Every year the NCAA Basketball champion is decided in a tournament that has become the pinnacle of college athletics. The 65-team tournament trumps the football BCS system by far and is the best way of deciding a true National Champion.
The Final Four was not as dramatic as it has been in years past. North Carolina won two blowouts on their way to the championship, but it was exciting nonetheless.
A capacity crowd of 72,922 was stuffed into Detroit's Ford Field to watch the championship game, the largest ever to see a final four game according to ESPN.
The atmosphere was like none other, and this year received an extra boost thanks to Michigan State, from nearby East Lansing, making it to the championship game.
The epitome of school spirit was on display in Detroit. Entire sections of the stands were either Michigan State Spartan green or North Carolina Tar Heel blue.
The roar of the crowd at each basket made and moan at every bad play canceled out the announcers at times. Just imagine if the game had been close.
According to the Associated Press the television ratings for the tournament were up 5 percent this year despite the uncompetitive Final Four games.
In the world of college athletics many things are done wrong.
The BCS ruins the fans' vision of a true National College Football Champion every year that there are no undefeated teams.
While a 65-team tournament in college football would be nearly impossible and unnecessary, a simple 8-team tournament is plausible.
Since Bowl Game sponsors are so worried about losing money, they could sponsor the respective tournament games and get their Bowl games that way.
Do the fans really care if a quarterfinal game is called The Allstate Sugar Bowl?
Allstate is an insurance company, not a sugar company anyway; and the fans just want to see a "true" National Champion crowned.
Every year there is a team that is left out of the BCS equation, an equation that would be solved by a tournament, and says they deserve to play for a National Championship.
Last year it was the Utah Utes, who defeated Alabama in the aforementioned Sugar Bowl. This was the same Alabama team that was ranked number one by the BCS during the season.
The Utes were the only undefeated team left in college football but were not crowned the National Champions.
With the NCAA tournament the only major gripes are about seeding, but at least those teams get a chance to play for a National Championship.
Theoretically if the team is good enough to win the tournament, it won't matter if they are a one or a two seed, they get the same chance as everybody else.
In football all but two teams are flat out denied the chance of playing for the National Championship.
The NCAA allows a computer system to decide which teams should play for its football National Championship each year, and year after year it results in mismatches and good teams left out of the equation.
There have been times when the NCAA actually had to have two teams share the championship because its computer system thought one team should be the championship and the coaches and writers around the country believed another team should be the champion.
Each year the scenario plays out the same, a debated National Champion is crowned, more than a few teams say they deserve a shot at that team and never get it.
NCAA football should take some tips from its basketball counterparts, and decide its champion on the field.
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