By Heather Dinich

A four-team playoff for college football has been formally approved by a presidential oversight committee, a dramatic change for the sport that will begin in 2014 and continue through the 2025 season.

read more on ESPN.com

This site was created in the friendly confines of Horn Interactive in the winter of 2008.

Special thanks to the team:

Ariel Horn, Josh Eichenstein, Dusty D’Addato, Stephanie Shuman, and Adam Perlis

Game on.

Visit the news feed to see Obama’s comments on Florida winning the BCS Championship.

By Walter Alarkon

Posted: 01/15/09 07:26 PM [ET]

Lawmakers are backing President-elect Obama’s call for a college football playoff, drafting legislation to replace the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) despite objections from former House members who know college football best. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) has drafted a bill that seeks to prohibit the promotion, marketing or advertising of any national championship game that isn’t part of a playoff system. Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) has sponsored a measure that would declare the BCS an illegal restraint of trade. And Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told USA Today this week that he was planning a hearing, with college football officials as witnesses, on how to get the BCS to use a playoff. All appear to picking up on what Obama has said on at least four separate occasions since November — that a playoff is necessary to replace the more arbitrary method put in place a decade ago that relies on polls and computer formulas to decide which two teams play for the title. “If you’ve got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them have one loss or two losses, there’s no clear, decisive winner,” Obama said on “60 Minutes” in November. “We should be creating a playoff system.” Obama’s worries seemed to be justified last week, when the University of Florida Gators won the BCS national championship despite finishing with one loss. Three other teams — the University of Texas Longhorns, University of Southern California Trojans and the undefeated University of Utah Utes — finished with similar records but didn’t make the national championship game. While bipartisan and bicameral support for a playoff builds, two former congressmen, who also happen to be former college football superstars, are defending the current system. Former Rep. Tom Osborne (R-Neb.), who coached three national championship teams at the University of Nebraska, said he likes the president-elect but finds him misguided on this issue. “He’s obviously a very intelligent guy and has a lot on his plate,” Osborne said. “I think maybe he’s ranging a little bit far afield from his area of expertise. Those of us who deal with this every day have a certain perspective.” Osborne, now Nebraska’s athletic director, noted that every game in a college football season is like a playoff, since one or two losses by a team are often enough to eliminate it from contention. He also wondered whether fans would travel to follow their team through the later rounds of a playoff. “It’s not really in an area where the government belongs,” Osborne said. “Now, if the BCS system was corrupt and people were taking the money and doing criminal things or whatever, then yeah, Congress has a right to step in.” Former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.), who quarterbacked the University of Oklahoma Sooners to two Orange Bowl wins in the 1980s, said that getting government involved might backfire. College football, he said, is best left to college presidents, athletic directors and football coaches. Watts, who serves as a government affairs consultant for the BCS, said that instead of spending political capital on the current bowl system, Obama and Congress should do more to free up loans for small businesses. “That’s just a whole lot more important to me then going public and saying we need a playoff system,” Watts said. The BCS, which is run by the major college football schools and athletic conferences, doesn’t seem to be aching for reform. BCS coordinator John Swofford said in a reply to Obama in November that, “for now, our constituencies — and I know he understands constituencies — have settled on the current BCS system, which the majority believe is the best system yet to determine a national champion while also maintaining the college football regular season as the best and most meaningful in sports.” Obama himself hasn’t talked about using government to force a change, and Osborne said he had no problems with Obama voicing his opinion. In fact, Osborne, who backed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during the presidential election, said he is now an “Obama supporter.” “I think all of us have to hope he’s successful and that whoever is president has full support,” Osborne said. “And I’m not in favor of trying to put him down.” But if Obama wanted to press for a legislative fix, he could assemble an unlikely coalition. When Obama spoke to Barton after the election, Barton said that a college football playoff was one issue on which conservatives like himself could work with a Democratic administration, according to Barton’s account. Co-sponsors for the bills sponsored by Barton and Abercrombie include Reps. Jim Matheson (D-Utah), Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and Mike Simpson (R-Idaho). To counter the star power of Osborne and Watts, Obama could turn to the Democrats’ college football star. Rep. Heath Shuler (N.C.), a former quarterback for the University of Tennessee who was the 1993 Heisman Trophy runner-up, is an ardent supporter of a playoff. Shuler said Utah’s undefeated squad is a perfect example of a team that deserved an opportunity to play for the national championship but didn’t get it. He said he wanted to testify at any BCS hearing. “When you represent a district that you feel that’s been left out, that’s your obligation to your constituents and your colleges and universities who don’t feel they’ve gotten a fair share,” he said. Still, Shuler, a centrist Blue Dog, wouldn’t commit to backing a bill on the BCS, adding that a government fix could lead to a “slippery slope” of government intervention elsewhere. And he might use any face-time with Obama to discuss other matters. “Certainly there’s a whole lot more on his plate than football,” Shuler said. “I’d rather talk about statutory pay-go.”

