So while everybody knows college football should let all comers get a shot at its national title through a playoff, we might feel differently when it comes to our own TV remotes.

Consider Fox's Boise State-Texas Christian matchup in Monday's Fiesta Bowl. Coming from supposedly less-than-all-powerful conferences, their perfect records weren't enough to get them into Thursday's title game — with the unspoken assumption being they aren't brand names that the masses really want to watch.

Maybe so. Boise State's 17-10 win drew a respectable 8.6 overnight rating, which translates to 8.6% of TV households in 56 urban markets. But consider last year's Fiesta Bowl, which pitted mediagenic Texas and Ohio State: Its overnight was 35% higher.

There are caveats. Last year's game was on Sunday, TV's most-watched night, and the Boise TV market isn't included in overnights.

Factoring popularity into sports championships might be un-American. Imagine if the NFL put Brett Favre vs. the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl because it might draw the most eyeballs. (But admit it, you'd watch.)