Reforming BCS mess a tall order in Congress

WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Barton had a plane to catch, but he wanted to give college football officials a warning before leaving the highly publicized hearing.

Peering down from the podium, the Republican said in his Texas twang that unless the officials took action toward a playoff system in two months, Congress would likely move on his legislation aimed at forcing their hand.

More than three months have passed, and Barton's bill hasn't moved. Such is college football and Congress.

For years, lawmakers have railed against the Bowl Championship Series, calling it an unfair way to select a national champion. A lot of righteous thundering, however, has not yielded anything on the legislative front.

President Barack Obama joined the fray last year, saying shortly after his election that there should be a playoff system.

"I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit," he said. "I think it's the right thing to do."

But now that he's in office, the recession, two wars and health-care reform have taken him away from football, at least so far.

It seems unlikely Congress will take the initiative. To figure out why, just look at a map of the United States.

The current college bowl system features a championship game between the two top teams in the BCS standings, based on two polls and six computer rankings. After the title game, eight other schools fill in the remaining slots for Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose bowls.

Under the BCS, six conferences get automatic bids — the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC, in states from Massachusetts to Florida to California to Washington to Illinois. Those conferences receive far more money than the conferences that don't get automatic bids.

"There are just too many senators and congressmen who represent districts where major BCS schools have a very dominant influence," said Gary Roberts, dean of the Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis and an expert on sports law. "So you're not going to get any senators from Louisiana or Alabama or Florida or Georgia or Tennessee or Ohio — those are all states with major state universities that are major BCS powerhouses."

There's been no bill introduced in the Senate this year to revamp the BCS, although GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said he's looking into it. Mountain West Conference champion Utah was bypassed for the championship game despite going undefeated.