——————-

Congressman plans hearings on BCS in effort to force playoff

By A.J. Perez, USA TODAY

1/14/09

WASHINGTON — The incoming chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said Wednesday that he will hold hearings and possibly subpoena NCAA officials, college presidents, players, coaches and athletics directors in effort to force a playoff in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

“I think you really do not get a true No. 1 out of (the Bowl Championship Series),” Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., told USA TODAY. “Nobody questions the Super Bowl. The team that wins is the best team that year. I think we can do the same thing at the college level where once it’s over there is no questions about who is No. 1 and who is No. 2.”

Towns made his intentions known a week after the college football season ended with Florida as consensus national champion, but not without some controversy, a common occurrence since the BCS began in 1998. Florida beat Oklahoma to win the title, but Southern California and Utah received first-place votes in the Associated Press news media poll. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham broke ranks in the USA TODAY Coaches’ Poll and voted his unbeaten Utes No. 1.

“I really feel that you can’t leave it as is,” Towns said. “Right now, if you ask what the No. 1 team is, a lot of people would say USC. Others would say Texas and if you ask anybody in the state of Utah, they would say their team was the best. I want to get a system that has credibility.”

Towns said there’s no timetable set, and no letters to appear have been sent out. He’s hoping to get cooperation from those involved in the Football Bowl Subdivision but would use subpoena authority if needed.

He joins a chorus of elected officials that have called for a playoff in recent weeks, including:

•President-elect Barack Obama. Before the election, he told CBS’ 60 Minutes, “I’m going to throw my weight around a little bit” to get a playoff in place.

•Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas. The ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said “the BCS method of determining who is No. 1 consistently misfires.” He introduced legislation last week to force the sport to adopt a playoff.

•Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii. He and other House members have asked the Justice Department to investigate the BCS and possible antitrust violations.

•Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. He recently launched an investigation into whether the BCS violates federal antitrust laws.

This wouldn’t be the first time college football officials would appear before a congressional committee to talk about the BCS. The Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing in January 2006, but that didn’t change the format.

—————————

Obama raps Bowl Championship Series: ‘We need a playoff’

(CNN) — President-elect Barack Obama left no doubt about his position on the hottest topic in the world of college football.

Florida came out on top over Oklahoma in Thursday night’s BCS championship game.

“We need a playoff,” Obama told reporters after being asked about Florida’s 24-14 victory over Oklahoma in Thursday night’s BCS championship game. “If I’m Utah, or if I’m USC or if I’m Texas, I might still have some quibbles.”

Since its inception in 1998, the NCAA’s Bowl Championship Series has weathered criticism from nearly all directions.

The BCS is the system that chooses the contenders for college football’s most prominent postseason games: the Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar bowls, as well the National Championship game, which this year put Oklahoma against Florida.

The BCS relies on a compilation of polls and rankings instead of, to the consternation of many, actual competition.

Florida, Oklahoma and Texas all finished the season with one loss. Texas actually handed Oklahoma its one defeat in October on a neutral field.

When the BCS computer system put Florida and Oklahoma in this year’s national championship game, the annual back-and-forth over whether to have a college football playoff system was reignited.

Utah was the only college football team to finish the season undefeated, but its conference is considered less competitive and therefore was put at a statistical disadvantage in the BCS.

Friday was not the first time Obama stated his preference for a playoff system.

“It would add three extra weeks to the season,” Obama said in a “60 Minutes” interview just after his election. “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.”

Each year, Republicans and Democrats alike are angered by what they see as inherent unfairness in the BCS arrangement. In 2008, legislators — for one reason or another — drafted legislation to invalidate the BCS on grounds that it misdirects commerce. 

In an April resolution, the House of Representatives formally, if not forcibly, condemned the BCS as “an illegal restraint of trade that violates the Sherman Anti-Trust Act” and also urged the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division to investigate. Since this resolution, though, no serious action has been pursued.

On Thursday, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, reintroduced the College Football Playoff Act of 2008.

The bill, originally introduced December 10, would “prohibit, as an unfair and deceptive act or practice, the promotion, marketing, and advertising of any post-season NCAA Division I football game as a national championship game unless such game is the culmination of a fair and equitable playoff system.”

If passed, this bill would apply to any game that occurs after January 31, 2011. It would be enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission.

Barton said Thursday that those watching the championship game are being “bamboozled.”

