It's time for my annual attempt at proving the theory that a playoff in college sports provides undeniable evidence that the "best" team is exposed through a single elimination playoff / tournament.

Thankfully, the very organization that raises the question each year also provides a conclusive answer.

Playoff proponents, BCS haters and plain ol' fans like me, see if you can answer "Yes" to all of these statements.

Through 5 games, the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship tournament proves:

The Selection Committee erred completely in identifying its 4 "1" seeds,
BOTH VCU and Butler are among the 4 best basketball teams in the country,
Duke and Pittsburgh are no better than the top 32 teams in the country,
By placing a team in the Final Four in consecutive seasons, the Horizon league has proven itself to be a "power" conference,
the Big East is a complete sham deserving of only one or two teams in the field,
"experts" filling out the brackets for a limited field of contestants will always identify the "right" participants to include AND their all important seeding, and

FINALLY, at the conclusion of the Championship game on April 4, the fans of OSU, Kansas, Duke, Pitt, VCU, Butler, UConn and Kentucky will unanimously agree that the winner that night is the "best" team in the country, leaving all protestations behind and join in celebrating the one true CHAMPION!.

If, like me, you struggle to find agreement with all those statements then, perhaps, an 8 or a 16 team NCAA football playoff isn't the definitive answer you seek.

First, Bob, I tried to give this a go.  Honestly.

If we're discussing best team then why worry about 32nd best, or what the committee forecasted?  The tournament's purpose is to determine a winner.  The "best" team will be decided on April 5th.

Will that team be the team that people thought would be the best before the season started?  Will they be the one who performed the most consistently throughout the season?  Were they tested on the road and outside their conference?  None of this matters. 

"Best" is excelling over others.  VCU, Butler, Kentucky, and UNC have excelled over everyone else this tournament thus far.  For the most part, everyone had the same oppurtuntity, the same neutrality, and these four are remaining to be called the "best". 

One game can be an abberation, and Duke, Pitt, Kansas and Ohio State are probably sick to their stomach.  One game can cost you a title in this sport, but at least you get a shot.  Zero games can cost you a title in football.  

OK, so how do you decide who the best team is?

Experts conjecture and polling.

One problem with the current system is that all losses are not equal.

For example:
Team A is ranked #1 and plays team B in their first game and loses.
They drop in the rankings but have a chance to climb back to #1 or# 2.
The same teams with the same rankings play the last game of the season and team A  loses.
No chance to get to a title game.

At least ,with a playoff season ,if a highly ranked team loses late in the season they would still
have a chance to make the playoffs and compete for the national championship.

Ah, there's the key question!  To me it doesn't matter who's "best".  I like the contests, I like the role that underdogs play and, most of all, I like to have room for a good argument when it's over.  That's why I favor the traditional bowls over the BCS and basketball's regular season conference championship over tournaments.

This one, however, (the NCAA D1 men's) is just great TV, if you can locate truTV.