Pistons remain the beasts of the East

ON BASKETBALL

In the early stages of Wednesday's Eastern Conference showdown between 20-2 Boston and 17-7 Detroit, the young point guard was playing better.

He was getting to the basket at will. He was spotting up for mid-range jumpers. He was playing turnover-free basketball, while the veteran — with his new five-year contract — carelessly lost the ball on the other end.

Yes, Boston's Rajon Rondo was the star of the first quarter, helping the Celtics establish a lead they would hold for most of the night.

But the Pistons rarely get blown out, especially in highly-hyped, national-televised games. And such was the case Wednesday.

First, there was 37-year-old point guard Lindsey Hunter harassing Eddie House all the way down the court, creating two turnovers and knocking down a guarded 3 to help Detroit take the lead.

And, finally, there was that veteran PG, the man called "Mr. Big Shot" — a moniker that fit very nicely on this night. After Boston tied the game with two 3-pointers in the final minute, there was Billups, with just a second to get off his shot, giving a most convincing head fake...

And poor Tony Allen. He had no chance. Caught in the air, he fouled Billups at the worst time: with 0.1 left on the clock. Billups is a 91 percent free-throw shooter.

I don't usually pencil in games — especially ones that are tied. But when Billups stepped to the line, I said to my dad — who was on the phone watching from Michigan — "That's the ballgame."

And two free throws later, the Pistons (18-7) remained the Beasts of the East.

Not that any game in December really matters. We all know nothing is proved until May and June. That's why Phoenix could sweep San Antonio during the regular season and I'd still bet my two sofas on the Spurs come the playoffs.

But with both teams playing close to full strength — the Pistons were without rookie guard Rodney Stuckey, who has missed the entire season so far — a lot can be gleaned from the Pistons' 87-85 win.

— These teams, easily the East's best two squads, will be very competitive the rest of the year and into the playoffs. There are too many big-time players on both teams.

— The Pistons should have posted Billups on Rondo more early and often. Likely because of this advantage, Boston coach Doc Rivers pulled Rondo in the final two minutes for House, who also has 3-point range, unlike Rondo, and hit a big one as part of Boston's comeback.

— Detroit was saved by the 3-point shot, making 9-of-20 from downtown. Boston was the more physical team, outrebounding Detroit 37-34 and getting to the basket more often. The Pistons won't always shoot that well from 3-point range.

— The Pistons were able to slow down Kevin Garnett when they put the physical, bulky Jason Maxiell on him. Although Garnett scored a team-high 26 points, he had just five in the fourth, all of which he had to earn from the free-throw line.

— Another reason Detroit was able to hold the Celtics to just 33 second-half points was Tayshaun Prince's defense of Paul Pierce. While Prince was awful offensively (1-of-10, 2 points), he held Boston's leading scorer to 11 points on 5-for-16 shooting. With Prince on Pierce, Maxiell coming in to bang with Garnett, and Richard Hamilton draped over Ray Allen, Detroit can at least contain the Big Three — although Allen was near unstoppable, hitting 9-of-13 contested shots for 24 points.

— Rondo (14 points, 7 assists, 2 turnovers) was very efficient, but as seen by Rivers' late substitution, the coach still doesn't have complete confidence in the second-year player's ability to make the right decisions at the end of a game. But overall, Rondo was impressive.

So there you have it. Before the game, the Celtics admitted that Detroit is still the team to beat in the East, and Wednesday's result doesn't change that.

When the Pistons are on their game and aren't letting their yapping at the referees — they complain about every stinkin' call — get in the way of their execution, they are hard to beat. They're a great road team that isn't flustered by noisy crowds and fourth-quarter deficits.

And, most importantly, they have Mr. Big Shot. Boston doesn't.

In the course of a game, the Big Three might be more effective than Billups. But if he and his teammates can stay in a game until the end, it is worth betting on Billups hitting the winning shot or drawing the crucial foul in the final seconds.

Wednesday's game was unpredictable for the first 47:59. What occurred in the final second, however, wasn't surprising at all. Mr. Big Shot to the rescue.

What a mess

ON BASEBALL

Does anyone even care anymore?

