Mizzou is getting screwed through fault of its own

After beating No. 2 Kansas on Saturday to finish its regular-season schedule with an 11-1 record and the No. 1 spot in the BCS as well as the AP Top 25, Missouri shouldn't have to play Saturday against Oklahoma -- which, by the way, is the one team to beat the Tigers this season. The Tigers have done everything that was asked of them, and certainly they have done more than Ohio State, considering the Buckeyes haven't beaten anyone as impressive as Kansas.

But how can you be mad at Ohio State? The Buckeyes are a member of the Big Ten, and more than a member, the Buckeyes (and Michigan) are a driving force behind the conference.

Years ago the Big Ten decided not to pursue a conference championship game. While the Big 12, SEC and ACC were selling everything but the commissioners' first-born child -- and it wouldn't surprise me if ACC czar John Swofford names his next kid Jefferson Pilot -- the Big Ten decided enough was enough. The Big Ten has enough games, enough money and enough hurdles to put a league member into the national championship game.

The Big Ten could have made like the SEC and the ACC and tried to pick off a stray team, get up to 12 and play a conference title game. But the Big Ten stayed above the fray.

Which is why Ohio State sits there, deserving yet undeserving, waiting for Missouri to lose Saturday to Oklahoma.

The whole inequitable system sucks, and is one more reason to be convinced that college presidents are the stupidest bunch of smart people alive. Missouri belongs in the BCS title game. Ohio State doesn't. When the Buckeyes play West Virginia on Jan. 7 for the national championship, I'm going to be good and angry.

If you could tell me who to be angry at, I'd be grateful.