“This year’s BCS failure proves once again that it’s time for college football to come up with a fair way to determine its champion,” he said in a statement. “It does pit two very worthy teams against each other, but can anyone say unequivocally that the winner will be the best team in the country?”

The BCS governing body — made up of the commissioners from all NCAA Division I-A conferences; the athletics director from Notre Dame, which isn’t affiliated with a conference; and representatives from each bowl organization — announced in spring 2008 that the system would be used through at least the 2014 season.

Later, ESPN outbid Fox for a four-year television rights deal with the BCS. To begin in 2011, this contract rests on the understanding that the current system will remain in place.

Barton, the ranking Republican in the Energy and Commerce Committee, represents the 6th District of Texas. Two of his co-sponsors, Republican Reps. Michael McCaul and Lamar Smith, represent districts 10 and 21, respectively — two of the four districts that collectively represent Austin, home of the University of Texas.

Regardless of lawmakers’ personal affiliation with home teams, the official motivation for college football reform is the same as for any similar economic reform: to help the little guy compete.

The BCS is composed of eleven conferences. The six traditionally dominant conferences — the Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pacific 10 and Southeastern — are guaranteed at least one berth in one of the BCS bowls. Each year, they are awarded $18 million, plus $4.5 million for each additional team that appears in a bowl game. Meanwhile, only one team from the smaller conferences — Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt and Western Athletic — is given this opportunity.

For the 2006-07 postseason, an average of $25.5 million in revenue was awarded per large conference, while the small conferences averaged $5 million each.

As the argument goes, the larger postseason earnings provide an advantage — in athletic recruiting, as well as for each university as a whole — to the “power” conferences.

This is not the first time lawmakers have voiced their discontent.

In 2005, Barton summoned a BCS official before an Energy and Commerce subcommittee, but legislation did not result.

And in 2003, both the House and Senate Judiciary committees held oversight hearings to examine the BCS system, though the combined result yielded not much more than a sound bite from current Vice President-elect Joe Biden:

“It looks un-American. … It looks like a rigged deal.”

———————————

Buckeyes personify why BCS must go

Sunday, Jan. 04, 2009

Trojans Roll, With No Title to Show for It

PASADENA, Calif. — Playoff anyone?

Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

The Trojans quarterback Mark Sanchez celebrated with teammate Butch Lewis (68) after throwing a pass for a touchdown against Penn State in the second quarter.

If many Southern California players spent the last month wondering aloud about the shame of not getting a crack at Florida, Texas, Oklahoma or anyone else with a high-octane offense and a tin-can defense, they might have company.

The fifth-ranked Trojans burnished their reputation as big-game players Thursday by running roughshod over sixth-ranked Penn State, 38-24, before 93,293 fans in the 95th Rose Bowl.

U.S.C. (12-1) rolled up the Pasadena Freeway with the nation’s top-ranked defense and a question mark of an offense, but they left behind only an exclamation point after quarterback Mark Sanchez passed for four touchdowns and a career-high 413 yards, the second-highest total in Rose Bowl history behind the 456 thrown by Oregon’s Danny O’Neil against Penn State in 1995.

The Trojans led by 24 points at halftime, having scored more points than Penn State had allowed in a game all season.

“In all due respect to those great programs,” U.S.C. Coach Pete Carroll said of Oklahoma and Florida, who will play for the national championship next week, “I don’t think anybody can beat us. We’ve been this way a lot of times at the end of the season. This is a terrific finishing program. Right now, there are so many things we can do. I just wish we could keep playing.”

In the last six seasons, the Trojans have beaten Iowa, Michigan (twice), Oklahoma, Illinois and now Penn State in major bowls — all by at least 14 points. They have won 27 of their last 28 nonconference games dating to 2002. The only loss was a 41-38 defeat against Texas in the Rose Bowl for the 2005 national championship.

And as for the supposed weakness of the competition in the Pacific-10 Conference, for which the Trojans were punished by poll voters? It finished the bowl season 5-0.

“We feel like we can go toe to toe with anybody,” Trojans linebacker Rey Maualuga said. “But unless they go to a playoff, they’ll never give the respect to the team that should be in the national championship.”

If the Trojans appeared ready for all comers, Penn State looked like so many other Big Ten teams that have headed west — ill-equipped to handle a passing offense.

The Nittany Lions (11-2) stayed in their base 4-3 defense, and dropped into a zone even as U.S.C. went to three- and four-receiver sets. Sanchez poked holes in the zone all day, and when Penn State turned to a rare tactic — blitzing — he produced several big plays.

“They blitzed a lot more than they have, but we were prepared for it,” said U.S.C.’s offensive coordinator, Steve Sarkisian, who is leaving to become the head coach at Washington. “We wanted to block them up and throw it down the field.”