Do modern-day records even have any legitimacy anymore?

Yes, it's gotten to this point.

If it weren't for the Red Sox winning its first World Series in 96 years and the White Sox its first in 98 years, wiping out the past 10 years of baseball wouldn't be a bad idea.

Seriously.

Here's how bad things have gotten for MLB commissioner Bud Selig: Arguably the game's best hitter of all time, Barry Bonds, is generally assumed to have taken steroids and was recently indicted for obstruction of justice and perjury.

And arguably the game's best pitcher, Roger Clemens, looks just as dirty. According to last week's Mitchell report, Clemens had his trainer inject him with Winstrol.

While I'm not jumping to any conclusions, Clemens has done nothing in the week since the report came out to make himself appear innocent. Tuesday, he issued a statement through his lawyer believable as Bonds' countless "I am innocent" statements.

If Clemens were innocent, he would have immediately called a press conference after learning of his name's inclusion in the report. He would have stood up in front of dozens of cameras and told the truth. But, no, instead he said in his heartfelt statement that he will speak at the "appropriate time."

When will that be? Once, of course, Clemens' legal team figures out what can happen to him because of the report's findings.

Whatever.

No matter what scheme Clemens' team puts together, I'm not believing him. He had a chance last week to refute the report. Statements through lawyers don't count. Call me Mike Nifong, but Clemens is guilty.

Which makes him no better than Bonds.

So following that thinking, here we stand in 2007 — with two of the game's greats under a nebulous anvil, not to mention several other high-profile players, such as Andy Pettite who admitted to using HGH twice.

Once, twice, 18 times, it ain't right, Andy. Even if you're supposedly using it to heal from an injury. Yet Pettite's apology, if you can call it that, read (AP), "If what I did was an error in judgment on my part, I apologize. I accept responsibility for those two days."

"If," Andy? C'mon. Illegally obtaining HGH from a trainer isn't exactly a good deed. Who are you trying to kid?

Not only are the guilty players unwilling to stand up for their actions and admit they were 100 percent wrong, Selig thinks he tried everything to keep this from happening.

You serious, Bud?

Let's see. Despite that home-run jacking Summer of '98, when Big Mac launched 70 and Slammin' Sammy added 66 — after hitting 36 the previous season. Despite Bonds' jump from 49 dingers in 2000 to 73 to '01. Despite increased long balls from Miami to Seattle, Selig refused to implement a steroids policy until September of 2002.

And despite revisions before the '05 and '06 seasons, it's still as weak my non-existent triceps (see my previous column, "Baseball needs to follow IOC's lead").

Yet Selig, like Bonds and Clemens, refuses to apologize for what the nation's former pastime became.

In an AP story, Selig said: "I'm proud of where we are. We have the toughest testing program in American sports. We banned amphetamines, which were a problem in our sport for seven or eight decades."

Selig went on to say that minor league drug testing has been in place for eight years now

Yay! Good to know we've been catching the guys who we don't care about anyway. It's not the younger players — the minor league players — who have done the most juicing, Bud. It's the older guys who need that boost to make it through the long season.

And as far as baseball having the "toughest testing program in American sports," who cares?

I hate when people defend themselves through comparative means. Sure, baseball has a stricter policy than the NBA. But I'm sure if David Stern smelled a rising HGH addiction among his players, he'd institute harsh penalties. Heck, Stern regularly suspends players for flagrant fouls even when they appear to be going for the ball.

But back to that other sport.

This isn't going away. Not this year. Not in five years. Maybe not in 10 years. The debate will be heated when Bonds and Clemens become eligible for the Hall of Fame. And when, and if, A-Rod approaches Bonds' home-run record.

I've already suggested a lifelong ban for MLB players who are caught taking steroids or HGH. It won't happen. Players, unfortunately, won't be scared to use the next undetectable product on the market. They won't be afraid of getting caught.

At first I thought the Mitchell report was a good thing, which helped to shed light on baseball's Big Problem and submit suggestions for the future.

Now, I don't know. Now, I don't care.

Being naive is no longer an option. The truth is too transparent.

