BCS: Bowl Congressional Series?

College football is one of the most thrilling sports to watch. Take a look at one of the most exciting games of this year:

Heading into the game, Norte Dame was predicted to win against the Michigan Wolverines. But, the Victors prevailed despite the chatter.

With that in mind, in recent years the University of Southern California football team is annually hyped as the contender for the national title. Yet, nearly every year USC kills its chances to play in the national championship game by losing to a lower tier PAC-10 school. Then USC fans decry the unfairness of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) system, claiming that USC is best team in the country. Remember when USC convinced coaches to award it a #1 ranking in the AP/Coach’s Poll and then proclaimed itself to be the national champions? Take that, BCS!

The BCS system selects two teams to play for the national championship based on rankings, determined by… the AP Poll, Coaches’ Poll and computer average? Does anyone really know how the BCS works? Anyway, proponents of this system argue that this system reduces the amount of the physically-intensive games student-athletes go through while properly selecting bowl match-ups.  BCS supporters believe that a play-off system would prolong an already long season and take an unnecessary toll on the college kids.

USC fans are not the only BCS-haters, Members of Congress are getting into the mix and in a bi-partisan way too! Busy congressmen found time in between debating healthcare reform and troop levels in Afghanistan to create a political, fundraising group, the “Play-off PAC.” The money raised from this PAC will go to politicians who support getting rid of the BCS system and replace it with… a play-off system, which they argue would be fairer and generate millions of dollars by adding extra games.

Who is part of this group? Money will go to such politicians like Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, who saw his Utah Utes  go undefeated last season yet be shut out of the national game, and Democratic Congressman Neil Abercrombie, who co-sponsored the Championship Fairness Act of 2009. This is an important issue to these lawmakers. Rep. Abercrombie slammed the BCS system as an exclusive country club… that apparently excludes USC…

Do you think college football should get rid of the BCS system in favor of play-offs? Or are USC and certain congressmen just bitter? Is there another system?

And what is your reaction to the congressional intervention of college football? Is it necessary or just a ploy to raise money?

Comments

[JP]

The BCS system is a joke, but I would hope Congress would have more important things to worry about consider considering we still have troops deployed in two countries and our economy is in the tank. I know that it was a Republican that introduced the BCS bill...do you know if any Democrats have signed on?