There may be a few people who will miss the BCS football program. I will not be among them and here is why:

1. Intended to bring the top two teams together each year, the BCS system was composed of a flawed set of voting polls and ruined by an even worse set of computer rankings, best understood by those who created them. The rest of us were left scratching our heads in a mathematical daze.

2. The human polls were not much better. Ranking teams too early in the season, they often made it impossible for a team to rise to the top by December simply because the team started too low in September. The coaches poll was the worst because the coaches, too busy actually coaching, almost always assigned the job to someone else, whose identity and motives would remain unknown.

3. Even when the system almost worked, as it did this year with Florida State and Auburn, we still had to wonder what might have happened if teams like Oregon and Clemson had been included. And what about Michigan State? Defeating Stanford 24-20, the Spartans would have moved on to a championship game in a playoff system.

4. The major supporters of the BCS were the directors of the bowl games who created a nifty system of salary and benefits that was totally self serving. One director paid himself more than $700,000 a year to oversee one game. Promising to be a charitable endeavor, it was discovered that less than 2% of the revenue went to needy causes. After the obligatory payouts to the teams, the rest went to cars, parties, vacation trips, payoffs and kickbacks.

5. These things are always about money, but the truth is that there will be even more money now because we are closer to a real championship than ever before. There should also be more scrutiny over where that money goes now that the we have access to the financial records of the bowl game organizers.

6. The playoff system that begins this fall will not be perfect. Limiting the playoff to four teams will inevitably bring controversy and result in fruitless arguments and hurt feelings. But it is a start. It is already two teams better than the BCS and should evolve into an eight team or more playoff over time. Some people are concerned that the a committee will be meeting privately to choose the teams. I am all for it. At least now there will be open discussion among professionals that will require consideration of regions and teams that could just be ignored in the past. And these folks will be more transparent and accountable to the public than any poll or computer. As happens every year with the NCAA basketball tournament, the selection committee will be grilled and forced to justify its decisions. No wonder they asked Condoleeza Rice to join the group. She not only loves football, but will bring her diplomatic skills to both the meeting room and the press conference.

We are entering a new era. I am with those who think we are moving in the right direction and am looking forward to a great college football season and the closest we have come to really determining a national champion on the playing field.

As for the BCS, let's just say it never quite worked out. So goodbye and, with all due respect, good riddance.