Air Force's Calhoun Unloads on BCS

A day after the Bowl Championship Series Presidential Oversight Committee slammed the door on the Mountain West Conference's plan for an eight-team playoff, Air Force coach Troy Calhoun ripped the system designed to exclude non-BCS teams from lucrative top-tier bowl games.

"We basically have a system for college football that too closely resembles the old Soviet Presidium," Calhoun said, referring to the policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

"You have a seven-member politburo that's decided if you aren't one of those party members, then you're unable to participate."

Calhoun was just getting started.

"I thought there was a proposal that was put in place that was extremely fair," he said. "It was very reasonable, and it made you earn access.

"You think back to the old Soviet Presidium, and what happened was you told every person, 'Hey, you aren't going to be able to grow a whole lot. We're going to tell you all you can earn.' That was the approach. ... There's a very, very strong resemblance that unfortunately is a part of college football."

Colorado State coach Steve Fairchild join Calhoun in criticizing the BCS.

"Utah, in my mind, was the best team in the country last year," he said. "What they did to Alabama right after Florida struggled with them says it all. And I'm not sure if you play our league over again last year if TCU doesn't win our league. So we've got some extremely talented football teams. It almost seems like a lawsuit in terms of trying to hold revenue back from certain conferences."

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch also reiterated his desire for change.

"You have 50 percent of the schools who are the elite schools. They get almost all of the money, and the other schools, no matter how good they are, don't even have a chance to compete for the national title," he said.

Hatch, the ranking member of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, recently told Real Clear Sports that he planned to hold a hearing into the antitrust implications of the Bowl Championship Series "within the next few weeks." But Geoffrey Rapp, a associate professor at the University of Toledo who has taught courses on antitrust and sports law, says Hatch will have little chance of getting the federal government to pursue an antitrust case against the BCS.

"The Justice Department could use its power to go after antitrust violators, but the last 25 years or so of federal antitrust activity suggests that there isn't a lot of enthusiasm for antitrust enforcement generally," Rapp said. "My sense is going after sports leagues or intercollegiate athletic associations or probably schools is probably something people in the federal government don't view as the best use of power that is already subject to a lot of criticism."

Comments

[J]

never gonna happen.

[wheaton4prez]

What associate professor Rapp really meant to say was that if the government does pursue anti-trust activity in college football, a bunch of liberal academics are going to piss and moan that Walmart isn't targeted.

Here's to an anti-trust hearing over the BCS. It's needed.

[spreadoption]

Another example of the federal govenment wasting its time and taxpayer money. People in this country are losing their jobs by the thousands every day and we're wasting time and money trying to figure out if Wyoming can someday play in a bowl game sponsored by a chip company. There's far more important matters in this country right now than college football.

[wheaton4prez]

College football is a multi-billion dollar industry. I think that investigating whether or not wealth within that industry is being illegally manipulated is as important now as ever. It could be the difference between substantial funds going to one state or another and affecting the citizens there.

[zick]

"You have 50 percent of the schools who are the elite schools. They get almost all of the money, and the other schools, no matter how good they are, don't even have a chance to compete for the national title,"

What a joke. The reason the schools like Ohio State, USC, Texas, etc. get all the money is because they are good and have been good for a long time. If San Diego State became as good as they are for a long period of time, nothing would stop them from making as much money as today's elites. I realize they are at a disadvantage, but that's life.

[Chuck]

I think there is a big difference between Walmart and NCAA football. NCAA football and the athletic departments that fund them are all non-profit. Ohio State and Texas football make more money than your team but they aren't paying alumni a dividend.

With the way things are today, it's tougher for Baylor to get in to a BCS game than it is Utah. There is no automatic inclusion policy if Baylor gets to a certain rank and with Baylor having to play a more rigorous (on average) conference schedule, they're less likely than Utah is to end the season undefeated.

I might entertain the debate that Utah was better than Ohio State, Alabama and Penn State in 2008, but I will NOT let you tell me that Utah was better than Texas, Oklahoma, Florida and USC. If you think that, then you do not know enough about college football to be participating here. Utah playing and winning a BCS bowl in 2008 is proof that the system works, not the contrary.