In June of 2012, university presidents approved a plan to stage a four-team playoff to determine college football's national champion.

The lead paragraph of The Washington Post's story read:

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After years of debate, charges of favoritism, and harangues from fans and members of the media, major college football will finally determine its champion the way virtually every other sport does: on the field.

That paragraph by itself should be required reading amid playoff-expansion fever that seems to be sweeping the nation -- or maybe just the national media -- lately.