When Sanchez sidestepped a blitz on third-and-13 from the U.S.C. 36 late in the first half, he hit a wide-open Damian Williams on a crossing route for 17 yards.

On the next play, Sanchez threw a 19-yard strike to Ronald Johnson, putting U.S.C. ahead by 24-7 with 1 minute 24 seconds left in the half.

“A 4-foot-10 guy could catch some of the passes that Mark was throwing,” Penn State cornerback Lydell Sargeant said. Penn State appeared to gain a spark when Stephfon Green, its speediest player, took a short pass and raced toward midfield. But he was stripped of the ball, and the Trojans recovered. Five plays later, Sanchez dumped a screen to C. J. Gable and he wove his way 20 yards for a touchdown with 36 seconds left before halftime, making it 31-7.

Green’s fumble was typical of the way the game went for Penn State. Whenever its hopes were raised, they were quickly brought back down. Aaron Maybin stripped the ball from Sanchez and Penn State recovered at the U.S.C. 34 while the game was scoreless, but Maybin was penalized for lining up offside. Six plays later, Sanchez fired a touchdown pass to Williams. After the Nittany Lions crept within 31-14 early in the fourth quarter, U.S.C. answered quickly when Sanchez threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Johnson, who was 10 yards behind the defense.

The Nittany Lions, who were the third-least-penalized team in the country, were flagged seven times in the first half alone, matching their season-high for a game.

“The first half we just seemed to do things that we have not done all year,” said Penn State’s Joe Paterno, who coached from the press box; he had hip replacement surgery in late November. “I’m a little disappointed we weren’t more competitive.”

Penn State mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 points and getting the ball back twice in the final minutes in an attempt to pare the deficit to under two touchdowns. But both possessions ended when quarterback Daryll Clark was intercepted — including in the end zone on the final play.

That set off a joyous celebration for U.S.C. Its marching band played “Conquest,” and Sanchez, named the game’s offensive most valuable player, stood atop a ladder as the conductor.

Whether it was a swan song is uncertain. Sanchez, a junior, is considering leaving for the N.F.L. “I don’t know how I can leave all this,” he said. “It is so fun.”

During their second-quarter blitz, the Trojan players bounced up and down on the sideline as if they were performing a ritual dance. Their enthusiasm was so boisterous that Carroll said a team official received a call at halftime warning the Trojans that they could be penalized.

“That’s the most awesome thing I ever heard,” Carroll said. “We’re having so much fun they want a 15-yard penalty.”

———————

Are you ready for some football?

Author: Jay L Name: Jay L
on December 26, 2008 at 7:45 PM

—————–

12-15-08
Obama weighs in on college football

President-elect Barack Obama will have lots of important issues, such as the economy, two wars and global warming, facing him when he becomes the 44th president of the United States next month.

But Obama has made up his mind on one important sports issue: He wants a college football playoff. The president-elect said during a recent interview, “I think any sensible person would say that.… We should be creating a playoff system. Eight teams, that would be three rounds to determine a national champion.…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.… I think it’s the right thing to do.”

I agree with our future president. I think a college football playoff would be great.

Under the current system, the national college football champion is decided by the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). Teams are evaluated by a complicated computer formula, and the two top-ranked teams play in the national championship game.

The latest BCS ratings have Oklahoma (12 wins, 1 loss) and Florida (12 wins, 1 loss) in the top two spots. But wait a minute: Texas (11-1) beat Oklahoma 45-35 when the teams played in October. Why aren’t the Longhorns ranked ahead of the Sooners? And how about Utah (12-0), Alabama (12-1) or Penn State (11-1)? They have had terrific seasons, too.

The only fair way to find out which team is the best, as our president-elect has said, is to have a playoff among the top eight teams. After all, almost every college sport decides its national champion on the field of play.

But I also hope that college football fans noticed everything our next president said. Obama said college teams could “trim back on the regular season.” In other words, if college football teams and fans want a playoff system, they should give up at least one or two games during the regular season.

That makes sense. Most big-time college football teams play 12 games during the season plus a league championship. If they added three games for an eight-team playoff, some teams would play 16 games. That’s a pro schedule! College players are supposed to be student-athletes.

Obama’s suggestion to shorten the regular season also makes sense because that is how people work out problems, whether the problems are big or small. You may have to give up something you already have in order to get something you want even more.

Kids know this. For example, sometimes kids have to prove they can do household chores before they get a pet.

If the president-elect can solve the BCS mess, maybe he is ready to tackle the country’s biggest problems.

Fred Bowen writes sports novels for kids.

