College football Final Four

After three months of ups, downs, upsets, and talking heads from hell spewing gibberish, the college football championship has finally cleared up. Somewhat. As we all know, only four teams will qualify. That's up to Condi and her fellow geniuses on the mysterious Selection Committee to decide.

Four spots. One has been taken. The Oklahoma Sooners are in. How they managed to lose to lowly Texas earlier in the year is a good question, but they just blasted Okla St. on the road to claim the Big 12 title.

The Big 10 sorted out the men from the boys. Ohio State went into Michigan and clobbered the Wolverines. But it really didn't matter. That's because Michigan State had already defeated both of them in their own houses earlier. And the Spartans put an exclamation point on the Big 10 East a few hours later by demolishing Penn St. to the tune of a six touchdown difference.

Next up for MSU is Iowa in the Big 10 conference championship game. This will be played next Saturday at a neutral site -- Indianapolis. The Hawkeyes had already taken care of biz in the Big 10 West by going into Nebraska and knocking off the Cornhuskers. This was something Mich St. couldn't do -- their only loss. At that, Iowa is a perfect 12-0.

Whoever wins that game -- and methinks MSU remains the class of the Big 10 field -- is in the national championship semis.

That's two.

In the initial Selection Committee rankings, somewhat surprisingly Clemson popped out #1. They remain undefeated, having gone into South Carolina and dusting off the Gamecocks. There's no way #1 falls out of the top four unless they get beat. Clemson's only remaining hurdle is North Carolina in the ACC championship game. Could this be the proverbial upset special? Maybe. The Tar Heels aren't too shabby, and for a #1 team, the Tigers haven't exactly been blowing their opponents away. Plus it will be played in Charlotte. A neutral site, but likelier more fan friendly to the Heels.

If Clemson prevails, they're most certainly in. That would be three. But if they get upset, the Committee's would have a whole lot of reciphering to do -- in a hurry. And while the Tigers would drop off the Final Four radar -- who would take their spot?

Baylor got beat again. Okla St. got trashed. #6 Notre Dame losing at #9 Stanford on a last second field goal did nothing to help either team's chances of moving up. They're both out. TCU bombed out a while back. So who would be left? Florida? They just got rolled by Florida St. Could the Buckeyes still sneak in after demolishing Michigan? But that would give the Big 10 two teams in the Final Four. It's unlikely the Committee would roll that way. I'd wager the Committee is hoping Clemson indeed knocks off North Carolina. It would save them a major headache.

As for the last, you already know who it's going to be. Yeah, Bama suffered a loss earlier in the season to Ole Miss, but they're recovered nicely. All they have to do is knock off Florida in the SEC championship game. Hey, if the Seminoles could beat the Gators, then good luck to the Gainesville bunch when they take on the Tide.

So there you have it. The Final Four.

It shall be Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, and whoever wins the Mich St./Iowa game.

Who needs an almighty committee to ordain the obvious?

Unless, of course, an upset or two happens next week. In that case, the super brain trust will have to come up with something else.

A look at the actual members of the Selection Committee next time. You think the government is screwed up? Wait until you get a load of this motley crew.......