IT IS TIME FOR A PLAYOFF - Chapter 1A - Background, Part 2

I didn't know this... but, does it ever fit right into all the reason's why we need a playoff.

The president-elect has already called for a college football playoff. Now he should go one better and simply declare a champion of this broken system. That’s what happened in 1969.

By William R. Mattox Jr.

I don't know whether our president-elect has a Machiavellian streak. But Barack Obama certainly endeared himself to millions of college football fans (like me) when he recently declared his enthusiastic support for an eight-team postseason playoff to decide the national championship.

(Dec. 6, 1969: President Nixon, second from left, attends “The Big Shootout” football game between Texas and Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark. At right is Rep. George H.W. Bush, R-Texas / AP file photo)

And the best way I know for our emperor-in-waiting to expose the naked truth about the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) would be for Obama to present a National Championship plaque to the winner of Thursday's Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, Calif.

Now, I'm sure that probably sounds crazy to folks who believe that this season's "real" championship will be played Jan. 8 in Miami. But there's actually a precedent for the championship to be determined by presidential decree. And by honoring the winner of the Rose Bowl between Penn State and Southern California, Obama might even be able to right a wrong committed by a not-so-Galloping Ghost of College Football Past.

Nixon's Southern (football) Strategy

On Dec. 6, 1969, the Texas Longhorns and Arkansas Razorbacks squared off in a gridiron battle that some observers called "The Game of the Century" because it matched two unbeaten teams in the final regular season game of college football's centennial year.

The game, which Texas rallied to win 15-14, garnered an incredible rating of 50 share, meaning half the TV sets in the USA were tuned in to ABC's coverage. It also attracted the attention of President Nixon, who not only attended the game but also fulfilled a promise to present a plaque proclaiming the winning team the "National Champions."

Nixon's audacious plaque presentation might have been about more than just football: Texas and Arkansas were electoral "swing" states in presidential elections back then. Whatever its purpose, Nixon's decree certainly annoyed Penn State head coach (and lifelong Republican) Joe Paterno, whose team finished the season undefeated — for the second straight year!

After hearing numerous complaints, Nixon tried to make amends by offering to give Penn State a plaque for having college football's longest active winning streak. But this conciliatory gesture didn't go over very well. When told of Nixon's offer, Paterno said, "Tell the president to take that trophy and shove it." Several years later, in a commencement speech, Paterno asked, "How could Nixon know so much about college football in 1969 and so little about Watergate in 1973?"

The obvious moral to this story is that college football championships should be decided on the field — not by presidential decree or by having a beauty-pageant-like panel of judges pick from among the contestants.

Yet, four decades after Nixon's announcement, the "system" for determining the major college champion is still a political football. The problem, in most years, is that more than two teams can make a compelling case for being included in the BCS title game.

William R. Mattox Jr. is a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors.

Posted at 12:17 AM/ET, December 31, 2008 Link to complete article.

IT IS TIME FOR A PLAYOFF - List of Articles (with links)

Chapter 1 - Background
Chapter 1A - Background, Part 2
Chapter 2 - Example of Problem
Chapter 3 - Jim Ruppert’s Bowl Schedule
Chapter 4 - Another Point of View
Chapter 5 - Case Against 8 or 16 teams
Chapter 6 - Congress Gets Involved
Chapter 7 - Alternative 16 Team Plan
Chapter 8 - And More…
Chapter 9 - As I See It