——————–

12-14-08

Playoff for college’s top division would make sense, money

Commentary

By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
From the late stages of August to the opening week of December, college football provides the most exciting three-plus months in all of sports.

From the anti-climatic BCS selection show to the final whistle of the so-called national championship game, the excitement of the college football season turns into a month (or longer) of ho-hum matchups, all culminating with the only game that really seems to matter.

It is time for a change, and fortunately our president-elect agrees. So does most anyone who isn’t affiliated with our college football bowl system.

There was a time when bowl games meant something. They were a reward for a great season, and only the best teams earned that distinction.

We now have 34 bowl games, which includes 68 teams. There are 119 Division I teams. That means just 51 schools didn’t earn a bowl bid. Too bad. There should be other teams on the sidelines joining the likes of Michigan, Auburn, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Virginia, schools that didn’t qualify for the postseason.

Thank goodness there aren’t two more games. The only eligible schools not to get bowl bids were Louisiana-Lafayette, San Jose State, Bowling Green and Arkansas State. At least Lafayette would have brought with it the Rajun’ Cajuns, one of the great nicknames in all of sports.

How watered down is the bowl system? The ACC was the worst of the BCS conferences this season, and it placed 10 teams in the postseason, including one six-loss team and four five-loss squads. Only Virginia and Duke were left out.

Bowl games used to be a reward for a special season. Now it’s a reward for six wins and a .500 record. Nine schools with 6-6 records are bowling, including Florida Atlantic, Northern Illinois, Colorado State and even Notre Dame.

Do these teams really deserve to continue playing? Is really there excitement for an Independence Bowl that will feature Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois, a matchup made possible when the SEC didn’t have enough teams qualify for the postseason.

There’s also 17 teams still playing that compiled 7-5 records, while Hawaii finished with a 7-6 mark. Thirteen teams with eight wins are also bowling, but at least they only have four defeats, except for Buffalo, which has five.

Sure, all these games count to the teams that will play in them and their fans, many of whom will flock to wherever their favorite school lands. Of course, at this time next year, good luck finding anyone who remembers who won this month’s Cotton Bowl.

That’s not the issue with the BCS. Let the schools with the mediocre records have their bowl games, but give the other games a chance to mean something.

Who is to say that Florida and Oklahoma are the best teams in the land right now? There are slew of one-win teams that might beg to differ, including Texas, Alabama, Southern California, Texas Tech and Penn State. What about Cinderella? It works in basketball. Utah and Boise are undefeated, Ball State played one bad game. Give them a chance.

What about some of the two-loss teams? LSU won the BCS title last season with two defeats. Brigham Young, Texas Christian, Cincinnati and Ohio State only have two losses right now. Of course, in the Buckeyes’ case, that’s a good thing for all of us.

Every year it’s the same thing. There are a collection of teams near the top, and we let computers decide who the best two teams are. It’s happened again.

Apparently, Oklahoma is better than Texas even though the Longhorns beat the Sooners on the field in rather convincing fashion. Call that an oversight by the Big 12 to let the BCS rankings decide a divisional tie-breaker.

In most every other sport under the sun, there are playoffs. There is one in college football at every level, but the top. We’ve all heard the excuses, missed class time, difficulty of travel for fans and the length of the season.

Apparently, that hasn’t been a problem for Richmond and James Madison, a pair of Virginia schools that advanced to the Division I-AA (or whatever it is called now) semifinals.

It all comes down to — as with everything else — money. The schools don’t want to lose the money that’s thrown at them by these games.

Well, a playoff could make them even more money. The system is in place. An eight-team playoff would include the six conference winners and two at-large teams, exactly like it’s done now. Seed the teams 1-through-8 and let’s play ball.

True, someone will get left out, but that’s part of our ESPN-ruled world. Just ask Graham Harrell, who wasn’t invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremonies, like it’s his fault the Texas Tech defense allowed 65 points to Oklahoma. Or, ask any bubble team that doesn’t get invited to the NCAA Tournament in March.

Make the four major bowls the opening round of an eight-team playoff. The semifinals and a ‘real’ national title game would follow over the next two weeks. Done.

True, it would push the season further into January, put college football in competition with the NFL playoffs, and might make the big bowls swoon because their games might not have the same influence they once had. How is that different from what we have now?

How about cutting back on the regular season, and do we really need a month between games for Florida and Oklahoma? Two weeks between games for the Super Bowl is bad enough. We get four weeks (or longer) in college football.

Changes can and should be made. Will it happen? Well, Barack Obama has said he would ‘throw his weight’ around on the issue.

Combine Obama’s influence with ESPN’s money — they will control the BCS starting in 2011 — and it just might happen. After all, what television wants, they usually get.

