And now there is only one powerful way to push the faceless cartel of college presidents, athletic directors and conference commissioners who have conspired to perpetrate this fraud to change their ways: The 72 writers and broadcasters who vote for the Associated Press football poll must unanimously cast their ballots for the University of Utah's unbeaten Utes as the No. 1 team in the land.

The BCS wants you to believe that once-beaten Florida and once-beaten Oklahoma are on the verge of battling for No. 1 on prime-time TV, even though they both arrived at this "championship game" without weaving their way through a demanding tournament playoff bracket.

But the way the BCS does its business, this seems perfectly normal. The BCS system has essentially turned the college bowl system from one of the best times for the sport into a confusing stretch of games that no longer hold any magic. Every year they hold a "championship" party, but the guest list is rather exclusive.

Only BCS conferences need apply.

"By no means am I a whiner, so I hope I don't come across as a whiner," said Hill. "But the reality is, the powers that be don't really even want to study it to find out what would be a good (playoff) format. And some of the arguments against a playoff are not very deep or profound. Sometimes they're just using them as an excuse not to have a playoff. ... Until we have a playoff we're always going to have this nagging toothache. And it seems as though no matter what we do, we apparently don't have the secret handshake to get into the (BCS) club."

Well, here's a way to extend a special invitation to teams like Utah, and give them their own secret handshake. It's up to the AP voters to show some justifiable defiance by having all 72 members cast their votes in Friday's final poll for 13-0 Utah, the only undefeated team in the country.

I am not the first one to come up with this idea, and I probably won't be the last to spread the word. At least I hope not. When I told Hill that there was a groundswell of support for the Utes, he sounded happy.

"I appreciate people talking this up," he said. "Sometimes the court of public opinion is the only thing that moves the dial. A situation like this should be what it takes to at least push the powers that be to study postseason football. Maybe it's time to say is this really in the best interest of our game and our student athletes."

And if the AP poll doesn't go Utah's way, here's another idea for Hill to ponder. Print up T-shirts and caps that say "National champs" and hand them out to the players. "You know, that's what a lot of people have been giving me advice to do," said Hill. "And I may end up doing it."

And if anyone disputes you, just tell 'em: "We have 13-and-0. What do you have?"