College football's playoff debate sounds like an old record album from my younger days.

We middle-agers remember the pain vividly. Excitedly, we'd yank the latest recording from the Rolling Stones or The Who out of the jacket, slap it on the turntable and listen - again, and again, and again.

Sooner or later, it would happen. A friend might give the stereo a hipcheck worthy of Gordie Howe while dancing. Or the roommate would use the fresh vinyl as a coaster, even though you told him 12 ounces of beverage just can't be poured into a 10-ounce glass.

Thus, a scratch longer than Ted Nugent's hair would develop and the prized album might sound like this:

"And she's buying a stairway to heaven … heaven …heaven … heaven … heaven … heaven." And you'd wonder why this never happened when the roomie played his Todd Rundgren albums.

There's no classic rock here, but the debate refuses to roll. Anytime a playoff system for the Football Bowl Subdivision is discussed, out come the cliches - over, and over, and over. The road doesn't go on forever, but the argument never seems to end. We're stuck. Period.

Not long ago, for instance, an ESPN talking head defended the Bowl Championship Series with that oldie but goodie, "With this system, there's a playoff every week." In other words, the regular season would lose its impact should a tournament get attached to the end of the schedule.

Here we go, I thought. Who said we won't get fooled again? Again? Again? Again?

It's simply not true, and all you have to do is look at the other divisions.

Wartburg's victory over Dubuque last weekend had everything - high winds, a missed extra-point kick, an overtime decision and an emotional celebration. It also purchased the Knights a ticket to the Division III playoffs and the Iowa Conference title.

No one could say that regular season game didn't carry weight, even with a post-season tournament on the horizon.

Northern Iowa's football team has played some epic regular season games. The 2005 victory over Southern Illinois thrilled the UNI-Dome crowd. Sure, the trip to the Division I-AA finale against Appalachian State was more important, but beating the Salukis helped the Panthers get to Chattanooga. It's a significant part of the program's history.

The advocates of a FBS playoff also like to indulge in a few slogans, such as "it's decided on the field."

Obviously, that's true. Yet, the suggestion that a playoff would eliminate any disputes or arguments doesn't hold up, either. If the top four teams in the FBS make a playoff, No. 5 would scream like Robert Plant.

Every system will carry flaws. No matter what format is used, someone's going to feel cheated.

So it's time to get past the tired words. Everybody knows the debate is going nowhere. Just ask the question: What must change? What is it going to take to move college football's biggest programs toward a tournament?

Money and additional television exposure doesn't seem to be a factor - yet. The presence of successful playoffs at other levels of college football is dismissed.

Even President-elect Obama's advocacy of an eight-team format was not the answer blowing in the wind.

So we wait. And we talk.

Every week is a playoff, they say. We must decide a champion on the field, they insist.

But we all know - a FBS tournament would feel a like a step on a stairway to heaven.

Heaven.

Heaven.

Heaven.

Heaven.

Contact Jim Sullivan at (319) 291-1434 or jim.sullivan@wcfcourier.com