OPINION

By Matt Hayes

updated 5:01 a.m. ET Dec. 2, 2007

SAN ANTONIO - What a fine, fabulous, fantastic, and -- you better believe it -- fortuitous mess we have here.

Deep breath, everyone. I promise, we can find two teams to play for the national title.

At about 10:40 p.m. CST, the last two dominoes in this unthinkable, unrealistic season fell: Pitt upset No. 2 West Virginia in Morgantown, W.V., and Oklahoma took a 28-14 lead on No. 1 Missouri to put the Big 12 championship game out of reach.

And now here we are. Three months after I-AA Appalachian State won at Michigan to begin this crazy ride, and we're no closer to figuring out who will play in the BCS championship game in New Orleans.

This, boys and girls, is the greatest season in college football history. Playoffs, schmayoffs; this is what it's all about.

Tomorrow, in offices and basements and airports all over the country, men and women will sit down at their computers and decide who will play for it all. What does the guy in Boise think, or the gal in New York? Or the former coach retiring in sunny South Florida?

What to do, what to do, what to do.

After witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime season; after 20 top 10 teams lost to unranked teams; after 13 top five teams lost; after -- I can't believe I'm writing this -- both Missouri and West Virginia lost with the finish line one measly game away, it's time to swallow hard and vote for the two best teams in the country.

Not the teams with the best losses. Not the teams who played best on the last weekend of the season. Not the teams who were slotted in spots that would allow them to naturally move up.

The two best teams. Under those parameters, I'll take USC and Oklahoma. No two teams are playing better, no two teams deserve it more.

Go ahead, take your shots at me because USC lost to Stanford (which lost eight games), and because OU blew a 17-point lead to Colorado (which lost six games). Talk all you want, I've got an answer:

• Georgia? Lost at home to six-loss South Carolina, blown out in its only significant true road game of the season at Tennessee.

• Ohio State? Played one good team, lost the game. At home.

• LSU? Lost to two teams who combined to lose nine games. Les, babe, you lost to Kentucky and Arkansas. I say, Kentucky and Arkansas!

• Virginia Tech? Um, any team that loses by 41 doesn't play for it all.

• West Virginia and Missouri? Pfffft.

At this point, all we can do is use the two eyes the good Lord gave us and make a well-educated stab. That means a lot of ifs.

If the USC coaching staff had not suffered a brain freeze in the Stanford game and had played backup quarterback Mark Sanchez in the second half, the Trojans would not have committed four turnovers and given the game away. Then, the loss to Oregon isn't as damaging.

If Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford doesn't sustain a concussion on the first drive of a seven-point loss at Texas Tech, the Sooners are the hottest team in the country. That was the real OU dismantling the No. 1 team in the nation 38-17 in the Big 12 title game.

Deep into the fourth quarter, Missouri's vaunted offense -- which scored at least 31 points in each of the previous 12 games -- had 15 plays in the red zone. And got 15 yards.

No other team among the championship game contenders beat a No. 1. In fact, the best win by any of the other contenders was USC's win over then-No. 7 Arizona State. LSU and Georgia both beat then-No. 9 Florida.

What does it all mean? A lot of bellyaching for the foreseeable future.

But what a wonderful ride it has been.

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