October 19, 2009 1:46 PM

Congressmen Join Fight to Kill College Football's BCS

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
Congress
(AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Updated 4:33 p.m. ET

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) said Monday that they are backing a federal political action committee "dedicated to discarding the Bowl Championship Series and instituting a competitive post-season championship for college football."

The people behind Playoff PAC – whose tagline is "Beat the BCS. Save College Football." – believe that the Bowl Championship Series is "inherently flawed," the group said in a press release.

"It crowns champions arbitrarily and stifles inter-conference competition," the group argued.

"Fans, players, schools, and corporate sponsors will be better served when the BCS is replaced with an accessible playoff system that recognizes and rewards on-the-field accomplishment. To that end, Playoff PAC helps elect pro-reform political candidates, mobilizes public support, and provides a centralized source of pro-reform news, thought, and scholarship."

Abercrombie said the release of BCS rankings on Sunday underscore the fact that "selecting a major college football national champion is still arbitrary and anti-competitive."

"The BCS process continues to operate like an exclusive country club rather than a true play-off system," he said. "I fully support Playoff PAC's efforts to bring change to college football."

Hatch echoed that sentiment, calling the BCS "fundamentally unfair."

(AP)
"I've always hoped that the government would not have to get involved and that those with the power to reform the system would recognize the error of their ways," said Hatch, who hails from Utah. "But, even after hearing the complaints of millions of college football fans, not to mention government officials, they are apparently unwilling to make any significant changes. That being case, I'm supportive of all reasonable efforts to ensure that students and schools are treated fairly and a national playoff system being advocated by Playoff PAC seems like a reasonable way to accomplish that goal."

Incidentally, the University of Utah, a non-BCS school, went 13-0 in 2008, beating well-regarded teams like Oregon State, TCU, BYU and Alabama along the way. But the team was frozen out of contention for the national championship.

Bill Hancock, a BCS administrator, emailed a response to the lawmakers' comments.

"The BCS has brought more popularity, more resources and more fun to college football since it started delivering a national title game each year," he said. "It has also provided more opportunities for more players, teams and fans – in more conferences - to participate in the bowl atmosphere."

"With all due respect, we think college football decisions should be made by college football, not the politicians in Washington," said Hancock.

Barton called the BCS system "a farce." A Texan, Barton saw his state's strong team left out of the championship game last year as well.

"It arbitrarily selects champions and reduces competition between conferences," he said. "College football's post-season championship should be decided on the field, and that's why a playoff system is needed. I look forward to working with Playoff PAC in reforming college football."

Under the BCS, strong teams that don't play in major conferences -- like the University of Utah and Brigham Young University in Utah -- have little chance at the national championship, even if they go undefeated. Another team that falls into this category is the University of Hawaii, Abercrombie's home state.

In its release, Playoff PAC organizers said that until now there have only been a "small, dedicated group of federal officeholders" working on the issue.

"The BCS has wrongly dismissed them as political panderers and quickly diffused pressure that resulted from congressional hearings and legislation," they said. "The BCS could not successfully do this if the coalition of college football reformers were broader. This 'reform caucus' must be expanded so BCS officials understand that federal intervention is imminent if they refuse to answer the public's calls for change. Playoff PAC will therefore vigorously support pro-reform candidates and defend individuals who advance reform proposals."

"The BCS's days without daily, active, and organized opposition are over," they added.

The BCS rankings showed Florida in the top spot, followed by Alabama, Texas, Boise State and Cincinnati.

In an interview with "60 Minutes" last November, shortly after he was elected, President Obama said college football should have a playoff. (He had previously said something similar on "Monday Night Football.") The president even laid out specifics:

"Eight teams," he said. "That would be three rounds to determine a national champion. It would add three extra weeks to the season. You could trim back on the regular season. I don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do."

In January, he restated his case and said that undefeated Utah had "a pretty good claim" to the national championship in an interview with the New York Times. (He restated the argument the next day as well.)

"I think USC, which had a great Rose Bowl, beat Penn State pretty badly," he continued. "They've got a pretty good claim to being number one. Florida and Oklahoma, I think, both have a claim. Texas, at this point, has got to feel like, 'Well, we did OK, too.' I think–I think a football playoff system makes sense. I've spoken about this quite a bit, and I think if you look at knowledgeable sports fans, they agree with me."

