Scrap BCS, Edwards tells hearing

WASHINGTON — Former BYU football coach LaVell Edwards told a Senate hearing Wednesday that it is time to sack the Bowl Championship Series because it unfairly excludes half of all schools from even dreaming of a championship.

But he doesn't like a true playoff system with brackets either — which many small-conference schools propose — because Edwards says that could destroy the history-rich bowl system. So he is calling for a razzle-dazzle alternative: Combine elements of both systems to score not only more fairness but more money and interest.

"I think it could be huge," Edwards said during break in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I think a system could be devised that would be fair and equitable and would not alter substantially at all what we presently have."

His proposal is a bit complicated. But he envisions staging six bowl games as part of an expanded BCS, instead of the current four. The six large, prestige conferences that now have automatic berths for their champs into BCS bowls would retain them.

However, Edwards envisions a one-game playoff among the top four teams from smaller, non-BCS conferences to determine an additional two automatic qualifiers for the expanded BCS bowls. Other slots would be filled at-large from top teams.

After those six new BCS bowl games are played, the top two ranked teams remaining among the six winners would play in a national championship game. All 12 teams entering the BCS could in theory have a shot at the championship, depending on who wins and loses, and it allows for some Cinderellas to emerge.

The final game "would be tantamount to the Super Bowl," Edwards said. He adds it would make all BCS bowls more important. "Outside the championship game itself now, interest in the other (BCS) bowls has fallen off tremendously," he said.

"I guarantee the payoff would still be about the same as now, if not more," Edwards said.

That Edwards vision for a possible bridge between big and small football powers arguing how to determine a national champion came as the Judiciary Committee held a hearing about problems with the current system — and some senators warned colleges to fix it or face intervention by Congress or the courts.

"It is unclear how a court would rule on an antitrust challenge to the BCS," said Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "I, for one, hope that we don't find out. It is my sincere hope that the BCS system will be improved through negotiation rather than litigation."