Is a College Football Playoff Patented?

I discovered US Patent #6053823: Method for conducting championship playoff. It’s quite clear that it’s for a college football playoff. It includes a “Coaches Poll, Writers Poll and Independent/Objective Poll” all combined to produce a playoff bracket. The top 12 teams go into a “Championship Tournament” and teams 13-28 into a secondary tournament. The top 4 teams get a bye the first week, and then a four week playoff. Overtime would be a continuation of the game, not the standard college football overtime rules. While reading the patent, it seems to be very specific, until the last line that says Whereas the method of the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiment thereof, many modifications, substitutions and additions may be made which are within the intended broad scope of the appended claims . For example, the number of teams utilized in the championship and second tournaments could be anything from three ... (link)