The old dudes and TV executives that set up, and now run, the Bowl Championship Series have some anxious days ahead of them.

They know the game they want, and the game most of America probably wants, and that's Southern California against Oklahoma.

And right now, those teams sit at No. 1 and 2 in the BCS standings, so if the season ended today, they would presumably meet for the National Championship in the Orange Bowl in early January.

Perfect.

Well, except for one slight snag. You see, Auburn and Wisconsin also happen to be undefeated. And, while I'm not 100 percent sure, if those two teams stay that way and are shut out of chance for the title, there may be some complaining, maybe even a talking head or two that calls for a Div. I-A playoff.

It may be presumptuous on my part to even bring this up at this juncture in the season -- Wisconsin still has to play Michigan State and at Iowa, and Auburn has a pretty important game this Saturday at Georgia followed, presumably, by a rematch in the SEC championship game -- but, no matter how you slice it, there's more than a decent chance that these four teams will end the season unbeaten.

And then what?

Here's what will probably happen. Two teams, most likely USC and Oklahoma, will duke it out in the Orange Bowl, and the winner will be called the national champion.

Wisconsin will probably go to the Rose Bowl, and Auburn the Sugar, and while they'll probably enjoy the experience immensely, there will probably also be a little saltiness from the fans of those two fine teams. That, and the BCS will be looked at as a joke for the second straight year.

It would be a nightmare for the BCS, and it would be difficult for the system to absorb the criticism that would come its way.

But, even if that scenario does go down, it wouldn't have to be a nightmare if only the system was just a little bit more flexible.

Actually, if the BCS system was open to slight tweaking every year, this season would be the ideal one.

Imagine that all four teams remain undefeated and finish, for argument's sake, with Wisconsin in fourth, Auburn in third, Oklahoma in second and USC in first. (I realize that, right now, one-loss California is actually ahead of Wisconsin, and, if it stays that way ... whatever.

I really don't care about college football anymore; after all, I'm a Penn State fan).

Instead of just pairing Oklahoma and USC, how about using the Rose and Sugar Bowls as semifinal games: USC vs. Wisconsin in Pasadena, Calif., and Auburn vs. Oklahoma in New Orleans, with the winners meeting in the Orange Bowl as was originally planned.

The fourth BCS game, in this case the Fiesta Bowl, would just have to suck it up and be happy with hosting a mediocre Big East champion and an at-large team like Texas or Cal, along with an assurance that, next time, they won't be ones who get screwed.

The two semifinal games could be played on their original dates, with the title game just moved back a week, maybe to the Friday night before the NFL's wildcard weekend.

Imagine that -- the college national championship game and four NFL playoff games in three days. It would be a living tribute to two pillars of American society: football and commercialism.

All of the old arguments against a playoff system would be null and void. The players wouldn't have to play more than one extra game, no classes would be sacrificed, the bowl system would remain completely intact, the colleges and television networks would rake in the cash.

And, oh yeah, there would be a legitimate national champion on which we could all agree.

Except for Utah fans.

But seriously, while there might not always be four power-conference teams that manage to stay undefeated, the point is that the BCS can be manipulated into working as long as a little of the starch is taken out of it.

All anyone wanted after last season was for USC and Louisiana State to play in one more game to decide it all, and a system with less rigidity would have allowed for it.

Of course Auburn and Wisconsin could make this discussion moot by Saturday night, should they lose.

Right now, smart money says that only USC and Oklahoma will make it through the season unscathed, and the BCS will come out smelling like roses.

And even if Wisconsin or Auburn does get shafted, the two schools should take solace in the fact that there are more than a few fans around here who wouldn't mind spending the New Year in Pasadena or New Orleans. Or El Paso, for that matter.