The President-Elect Calls for a Playoff System in Major College Football

A huge majority of college football fans favor a playoff system to decide a national champion. Two or more teams could finish the season undefeated with the decision on the national champion left to computer rankings and a poll of coaches. But to date, university presidents and athletic directors have been reluctant to change the present bowl system which has provided huge revenues to its participants.

But President-elect Barack Obama has twice made a point to advocate a playoff system. In his recent interview on 60 Minutes, Obama stated, “I think any sensible person would say that if you got a bunch of teams and there’s no decisive winner, that we should be creating a playoff system. I don’t know any serious fan of college football that disagrees with me on this. So, I’m going to throw my weight around a little bit. It’s the right thing to do.”

If Obama were successful in establishing a college football playoff, he would gain a great deal of political support from the one group with which he fared the worst in this month’s election — white men.

Copyright © 2008. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. All rights reserved.