Why Is Congress Debating the BCS System?

There are so many critical issues that Congress could debate. There are pressing concerns that the House Committee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection could analyze. The NCAA football championship system is NOT one of those issues.

Representative Joe L. Barton of Texas apparently cannot get over the fact that the BCS picked Oklahoma rather than Texas to play in the 2009 BCS championship game. In response, he is proposing "big government" policies that seem utterly inappropriate for a Texas Republican.

Barton says that the BCS system is "like communism" because it is not "fixable." So, in order to punish the "communist"football bowl system, Barton is sponsoring legislation "that would prohibit the NCAA from advertising its national champion in football as such unless it was produced via a playoff system." Ah, the freedom of capitalism.

Barton challenged BCS coordinator John Swofford to implement a playoff system. After Swofford stated that the BCS had not discussed his proposed legislation, Barton offered a heavy handed response:

Well, I would encourage you to start discussing it, because I think there is better than a 50 percent chance that if we don't see some action in the next two months on a voluntary switch to a playoff system, that you will see this bill move . . . So it needs to be something that you need to start discussing.

This is a colossal waste of time and money. But I guess it comes with the territory.