The ball flies towards the basket; flying from half court. Slam! The ball hits the backboard and plunges over the edge as 70,930 people fall in shock. Will the impossible happen? Unfortunately for the upstart Butler Bulldogs, Gordan Hayward's desperation at the buzzer of the 2010 NCAA National Championship game was 3 inches from the mark, allowing perennial power Duke to walk away with its fourth national championship. However, Butler's magical run shows why the NCAA tournament is such a great event and why it does its job as a fair way to decide the national champion. Meanwhile, three months earlier, Boise State is stuck at home, wondering what could have been as they watch Alabama and Texas have the opportunity to play for the national championship. Boise State was undefeated. The BCS system, which determines which two teams will play for the title in college football, is considered unfair by many and believes the sport should move to a playoff format similar to that used in college basketball. implemented in a completely different way. The obvious difference is that basketball's format is playoffs, while in football only two teams get a chance to play. A committee of people meets and organizes the basketball tournament by dividing the teams into four "brackets", ranking teams 1 through 17 in each bracket. The decision-making process can be quite complicated. First, 30 teams automatically qualify for the tournament by winning their conference tournament. This means that no matter how well a team played in the regular season, they still have a chance to make their way to the national championship game. The only exception to this rule is the Ivy League. They do... middle of paper ... truth is why the college football universe is being held back from getting a playoff run. Although in many ways the playoffs are a fairer, more efficient and more entertaining way to decide the national champion, money and power ultimately stifle that idea. Until those in power finally decide to do the right thing, there will always be teams like Boise State or TCU on the outside looking in, wondering what could have been. Works Cited Eisenburg, Jeff. "What college hoops would look like if the BCS replaced the NCAA Tournament."rivals.yahoo.com. November 11, 2010. the web. November 22, 2010. Murphy, Austin. “BCS fans don't understand: the current system is no better than the playoffs. » www.si.com. November 12, 2010. the web. November 22, 2010. Murphy, Austin and Dan Wetzel. “Is it important?” Sports Illustrated. November 152010: 42-48.