Everyone from President Barack Obama on down to fans has criticized how college football determines its top team. Now senators are getting off the sidelines to examine antitrust issues involving the Bowl Champion Series.
The current system “leaves nearly half of all the teams in college football at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to qualifying for the millions of dollars paid out every year,” the Senate Judiciary’s subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights said in a statement Wednesday announcing the hearings.
Under the BCS, some conferences get automatic bids to participate in series, while others do not.
Obama and some members of Congress favor a playoff-type system to determine the national champion. The BCS features a championship game between the two top teams in the BCS standings, based on two polls and six computer ratings.
Behind the push for the hearings is the subcommittee’s top Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah. People there were furious that Utah was bypassed for the national championship despite going undefeated in the regular season.
The title game pitted No. 1 Florida (12-1) against No. 2 Oklahoma (12-1); Florida won 24-14 and claimed the title.
The subcommittee’s statement said Hatch would introduce legislation “to rectify this situation.” No details were offered and Hatch’s office declined to provide any.
Life obviously immitates (bad) art; even Oscar Wilde couldn’t come up with anything as preposterous!
I’m glad the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body and the president are so on top of this issue. Which teams play in a particular football game is of utmost national importance.
Perhaps somebody should go over there and inform the Senators and the president the US and the World’s economies are crashing – like, uh, right now!
The English language lacks the power to describe how assinine this is. It would be better if the inmates of a mental hospital or a jail could be substituted for those occupying the highest levels of our government.
A bunch of junkies would do a better job than the buffoons we are stuck with now.