Fair or not, BCS makes its own rules

It's fine by me that Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson and Sen. Orrin Hatch plan to keep pressuring the Bowl Championship Series, in hopes of rearranging the national college football landscape.

But that doesn't mean I think it's going to work.

Are the self-satisfied big conferences really going to slap themselves and say, "This isn't fair; what were we thinking?"

Look at it this way: Are pharmaceutical companies going to say, "We were making too much money; let's lower our prices"?

Conferences and bowl games are in it for the money, not to sing "Share the Land."

Thompson has been at the forefront of the battle to win access for teams like those from the MWC. If you haven't followed the controversy, here's the Cliff's Notes: six FBS (formerly Division I-A) conferences get a chance to play for the national championship, while five don't. Additionally, if a smaller conference school like Utah or BYU gets to a lucrative BCS bowl, it has to share $9.5 million with 51 similar schools. Meanwhile, big conference teams get $18 million to share with just 9 to 11 of their peers.

I'm no accountant, but even I can figure out that's not a good deal for the little guys.

Thompson has that figured out, too. Last month, he met with BCS conference commissioners, proposing an eight-team playoff. He also appeared at congressional hearings to explain why he thinks that should happen.

A lot of congresspeople seemed to agree the current system isn't fair.

Well, neither is male pattern baldness, but it continues.

Meanwhile, the BCS big shots, like coordinator John Swofford, patiently and condescendingly explained that it's all about the marketplace.

In that, he wasn't lying. The current BCS conferences — the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Big East — comprise the bulk of the viewing audience. A fifth-place Michigan will outdraw a first-place Hawaii in TV ratings any day.

Swofford and others agreed to take Thompson's playoff suggestions back to their summer meetings for careful consideration. Right. And Hillary's going to join the Young Republicans.