The old man has written another article, and this one touches on a subject close to all our hearts...

The Charleston Daily Mail Wrote:College football needs a playoff
by Bill Smith
For the Daily Mail
Friday November 13, 2009

Thirty years ago, I campaigned for a college football playoff.

It fell on deaf ears then, and I'm sure those who govern the college game haven't acquired hearing aids.

Also, I wrote not too long ago that I didn't know why there isn't a playoff, and a reader e-mailed, "You say you don't know why, why not?"

I really did know why. It doesn't take a genius. It's money.

Everyone wants a slice of that gigantic pie. Why do you think there are all those bowl games? At last count there were 34. There are only 120 Division I teams.

You can't tell me more than half of them are good enough to play in a bowl. I have nothing against the University of Kentucky. UK is a fine school, but it went to the Liberty Bowl last year and was tied for last place in the Southeastern Conference's East Division with a 2-6 record.

Football programs at major schools today suck up money like giant vacuum sweepers. And they want more. And then they want more. They have to do that to keep up with the Joneses.

They build private stadium boxes for the big spenders. They construct state-of-art weight rooms and locker rooms. They built indoor practice facilities. They have the best equipment money can buy. They pay coaches mind-boggling sums of money. They spend enormous sums recruiting players.

They keep raising ticket prices, and raising the donations a fan must give for the honor of purchasing said ticket. I have a friend who said his two season tickets for seven home games figured out to be approximately $52 per, and that doesn't count his mandatory donation to the program.

Should American institutions of higher learning be involved in such shenanigans?

Back to my thoughts on a playoff:

The old argument has always been that it would take the student-athletes out of class too much. That doesn't wash.

In case you haven't noticed, teams now play games on almost every night of the week for TV money and exposure, and often travel long distances to those games. I'm sure the players miss a class or two.

I heard an "expert" say that a team like Cincinnati isn't good enough to play for a national title. Pardon me. Didn't a team named Utah clobber mighty Alabama, 31-17, in last year's Sugar Bowl?

The powers-that-be could pick the top eight teams and let them play. It would take three more games - a total of 15. That's all. As it is now, unbeaten Florida, or maybe unbeaten Alabama, will no doubt play unbeaten Texas in the national championship this season. All will play 14 games.

Yes, I know if eight teams were picked, then the team that thought it was No. 9 would be unhappy. And if 16 were picked, then No. 17 would be unhappy. It's the nature of the beast.

If they can manage playoffs in Division II and Division III, then they ought to be able to do the same in Division I.

Some argue they already have the BCS (Bowl Championship Series).

Does anyone know what that is?

I can tell you. It's absolutely nothing. It isn't a series of any kind. A championship series implies a playoff of some sort.

Cincinnati, Boise State and TCU are the only other unbeaten teams. If somehow they should run the table, does anyone honestly believe they have a chance of playing for the national championship?

Yeah, when elephants fly.

If any of three should do it, they should have a chance to prove how good they are on the field, and not be judged for title game eligibility on the basis of information fed into a machine. I am leery of machines that are smarter than I am.

I remember the late Steve Harrick, who coached baseball at West Virginia. He used to put a tape measure around the chest of players he was recruiting.

I asked, "Why do you do that, Steve?"

He said, "I'm measuring their motors."

Computers do not measure the motors of these young men.

An eight-team playoff might do that. Anything would be an improvement over what they have now.