Morgantown, West Virginia – Diminutive West Virginia University President E. Gordon Gee just might be one of the most powerful men in college sports right now.
Gee is one of eleven people who holds a vote as a member of the college football playoff management committee. This committee is voting on expanding the college football playoff to 12 teams – something that virtually every major program in the country wants – and Gee is now 100% opposed to allowing it to happen.
To make things even more interesting, the vote on playoff expansion must be unanimous to happen and Gee is not going to vote “yes” to it until West Virginia University’s future is more certain.
Gee told Charles Montgomery of The Daily Athenaeum, “I was a strong advocate for the 12-team playoff. I am now no longer, because I think with this changing environment, we want to keep it very narrow and keep it so there is a lot of opportunity to reconfigure what we’re doing in athletics.”
In other words, there’s far too much uncertainty in college sports and for West Virginia University in particular.
“I think it is on life support now,” Gee told Montgomery. “I have one of the votes and I think it nearly needs to be unanimous, and I’m not voting for it.”
Gee knows that he holds the key to the future of college sports in his hands and he’s certainly wise to vote “no” until West Virginia’s future is more certain.
Gee’s vote could lead a conference like the ACC to reach out and invite West Virginia University in order to persuade him to vote “yes” for college football expansion.
College athletics is a huge business and there’s no one more powerful or influential than E. Gordon Gee. Gee will do what’s right for West Virginia University before all else, and he could be just the factor that leads the Mountaineers to the ACC Conference.
