House Panel to Vote On Bill Aimed At Forcing College Football to Playoffs
But lawmakers were taking a crack at it anyway Wednesday. A House panel was to consider a proposal to ban the promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I football game as a national championship unless its the outcome of a playoff.
“With everything going on in the country, I cant believe that Congress is wasting time and spending taxpayers money on football,” Bill Hancock, the BCS executive director, said in a phone interview. “We feel strongly that managing of college sports is best left to the people in higher education.”
The legislation is sponsored by Texas Rep. Joe Barton, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The vote by the panels commerce, trade and consumer protection subcommittee comes three days after the BCS selections were announced. Those include the Jan. 7 national title game between No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas.
Barton said Congress attention is warranted, since “at this level, college football is a multibillion-dollar business” not much different from other businesses that face congressional oversight.
“With telecommunications, youre dealing with AT&T and Verizon and Sprint, and in this case youre dealing with the SEC and the Big 12 and the Pac-10,” Barton said. “Its the same basic economic model.”
But the measure faces long odds getting through Congress, given the wide geographic representation of schools in the six conferences that get automatic BCS bowl bids.
“The schools in those six conferences, which have such a huge financial benefit from the system, have enormous clout,” said Gary Roberts, dean of the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis and a sports law expert. “I dont see anything coming from this.”
BCS officials dont appear worried that Bartons bill will become law.
“We just cant imagine that the members of Congress will think its their job to dictate how college football should be played,” Hancock said.
The current college bowl system features a championship game between the two top teams in the BCS standings, based on two polls and six computer rankings. Eight other schools get the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose bowls.
Under the BCS, six conference champions get automatic bids – the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC – while other conferences dont. Critics call that system unfair.
Although Alabama and Texas finished with undefeated seasons, so did several other teams that will not get a chance to play for the title game, including TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State. All three will get to play in a BCS bowl: Cincinnati is the Big East champ; TCU, champion of the Mountain West, gets a bid awarded to a non-automatic qualifying conference that meets certain criteria; and Boise State, winner of the Western Athletic Conference, gets an at-large bid.
At a May hearing, Barton warned college football officials that unless they took action toward a playoff system within two months, Congress would probably move on his bill. It took a little longer, but the timing of this weeks vote isnt exactly a coincidence.
“Part of it is because BCS is in the news,” Barton said. He said he hasnt lobbied subcommittee members much but doesnt think there is much resistance to the idea that there should be a playoff in college football.
But there is opposition to the bill. Subcommittee member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., said he would prefer to see affected parties work out a playoff system themselves rather than have Congress do it.
There is no Senate version, although Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has pressed for a Justice Department antitrust investigation into the BCS.
Shortly after his election last year, Obama said there should be a playoff system.