, and Ohio State over Ole Miss) ...

Ohio State, after a wakeup call from Ole Miss, advances all the way to the semifinals, while their opponent in the "real-life" bowl, Texas, gets ousted in the quarter-finals by USC. Ohio State obviously in a weaker bracket than Texas ...

Oregon drops a one-point heartbreaker to Oklahoma in the second round. A measure of revenge? But Oklahoma gets theirs in the quaterfinals by a very fine Utah team ...

For only the second time in the six years I've been doing this, we had a tie - USC and Utah in the semifinals. USC gets the nod by virtue of higher seeding only.

Anyway, here's the whole playoffs:

Dec. 19 – Aloha Bowl, Honolulu, HI: #5 Southern California 35, #27 Iowa 14
Dec. 20 – Raisin Bowl, Fresno, CA: #11 Texas Christian 26, #24 Missouri 17
Dec. 22 – Emerald Bowl, San Francisco, CA: #3 Texas 33, #30 California 10
Dec. 23 – Humanitarian Bowl, Boise, ID: #16 Georgia 24, #18 Michigan State 12

Dec. 19 – Copper Bowl, Tucson, AZ: #7 Utah 34, #28 Florida State 17
Dec. 20 – Desert Bowl, Albuquerque, NM: #9 Boise State 28, #21 Northwestern 13
Dec. 22 – Sun Bowl, El Paso, TX: #14 Oregon 25, #20 Virginia Tech 24
Dec. 23 – Armed Forces Bowl, Ft. Worth, TX: #2 Oklahoma 42, #31 Buffalo 7

Dec. 19 – Independence Bowl, Shreveport, LA: #25 Oregon State 21, #8 Texas Tech 20
Dec. 20 – Music City Bowl, Nashville, TN: #10 Ohio State 31, #22 Mississippi 30
Dec. 22 – Iron Bowl, Birmingham, AL: #4 Alabama 38, #32 Troy 17
Dec. 23 – Azalea Bowl, Mobile, AL: #19 Pittsburgh 21, #15 Georgia Tech 3

Dec. 19 – Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, FL: #13 Oklahoma State 35, #17 Brigham Young 24
Dec. 20 – Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL: #1 Florida 41, #29 East Carolina 3
Dec. 22 – Capitol Bowl, Washington, DC: #6 Penn State 31, #26 Boston College 14
Dec. 23 – International Bowl, Toronto, ON: #12 Cincinnati 31, #23 Ball State 10
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Dec. 31 – Holiday Bowl, San Diego, CA: #5 Southern Cal 28, #11 Texas Christian 16
Jan. 1 – Silver Bowl, Las Vegas, NV: #3 Texas 23, #16 Georgia 17
Dec. 31 – Fiesta Bowl, Glendale, AZ: #7 Utah 26, #9 Boise State 14
Jan. 1 – Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX: #2 Oklahoma 28, #14 Oregon 27

Dec. 31 – Cherry Bowl, Detroit, MI: #10 Ohio State 20, #25 Oregon State 7
Jan. 1 – Liberty Bowl, Memphis, TN: #4 Alabama 20, #19 Pittsburgh 7
Dec. 31 – Outback Bowl, Tampa, FL: #1 Florida 35, #13 Oklahoma State 12
Jan. 1 – Carolina Bowl, Charlotte, NC: #6 Penn State 27, #12 Cincinnati 17
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Jan. 10 – Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA: #5 Southern California 33, #3 Texas 24
Jan. 10 – Bluebonnet Bowl, Houston, TX: #7 Utah 24, #2 Oklahoma 17
Jan. 10 – Sugar Bowl, New Orleans, LA: #10 Ohio State 24, #4 Alabama 20
Jan. 10 – Peach Bowl, Atlanta, GA: #1 Florida 30, #6 Penn State 14
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Jan. 17 – Alamo Bowl, San Antonio, TX: #5 Southern California 30, #7 Utah 27, OT
Jan. 17 – Hoosier Bowl, Indianapolis, IN: #1 Florida 28, #10 Ohio State 16
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Jan. 24 – Orange Bowl, Miami, FL: #1 Florida 26, #5 Southern California 24 th th