Here’s the funny thing about college football’s new playoff: It was designed by men who, until about five minutes ago, hated playoffs. It’s like Bart Giamatti writing the text for Pete Rose’s Hall of Fame plaque. Or Jonathan Vilma nominating Roger Goodell for the Nobel Peace Prize. But if, like me, you’re suspicious of playoffs, you can see a certain genius at work.

The first thing the playoff-hating playoff architects wanted to do was keep the thing small. So they devised a four-team format. “A four-team playoff doesn't go too far; it goes just the right amount,” Virginia Tech’s president explained, sounding like he was reading The Three Bears.

In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Tuesday.

• An NCAA presidential oversight committee approved a four-team college football playoff that will take effect in 2014 and run at least through 2025. "I can't wait for the looks on everyone's faces when they realize the new system is just as corrupt and ineffective," said one president, who kept rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Especially the older fans, when it dawns on them that they'll probably be dead before anything changes."