Add a Comment See all 55 Comments
by whbates2 October 18, 2010 10:00 PM EDT
I think it is legitimate for Congressman to spend time on the topic of a playoff bracket in college football. College football is a huge enterprise that brings in a lot of revenue. The Bowl Championship Series is unfair in that it does not give every team a chance to be a champion. A playoff bracket will determine a true champion and extend the football season by a few games. Fans will be much happier with a playoff bracket and finding out who the real champion is.
Reply to this comment
by whbates2 October 18, 2010 9:58 PM EDT
I think it is legitimate for Congressman to spend time on the topic of a playoff bracket in college football. College football is a huge enterprise that brings in a lot of revenue. The Bowl Championship Series is unfair in that it does not give every team a chance to be a champion. A playoff bracket will determine a true champion and extend the football season by a few games. Fans will be much happier with a playoff bracket and finding out who the real champion is.
Reply to this comment
by tahoedad October 22, 2009 8:07 PM EDT
It's not as ridiculous as some people claim for congress to spend time on this matter. College football is a huge enterprise. From ticket sales, to team licensing deals, corporate sponsors, TV deals, advertising, I could go on and on. It's a multi-billion dollar industry. It's probably one of the largest industries in our nation. If there's funny business going on, and there is, then reform is needed. When teams get selected to play in bowls because of legacy, or drawing power instead of merit, other universities and states get screwed out of millions of dollars.

I totally support eliminating the BCS for an 8 or even 16 team playoff. I made my donation to PlayoffPAC today.
Reply to this comment
by candy-apple13 October 22, 2009 11:36 AM EDT
I believe that there are more important things going on right now than College Football. Are we actually paying these idiots to stick their nose where it doesn't need to be?? Do they really care more about where their state college football team is ranked instead of solving the healthcare problem, two foreign wars, millions of Americans out of work and on the verge of losing everyting they own? God help us if USC or Texas is not ranked number 1!!!
Reply to this comment
by clowry1611 October 21, 2009 1:16 PM EDT
one saying comes to mind with the use of the computers to select the champions: "That is why they do not play the games on paper." A popular thing said when a major upset occurs meaning that on paper team A should not have stood a chance, but they won still. well seems to me maybe PAC should coin "that's why the game is not decided on XBOX." lol
Reply to this comment
by clowry1611 October 21, 2009 12:49 PM EDT
the BCS can be made to work very easily. You take the major conferences and say starting in 2010 or maybe 2011 take the PAC 10 and the big 10 play each other during their non-conference schedules. the SEC and big 12 play each other during their non-conf. sched. and acc plays big east, and so on and so on. And the matchups are determined by previous seasons conference rankings. If you were #1 in big 12 then you play the #1 team from the SEC. You are guaranteed to have a grouping of teams now that the formula will work with because these pansy top ranked teams in weaker conferences are forced to play tough teams in the non conference sched. no playoff unless just wanted. but if playoff is instituted you can rectify the loss of revenue to bowl games by utilizing the BCS bowls to play the top notch play off matchups. rotate them each year to host the championship as they do now. this junk is so easy it is ridiculous to think that college presidents cannot seem to figure out how to make it profitable for themselves
Reply to this comment
by clowry1611 October 21, 2009 12:50 PM EDT
oh and the conference matchups each year would be rotated so the each conference will play every other conference within 6 years or 8 years if you decide to include a couple of mid-majors
by ibsteve2u October 21, 2009 12:11 PM EDT
Well, the good thing is you probably won't turn blue if you hold your breath waiting for the next time Hatch or Barton blasts "Big Government" interference.
Reply to this comment
by yankeesouth October 21, 2009 11:52 AM EDT
What ever happened to Republicans not wanting big government.
Reply to this comment
by gnarlyerik October 21, 2009 7:28 AM EDT
College sports - especially football - are major cows for everyone except the players, and often the players too. With lots of cash at stake it is a fact of life there will be abuses. Unless the colleges themselves decide to manage the process fairly for everyone, dollars always rule. So much is at stake any real changes are unlikely.

There are already laws on the legal & business aspects of college sports. Congress should keep its interfering hands off them and address the real problems of the nation.
Reply to this comment
by AK-47_Justice October 21, 2009 10:24 AM EDT
by gnarlyerik

There are already laws on the legal & business aspects of college sports. Congress should keep its interfering hands off them and address the real problems of the nation.
============================




Yes, our nation has too many other real problems that require the attention of these idiots in Congress. No wonder the approval rating of the Congress is so low.
by fedup12 October 21, 2009 12:08 PM EDT
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) and Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas)
---------------------
Dont make this into a partisan issue. These bowls are financially important to every University that gets into or near one. Along with their representative state.

Too many times a University has been left out of a bowl that deserves one because their team would not generate the revenue that another one would. Therefore the state that they represent gets hurt.

This fix has been a LONG time coming. There is a financial component for the state that these people represent.
by babooph October 21, 2009 2:38 AM EDT
Republicans are more suited to dealing with mens singles figure skating than football-surely the other kids never let Rush in the sandlot games....
Reply to this comment
See all 55 Comments
.

Follow Political Hotsheet

Scroll Left
Scroll Right More »
CBS News on Facebook
  • Building You a Better Morning

  • CBS This Morning

    "CBS This Morning," anchored by Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Erica Hill, airs weekdays from 7 to 9 a.m. ET and at the same time in other time zones.
    Learn more...