HispanicBusiness

College-affiliated football's oligarchy serves us reruns to decide a national champion. Will The Staple Singers perform Let's Do It Again before the anthem? In this sequel, instead of Biggie Smalls, Kansas City Mac, Bootney Farnsworth and 40th Street Black, we've got The Mad Hatter vs. Little Nicky.

And BCS No. 3 Oklahoma State gets to steam in the desert.

My goodness, even Daffy Duck reacted with dismay when the Warner Bros. folks reused the same gag twice in one cartoon. And here the BCS brings together LSU vs. Alabama again in a rematch of their "Game of the Century," a brutally physical 9-6 win for LSU.

That neither team reached the end zone bothered me not. LSU's Les Miles and his predecessor, Alabama coach Nick Saban, each have a devastating defense and enough NFL talent to play in the AFC West. Sometimes, I prefer points at a premium.

Oklahoma State prefers points by the peck. The Cowboys rolled up 30 to 70 points on each opponent, and their only loss came in overtime. They routed Baylor by 35, Oklahoma by 34. You can almost hear Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy say, "I'm a man! We score 40!"

Could there be a better argument for a playoff system? I mean, other than all those Division II and Division III schools able to handle rounds of playoff games and classes. Apparently, the NCAA and the nation's college presidents feel that the only student-athletes who can handle a playoff system and educational demands are those who were students, then athletes.

I understand the evidence for another round matching the two schools Nick Saban has coached to national titles. And I'm not saying I disagree that Alabama's the second-best team in the country.

For all the Heisman Trophy winners that play for the national championship on the offensive side of the ball, crushing defense still tends to win big-time championship games. Alabama's got a defense with NFL size, speed and sophistication. Oklahoma State's defense just slows you from keeping pace with the Cowboys' galloping offense.

Bama's only loss: LSU. Oklahoma State's only loss: Iowa State. Big advantage: Alabama. Finally, many go with "the eye test." Which team do you look at and just know they're better?

Lessons of 2006

Still, Only SEC arrogance or worship prevents us from learning from the lessons of 2006, a lesson taught by an SEC team in a game that's rematched in this year' s Gator Bowl.

No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan, both undefeated, met in perhaps the most epic of their historic rivalry. Certainly none came with more buildup. Besides the rankings and lack of losses, fate both cast a shadow and stark light on the game. Legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, whose 10 games against mentor, friend and rival Ohio State coach Woody Hayes came to be called The Ten Years War, died the day before the game.

The game itself nearly matched the hype. Ohio State led most of the way, then held off Michigan at the end for a 42-39 win. You want eye test? The eye test said to voters in several polls that those were the two best teams. Conference windups and championship games provided little evidence to the contrary.

I had seen Florida several times, twice live, as well as LSU several times, once live. I thought LSU was the most talented team in the SEC and maybe the nation, but didn't execute the way Ohio State or Michigan did. I still believe if you had each Top 25 team that season play the rest of the Top 25 teams, Ohio State would come out with the most wins.

But I also believed what I wrote that October after Florida beat LSU -- the Gators were exactly the kind of team that would pull the rug out from under the Buckeyes, Bugs Bunny-style. And an Ohio State-Michigan rematch wouldn't address the possibility that the best team comes from outside the Big Ten world. Michigan had their shot at No. 1. What said they deserved a second?

Gator chomp

Voters agreed. Instead of recycling, by narrow margins in the coaches' poll and Harris Poll, we got an Ohio State-Florida national championship game. Sure enough, after Ohio State's Ted Ginn Jr. returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, Florida had an "Of course, you know, this means war" reaction. A giant Gator chomp left the Buckeyes dragging their scraggily remains back to Columbus after a 41-14 loss.

Sunday was the 10th anniversary of Jim Mora's famous "Playoffs? Playoffs?" news conference answer. But it's another of Mora's news conference sound bites that we should remember when being so darn certain:

"You really don't know. You think you know. But you -- don't -- know. And you never will."

Not this year we won't.