Here are my “Thoughts of the Day.”

As we approach the beginning of a New Year, I am going to pledge to myself, and you, too, that I will try to keep these shorter (good luck, Gene) and to offer them more often (good luck, reader).

I hope they will spur some “thoughts” from and by you, too, and help promote some ideas to help improve the greatest sport ever created. OUR game.

If some of my “thoughts” anger you, that’s OK. Even the best of friends don’t always agree. But I ask that instead of getting mad, that you offer a better “thought” or resolution rather than just angry words. Ideas can make things better. Angry words seldom do.

If some of my “thoughts” make you happy, that’s great. But remember, too, they are just thoughts. And, for good thoughts to truly mean anything other than a warm feeling inside, then these words must be followed by some action. So, let’s agree to be move forward.

If some of my “thoughts” make some sense, then I am lucky to have found the right keys to my mind and my computer — at the same time. And, I hope that these words can and will motivate change for the better in both ourselves and our world.

If some of my “thoughts” are non-sensical, then I am happy to have made you laugh both them and me away. After all, not every seed sewn can produce great results. If they did, all would be judged as just standard, and, thus, mediocre. Right?

So here’s your seeds for today:

Notre Dame’s Absence From College Playoffs Is Due to a Flawed Platform; Nothing More, Nothing Less:

I have found it quite interesting to watch and read about all the angst that has followed the announcement of the 12 college football teams that will make up this year’s expanded NCAA playoffs.

I see the anger that has been spewed by all those connected to and fans of Notre Dame — the golden domers of high rollers.

I see the gracious and knowledgable acceptance speeches from those associated with Vanderbilt, a school of the quick  learners and high achievers.

I see the excuses mustered by those commissioned by the NCAA to make the selections, woeful and inexcusable as they are.

I see, and God Almighty, I hear the gnashing of teeth of all the self-proclaimed and anointed TV and Radio sports pontificators, who think if they just yell louder that their puny arguments will be more logical and effective.

But let’s be honest here folks. This debate should not rival the discussions about cease fires in Gaza or land swaps in the Ukraine.

And, let’s double down on the honesty factor, too. This debate is due to a very flawed system, not a flawed Committee. A system that simply cannot be fixed without starting all over. Period.

Ugh.

The fact is, though, you cannot and will not have the best 12 teams invited to this year’s playoff — or any subsequent playoff in the future — if the selection Committee is forced by some governing authority or mythical agreement to take teams that are not and will never be good enough to quality on their own merits.

In other words?

You cannot force two square teams — that have no business being in this group or in this conversation — and force them into a round opening. To do so is unfair. To do so is unrealistic. To do so will undoubtedly leave a more deserving, a more qualified, and, more importantly, a better team out of the playoffs. Every time.

Simply put?

You cannot — today or ever — put the best 12 teams into what is essentially a 10-team playoff without leaving someone who has a rational and legit argument at the train station.

You just cannot.

When you must begin the discussion by recognizing teams — such as James Madison and Tulane — are going to be wedged into the football tournament, you must acknowledge to the world that the playoffs are not now, nor will there ever be intended to include the best 12 teams in college football.

Don’t get me wrong.

James Madison may be a good team, capable of winning a lot of games against foes that are of similar size and construct.

Tulane may be a good team, too. The Green Wave has come a long way since the days of the devastating hurricane that left the city of New Orleans and the world in a tidal wave of despair.

I’m sure they have some good players.

I’m sure they used to have some good coaches, before they vaulted and vanned off to bigger schools that have a legit way of earning their respective ways into the college playoffs.

But, I’m sure, too, they are not two of the top 12 teams in all of college football.

I’m sure they are not as good as Notre Dame, who could have played itself into the tournament without all the drama if they were simply good enough to have beaten Miami to begin the season.

I’m sure they are not as good as Vanderbilt, either. The Commodores could have won their way into the tourney, as well, by beating either Texas or Alabama.

And, I’m sure they are not as good as Alabama, who, in my mind, would have been the team that should have been left out rather than either Vandy or Notre Dame.

When this foolish and nonsensical tournament format was somehow sold to the super powers and mid-sized schools combined — over a year ago — didn’t everyone know then that this approach was not going to work?

Didn’t they know then that someone was going to be left on the porch, just a swinging?

Didn’t they know that the college’s respective schools of architecture had to know this format was built to fail? Built on sinking sand?

Is this what you get from a bunch of college people, or a Committee? Or both?

Truth be known — and we all know that the truth is hard to come by — Notre Dame and all the rest of the major football schools in the country should have never agreed to this format in the beginning.

Maybe Notre Dame didn’t think it would be affected, after all, they are God’s school, right?

But if the powers want to have the best 12 teams in the playoffs at the end of the year, you simply can’t give vouchers to teams that don’t belong. It doesn’t work. It can’t work.

In the Spring, when we all ache for March Madness, and we all gather around the TV sets to search and watch for the next “Cinderella,” it is a glad and happy time. Cinderellas come. Cinderellas go. But they are fun to watch.

But there is a big difference in waiting for those Cinderellas to appear magically in front of us, dressed in upset attire, and James Madison and Tulane.

In March Madness, the Cinderellas are made. They make themselves appear. They make themselves real. They are not selected and force-fed into a system where they do not belong — such as the college football playoffs.

Until such time that this flawed system is fixed, there will be teams screwed. And, with this much money at stake? There will be cries of foul.

And…

There will always be a “Notre Dame,” no matter who the school wants to blame.