These are probably the most real comments you'll see this year:

Tuberville, whose team was shut out of the BCS national title game last season, was asked if he thought the same thing might happen to an SEC school again this year. That got him started on the Bowl Championship Series system and the national media, particularly ESPN.

"It's done," Tuberville said. "The national media, led by ESPN, wants to see Vince Young vs. Matt Leinart in the championship game. It's going to be those two teams unless Texas or USC get upset.

"Last year, they wanted to see the two Heisman Trophy quarterbacks, Jason White and Leinart. After six or seven games, we were out of it.

Tuberville wasn't done either.  Here's what he had to say about ESPN and notably Lou Holtz:

Tuberville spoke out sharply against ESPN and the influence it wields on the college game. He said the opinions ESPN hosts and analysts put out on the airwaves each week tend to shape the opinions of fans and media people around the country.

And he's not at all happy about that.

"ESPN has gotten so much power lately, it's kinda scary," Tuberville said. "And most of their analysts are coaches who haven't won any games. That's why they're there. I think you know who I'm talking about.

"And Lou Holtz gets on there and talks about what a team has to do win that game, and the guy couldn't beat anybody in our conference. These guys will come talk to you and look you straight in the eye and tell you something, then they'll get on the air and say something else.

"ESPN, I'll tell you, I don't have much to do with them anymore."

Tuberville, you've got another fan right here.

Consider me one of those that believe ESPN has gotten way too big and way too influential in how sports, both professional and amateur, have run.  The setup of college football today only makes it worse, because it's ultimately the media and coaches polls that decide who the national championship is.

A lot of people gave Texas's Mack Brown criticism after he appeared to be lobbying for one of the at-large BCS births after the last game of the regular season last season.  But people have to remember; each school receives $14 million dollars for a BCS invitation.  If you're in a conference that has a conference title game, you get approx. $7 million, and if you're in a major conference you might land $2 million for a regular bowl.

Brown can add.  The difference between $14 million and $2 million (Texas was not in the Big 12 title game) isn't chump change, and it could have been the difference on how Brown recruited in the next few years, whether his players stayed or entered the NFL draft, and ultimately if he would have a job a few years down the road.  This is serious business, folks.

The sports media doesn't simply report college football; they help decide who the top teams are.  The BCS uses a number of polls to help come up with the national championship.  There's the USA Today Coaches Poll, as a number of the top coaches cast votes every week; There was the Associated Press Poll, which was done by sportswriters (after last year's Texas debacle, the AP told the BCS to stop using their poll.  They were replaced by the Harris Interactive Poll, which has a mix of former coaches, players, and some sports journalists); and the rest are based largely on statistics and are done by computers, including strength of schedule, quality wins, etc. 

Thus, is there any question that Tuberville is absolutely right?  The national championship game has already been decided, given both teams don't choke.  It's possible that the SEC champion will be undefeated, which means another controversy.  Until it's decided on the field, in a playoff system, nothing will change.  But the NCAA won't fix it until they start losing money, continuing to place bandages on an exit wound.

Last year, I came up with an idea of a playoff system that could definitely allow more regional action within college football, allow an adequate amount of teams with a legitimate chance of winning the national championship without diluting interest in the sport.  Here are the provisions:

- 14 teams.  The top seven from the West, and the top seven from the East.

- Keep the BCS polling system, but change it to two polls ranking the top 15 from each region every week, instead of 25 within the nation.

- Give the top team from each region a bye from the first round.

- Allow the teams to have playoff games in their respective regions, using neutral bowl sites for the playoff games.

- The New NCAA Championship Game would pit the Western Regional Champion vs. the Eastern Regional Champion.

- Allow the individual bowl committees to organize and run the playoff games.

- The BCS committee could decide which bowl sites would host playoff games, as they do the BCS bowls now.

- The major bowls (Rose, Fiesta, Cotton, Orange...am I forgetting one?) get specific dibs on the Regional Championship games and Championship games.

- NO AUTOMATIC BIDS FOR CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS.

If you want to know more about it, click here.  There's a full explanation into each and every provision I made.

It's a dream.  A very good dream for football, but a dream nevertheless.