Watching the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) title game last night in the rain in Chattanooga, I wondered how 16 teams could have participated to boil down to a two-team championship on Friday December 18th? Didn’t the BCS, the university presidents and the bowl people say it couldn’t be done? Something about too much confusion determining the participants, too much loss of study time and too much loss of revenue.

Well, the NCAA student/athletes at Villanova and Montana are no worse for wear. Villanova edged top-seeded Montana 23-21 to win its first ever national football title for 25-year head coach Andy Talley.

For the BCS, the FCS serves as an example of how something they don’t want, can be done. The BCS even has an additional two weeks (and more) to work with to create an attractive format and appease the bowl sponsors and networks. The BCS plan also means teams could rest, practice and study until Christmas weekend to placate university officials. It means more interest and money and only four teams would carry on after New Year’s Day.

It stands to reason that the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Cotton bowls could host the final eight teams on January 1st, to keep those traditions and revenue streams alive. Somewhere on Christmas weekend eight games would be played on a seeded basis (no byes), determining the four New Year’s Day games. Two games would be played January 7th weekend and a final would be slated for January 14th, only one week more than the current national championship game, and three weeks before the Super Bowl.

Watching Villanova win, I also wondered what “the instant replay touts” thought of the FCS official’s use of it during Montana’s dramatic two-minute drill in the fourth quarter. Down 23 to 14, Montana marched downfield, saving its three timeouts, with medium range passes to receivers who ran out-of-bounds.

Montana quarterback Andrew Selle looked like he may be orchestrating another Grizzlies fourth quarter comeback, when he ducked the pass rush, took off downfield and threw an incompletion, where it appeared he may have crossed the line of scrimmage. Play was stopped, coaches yelled, referees conferred, and a review was ordered.

From that time, nearly five minutes lapsed. The TV announcers had plenty of time to throw in their thoughts before announcing the review and projecting that maybe it was an illegal forward pass. More time. Then colorman Brock Huard announced that he thought it was too many men on the field. A frozen frame prior to the snap was put up within seconds. It allowed me to count 11 offensive players and then 12 men on the defense. At that time, Huard started circling the 12 players with his telestrator, all of this took air time, but the referee wasn’t close to a decision. At the instant of counting 12 men on the defense, the review should have been over. More time, before finally, the referee, announced too many players on Villanova. This decision took nearly five minutes, but could have been called in five seconds.

The unscheduled timeout benefitted Andrew Selle, because on the next play he hit Jabin Sambrano on a 53-yard score pulling Montana within two. Why the replay took so long was never addressed. It just gave credibility for those who say replay will slow down the game.