We're No. 1; No, we are!

Florida beat Oklahoma last night in the BCS championship game, so that makes Florida the national champions of college football, right? I'm not so sure, and I'm far from alone. Some people who watch a lot more college football and know a lot more about it than I are not convinced.

Utah had already defeated Alabama in a convincing fashion to complete its undefeated season. Anybody else got an undefeated season? Nope. That, it would seem, should make Utah the national champion. Or maybe not.

ESPN columnist Rick Reilly makes the argument for Utah being No. 1. He also argues for the Bowl Championship Series' monopoly on deciding who gets the most prestigious and most financially lucrative bowls to be declared illegal. The Utah attorney general has launched an investigation into the BCS. President-elect Obama has said he wants to see a collegiate football championship playoff system. Might the Obama Justice Department file suit against the BCS? My guess is that Obama has more pressing matters to contend with, but an anti-trust suit might not be out of the question.

The larger issue here is the predominance of intercollegiate sports over the higher education interests of colleges and universities. Television dictates when games are played (which is why so many college games are played at night during TV's primetime instead of on Saturday afternoon, as God intended), and athletic revenues and prestige have universities in a painful grip. The big-time football and basketball powers of the NCAA turn that sports publicity into increased donations and student applications. Sports exercise greater control over higher education than any chancellor or professor would want to admit, and the situation hasn't improved since the Knight Commission began its critique 10 years ago.

A federal lawsuit or indictment against the BCS might finally get the colleges', coaches' and TV networks' attention.