——————-

Seton Hall Sports Poll on the BCS

OVER 60% OF AMERICANS AGREE WITH OBAMA THAT BCS

SHOULD BE REPLACED BY A PLAYOFF SYSTEM

But Overwhelming Majority Say, “Stay Out of It”

BCS SYSTEM IS FOUND WANTING BY LARGE MAJORITY OF FANS,

WITH LITTLE IMPROVEMENT OVER LAST TWO YEARS

S. Orange, NJ, December 8, 2008 – Sixty-two percent of Americans have told a Seton Hall Sports Poll that they agree with President-Elect Barack Obama’s call that the current BCS system for a national collegiate football champion should be replaced by an 8-team playoff.

Only 16% disagreed with his call for a playoff system.  35% think that his call will make a difference to those in charge.

However, 76% of those who responded to the telephone poll said that the President-elect should “stay out of it,”  while only 10% said he should use his influence.  Obama said in an interview last month that he “would throw his weight around a little bit.”

Fans who follow college football remain solidly behind the idea of a playoff system.  A Seton Hall Sports Poll in December 2006 found 78% of these fans calling for a tournament.  Two years later, with this latest poll, the number is at 77%, a statistical dead-heat.

One improvement found in the poll is that today 44% of who call themselves college football fans are very, or somewhat familiar with the BCS system, a seven percent increase from two years ago.

A majority also said Obama should stay out of all sports issues, including performance-enhancing drug use, and off-field misconduct.

“The confusion over the BCS system and the want of a playoff remains clear”, said Rick Gentile, director of the Seton Hall Sports Poll, conducted by the Sharkey Institute.  “What is also clear is that our incoming President is a passionate fan who is in the majority in his desire to see the system changed.”

By 48%-23% (with 29% not voicing an opinion), the national sample agreed that Obama’s plan for an 8-team playoff was the way to go.  When broken down among those who said they followed college football very or somewhat closely, 63% agreed with Mr. Obama, but 82% said, “stay out of it.”
Asked what sort of a playoff would be preferred if that system was adopted, those who follow college football found 38% favoring an 8-team playoff, with 33% citing 16 teams, and 12% voting for a 4-team playoff.

Even among those who follow the game, 27% said that college football did a poor job of selecting the national champion each year.

On the matter of the President-elect involving himself in other sports issues, 54% of all respondents said he should not involve himself, with only 23% supporting his involvement in the issue of performance-enhancing drugs.

In response to other poll questions, 31% of all respondents felt that GM dropping Tiger Woods as a Buick spokesman was a sign that corporations will be ending their sponsorships of sporting events and athletes, with 48% saying “no” to that inquiry.  Only 38% were able to identify Buick as the car he endorsed, with 63% either not knowing or naming a different car.

74% of all respondents said they were concerned about a bailout for Citicorp while the financial institution was still going through with paying $400 million for the naming rights to the new Mets’ stadium in New York.

The poll was conducted by telephone among a random digit dial sample of 932 adults ages 18 and older living in the continental United States between December 3-5, 2008, with  419 of them identifying themselves as college football fans.  The poll was weighted to reflect the national distribution age, race and gender. The margin of error due to sampling is +/- 3.3% percentage points for most estimates. Other factors also may affect the total error.

Contact: Marty Appel Public Relations 212 245-1772
Rick Gentile 917 881-9489

The results:

First column applies to all respondents.  Second column applies to those who follow college football (very or somewhat), shown only in questions that require breakdown.  Numbers are rounded off, causing some to add up to more than 100%.

1. To what extent do you follow college football: very closely, somewhat closely, not very closely or not at all?
1 - Very closely                 18%
2 - Somewhat closely        28%
3 - Not very closely           19%
4 - Not at all                       34%

2. Do you think college football does a good job, fair job, or poor job of selecting the national champion each year?
1 - Good job            24%            31%
2 - Fair job               25%            33%
3 - Poor job             18%            27%

3. Do you think there should be a tournament for college football teams along the lines of the basketball tournament in March?
1 - Yes               63%            77%
2 - No                16%            18%

4. (If yes to Question 3) How many teams do you think should be included in the championship tournament: 4, 8, 16, 32 or some other amount of teams?
Four                   11%            12%
Eight                   34%            38%
Sixteen               33%            33%
Thirty-two            8%              6%
Other                  8%               8%

5. College football uses a complex ranking system called the BCS poll.  How familiar are you with the various components that make up the BCS formula?  Are you very familiar, somewhat familiar, not very familiar, or not at all familiar?
1 - Very familiar                6%            12%
2 - Somewhat familiar     19%            32%
3 - Not very familiar         19%            28%
4 - Not at all familiar         44%            26%

