Presidents against playoff

— -- INDIANAPOLIS -- Ninety percent? Are you serious? "Ninety" percent?

I pulled NCAA president Myles Brand off to the side here today and asked a question my mother, an educator, had proposed over dinner one night.

We know that many fans and coaches and players want a Division I-A college football playoff. And we know, according to Brand, that school presidents don't.

But what percentage are opposed to it? As my mother, a playoff backer, had suggested, have we ever asked a roomful of presidents to raise their hands if they'd consider it?

"We did that," Brand told me on the first day of the 100th annual NCAA convention. "And only a handful were open to it."

"Well, what's a handful?" I asked.

"Ninety percent," he said, "were against it."

Yikes. Bad news for all of us. Then Brand added a modicum of good news.

"The new BCS coordinator Mike Slive," Brand said, "is open to ideas."

Ah, my man Mike Slive of the Southeastern Conference. I know you're here somewhere. Let's grab lunch and talk about this. Brand had just finished heading a session about "life balance" for NCAA athletic administrators. Turns out, they, like the rest of us, work too hard.

But after listening to five testimonials from people who nearly convinced me to focus more on family and health and -- well -- vacations, it occurred to me that coaches don't exactly focus on those things.

I mentioned Bill Snyder's post-retirement remarks to Brand. The former Kansas State coach apologized to his family, of course, for not spending more time with them. It's a typical tale.

"Look at [Colts] coach [Tony] Dungy," Brand said. "When he came back from that awful affair, he went and brought his son with him on the field. There is nothing wrong with bringing your kids to work. You don't have to isolate yourself. Even our coaches can reach out to other human beings. They are human beings."

What was your reaction to the recent discovery of diploma mill high schools?
"Well, we don't know how many there are. It was a very well-reported story. But I was disappointed that the focus was on the athletes when thousands of students had gone through and less than 30 were high school student-athletes. These are people that are certified as literate and are affecting the public health and well-being of all of us. Still, it's legal fraud. The state of Florida and states in general need to prosecute. One of the problems is there is no accrediting for private high schools in Florida and for the majority of states in the country."

How do you feel about the proposed legislation here for Division I football players to be allowed five years of eligibility?
"We should do it. Let's do away with the redshirting. Let's forget about the red tape of redshirting and injury years off. The coaches want it and they're right. Drop the one-year waivers. It's a 12-game season. Let the coaches use the full squad. And we don't have to change the rule. If you're three years out of high school you can go to the pros. It can stay that way and it will provide more opportunities for more players."

Do you really want to see 6-6 teams eligible for bowl games as will probably be finalized here?
"Sure. It doesn't bother me at all. They're secondary and tertiary bowls anyway. It just gives more teams an opportunity for postseason. What's that, 50 percent of the teams with a chance to play? When I was at Oregon, we hadn't been to a bowl in years and we made the Poulan Weedeater Bowl. And it was special. It was special for the fans. It was cold. And we sat on frozen seats. But it was loud and we enjoyed every minute of it."

•  Take a guess at which sport the NCAA says causes the highest percentage of gambling problems? It's golf. That's right. Golf.

•  They'll discuss here allowing basketball teams to play out-of-country road tournaments every season as opposed to two out of four.

•  The U.S. Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Richard Carmona, a speaker here, told me he saw ESPN's three-part series on obesity in the NFL (I reported one of the pieces) and that he enjoyed it.

"In athletes, obesity is less likely than in the average person, for whom it directly relates to diabetes and heart disease and stroke," Carmona said. "We shouldn't use this as the model in obese athletes, however, because they're better conditioned."

Turns out Carmona is from New York. Nice guy. Humble. Told me only one state requires physical education for grade school students.

Know which one?

Illinois.

Now that's best news Ron Zook has gotten in a while.