For years, many fans, coaches and sportswriters have rallied for a playoff system to pick a national champion in big-time college football. Many college presidents have opposed such a system, arguing that an extended season would hurt players' academic standing. It now appears that playoff advocates have won the day, with the men who run the 12 biggest conferences in college sports -- those in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Football Bowl Subdivision -- finally agreeing that college football needs a playoff.
But that doesn't mean academics lost out so much as that money won out. ...