Since BYU won the national championship in 1984, the same teams that are now called P5 vowed never to let an outsider from their group win it again. They made a cartel, a mafia. They called it various names over the years: Bowl Alliance, Bowl Championship Series, College Football Playoff. They would offer a scrap of recognition to a single outsider in order to appear fair, while they kept the money, glory and recruiting for themselves.

It really is a mafia.