During his interview with Chris Berman on Monday Night Football, Barack Obama was very clear. If he could change one thing in sports, he would institute a playoff system in college football. It's safe to say that millions of fans across the country agreed with that sentiment.Unfortunately for everyone, the NCAA doesn't fall under the command of the President. In a response to Obama's suggestion, the chairman of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee basically said thanks, but no thanks. Oregon president David Frohnmayer sent an email saying the following:
"We deeply respect the president-elect and we are glad that he is a fan of college football. We have the most compelling regular season in all of sports, and I'm sure that contributes to Senator Obama's enjoyment of our great game. My colleagues and I on the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee have discussed the future of postseason football on many occasions and we do not believe a playoff would be in the best interest of the sport, the student-athletes or our many other constituencies."
Ah, yes. The typical "we don't need a playoff because our regular season is essentially a playoff" argument, followed by the good old "we've talked about it, but it's just not right for the kids". The BCS folks are offering up the same old washed up excuses, instead of being honest and telling people that they are raking in money hand over fist, and they don't want to risk upsetting that by instituting a playoff, and rendering the rest of the Bowl games useless.
It's unfortunate that President-elect Obama won't be able to force the NCAA to give the fans what they want, and to do what makes sense. No matter what political policies he puts into place, a college football playoff would be a change that we could ALL believe in.
The BCS Committee Respectfully Disagrees With President-Elect Obama [Examiner]
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