Baseball, its players, its records and it holy shrine in Cooperstown are all tainted.

And will likely continue to be tainted.

Westbrook's smart move

ON FOOTBALL

Brian Westbrook is now — officially — my favorite NFL player.

I’ve never pretended that my 6-foot, 161-pound frame could last a second in the NFL. But I’ve always believed that I could assist a team as a game manager. There are so many situations where I look at the TV and wonder, What was he thinking?

Coaches not using their timeouts. Players running out of bounds when they need to keep the clock running. Players staying in bounds when they need to stop the clock. You get the point.

I’ve seen it all, and although I don’t pretend that — in the heat of battle — I would make the right decision, coaches and players sometimes appear, no offense, so dumb. (And, no, it’s not because many players didn’t graduate from college; it’s common-sense dumb.)

But not Westbrook, the Eagles’ durable running back. He made possibly the smartest play I’ve ever seen on a football field in Philadelphia’s 10-6 upset of Dallas Sunday afternoon. A win that keeps the Eagles, at 6-8, on the fringe of the NFC playoff picture.

Leading 10-6 with just over two minutes remaining, Westbrook broke through the Dallas defense and was in the clear. He was racing toward the end zone. He could have pranced into pay dirt, maybe done a little prancing, maybe taunted the Dallas crowd. You know, the usual for NFL players celebrating touchdowns.

And the Eagles would have been up 17-6 with just 2 minutes remaining. They would have been in great shape to finish off the road victory. But it wouldn’t have been over. Not with Dallas’ offense back on the field.

So what did Westbrook do? The unthinkable. He angered fantasy owners across the country by abruptly falling at the 1-yard line. The voluble Cowboys fans in the bar I was in were incredulous. They called Westbrook all kinds of vulgar names.

But they knew. Everyone knew that Dallas, devoid of timeouts, was officially done when Westbrook hit the Texas Stadium turf. After the 2-minute warning, all it took were three kneel-downs by Donovan McNabb, and the clock hit 0:00.

The chance of Tony Romo, even with a bum thumb, leading Dallas to two scores in 2 minutes is much greater than the chance of McNabb fumbling one of three snaps. I feel very, very safe saying this.

Which is why Westbrook’s decision was so brilliant. It, ultimately, ended the game. Kept T.O. — and his popcorn — on the sideline.

I’m not a big “favorites” guy. Too many guys make silly, sometimes game-costing errors at a point during a 16-game season. Placing the “favorite” tag is downright dangerous.

But I feel comfortable calling Westbrook my favorite NFL player. All it took was one acute, selfless play at the end of a long afternoon in Big D.

More than likely, nobody will talk about Westbrook’s decision after the next day or two. That’s fine.

But the Eagles should be comforted that they have a heady player in their backfield.

Baseball needs to follow IOC's lead

ON BASEBALL

While the "Mitchell Report" received several consecutive hours of coverage on ESPN — and many other networks, both sports and news — throughout Thursday afternoon and well into the evening, the saddest story of this depressing last week in sports (think: Michael Vick, Bobby Petrino, etc.) garnered close to no national attention.

Marion Jones, one-time superstar, one-time role model for female athletes, one-time holder of five medals, was forced to return those three gold and two bronze medals and was banned from even attending the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and possibly future Summer Games.

Jones' results from the 2000 Sydney Olympics — and from any event since then — have been scrapped by the International Olympic Committee as a result of her admitting in October that she began using steroids before the Games. Basically, a young girl in 50 years who examines Olympic records and medalists won't even know Marion Jones existed.

That's the way to punish a drug user.

Seriously.

Major league baseball commissioner Bud Selig would be wise to follow the IOC's example. Not that that's ever going to happen.

The fallout from the Mitchell Report will be minimal. Selig said he might attempt to punish players on a case-by-case basis. He'd be wise to simply let what's happened go and, instead, refocus on creating a much stronger policy for both anabolic steroids and Human Growth Hormone (and any new performance-enhancing drug that hits the market).

The current initial punishment for a player who tests positive is 15 to 25 games. A second violation is 25 to 50 games. A fourth — yes, fourth! — positive test is at least a year's suspension.

