When the BCS formula was put into effect, the driving force, no surprise, was money. ABC Sports jumped in, paying huge fees for the rights, the college football powers became glazed over by the dollar signs, and the very questionable BCS formula was created.

But a funny thing has happened on the way to the "championship" game. While four bowls - the Rose, Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta - now monopolize the "championship" game by rotating for the big enchilada every four years - even they are now being hurt by the setup.

Why? Because each year three out of four of those bowls are left out in the cold. Leftovers from the holidays. And their TV ratings, except for the big one, have plummeted.

Sugar Bowl this year? Illinois vs. LSU? The Weedeater Bowl somewhere in the Louisiana Bayou used to host that type matchup. LSU, at best, was the fourth or fifth best team in the SEC - but got the bid by upsetting Tennessee in the SEC Championship (another idea - conference championship games - that some people think is a bust). And they routed Illinois. But that's not the important point.

So ABC Sports sits with a monopoly, and a contract that supposedly would allow no changes for the next five years. But the system is hurting them, too.

Rather than blowing out even this questionable system, let's be creative and work within it, now, to make this thing work. ABC keeps its contract. Even the BCS rankings can be kept (but refine it, please).

Here's how. Not a new idea - the bowls themselves become the playoffs. But each time it is proposed - it involves tearing up contracts and the current system. Let's preserve them, and still have the playoff. Have our cake and eat it, too. Here's how it can be done this year.

Reduce the BCS to 12 team rankings, rather than 15. Those 12 head to the bowls and the playoffs. Here's how.

The top four in the BCS get a bye (to alleviate concerns that some teams would have to play too many games. In doing so, this should also be the last year of those silly "preseason, Pigskin type" games).

The other 8 teams in the BCS (ranked 5-12) will play in various bowls in what in essence would be a college wildcard system.

Here's the schedule for this season. Don't get caught up in which bowls are put in these slots. That can be adjusted as the situation warrants. Look at the concept.

On Friday, December 19th, two bowl games will be played.

Gator Bowl: Team #5 vs. Team #12
Holiday Bowl: Team #6 vs. Team #11

On Saturday and Sunday, December 20th and 21st, one bowl game is played each day in the one slot not already taken by the NFL.

Peach Bowl: Team #7 vs. Team #10
Sun Bowl: Team #8 vs. Team #9

Now, we have eight teams left, as in four more bowl games - and the "Big 4" bowls come into play.

Putting real meaning back into New Year's Day, college football will mean everything again ... and the great bowls will be playing on the traditional day we all used to love.

So, on Tuesday, January 1st:

Citrus Bowl: Team #4 vs. Winner of Sun Bowl
Cotton Bowl: Team #3 vs. Winner of Peach Bowl
Rose Bowl: Team #2 vs. Winner of the Holiday Bowl
Outback Bowl: Team #1 vs. Winner of Gator Bowl

Now, we're down to four.

On Sunday, Jan. 5th (in the non-NFL slot):

Orange Bowl: Winner of Outback Bowl vs. Winner of Citrus Bowl

On Monday (Night Football), Jan. 6th:

Fiesta Bowl: Winner of Cotton Bowl vs. Winner of Rose Bowl

Then you're down to two. The biggest college football game ever played, by the teams who've earned on the field the right to play in it.

On Saturday, Jan. 11th, or Sunday, Jan. 12th (in the non-NFL slot), the college football championship game. It's already slated for the Sugar, so we honor the system.

The winners of the Orange Bowl vs. Fiesta Bowls will play for the undisputed #1 ranking in the nation. On the field. ABC will make more money than it ever dreamed of. Ratings for all the other bowls will go up Dick Cheney-like big time. And even the BCS will be preserved.

The season will end just one week later than it did this year. And don't even think of brining up the argument that college players will spend all of their time, too much time, preparing for football games. Maryland spent six weeks this year between its final regular season game and its appearance in the Orange Bowl. Believe me, they weren't in study hall. They were on the practice field.

ABC wins. The other now-almost-frivolous "other bowls" win. Ratings are up. Payoffs to the schools go up. The fans win. And, not to be forgotten, the best team wins.

As Bobby Kennedy said, "Some people see things as they are and ask why? Others dream of things that never were, and ask, 'Why not?'"

Why not? And why not now?

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