Is Florida or Michigan More Worthy to Play Ohio State in the National Championship Game?

Since everybody in the free world seems to have an opinion on the Bowl Championship Series, I figured I might as well throw in my two cents.

Even though it is headed to the Rose Bowl to play Southern California and not the national championship game, Michigan still may be the second-best team in the country. I believe the Wolverines would have matched up better with Ohio State than Florida.

Having said that, Florida deserves to be in the title game more than Michigan. The Gators' total body of work is better than Michigan's, if only slightly. Florida played a stronger schedule and went 12-1 in the Southeastern Conference, the nation's toughest league. Michigan did not win its conference. The Wolverines had their shot and lost to Ohio State. It's tough to pick a team that finished second in its league over a conference champion.

True, Michigan had a better loss, if there is such a thing. The Wolverines lost by three points at top-ranked Ohio State, while Florida fell by 10 against Auburn.

However, Florida registered more impressive victories, including a 10-point win over Arkansas in the SEC title game that catapaulted the Gators into the national
championship. Michigan should not be punished because the Big Ten Conference was down this season. It's just that Florida recorded more wins over quality opponents.

Michigan best victories were against Notre Dame and Wisconsin while Florida defeated LSU, Tennessee and Arkansas. Edge to the Gators.

The pro-Michigan forces will point out that Florida was not impressive in many of its victories. It is true the Gators struggled at times and some observers might say they didn't generate enough "style points". They still kept winning.

The great failing of the BCS, of course, is having to choose between two worthy teams rather than inviting both to either a four- or eight-team playoff. Really, one could make an argument for either Florida or Michigan to play Ohio State.
According to Vegas oddsmakers, the Wolverines would be a six-point favorite over the Gators.

Unfortunately, both teams can't play in the championship game and they aren't going to face either in, say, a semifinal of a playoff bracket. You have to pick one over the other, and if someone held a gun to my head, I'd have to go with Florida for the reasons mentioned.

I don't have a problem per se with a Florida-Ohio State national title game. However, I do have a major problem with the process that got the Gators to Glendale, Arizona, starting with all the politicking done by Florida coach Urban Meyer. That's what the BCS has boiled down to -- politick enough, and the voters will listen to you.

The second thing is that Michigan ended the regular season ranked ahead of Florida in the BCS standings. The Wolverines did nothing to fall behind the Gators except not play. The voters simply changed their minds after watching Florida beat Arkansas in the SEC championship game.

From a Michigan perspective, the Wolverines were penalized because their season ended too early. They did not have another opportunity (read: conference championship game) to impress voters, and that points out another unfair aspect of the BCS. Some leagues -- SEC, Atlantic Coast and Big 12 -- have conference
championship games -- and some -- Big East, Big Ten and Pac-10 -- do not. Teams
vying for a berth in the national championship sometimes do not play an equal number of games. I would be a big proponent of eliminating the conference championship games.

The mandate of the voters was to pick the second-best team behind Ohio State, period. If they thought Florida was No. 2, so be it.

However, I can't help but question the motivation of some. I can't help but wonder if they jumped Florida over Michigan because they found a Michigan-Ohio State rematch untenable. Certainly, a rematch would be so unfair to Ohio State. Let's just suppose Michigan beat Ohio State in round II. What would be proven? Each team would have a win against the other and then they'd have to play a third time to decide the real national champion, not that the NCAA would ever allow it. What a mess that would be as fans in Columbus and Ann Arbor each would be claiming their team is No. 1. Still, the BCS is supposed to match the two best teams, regardless of the consequences.

I also wonder if the voters didn't decide to give the SEC a bone, recalling what happened in 2003, when Auburn was shut out of the national championship game despite going 13-0.

What a system. Only college football could decide its national champion this way.

But the bottom line for this season is that it won't make a difference who plays Ohio State next month, Michigan or Florida. The Wolverines probably at least would have kept the game close but I don't see the Gators doing that. I see Ohio State as being 10-14 points better than Florida. It has too many weapons on offense and defense. Final score, 34-20, as the Buckeyes pull away in the second half to capture their second national championship under coach Jim Tressel.

Meanwhile, Michigan fans scream that the Wolverines would have given Ohio State a better game.

At his postgame press conference, Tressel says, "The system works just fine."