Earth to Congress: Keep Your Hands Off of College Football and Pay Attention to Real Issues!

Earlier this week, Senator Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah) whined in an opinion essay (for Real Clear Politics) that the Senate needed more time to review the "large and complex record" of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Perhaps Hatch and the other members of the Judiciary Committee could devote more attention to Sotomayor if they canceled a hearing, scheduled for next week, to investigate the College Bowl Champion Series (BCS). The upcoming hearing is a colossal waste of time.

Hatch, who sits on the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, sought the hearing to determine whether the BCS violates any antitrust laws. Keep in mind that the Judiciary Committee must first approve Sotomayor before the process moves to the full Senate.

Although reviewing Sotomayor's record has supposedly stymied Hatch, he found time to write yet another essay (published in Sports Illustrated), which explains his theory of the possible antitrust issues related to the BCS. Hatch believes the automatic bid for the major NCAA conferences might violate the law. This sounds preposterous to me, but I am not an antitrust scholar. Neither is Orrin Hatch.

BCS Is the New Wasteful Obsession for Congress
Next week's BCS hearing is the second to take place in Congress this year. In May, Representative Joe Barton (Republican, Texas) hauled BCS officials into the House to testify before the Committee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.

Barton has sponsored legislation that would prohibit "the marketing, promotion, and advertising of a post-season game as a 'national championship' football game" unless the victor was chosen through a playoff system. And if the NCCA fails to comply, Barton's proposal would allow the Federal Trade Commission to prosecute the organization for an "unfair or deceptive act or practice."

Apparently, the First Amendment means nothing to Barton. Neither does the need for serious legislation. Also, calling the victor of the BCS Championship game the "national champion" cannot deceive the public when the public already knows that the BCS does not utilize a playoff system. Barton, however, says that calling the victor the national champion is "patently deceptive" because a computer chooses the competitors. Barton's statement distorts the selection process that the BCS utilizes.

Furthermore, under Barton's logic, Major League Baseball violates consumer protection laws because it sponsors the World Series and calls the victor the "world champion." Many professional baseball teams exist outside of the United States, but the MLB world champions do not compete with any of them (except for the one Canadian team that remains a part of MLB). Even if baseball only existed in the United States, the MLB champion cannot accurately claim a "world" title for a geographically localized sport. In fact, doing so seems far more deceptive than picking a national champion under the BCS system.

Conservatives Sponsoring "Big Government"
Despite the economic crisis, Barton apparently believes that the FTC should expend resources forcing the NCAA to select a champion in a way that the federal government deems appropriate. Perhaps Congress could hold hearings next year to redesign the uniforms worn by NCAA football teams as well.

The BCS hearings demonstrate that Congress continues to have an unhealthy fascination with sports figures and athletic organizations. Every year, some athlete makes the trek to Washington to deny (or fail to recall) using steroids. Steroid use by wealthy athletes is hardly a vital national issue that warrants intense congressional scrutiny. The manner that the NCAA picks its championship team also fails to warrant a hearing in Congress.

Finally, it seems extremely contradictory that Barton and Hatch, two "limited government" conservative Republicans, would support this wasteful and invasive process. But if hypocrisy disqualified people from politics, Washington would become a ghost town. Also, Barton and Hatch are lawmakers from Texas and Utah. The University of Texas and the University of Utah both believe that they received a raw deal from the BCS this year because they were not selected to play in the highly profitable and prestigious championship game. Barton and Hatch have discarded their purported conservative values in order to gain points with the folks back home and, possibly, to direct some cash to their states. Apparently, big government is not a problem for Barton and Hatch if it can win them some votes. Great!

PS: Earlier this year, President Obama foolishly placed his voice in this debate as well, calling explicitly for a playoff system.

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.

One Down, Three to Go: Florida Beats Citadel 70-19

After Florida romped South Carolina last week, former Gator coach (and current SC coach) Steve Spurrier showed a lot of class when he encouraged Urban Meyer to win "four in a row." If the Gators follow Spurrier's advice, they would probably win the national championship.

