Young said teams from automatic-berth conferences are the only ones, along with independent Notre Dame, that have "any realistic opportunity to compete for the national championship," because BCS ratings are largely popularity polls that favor teams in automatic-qualifying conferences.

"The BCS system effectively tells the world, and more importantly the pollsters, that non-AQ conference teams should be viewed differently because only the AQ conferences are worthy of an automatic bid to a BCS bowl," Young said.

Perlman testified that automatic-qualifying conferences have such advantages for a reason.

"Not every school in Division 1 is equal on the football field or in any other field of endeavor," he said, adding that a system to select a national champion could only be designed by those conferences that "consistently produce highly ranked teams."

"To secure the participation of these essential conferences, the system must provide revenue in excess of their other opportunities … must take into account any impact on the fans who provide their schools their support; must preserve the excitement of the regular season; and must honor the long-standing relationships they have had with the bowls," he said, and the BCS does that.

If the BCS were declared illegal and abolished, the teams in the automatic-qualifying conferences would likely snap up deals with all the big bowls and exclude teams from other conferences from them altogether, he said. The smaller conferences would lose money and TV exposure if that happened.

Antitrust attorney William Monts, testifying for the BCS, said the BCS has helped non-automatic-berth conferences by giving them some share of money they likely would not have had and giving them the possibility — although an outside one — of playing for a championship if they are ranked No. 1 or No. 2.

He also said that under BCS agreements, the Mountain West could become an automatic-qualifying conference itself in 2012 if over a four-year period — beginning last year — it has enough teams that finish in the Top 25, has a quality record against other conferences and all teams in the conference do relatively well.

But Hatch, R-Utah, said, "The Sherman Antitrust Act prohibits contracts, combinations or conspiracies to limit competition. I've said before that I don't believe a plainer description of the BCS exists."

Antitrust lawyer Barry Brett, testifying for the Mountain West conference, added, "The BCS offends everything the Sherman Act is designed to accomplish."

Hatch said he believes most fans want a playoff system, and he berated the BCS for not even considering one proposed by the Mountain West Conference.

Young said, "It's very hard to figure out what we do in a system that inherently is stacked against us." He says he realizes some big schools such as Nebraska may have advantages because of big budgets and tradition. "Those kind of constraints we understand. It's the systemic constraints" that are unfair and likely illegal, he said.

Hatch told the Deseret News earlier this week that he hopes the hearing may lead to an antitrust investigation into the BCS by the Justice Department. Also, a bill is pending in the House that could ban the BCS from describing any game as a "national championship" unless it results from a playoff.

Also, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has been studying whether Utah or other states should bring antitrust action against the BCS.

E-MAIL: lee@desnews.com