The comments by CBS' Tim Brando last Saturday really pissed a lot of people off and Brando heard from a lot of them. But of course Brando really didn't address the original comments, he whined about the mean SC fans who emailed him and glossed over his comments by simply claiming that he never said SC ran up the score...whatever.

But while we would disagree with Brando's claims of SC running up the score he is correct on one issue, the BCS is a mess. If coaches and writers don't do the proper research before sending in their ballots they only perpetuate the flawed system.

So what to do? Ted Miller offers a simple solution for the Pac-10 and its what the other conferences have been doing for years...

Washington is the only winless BCS conference team and has become a national punchline. Coach Tyrone Willingham is about as fired as a coach can be while still coaching his team.

But I wonder where the Huskies would be if they started the season playing Eastern Washington -- a rivalry game, right! -- Nevada, SMU and Massachusetts.

Actually I don't wonder.

The Huskies would have started 4-0, just like the team that actually had that schedule, No. 8 Texas Tech.

Instead, the Huskies have played a schedule ranked as the nation's toughest by the Sagarin Ratings. Instead of I-AA foes, they played BYU and Oklahoma and have Notre Dame coming to town Saturday.

Scheduling matters.

And it's become clear that teams are not penalized for scheduling weak opponents in order to pad their record, nor do teams -- or conferences -- get credit for ambitious scheduling.

While I agree 100% with what Miller is saying I am not necessarily advocating the cupcake route, but it needs to be explored. It may be a matter of pride to the suits in Walnut Creek but that pride is hurting the Pac-10.

USC doesn't need the 1-AA cupcakes, if some of the lesser schools in the conference did schedule these games the Pac-10 could then be on equal footing with the other conferences. If the Pac-10 is against that then they need to get off their butts and fight for more accountability in regards to how the polls are compiled, sanctioned and  weighted.

The Pac-10 is getting hammered for trying to play competitive match-ups and they have nothing to show for it. Something has to give, its clear the BCS won't step in so the Pac-10 should follow suit just like the other confernces.

A "stronger" Pac-10 only helps us all in the long run.