Tuesday was a day of that many college football fans had dreamed for years.

Big-time college football would finally take its championship out of the hands of poll voters — both AP and coaches, and computer programs that would make Dr. Stephen Hawking wince — and decide it on the field.

Four teams. Two semifinals in two cities. And one championship. Let the bidding for the sites begin.

It isn’t perfect. There will be a committee. There will be controversy. Somebody’s precious little feelings will be hurt because their team weren’t selected. The process will favor the big-league teams.

But it’s better than what’s before. And it might have a side benefit that no one has talked about. It might kill the big bowls and some smaller ones, too.

The bowl traditionalists talk about how sad a day that would be, but when you really think about it, what purpose do the bowls serve now? They’re a starting crank on a 2012 automobile. They’re a flintlock musket in a universe of phasers and photon torpedoes.

And they’re corrupt. Seriously. They’re a third party — cloaked under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code — that puts on one football game and gets paid very handsomely for the privilege. The BCS TV contract is worth $125 million, yet West Virginia, UConn and several other schools lost money after playing in BCS bowls.

The bowls take participants on a fleecing expedition of which most thieves would be proud.

According to Yahoo Sports, the Sugar Bowl charged $700 for two tickets to the BCS Championship Game last year for LSU’s chancellor. Complimentary? Not a chance. How about players? They were hit for tickets at $350 a pop. That’s full price, by the way. Even the band had to pay full price for every seat. That added up to more than $182,000.

Taxes? Nah. The bowls don’t pay. They collect.

For example, the Sugar Bowl received $6,843,539 in subsidies from Louisiana’s state and local governments from 2007 to 2010. It paid CEO Paul Hoolahan $593,718 and has assets of $34.2 million. The bowl even receives “commissions” from area hotels, which of course jack up rates in time for the game.

Yet, the bowl donated $800,000 to restore New Orleans City Park and help assist amateur sports around the city, according to the Sugar Bowl’s Form 990. Well, isn’t that just kind of them.

But it isn’t just the sour Sugar.

Remember John Junker, the former chairman of the Fiesta Bowl? He got $2,250 per month for an automotive allowance in addition to his $592,000 salary. Must be nice if you can get it. He’s already pleaded guilty to Arizona and Federal charges of reimbursing Fiesta Bowl employees for political contributions with bowl funds.

Hopefully, this is just the first step in divorcing college football from the corrupt bowl system. Hopefully the next step sticks a stake through its heart.

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Steve Wilson is sports editor of The Vicksburg Post. You can follow him on Twitter at vpsportseditor. He can be reached at 601-636-4545, ext. 142 or at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.