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Obama congratulates Florida, calls for playoff |
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By Reid Wilson
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Posted: 01/09/09 12:37 PM [ET] |
The morning after the University of Florida won college football's national championship, President-elect Obama reiterated his call for a formal playoff to replace the Bowl Championship Series.
Obama, who has said he supports a playoff system instead of the current ranking system, congratulated the Gators on Friday for their 24-14 win over the University of Oklahoma. Obama noted that a Secret Service agent who had led his protective detail had a son playing left tackle for the Gators.
Still, Obama pointed to at least three other teams he said had legitimate claims to the national championship. Like Florida, the University of Southern California and the University of Texas all finished the season with just one loss. Those two were legitimate contenders to play in the championship game.
The third contender is the University of Utah, which finished the season ranked second in the Associated Press poll after winning all 12 of its regular season games and easily handling fourth-ranked Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Utah plays in the Mountain West Conference, one of the non-BCS conferences.
"If I'm Utah, if I'm USC, or if I'm Texas, I may still have some quibbles. And you've heard my pitch," Obama said at a news conference Friday. "That's why we need a playoff."
Florida, USC, Texas and Oklahoma are all members of conferences with guaranteed spots in one of the five BCS bowls. BCS rankings are determined by combining two national polls and a series of computer rankings.
Obama has repeatedly called for an eight-team playoff for college football, echoing critics of the BCS - including top coaches and sportswriters - who say the current system can leave the best teams without a chance to compete for the national title.
He even made the comments, controversial in the sports world, one night before he was elected president.
"It is about time that we had playoffs in college football. You know, I'm fed up with these computer rankings and this and that and the other," Obama said when asked in an ESPN interview at halftime of Monday Night Football on Nov. 3 what one thing he would change in sports. "Get eight teams, the top eight teams right at the end, you got a playoff, decide on a national champion."
Obama reiterated the sentiment in an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" eleven days after the election. "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," Obama told interviewer Steve Kroft.
University of Oregon President David Frohnmayer, who chairs the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, has opposed efforts to create a playoff system, saying it would reduce the importance of the regular season.
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