6. What do you believe would be the best system for ranking the college football teams: winning percentage, coaches’ poll, media poll, or the BCS computer rankings?
1 - Winning percentage              39%            43%
2 - Coaches’ poll                        15%            23%
3 - Media poll                              4%              5%
4 - BCS computer rankings       13%            17%
5 - Other                                     4%              5%

7. Do you think the BCS formula should be altered to give ALL Division IA football teams an equal opportunity to play for the National Championship?
1 - Yes                                            61%        71%
2 - No                                             12%        18%
3 - Don’t know/refuse to answer    27%        11%

8. President-elect Obama has called for the replacement of the BCS with an 8-team playoff.  Do you agree with him?
1 - Yes                                        48%            63%
2 - No                                          23%            23%

9. Do you think the president-elect should use his influence to change the way the college football championship is decided or should he stay out of it?
1 - Should use his influence             11%        13%
2 - Should stay out of it                    76%        82%
3 - Don’t know/refuse to answer      14%          5%

10. Do you think it will make a difference to those in charge of the BCS that the president-elect wants a playoff system?
1 - Yes                                           35%        36%
2 - No                                             42%        53%
3 - Don’t know/refuse to answer    23%        12%

11. If president-elect Obama were to involve himself in only one of the following sports issues, which one should it be: college football championship, performance enhancing drug use by athletes, off-field misconduct by athletes, or should he not involve himself in any sports issues?
1 - College football championship                            6%
2 - Performance enhancing drug use by athletes    23%
3 - Off-field misconduct by athletes                          5%
4 - Should not involve himself                                 54%
5 - Don’t know/refuse to answer                             12%

12. By mutual agreement, General Motors and Tiger Woods ended their 9-year endorsement deal with one year remaining.  Do you think that GM and Tiger Woods ending their endorsement deal is a sign that corporations will be ending their sponsorships of sporting events?
1 - Yes                                           31%
2 - No                                            48%
3 - Don’t know/refuse to answer    21%

13. Which brand of General Motors car did Tiger Woods endorse?
1 – Buick                                       38%
2 - Other                                         9%
3 - Don’t know/refuse to answer    54%

14. Does it concern you that the taxpayers are bailing out Citicorp with 326 billion dollars while it is still going through with paying 400 million dollars for the naming rights to the new Mets’ stadium in New York?
1 - Yes                                            73%
2 - No                                             11%
3 - Don’t know/refuse to answer    16%

———————-

12/12/08

Republican house members push legislation that would force NCAA to adopt playoffs
Tim Weaver

———–

12/11/08

Want BCS support? Ask Big Ten’s Delany

By Mike Lopresti, Gannett News Service
DETROIT — The commissioner of the Big Ten wanted to make one thing clear from the start.

“I am not the face of the BCS,” Jim Delany said, sounding something like an innocent plea from traffic court.

But the Big Ten is one of the pillars of the system, and Delany one of its most articulate proponents. He is a reminder that the BCS is not a private and tone deaf business consortium, but an agreement among leagues to produce a national championship game to go with the bowls.

Now that we’re near the end of another stormy BCS hurricane season, it seemed a good time to toss the man a few basic questions. If not the face of the BCS, for a moment he can be the voice.

Reaction to Barack Obama’s call for an eight-team playoff?

“Everybody wants him to succeed. He’s probably got unprecedented support, so it’s very hard to be disagreeable with him on a subject. Having said that, the majority of the presidents and faculty and athletic directors and coaches in the Big Ten believe in the Rose Bowl and believe in the bowl system.”

Surprised by the heated debate each November?

“We never conceived it would come to what it became as quickly as it did. All of a sudden you’re a BCS president, a BCS commissioner. It was unbelievable. All it was, was a bunch of people saying, ‘Hey, we like the bowl system. Let’s see if we can come up with a 1 vs. 2 game, because only nine times in the previous 45 years did we have a 1-2 game.’

“We never imagined this amount of interest and controversy around it.”

How do you answer the charge the BCS is only doing this for the money?

“Six or so years ago, there was a presentation … that a billion or two billion dollars would be available in a playoff. So if we were interested in money, there is no doubt more money would be available in a playoff than there is in the bowl system, because of the way it is sold.”

So why keep it?

“There is nothing more powerful than the regular season in college football. All the games that were local are now regional. The regional games are now national. The level of interest of young people 12-17 was measured recently. I think NASCAR and the NFL gained 1%. College football gained 9%.

“I understand the paradigm of the American sports fan is to play it out. I know we’re swimming upstream on it. But we’ve grown the fan base, we’ve grown the regular season and we’ve maintained the postseason.”

