Thinking out loud on a rainy Memorial Day (or, how to save college basketball as we know it). The solution, not surprisingly, is to add bracketology to that other sport.

Don't believe me? Then stop reading right here. Curious? Then consider, just for a moment, what would happen ...

... if college football had bracketology.

The winner of each Division I-A football conference would participate in a single-elimination championship playoff. These 11 schools would be joined by, say, five at-large entries in a tidy 16-team bracket.

The 11 automatic qualifiers would be determined as each conference sees fit. It could be the regular-season champion, the winner of a conference championship game, whatever. A selection committee would be charged with identifying the at-large participants, pairing playoff teams and determining home/neutral sites throughout.

It might no longer be advantageous, as has evolved in Division I basketball, for a serious national championship contender to operate as an independent, receiving disproportionate exposure and television dollars (sorry, Notre Dame). It wasn't advantageous for UCLA to give up scholarships in men's basketball back in the day, but it was clearly better for the sport overall.

... if college football had bracketology.

There would be no reason for the completely arbitrary "12 members for a conference championship game" rule. Who would care how respective conferences identified their champion? If the SEC and Big 12 want to do their current thing, great. If a nine-team league wants to pair its first- and second-place finishers in a December rematch of their sizzling September showdown, fine. If a conference doesn't want to add games following the regular season for academic or other reasons, so be it.

In other words, Miami could make its logical move to the ACC without the insane coattail effect of Boston College and Syracuse having no financial choice but to play along. No one can look me in the eye and say BC or 'Cuse wouldn't rather stay put, and no one can tell me the ACC wouldn't rather have Miami and a title game, splitting the pie 10 ways instead of 12.

If professional sports operated this non-sensically, can you imagine some of the ridiculous outcomes?

"The Pittsburgh Steelers," it was announced today, "are leaving the AFC Central Division for the AFC East. Citing better market exposure and a likely new television contract for the East Division, the Steelers expect to realize an additional $10 million per year from the re-alignment."

Yeah, right.

…if college football had bracketology.

The bowl system might not survive. At best, it would be in for a less than voluntary takeover.

NCAA president Myles Brand says, "The bowls occupy too important of a role in the thinking and in the tradition of these institutions for that to happen."

I say that's a load of crap. For decades, the National Invitation Tournament was considered more significant than the NCAA championships and had about 20 times the tradition for the schools involved.

But is anyone (other than the NIT) complaining that it's been diminished at the expense of a thriving NCAA Tournament? Didn't think so. The world will continue in its orbit if, decades from now, the Rose Bowl has a place in history like the legendary NIT championships of a bygone era.

The bowls, of course, do serve a vital purpose. Along with the BCS and other contrivances (like the "12-member" rule), they help keep the enormous dollars fueling college football's postseason in the hands of the fewest schools possible.

... if college football had bracketology.

The BCS schools might never get what they really want. What is that you ask? A 50- or 60-team monopoly of revenue sports at the college level. They pretty much have it in Division I-A football and, in Division I basketball, the selection and seeding of teams in the NCAA Tournament continually demonstrates an unhealthy influence of I-A members.

Then again, maybe it's time we let the big-timers have what they want. Congress could then impose antitrust measures or, better yet, repeal the tax exempt status of these no longer "not for profit" institutions. I mean, if the American Red Cross pocketed $20 million for beating the United Way in an emergency responders reality show, that might raise an eyebrow or two at the IRS.

Once the BCS schools are forced to operate as "for profit" franchises, it wouldn't be long before the public came to view them as such. Some would lose money and be forced out of the business. Others might actually scale back due to an academic epiphany of some kind. The rest would be little more than minor league sports, stripped of the uniqueness that made them superpowers in the first place.

Why does Duke basketball generate more interest than a CBA team? It's not because the Blue Devils are better, obviously. Same for Nebraska, say, and NFL Europe. The Cornhuskers wouldn't win the World Bowl, but the people in Lincoln don't care as long as they're competing for a legitimate national championship.

And a 50-team major college football arrangement simply doesn't offer that legitimacy. And we already know that team No. 51 in Division I basketball is pretty damn good.

So, Mr. And Mrs. College Football, don't fix your broken sport at the expense of mine.

Joe Lunardi is the resident Bracketologist for ESPN, ESPN.com and ESPN Radio. He may be reached at bracketology@comcast.net.