IF OBAMA FIXES COLLEGE FOOTBALL, I'LL BE HAPPY

Wrote the following column on Nov. 19, 2008

IF OBAMA FIXES COLLEGE FOOTBALL, I’LL BE HAPPY
Solving this decades-old problem will make him a successful president

By Martin Zabell

I’m very concerned about the U.S. finally capturing Osama Bin-Laden, moving tens of thousands of troops from a nation where it shouldn’t have been in the first place (Iraq), and fixing the crisis in the housing and auto industries.

However, these problems have existed for a relatively short period. The real challenge is fixing a stupid procedure for determining who is the champion of NCAA Division I football. This problem has existed for decades.

Fortunately, president-elect Barack Obama has taken a keen interest in solving this problem. If he fixes it, he will have been a successful president.

For those who don’t know, there are championships in dozens of minor men’s and women’s sports as well as men’s and women’s basketball, and small college football. However, there has never been a championship in the sport that fans care the most about – major college football.

In major college football, what has been important for decades is opinions, not facts. Writers and coaches rank the top teams. For most of the sport’s history, the vote after the Jan. 1 bowl games determined the national champion. In the 1990s, a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was constructed that resulted in votes and statistical data determining the top two teams before the bowl games with the champion being decided after a game between the top two.

In other words, there has been a two-team playoff in football and a 64-team playoff in basketball.

(I once voted in a major basketball poll because the regular voter went on vacation, his designated substitute just didn’t feel like doing it, and I happened to be there when he complained. I was 25. In football, my vote would have mattered.)

Sports fans have been outraged that so many teams have been eliminated from the football playoff OFF THE FIELD. Fortunately, Obama is one of those fans, and he has recently spoken out about this outrage. Bravo!!

The weird thing is that a solution to this problem SHOULD be remarkably easy. There are six major conferences (Big 10, Big 12, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast, Big East, and Pacific 10) and five "mid-major" conferences (Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, Western Athletic).

My solution would be to have the 11 conference winners play in the playoffs. This way, EVERY team in the nation has had a chance to be a national champion. A team that lost in a conference championship or before that had its chance ON THE FIELD.

Then, the teams from the top five conferences, as determined by a rating process, would have a bye in the first round while the other six teams played each other in late-December. These games would be followed by quarterfinals at the sites of four major bowls on Jan. 1, and semifinals and finals in subsequent weeks at other bowl sites.

(Note: There are four independent teams, including Notre Dame. They would have to pick a conference or forsake a championship opportunity.)

On "60 Minutes," Obama advocated an 8-team playoff. This is very, very acceptable to me. Here is what he said – "Eight teams, that would be three rounds to determine a national champion. It would -- it would add three extra weeks to the season. You could trim back on the regular season. I don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do."

Obama is right. No problem should go unsolved for this long – not even the health insurance crisis.

Why has this debate gone on for 30 years? Pure, unadulterated GREED. The people who make the money via the bowl process are afraid of making less money if the system is changed. They’re certainly wrong, but they’re like the dinosaurs at every level of society who resist change.

College presidents say that this system exists because of their concern about academics. They are LIARS. Here is what has happened since I began paying attention to this debate about 30 years ago:

* The number of bowl games has doubled from about 15 to about 30, meaning twice as many "student-athletes" are playing football as first-semester finals approach.

* The smaller colleges, which often are far more academic oriented than the state schools that dominate major football, have instituted playoff systems. This means there are thousands of more students playing football as finals approach.

* The regular season is now much longer. In the 1970s, 10-game seasons were common. Today, 13-game seasons are common. There are also now games on weekdays.

* The number of basketball teams in the playoffs has skyrocketed. That’s hundreds of additional athletes playing basketball for one or more weeks.

* Basketball teams frequently fly from one side of the nation to another in the middle of the school week to play games during the regular season. This was relatively rare 30 years ago.
I could go on and on. The point is that these very same college presidents have supported all of the above changes and the college football playoff system is NOT being blocked for academic reasons.

Besides, an 8-team or an 11-team playoff would mean about 50 teams and 3,000 additional "student-athletes" NOT playing in a postseason game and only the students on four to seven teams playing one or two more games.

If Barack Obama can work with potential Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he should be able to work with college presidents to fix this ridiculous problem.