Today, they inched closer to that goal by blasting the Citadel in yet another lopsided outing. Since the Gators lost a home game to Mississippi by a mere one point, the team has won seven consecutive games. And the victories have been decisive. The Gators have outscored opponents 369-82 during this surge . Overall, the Gators have demolished their opponents 512-131.

UF closes its season with an annual clash against in-state rival FSU, followed by the SEC Championship Game against Alabama, which currently holds the top spot in the rankings. If the Gators win those two games, they will likely earn a spot in the BCS Championship Game. If they win the championship, the Gators would attain their second football title in three years, and considered together with basketball, the Gators would have won 4 national championships in four years. Good stuff!

Disclaimer: This blog normally focuses on law and politics, but as a Gainesville native, Saturday means football.

Source: ESPN

Big Guv'ment Alert: Obama Promises to Reform College Football!!!

Every year, the BCS poll generates passionate debate among college football fans. Standings in the poll determine which teams ultimately compete for the national championship. Many football fans believe that some form of playoff system should replace the poll. A lot of traditionalists, however, favor the current format with the multiple bowl games. Naturally, corporate sponsors of the bowls also favor the present framework.

Now, Barack Obama has jumped into the fray. Obama says that he prefers a playoff system, and he has promised to do something about it:

“If you’ve got a bunch of teams who play throughout the season, and many of them
have one loss or two losses, there’s no clear decisive winner....We should be
creating a playoff system.

Eight teams. 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.

Obama's comments did not go over well with BCS officials. John Swofford, a representative of the BCS, released a statement responding to Obama:

First of all I want to congratulate newly elected President Obama, and I am glad
he has a passion for college football like so many other Americans. . . .For
now, our constituencies — and I know he understands constituencies — have
settled on the current BCS system, which the majority believe is the best system
yet to determine a national champion while also maintaining the college football
regular season as the best and most meaningful in sports. . . .We certainly
respect the opinions of president-elect Obama and welcome dialogue on what's
best for college football.

My take: Say what? There are just some places government should not go! I have gone back and forth on a playoff system. Although I enjoy the college basketball playoffs, I also respect the tradition and culture of the college football bowls. They are such a part of the holiday season. Playoffs systems seem "neutral" on the surface, but they are not; someone has to pick the teams that compete in the playoffs and then match them in the various rounds. Perhaps more conferences should adopt a playoff system, like the SEC and Big 12 have done. Although that would not completely solve the argument concerning which teams should compete in the championship game, it would at least represent a compromise between competing camps. But a White House solution truly scares me! Imagine Congress holding hearings on BCS reform and steroid usage among athletes for the next four years. That would be truly "special."

Gators Brutalize Georgia: 49-10!

I truly felt sorry for Georgia fans at one point during the game. Every time the Bulldogs approached or entered the "red zone," Florida took the ball and scored. Georgia became the latest victim of the Gators, who continue to punish Ole Miss indirectly by slaughtering other SEC opponents. Next year, the Gators will probably pulverize Ole Miss on the latter team's home turf.

As a BCS chaser, I also enjoyed watching Texas Tech's thrilling upset victory over the Texas Longhorns. That was quite an amazing game that went down to the final seconds. The Gators, by contrast, outscored Georgia before halftime. Still, seeing all of those touchdowns was really fascinating.

In order to help set up the Gators' next BCS championship showdown, Penn State and Texas Tech need to lose. We will take care of Alabama in the SEC championship game (knock on wood), but maybe LSU will help us out next week. If USC, with its pitiful schedule, ranks higher than UF in the BCS standings at the end of the season, then the BCS will lose the little remaining credibility it currently has.

OUCH: GATORS DECLAW WILDCATS 63-5!

Wow! Ever since the Gators suffered an embarassing -- and unusual -- one-point loss at home to Ole Miss, any team that has had the nerve to step into the Swamp has paid dearly. First, the UF whipped LSU 51-21. Now, Kentucky has paid for the Ole Miss defeat.

Go Gators. And go Ohio State and Oklahoma State! If you know the BCS, you know what I'm talking about.

Disclaimer: This is a law and politics blog, but I was born in Gainesville....So deal with it.

PS: I have no idea what game the picture is from, but it looks good!