With a lot of money at stake, the Bowl Championship Series, the system that was put into play eight years ago for the purpose of identifying the two best teams in the country to play for the national championship, is showing signs of its weakness, along with its affect upon how many people view the game.
Past history has shown that when there is not a clear second-place contender for the game, viewership drops by millions. When there are two clear contenders, viewership goes up by millions.
This year there are three teams that could potentially be the second-place finisher 
to play against No. 1 Ohio State. But because of the confusion and uncertainty of the No. 2 team, the heightened anticipation isn't there, but rather a couple of teams and their followers ready to rant about them not being named. It will just create more confusion in the national conscious. The result will probably be way lower ratings.
An example of the two extremes are when OSU and Miami battled in 2003, they were both consensus teams that created high anticipation and the result was an average 29.1 million viewers. In contrast, the last couple of years, when the second-place team wasn't a clear choice, fans punished the network by tuning in at an average of only 22.7 million.
When you consider the stakes and the November sweeps, this is a huge issue for everyone. It looks like there will be pressure again to try to figure out a better way to make it more clear. With millions riding on the outcome, we'll see if the BCS continues to be the measuring stick used to make the decision.
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