Are you kidding me? So a major leaguer could test positive for, let's say, the cream not, once, not twice but three times ... and be suspended for 50 to 75 games.

No wonder some 85-plus players were named in Mitchell's 409-page report. If I wasn't against cheating and I was in the majors and needed a boost to get that next contract, uh, it's a no-brainer. Have a trainer stick a needle in my backside every now and then, and watch my numbers soar.

In one sentence, baseball's "crackdown" on performance-enhancing drugs to this point has been a joke.

While it was nice to clarify that bullies such as Roger Clemens were on 'roids, all the report does is tell us what we already know and make baseball purists cringe even more than they have during this Steroid Era. As ESPN's "legal analysts" made painfully clear about 409 times Thursday, there are no cases against the players. Donald Fehr, the executive president of the Major League Baseball Players Association, won't let any of his players go down — for even a measly 15 games — without a few Mayweather right and left jabs.

Plus, several of the named players are already retired — good time, I guess — and others, specifically Clemens and Barry Bonds, are likely done now as well.

The only major effect the report will have on the players mentioned is when their names come up in the Hall-of-Fame conversation. And won't that be fun?

If Selig, or anyone in baseball, wants to make a real impact here, he needs to implement a lifetime ban from baseball for any first-time offender of the league's policy. As crazy as this sounds, ask Marion Jones. I'm sure she'd agree.

Players need to fear for their careers when they make the choice to do 'roids. Players need to question themselves when they inject HGH, even though there still isn't a reliable test for it (although Selig is in favor of implementing a rather new blood test starting in 2008).

Ultimately, players need to be sent a stern message that if they get caught taking any amount of any banned substance, that's it. They're done. Regardless of their names. Regardless of their accomplishments on the field.

Is this realistic? Of course not. Fehr will not comply. The players will rage against it, which, I reckon, says so much — sadly — about the priorities of today's players.

Selig promised Thursday to unilaterally implement all of Mitchell's suggestions for the future that he could, and work with Fehr on the rest. Here's another suggestion for you, Bud: Rid of your weak, 15-game suspensions.

Unless you closely follow the IOC's lead on punishment, the rest of the changes you make won't be very effective.

In typical Lions fashion

ON FOOTBALL

After I stayed out very late Saturday night, I slept in until 2:48 p.m. Sunday afternoon. Before cursing myself for wasting half the day or trudging to the bathroom to wash my face, I grabbed the bedside remote to check on the Week 14 NFL scores.

The first score I noticed? Detroit 20, Dallas 14 — in the third quarter.

Since I made the Michigan-to-North Carolina jump the first week of October, I hadn't seen one Lions game. Of course, usually that's a good thing, but not when the alternative is watching the dull Panthers. And something told me, after my long hibernation, that this was one Lions game I didn't want to miss.

So instead of reading the Sunday paper or cooking myself some eggs, I bolted out the door and drove the 8.3 miles to Buffalo Wild Wings — the dream spot for NFL fans. When I entered, every early game had its own TV. The Cowboys-Lions battle had gained access to one of the big screens (mostly because of the number of 'Boys fans in attendance).

There was one other Lions fan in the joint, and as I took the only available seat and introduced myself to a grizzly, likes-to-swear Giants fan, the other Lions rooter pounded fists with me. Could the 6-6 Lions knock off the NFC's elite, the 11-1 Cowboys? Could thy get that win that might just sneak them in the playoffs?

We wanted to be witnesses. It's not every year a Lions game during the Holiday Season actually matters. Usually by the time my family mounts the tree, the Lions have 11 losses in their back pocket.

So this Sunday was special. Until, that is, the game ended.

In typical Lions fashion.

First there was the missed field goal. Jason "Automatic" Hanson — the MVP of the team for the past 10-plus years — pushed a gimme 35-yard attempt to the right that would have given Detroit a two-possession lead, 30-21.

Then there was the booted fumble. On Dallas' game-winning drive in the waning moments, quarterback Tony Romo was stripped of the ball, which bounced directly toward Lion Paris Lenon. All he had to do was fall on the ball, and the timeout-less 'Boys would be done, sauteed, boiled. But, instead, Lenon tried to scoop up the pigskin and kicked it directly to a Dallas lineman. Who knew what to do.

