Obama on the Most Pressing Issue of Them All: A College Football Playoff

I love that the President-elect keeps pushing this, mentioning it in his 60 Minutes interview last night.  Gordon Gee, the president of Ohio St., responded that he is happy to explain to the President-elect that while a playoff would be exciting for the fans, it is not the right thing for the student-athletes because it would take too much time away from the classroom.  This is, of course, utter nonsense.  He is suggesting, as do many of his fellow college presidents, that one extra game for four teams, and two extra games for two teams, on Christmas and New Years Eve weekends, would somehow diminish the academic tradition of their institutions (I zeroed out the extra game for all eight teams in the first round, because those games would replace the bowls that they would play in under the current system).  Meanwhile, these are the same people that recently approved an extra 12th game for all 119 teams during the regular season, when school is actually still in session.  How is that in the interest of the student-athlete?  Obama hit it on the head when he suggested in the interview that college football reduce the number of regular season games to accommodate a playoff.

It is frustrating when you can't figure out the other guy's motive and that is what is so intensely maddening about this situation.  A playoff would result in more money for all schools, even with a regular season reduced to 10 or 11 games, because all schools would share in the financial windfall of the playoff, similar to the way the NCAA basketball tournament works today.  It would also result in happier fans, happier alumni and students, happier players and coaches, and happier small-conference schools, all without jeopardizing any academic mission whatsoever.  Ironically, they already have a playoff system for all of the other divisions, which are made up of many schools with equal or better academic reputations.  The TV networks and sponsors would also love it.  And even the bowls could benefit...make the Final Four the top three bowls (three of the following four: Rose, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange...rotate one out each year?), with the championship rotating among them.  The conferences would benefit.  There are six major conferences.  Have the champion of each conference advance to the playoff and add two wild cards, selected by a committee, just like the basketball tournament.  This would make the conference races more meaningful and also allow for multiple teams from the same conference to get in if they are deserving.  At the same time, schools from smaller conferences would have a fair shot as well.

What is the real reason the university presidents are so adamantly opposed to a college football playoff?