The new and improved BCS format is out, and to quote from one of my favorite philosophers, Nino Brown, "the rich keep on getting richer and the poor don't get a damned thing."

Basically, the new system rewards teams for beating teams in the BCS top 15. Had it been in place last season, the title game would have pitted Miami against Oklahoma, since bonus points for Miami's wins over Florida State and Virginia Tech would have bumped UM ahead of the Noles in the final standings. Basically, that's like realizing the final answer in the equation is wrong and then haphazardly monkeying around with what goes before the equals sign. (By the way, I always hated math.)

Oh, and the Dunkel Index (we all know what that is, right?) is gone. So is the ridiculous New York Times computer ratings. One of my bosses here claims he helped create the thing back in the day. (He's big on making claims like that.) I never had the heart to tell him it was no good. It always seemed to have some sorry ACC team (not FSU) waaay too high up.

To me though, the real upshot of all this is now teams outside of the "power" conferences have even less chance of cracking the BCS because they won't get those power points. So say goodbye to Cinderella and any darkhorse from the MAC or WAC or Conference USA. And that's sad. I've already gotten a bunch of e-mail complaints from people talking about how unfair this all is, many from addresses that end in tcu.edu.

Last week, I was doing a radio show in South Carolina and was asked about some sleeper teams. I offered up Jason Thomas-led UNLV (some big-time talent, light conference sked, plus they open with a few high-profile opponents), but now they have absolutely no shot of breaking through -- none -- because even the "name" schools they play won't be high enough to make a dent in the BCS formula.

Sure, this might help address the worries about teams running up the score to pump up the computer index, but I think by killing off Cinderella (and that's what they've done), the BCS alchemists have hurt the game. Besides, now I won't have anything to talk about in South Carolina.

Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com.