A couple sites the last couple days have response to a playoff question earlier this week during an epic Q&A with the South Bend Tribune, which sounds pretty pessimistic:

Q: What do you think of a college football playoff? Do you like the idea? Do you think we'll see one in your lifetime?

A: "There is zero momentum for it. I was on a panel recently in New York at a conference with three other athletic directors. We were all asked what percentage of college presidents did we think would be interested in a college football playoff. And among the four athletic directors' answers, the highest percentage anyone said was 15 percent."

"Zero" is very precise, so some research must be informing that number. Based on that research, what percentage of presidents were interested in a playoff five years ago, before Bernie Machen, Michael Adams and T.K. Wetherell publicly vouched and/or openly advocated for the idea? How many commanders in chief, grandstanding congressmen and attorneys general were using the power of their office to stump for a playoff when the current system was cobbled together a decade ago? How many championship coaches called publicly for change? How many reporters were asking the question?

Maybe it's going to take a while, but "a while" is not "never," and "zero," after the firestorm of the last month, doesn't even make sense -- except in one regard: Actually, zero percent to 15 in a few years sounds like substantial momentum to me.