From there, the rest of the Lions' demise was all too predictable. As I sat watching, there was no rally cap, no superstitious move I could make to change the ending. Dallas converted a fourth down. Romo guided them down to the Detroit 16-yard line.

And, finally, he completed the inevitable with a touchdown pass down the middle to super tight end Jason Witten, who caught a team-record 15 balls on the day but somehow raced untouched to pay dirt on the game's most important play.

A terrible kickoff return, two incompletions and a sack later, the comeback was complete. Dallas had outscored Detroit 14-0 in the fourth quarter — in Detroit — to win 28-27. This one had to hurt the most of the hundreds of losses the Lions have sustained in recent memory.

In my 2007 NFL Preview, I predicted six wins for the Lions. I didn't, however, expect them to arrive at that number in this fashion. Five weeks ago, after Detroit drilled Denver 44-7, my friend texted me, saying the Lions would make the playoffs. I wanted to agree with him, really did, but I knew this franchise too well.

Now, the Lions are toast. With games at San Diego next week and at Green Bay the season's final week — sandwiched around a home game against the awful Chiefs — there's no way Detroit wins its remaining three games, which is almost certainly what it needs to do to play into January.

It still might surpass my expectation of six wins. And, I must admit, this team has been better on several levels than I expected. Except for a few duds, the offense has been as explosive as advertised. The defense has shown up on occasion. And no "Fire Millen" marches have occurred outside Ford Field.

But there are no moral victories in the NFL. The bottom line is how many games you win. And for the eighth consecutive season, it appears the Lions are headed for familiar territory — a seat in front of the TV during the playoffs.

As I left "B-dubs" late Sunday afternoon, with the North Carolina sun beginning to set, I could only shake my head and smile. Why, I wondered, did I squander the first two hours of my day to watch the same old story?

Not to mention have to listen to the cigarette-wielding, voluble Giants fan spout off about Plaxico Burress until I had to turn my chair.

Successful farm system has paid off for Tigers

ON BASEBALL

Detroit Tigers owner Mike Ilitch deserves a new Porsche for his willingness to continually increase the Tigers' payroll the last few years in a valiant effort to push his team to its first World Series title since 1984.

With the addition of All-Stars Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Marlins Tuesday, Detroit's payroll — once the new additions are secured through long-term contracts — will likely exceed $115 million. In 2003, when the Tigers hit rock bottom with 119 losses, their payroll was $49,168,000.

Yes, Ilitch must have won the lottery between then and now — or just become a much more willing spender. Of course, the greatly increased attendance (and, now, raised ticket prices) helps. But his open wallet has been a big key in Detroit becoming one of the American League's elite teams.

However, money doesn't make trades happen. It only attracts dollar-seeking free agents. And if you look at the Tigers' now-explosive lineup, several of the big hitters have been acquired through trades.

How have the Tigers made these trades? By giving up prospect after prospect from a highly successful farm system that continues to develop sought-after players.

Here's the projected lineup for 2008 (not necessarily in the right order): CF Curtis Granderson, 2B Placido Polanco, 3B Miguel Cabrera, RF Magglio Ordonez, DH Gary Sheffield, 1B Carlos Guillen, SS Edgar Renteria, LF Jacque Jones, C Ivan Rodriguez.

Granderson is the lone player in that lineup who came up from the Tigers farm system. Ordonez (2005) and Rodriguez ('04) are the two players Ilitch snagged in free agency by offering big money.

The remaining six players, five of whom have been All-Stars at some point during their careers, all came to Detroit via trades. And for the most part, the teams that dealt them weren't ripped off. They received several promising players in return.

In 2004, the Tigers received Guillen from Seattle for Ramon Santiago and minor league shortstop Juan Gonzalez. At the time, Guillen was an average shortstop. Since then, obviously, he's become an All-Star.

