You must be a youngun. Notre Dame was hated long, long before their deal with NBC and not just for their performance on the field, which has never been that impressive, even in the Ara Parseghian days. It’s their fans’ ignorance and arrogance plus the perennial media bias producing their artificially high rankings that makes them so detestable.

Don’t be tempted to take it easy on Notre Dame after last season because they deserve at least two more decades of such seasons. College football does not need Notre Dame and to say it does shows an incredible susceptibility to propaganda. Their long line for tickets is because they have a tiny little stadium! Notre Dame is a little fish in a REALLY little pond but they talk and act big.

1) Tradition–which I think you have rule out since the BCS system has corrupted the traditional bowl system with its conference tie-ins, etc. (MGoBlog makes a good case that any system, including the old bowl system, would be better than the BCS.)

or

2) There’s something particular to just college football among team sports that makes a system in which two teams are subjectively chosen to compete for a championship the preferred system. I suppose the argument is that the unique factor is the relatively short/intense nature of the college football regular season. But doesn’t a shorter regular season imply a longer postseason to sort out who the best team is? And are Duke-UNC basketball games or Colts-Patriots games any less intense than college football games?

or

3) Money

I lean toward (3) as the true rationale, based on my theory that the bowl system would fall apart if we moved to a playoff system:

http://spartansweblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/links-galore-plus-bonus-bcs-rant/

As I commented on my blog, the BCS is certainly good for the college sports blogosphere. Cheers.

That’s the only thing that matters to these a-holes.