Jeff Budlong, On the Rebound

Well, it is that time of the year again when all sports fans start going off on the Bowl Championship Series and why not, it is quickly turning into my favorite pastime.

Here is what we know: Ohio State is good and it&8217;s in the title game. After that the rest is still a little bit shall we say murky.

Southern California looked absolutely dominant against Notre Dame Saturday night as it ran the Irish ragged winning 44-24. Head coach Pete Carroll and his recruiting machine at USC is really something else. You lose Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, LeDale White and several other studs and you are still doing just fine.

While not an overly popular opinion in Big Ten country an Ohio St.-USC showdown for the title would be exciting.

Of course, Michigan fans will tell you that the Buckeyes and Wolverines have been the best two teams all season and they want one more shot at their rival.

If that is the case how could you not go with Michigan in the &8220;Game of the Century II?&8221; Wouldn&8217;t it be impossible for the Buckeyes to beat Michigan again in such a short period of time?

Here&8217;s the thing that is holding back the Wolverines &045; Lloyd Carr. If the Wolverines did get their

second shot and failed wouldn&8217;t that have to spell doom for the head man at Michigan? I mean John Cooper lost his job at Ohio St. almost solely because he couldn&8217;t beat Michigan. Now the same thing is happening to Carr as he is constantly being outcoached by Jim Tressell. If I were Carr I would be careful about what I wished for.

Florida and LSU were both impressive this weekend but it is too late for them to get into the championship game party, right?

Not if you ask me. Florida played the toughest schedule in the nation and faced one setback all season. I am not a big Florida fan, I am not an Urban Meyer fan but com&8217;on if they take care of Arkansas in the SEC championship game don&8217;t they have just as much right to play the Buckeyes as Michigan who beat an average Notre Dame squad and downed a Wisconsin team no one is sure is all that great.

LSU at 10-2 has looked good at times but at others it has looked equally as lost so I have to think their shot is completely gone.

So if you are asking me, and no one is, USC, Michigan and Florida all have a legitimate case to play Ohio St. in the championship game. If USC and Florida both win their final games, my BCS dream matchup would see the Buckeyes play the Gators.

You also have to love the college scheduling system don&8217;t you. Some teams will have already concluded their seasons three weeks ago while team&8217;s like USC are still playing this Saturday and it isn&8217;t even a conference championship game.

How can that be good for bowl teams when one will not have played for over a month and the other is just a few weeks removed?

If only there was a way to settle these things on the field using some sort of playoff system or something … oh well, wishfully thinking I guess.

For all the mess that still has to be cleaned up the best news for the BCS so far? Boise State is in.

I know I can&8217;t wait.

(Sports editor Jeff Budlong&8217;s column runs each Wednesday.)