In one of just two moves that didn't involve minor leaguers, in 2005 Detroit acquired Polanco from Philadelphia for closer Ugueth Urbina and infielder Ramon Martinez. That deal has turned out to be completely one-sided as Polanco might be the league's best second baseman while neither player acquired by the Phillies still plays for them.

After the magical 2006 season, Detroit didn't relax, trading three highly touted minor league pitchers — Humberto Sanchez, Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett — to the Yankees for Sheffield. While Sheffield had a difficult time playing hurt down the stretch last season, when he's healthy, his bat is as dangerous as anybody's.

Then immediately after missing the playoffs in 2007, the Tigers went to work on filling their holes. With Guillen moving to first, they needed a top-notch shortstop, so they parted with very promising young pitcher Jair Jurrjens and highly touted minor league outfielder Gorkys Hernandez to land Renteria from Atlanta.

Then, less than two weeks later, Detroit traded utility player Omar Infante to the Cubs for Jones.

And finally, there was Tuesday's mega deal. There hadn't been any talk whatsoever of the Tigers going after Cabrera, but in swooped general manager Dave Dombrowski, sending six players to the Marlins for the All-Star third baseman and Willis, a 20-game winner in 2005.

The deal was huge for the Tigers because it erased their one tangible weak spot in the lineup. Brandon Inge was a great defensive third baseman, but he struggled mightily at the plate for the Tigers. Cabrera, just 24, is a huge upgrade at the position.

Willis, 25, who has had two down years since that dominant 2005 campaign, will feel the burden of being a No. 1 lifted from his shoulders as he'll be placed in the middle or even at the back of a Tigers rotation that — barring injury (always a big concern) — could have a huge season.

So how did Detroit get this deal done in a matter of nanoseconds? All it had to do was offer its prized prospects to the always-rebuilding Marlins. Detroit parted with lauded outfielder Cameron Maybin as well as ultra-talented pitcher Andrew Miller. Gone also are backup catcher Mike Rabelo and three lesser-known minor league pitchers.

Some are questioning whether the Tigers gave up too much in the deal. And I hear their concerns. I felt the same way a year ago after the Sheffield trade. But the bottom line is that Detroit continues to grow potential All-Stars in the minors, whom it is able to trade for proven All-Stars.

And it's not as if the well's now completely dry. Let's not forget about last year's draft choice Rick Porcello, a very talented pitcher whom other teams weren't willing to fork over the big bucks to like the Tigers did immediately after making the selection (a record $7.3 million over four years).

Now it's up to the players to get the job done. Ownership and management have done everything a manager could ask for to build this team into a championship-caliber club. The lineup is stacked. The starting pitching is stacked. The closer, Todd Jones, has been re-signed (probably for too much money, but it had to be done considering the injury to Joel Zumaya).

The pieces are in place for a memorable 2008.

Jim Leyland and his players can address their Christmas cards to Ilitch, Dombrowski and the coaches in the minor leagues who helped the growth of all the trade bait used to bring this All-Star cast to the Motor City.

What a wild, juicy ending

ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Caution: The following sentence contains several colorful adjectives, one made up.

This has been the most crazy, nutty, delirious, exciting, stupefying, unpredictable, exceptional, incredulous, rollercoaster-riding college football season.

Ever. Period. I feel confidant saying this, despite the fact that I wasn't on this earth for the first, oh, 100 years of college football.

This year tops them all. I guarantee it.

And now the politicking begins. After No. 1 Missouri and No. 2 West Virginia became the final top teams to have their hearts broken Saturday, we are left with the following.

Barring an uprising by voters, No. 3 Ohio State will be in the national title game for the second consecutive year. People said the Buckeyes didn't have a chance after losing to Illinois three Saturdays ago. I just laughed. There remained plenty of football to be played. The best thing happened to OSU the following week after its win over Michigan. Its season ended.

The longer teams played, the more pitfalls they faced. Last season, the Big Ten's Michigan paid for finishing its season early, as Florida continued to impress for two additional weeks and leaped the Wolverines. This year, the Wolverines' hated rival got a pinch of BCS revenge for the Big Ten.

