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Obama Vs. BCS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 5, 2008

While University of Florida gridiron fans are gearing up for Saturday's SEC title matchup against Alabama - with a spot in the national championship game on the line - the man about to assume the highest office in the land also is making college football part of his game plan.
Barack Obama wants the NCAA to go to a playoff system. Under his proposal, eight teams would play over three rounds to determine a national champion, much the way the NCAA does in college basketball but in far greater numbers.

But there are problems with Barack's form of bracketology. First, he says it would add three weeks to the season, which is already long considering play usually begins in late August and continues into January for teams that make it to major bowls. His solution is to trim the regular season.

While conferences certainly could live without championship games, as they did for many years, reducing the regular season even further could be disruptive. It could make it difficult to determine conference champions, and force some schools to cut back on the number of home games that generate revenue and create such a great atmosphere for fans and alumni.

Obama's support for a playoff is understandable. We previously supported one. But we have come to appreciate the Bowl Championship Series, which does crown a national champion and features a national title game. The BCS makes every regular season game meaningful, which isn't the case in college basketball.

Ask the Gators. After losing by a point to Ole Miss in late September, the team couldn't afford a second loss, or its dreams of a second national championship in three years would be over. UF has been annihilating opponents ever since. There will always be controversies about who should be in the final game. We understand the appeal of a playoff system. But with berths in the national championship game still up for grabs heading into a weekend of major action, it looks like it already has one.

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