To all of those...

Who use such cliches as, "you can't just turn it on and off," "momentum is important heading into the playoffs," and other such things...

Reality says hello. The Boston Celtics sleptwalked through the second half of the season; they're in the NBA Finals. The Philadelphia Flyers were the final team in the NHL to make the playoffs; they're in the Stanley Cup Finals. The New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts basically took off the month of December; they faced off in the Super Bowl.

Sometimes I wonder why we even have a regular season, when it seems so meaningless at times. Seeing the Flyers in the Finals is especially jarring, because they had to beat the Rangers in a shootout on the final day of the season to make the playoffs. The Celtics lost to the Nets and Knicks during the second half of the season. The Saints lost a home game to Tampa Bay in December, and it was not a game in which they rested starters.

If college football ever needs proof that they don't need a playoff, this should be it. In college football, the Celtics can't lose to the Nets and Knicks and live to tell about it. If Alabama loses a game equivalent to New Orleans' loss to Tampa Bay late in the season, they tumble down the standings and probably do not recover to play for a championship. You can't sneak into the BCS, like the Flyers snuck into the playoffs. In college football, you have to win basically ever week in order to play for a championship, and even then that may not be enough (Boise State, TCU and Cincinatti went undefeated last season and did not play for a championship). You will never see Alabama or Texas rest starters while they prepare for their bowl games. Every, and I mean every, game counts.