After Ohio State, the volcano explodes. I can make a legitimate case for — let me check — six teams. OK, here goes:

No. 4 Georgia (10-2) — The biggest knock against the Bulldogs is they didn't play in the SEC title game. They were an overthrown pass by Kentucky's Andre' Woodson against Tennessee last week from playing LSU this week in that title game. But, alas, that's how this season's progressed. Georgia can point to six wins to close the season — isn't that the way things work? Whoever is playing best at the end of the year gets the benefit of the voters? — including impressive victories over Florida, Auburn and Kentucky.

No. 5 Kansas (11-1) — Here's what you say if you're a Jayhawks fan: "We played a Big 12 schedule, and we lost only one game. You think our non-conference schedule (Central Michigan, Southeast Louisiana, Toledo, Florida International) is weak? Well, compare it to Ohio State's (Youngstown State, Akron, Washington, Kent State). At least Central Michigan won its conference — the MAC — and is headed to a bowl. None of the Buckeyes' non-conference opponents are going bowling, and only one has a winning record, and that's Football Championship Subdivision YSU." I doubt anyone outside of Kansas believe the Jayhawks are better than the Buckeyes — or LSU, for that matter — but they have just one loss. OSU and Hawaii are the only other teams with less than two L's.

No. 6 Virginia Tech (11-2) — Hey, why not us? The Hokies entered Saturday No. 6 in the BCS, and they beat No. 11 Boston College. Shouldn't that mean anything? Shouldn't three wins over ranked opponents mean something? Plus, after the tragedy that happened last April, how appropriate would it be for the Hokies to play in the national title game, showing the nation what they're made of?

No. 7 LSU (11-2) — The Tigers have the best case to face the Buckeyes. Their two losses both occurred in triple overtime — about as close as you can come to winning ... without winning. Also, they finished the season with a win — not to mention, a win over a ranked team (No. 14 Tennessee). They played in the toughest conference and played six ranked teams, including drubbing Virginia Tech way back in September — when the college football season was still on its axis. Everyone has said since Stanford stunned USC in October that LSU is the best team in the country. So why not now?

No. 8 USC (10-2) — So what if the Trojans beat just two teams that currently have winning records? So what if they lost to 4-8 Stanford ... at home? These are the mighty Trojans, and they come in on roll, having won three straight games — two against ranked teams. Plus, in a season like this, isn't it appropriate that the team which began the season No. 1, end the season No. 1?

No. 9 Oklahoma (11-2) — The Sooners have the second strongest case. They won their conference championship game in dominant fashion, smoking No. 1 Missouri Saturday night — their second win over the Tigers. They also beat Texas when the Longhorns were No. 19. Their losses were a 27-24 meltdown at Colorado and a 34-27 defeat at Texas Tech minus — for most of thee game — their stud freshman quarterback, Sam Bradford. Above everything else, the Sooners were the most impressive team on the final Saturday of the season. Isn't that what's supposed to determine the national champion (see: Florida, last season)?

Stream of consciousness: Um, oh, I think I'm forgetting a team. That's right! The team playing right now. The lone undefeated team — as of this moment — in Division I. The Hawaii Rainbow. They're currently down at halftime to Washington, but if they can come back to finish 12-0, they're hard to ignore. They beat a good — and ranked — Boise State team. They defeated 8-4 Fresno State, which lost by just two points to the Big 12's Texas A&M, which beat Texas...

And so the debates go on late into the night. As for the coaches of the above teams, I'm sure they're preparing their speeches to make for their teams in the hours leading up to Sunday night's announcement. Last season, Florida's Urban Meyer showed off his political side after his Gators won the SEC title game. The voters listened, pushing Florida ahead of Michigan.

So with the presidential election still 11 months away, the candidates' parties may want to listen to the coaches' pitches in the hours to come. Some of them could be positive additions to a candidate's campaign.

No, folks, the BCS system is very flawed. Something needs to be done, that can't be denied. But that shouldn't have kept you from enjoying this college football season. From witnessing Appalachian State's stunner in the Big House first hand, to sprinting back and forth between the kitchen and the TV at the hotel I work at to witness Pittsburgh's stunner of West Virginia, this has been an unforgettable autumn of college football.

A wild 14-week playoff, if you will.