'Utah AG: BCS may violate antitrust laws'

[El Supremo]

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)—Utah’s attorney general is investigating the Bowl Championship Series for a possible violation of federal antitrust laws after an undefeated Utes team was left out of the national title game for the second time in five years.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff contends the BCS unfairly puts schools like Utah, which is a member of a conference without an automatic bid to the lucrative bowl games, at a competitive and financial disadvantage.

“We’ve established that from the very first day, from the very first kickoff in the college season, more than half of the schools are put on an unlevel playing field,” Shurtleff said Tuesday. “They will never be allowed to play for a national championship.”

BCS administrator Bill Hancock said he couldn’t comment on the investigation until he had seen something in writing from the Utah attorney general’s office....

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-bcs-utahlawsuit&prov=ap&type=lgns

[Condem]

1. If it takes a class action suit to change things, lets go.

I love the Bowls but this ain't working.

[Capt. America]

2. We can have both; bowls and a playoff (I'm not too keen on the "plus one").

[Condem]

3. This year, the plus one doesn't work.

USC and Texas.

[GaYellowDawg]

4. I agree entirely.

The current bowl system is very unsatisfactory. I'm in favor of the following model for a playoff:

10 team playoff. Essentially an 8 team playoff with two play-in games. I can't ever see a 16 seed winning the national championship, but a 10th ranked team could still be a very good team that suffered a late loss. Automatic bids go to the last 3 conferences to win the national championship and the other 7 bids are at-large. Automatic bids are exempted from play-in games. No conference is allowed more than two of the top 6 slots but a third may be assigned a play-in spot. No two teams from the same conference play each other in play-in games. Higher seeds get home field advantage (which means that if Big 10 teams didn't suck, they'd get to play in the cold like you all drool about). Seeds are assigned using the BCS rating system independently of automatic bids; in other words, the 3 automatic bids do not get #1, #2, #3. This year, you'd have:

Automatic bids:

Florida, Oklahoma, Southern Cal

At-large:
Texas, Alabama, Utah

Play-in participants:
Penn State, Texas Tech, Boise State, Ohio State

Assign seeds as follows:

1. Oklahoma
2. Florida
3. Texas
4. Alabama
5. USC
6. Utah
7. Penn State
8. Texas Tech
9. Boise State
10. Ohio State

Play in round:
#10 Ohio State at #8 Texas Tech
#9 Boise State at #7 Penn State

Let's say Penn State and Texas Tech win and get 7 and 8 seeds, respectively. Then the matchups are:

#8 Texas Tech at #1 Oklahoma
#5 USC at #4 Alabama
#7 Penn State at #2 Florida
#6 Utah at #3 Texas

Based on how the teams have played thus far, I'd think the winners would be Oklahoma, USC, Florida, and Utah. Then you'd see:

#5 USC at #1 Oklahoma
#6 Utah at #2 Florida

I'd predict USC to pull the upset and Florida to win. The final game would be held at a neutral site (cities could bid on this or perhaps it could be rotated between the four big bowl sites). And I have no idea who'd win between USC and Florida, but I'd sure like to see it.

This model makes regular season games VERY important for seeding and home field advantage. Use the BCS system to seed the teams, except when a third conference team is kicked down to a play-in game. Having only the last 3 national champion conferences get automatic bids rewards recent success for the conferences; in this case, the ACC and the Big East would get shut out, the Big 10's teams would be in play-in games, and the Big 12 would get 3 teams in. If mid-majors really had deserving teams, they'd get to prove their worthiness on the field.

[Condem]

7. One question, GaYellow

Would you still have the bowls for the teams that didn't make it? By the way, nice format. Very well done.

[GaYellowDawg]

8. Absolutely.

We have sixty-something teams that go to bowl games anyhow - why not keep bowls around? People would still like to see their teams play that extra game even if they didn't go to the playoffs.

[Ohio Dem]

9. I can live with this format.

You'd get a lot of grief from people from the ACC and Big East this year, but I agree with the "recent success" part.

One thing I would really like to see: The championship game should be bid on by cities, and I would like to see the game played in a northern outdoor stadium from time to time.

[Capt. America]

17. One thing I would really like to see: The championship game should be bid on by cities, and I would

Amen! Bring some of that money North. The fucking NFL plays playoff games in the snow and ice and, guess what, the fans STILL SHOW UP.

[Ohio Dem]

19. It would be great to play the MNC Game in actual football weather!

Can you imagine last night's game played in Ohio Stadium? It would be awesome. Or even Michigan Stadium or in Happy Valley. Anywhere with actual football weather!

[TZ]

5. You know this ticks me off

Why the FUCK does the court system need to be clogged up with MORE frivolous lawsuits? Does not the Utah AG have anything better to do? I like sports but this is fucking rediculous...Boy if this was my state's AG, I would want him thrown out of office for this.
Anybody want to defend this action? What a waste of money, which umm is in short supply during a RECESSION.
OMG an injustice in football, screw foreclosures, screw unemployment, this is the REAL issue..
:rant:

[Condem]

6. Disagree, turtlensue.

There's more $$$$ wrapped up in college football than Madoff's Ponzi Scheme. Licensing, TV contracts, everything. Even in a recession, people need their outlets. I'm taking a paycut this year. I WILL NOT under any circumstances drop my season tickets. My wife feels the same way. I think the majority of college football fans would agree to that.

[TZ]

10. Thats what makes me even madder.

We can't BOTHER to check up on people like Madoff..but we have to make sure the BCS is fair?
College football, as much as I like it, is about the money and thats what the damn lawsuit is about. Making sure all the universities get their fair share of the moolah.
The BCS/Bowl system is corrupt and I don't think getting a large class action lawsuit (which will draw even more leeches) is worth spending a dime. Not one dime. This is NOT what taxpayer money is meant for.

[Condem]

11. Everything, in the end , is about money, turtlensue.

It's unfortunate but the biggest drawback to capitalism is greed. Not only the BCS but the Universities and their presidents have been swallowed up by the big hypocrisy. As long as their seeing $$ in the coffers, it's ok. A couple of weeks back The Pres-elect talked about a playoff system almost jokingly. I do believe he's serious. It may be a pipe dream but who knows. If he turns this country around the sky's the limit on what he can accomplish. Even this.

[Redbear]

12. Antitrust law applies to ALL businesses (except baseball)

What the AG is doing is no different than investigating unfair business practices in the disposable diaper or banking industries. It just makes headlines because it is football.

[Condem]

13. Great point, Redbear.

I sincerely doubt that anything will come from this, but I'm watching it closely. I'm sure we all are.

[Condem]

14. One more point. An abomination.

Just read an article in the Sunday NY Times by Nicholas Bakalar. "Notre Dame, an independent goes to the BCS if it ranks eighth or higher in the standings- not a consideration this year because the team made no one's Top 25. But no matter: Notre Dame gets an automatic $1.3 million payout whether it makes it to the championship series or not." If you can pull it up, well worth the read.

[joeybee12]

15. Are you sure?

Especially the 1.3 million payout...I know they don't have to share with a conference, so maybe their payout is 1.3 for any bowl game they go to...probably what other teams in smaller bowls might get. Could be just some more mindless ND bashing.

[Condem]

16. Word for word, joeybee.

Sundays New York Times. Sports. Page 6 or 7. By the way, mindless ND bashing is an oxymoron.

[dbackjon]

18. 1.3 million is basically what each of the BCS conferences get per team