Everyone Loves to Complain About the BCS

We're right in the middle of the BCS bowls, with the Rose and Fiesta having been completed and the Orange, Sugar and National Championship game to be played next, which must mean it's the time of year for national columnists to take shots at the BCS.

As someone who's been to seven bowl games, including two Sugar Bowls, I think there's nothing like traveling to a new city to watch your team play a school you wouldn't ordinarily cross paths with.  I wonder if most of the writers that criticize the BCS have gone to a bowl game as a fan of their alma mater.  I suspect most haven't.

While some criticism of the BCS is justified, as a long-time college football fan, I can't seem to recall so much whining about the bowl system prior to the creation of the BCS in 1998.  With no BCS, Oregon and Auburn wouldn't even be playing each other:  Oregon would be in the Rose Bowl playing Wisconsin, and Auburn would be one of two teams in the Sugar Bowl. 

But, the original point of writing this post was to point out that in today's current sports media culture, if you name a playoff system, there are people caterwauling about how it's not fair.  Witness:

1. The NFL, on the verge of having a 7-9 team make the playoffs
2. The NBA, with questions about reseeding the second round should there be upsets in round 1
3. March Madness, where the coaches of the teams left out complain about not being a top 65 team
4. NASCAR's Chase, which has been re-tooled several times and still confuses fans
5. The PGA's FedEx Cup, which may have the most baffling format known to man

So, if you're one of the villagers with pitchforks and torches that are chanting  "Death to the BCS," are you going to move on to one of the other playoff systems next?