The regular season is that important?

“Every other sport has devalued the regular season. You look at college basketball, and I would say there’s probably one must-see game during the regular season. Duke-North Carolina. What else? We don’t have that in college football. We have a lot of must-see games. CBS is covering it. NBC is covering it. ABC is covering it. ESPN is covering it. Fox is covering it. All regular-season games.

“I don’t want to see the regular season turned into a seeding process.

“The price (of a playoff) I think for a lot of us, is too high. The price of that buzz is the possibility of undermining 13 weeks of buzz.”

How about a playoff that also includes the bowls?

“There is no four-team playoff that won’t become an eight-team playoff. No eight-team playoff that won’t become 12. The political structure of college football is, if you have a playoff, be honest about it. Go to 16. There is no system that can also accommodate a bowl season. The bowl season is dead. Dead.”

At the end of the day, what would you most want people to understand about the BCS?

“That it is making an effort to do three things — preserve the bowl system, create a winner on the field based on a season’s work, and maintain college football as the most important regular season in all of sport.”

How’s it doing?

“It’s been incredibly successful. Controversial, and successful.”
——————–

12/9/08

From The Arizona Republic

USC wins ‘Obama Bowl’

No bets on this one, but here’s an 8-team football playoff scenario

Dec. 9, 2008 12:00 AM

The BCS rankings came in, bowl pairings are in place, and it’s going to be Oklahoma and Florida squaring off in the BCS National Championship Game.

We don’t have to tell you that Texas fans are about as happy as a bull that just became a steer about all this.

And it’s understandable when you consider that:

• Like Oklahoma and Florida, Texas’ “body of work” includes only one loss, and that was on the road to Texas Tech in a game ultimately determined by a sure interception that was - d’oh! - dropped.

• The Longhorns beat the bejeebers out of Oklahoma on a (sort of) neutral field.

• Florida lost at home to Ole Miss.

Of course, followers of Southern California, which stubbed its toe at Oregon State, and Penn State, which lost at Iowa, also can make an argument that they should get a shot.

Don’t even get us started on Utah, a BCS buster and the only unbeaten team in the BCS top eight.

Is it any wonder that even President-elect Barack Obama is calling for an eight-team playoff?

Well, for entertainment purposes - and possibly to score points with the incoming commander in chief - the folks at BetOnline.com projected an eight-team playoff based on the final BCS ratings.

“Flat out, college football needs a playoff,” BetOnline.com oddsmaker T.J. Kendrick said.

In the BetOnline tournament, first-round matchups would have top-seeded Oklahoma against No. 8 Penn State, No. 4 Alabama against No. 5 USC, No. 3 Texas against No. 6 Utah and second-seeded Florida against No. 7 Texas Tech.

Assuming existing bowls would be used, so the games would be on neutral fields, the oddsmakers saw Oklahoma, USC, Texas and Florida advancing to the semifinals.

Sorry, Texas fans, you didn’t make it to the hypothetical BCS Championship Game, either.

The oddsmakers made it a USC-Florida final, with the fifth-seeded Trojans winning what we think they ought to call “The Obama Bowl.”

—————————-

12/8/08

Obama Has Fans’ Support on College Football Playoff, Poll Finds

Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) — Almost two-thirds of Americans agree with President-elect Barack Obama that a playoff system should be used to determine a college football national champion, according to a Seton Hall University sports poll.

Sixty-three percent of those surveyed said a tournament should replace the Bowl Championship Series standings, formulated by two polls and six computer rankings. Under the BCS format, its two top-ranked teams play for the national title even if other schools have the same or better records.

Thirty-four percent of those surveyed said a playoff should include eight teams. Of the respondents, 35 percent said that Obama’s input won’t make a difference.

Obama said in an interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes” program last month that he “would throw his weight around a little bit” regarding the BCS system and its method of matching up the two best teams.

The University of Oklahoma and the University of Florida will play in this season’s title game on Jan. 8 after finishing atop the final BCS standings yesterday.

While many agree with Obama, 76 percent of those polled said the president-elect should “stay out of it,” and only 10 percent said he should use his influence.

The random telephone poll of 932 adults was taken from Dec. 3-5, with 419 of the respondents identifying themselves as college football fans.

In response to other poll questions, 74 percent of said they were concerned about Citigroup Inc. going forward with its $400 million naming-rights deal for the New York Mets’ new stadium after receiving a government bailout.

Thirty-one percent said they felt that General Motors Corp.’s termination of its Buick sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods was a sign that other companies would follow suit with their sponsorships of athletes and sporting events.

——————

• 8 teams

• 3 rounds

• 1 true champion