This leaves only Utah and Florida to have defeated Alabama, a team the BCS system determined was the best team in the country for the longest period of time, a team coached by the national coach of the year, Nick Saban, shown regularly on TV melting down.

Of course, the system that divvied up Thursday's championship didn't expect Utah to be capable of defeating Alabama back in early December when BCS bowl matchups were determined.

Then comes another argument by USC.

If you tuned into the Rose Bowl Jan. 1 in Pasadena and listened to ABC-TV's so-called "experts" Kirk Herbstreit, Brent Musburger and Keyshawn Johnson, USC deserves consideration to be ranked No. 1 and declared the national champion after beating Penn State.

Johnson, whom ABC handed air time to give recruiting pitches for USC on national TV, made his case that seven USC players would be taken in the NFL draft. By reputation, by consistent success, by talent, by coaching, some would argue a national title game shouldn't be staged without USC these days.

Say what?

Some argue the Trojans are the most dominating program in the country. Said Herbstreit: "USC is like Tiger Woods playing golf — they are so dominant."

Well, that might be, except the night USC, playing with supermen, lost to Oregon State, a team that lost to Utah. Secondly, didn't USC play in a league (the Pac-10) that went 1-6 against the Mountain West this past regular season?

Now I'm not arguing that Florida and Oklahoma do not deserve to play for the national championship. They meet because the existing system placed them to face off on Thursday, even if folks at USC feel slighted.

The current system has "slighted" written all over its glittery money-driven marquee face.

This system falls short of determining a champion, and if it puts a glass ceiling on non-BCS teams like Utah, the nation's only undefeated team, it doesn't reward perfection.

Utah's win over Alabama shattered the BCS trump card that elevates strength of schedule by members of the six BCS conferences. Alabama was supposed to physically dominate Utah. Didn't happen.

Simply put, the utopian idea that any team, on a given day, can beat another, held inspiringly true with the destiny-bound Utes.

Can a college football title ever be fair?

You can see the confusion over what is equitable in the system by events of this season and Utah's triumph.

It may be more fair to return to the old system where two single polls, composedof humans, representing each part of the country, simply vote on who is No. 1. Then you don't mess with the lucrative bowl tradition and you don't have to create a playoff.

Or, it might be fair to add an eight or 16-team playoff.

One thing is certain after Utah's victory, if the BCS system remains in play, Utah's Mountain West Conference deserves an automatic bid just like the Pac-10, Big East, ACC, SEC, Big 12 and Big Ten.

Even then, the BCS would creep into the "more fair" realm while the NCAA fundamentally wades in a stinky pool where a national champion is allegedly crowned.

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E-mail: harmon@desnews.com