The Land-Grant Trophy, incase you somehow forgot, is the most beautiful, historically significant, prestigious trophy in all of college football. However, it appears that James Franklin has lost sight of that fact with each passing year that he is estranged from that gorgeous block of wood.

In light of his recent comments, Franklin seems to have forgotten how lucky he is to coach one of two programs in the entire world that are privileged enough to compete for the coveted Land-Grant Trophy each season.

So, what if we expanded that opportunity to all of the land-grant universities in the nation? I present to you: the National Land-Grant University Football Playoff (NLGUFP).

I’m sure all of our readers are familiar with the Morrill Land-Grant Acts and how Abraham Lincoln’s birth directly led to the creation of the Land-Grant Trophy, so I won’t go on a long, completely factual, historically accurate tangent.

But basically, there were two state-funded land-grant colleges in 1855, Michigan State and Penn State. Then, Abraham Lincoln was really feeling their vibes, so he made it a point to provide national land-grants for colleges across the country to be modeled after Michigan State and Penn State.

Today, there are 76 land-grant universities in the United States, but only the first two get to compete for the Land-Grant Trophy each year.

As Ray J will tell you, being first does not necessarily make you the best. That’s why I believe that the battle for the Land-Grant Trophy should be expanded into a 16-team playoff, where the best of the land-grant universities will compete for all of the glory each winter.

Forget about all of those meaningless bowl games and the College Football ‘Playoff’ — which is lame — that only the four lamest teams compete for each year because the committee always finds a way to snub the Big Ten. This is the future of postseason college football.

The NCAA doesn’t have the guts to implement a real playoff, so we must take matters into our own hands with this expanded Land-Grant Trophy playoff.

And the prize?

The Land-Grant Trophy — only bigger, and with 76 photos of iconic university buildings and 76 statues on 76 shelves. According to my estimations, it will be slightly taller than Shaquille O’Neal and weigh about as much as him. It will be magnificent.