BCS performance was a capitol offense

The ideal place for government involvement in sports is on the sidelines.

The ideal rarely is met.

Politicians use public funds to build stadiums. Government officials woo professional franchise owners with tax breaks and other subsidies.

Without government involvement, Major League Baseball probably would not have been inspired to improve its testing for the use of steroids.

So, when Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, wants to know if the BCS schools are in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, I say, "Have at it, Senator."

At a subcommittee hearing of the Judiciary Committee this week, Hatch was the solo inquisitor. He acquitted himself admirably.

He did not permit the witnesses to offer the usual dismissive answers and smugly walk away.

Yes, Hatch has a stake in this. His constituents were outraged when the University of Utah went undefeated in 2008 and was not in the BCS title-game picture.

Hatch, as any good politician would, felt the voters' pain. And he is not averse to making things a little painful for the proponents of the BCS system.

Hatch asked Harvey Perlman, chancellor of the University of Nebraska, what Utah could have done in 2008 to be considered a player for the BCS championship.

Perlman said Utah should have played a tougher schedule. And he added that the Utes should have played Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas Tech as the Cornhuskers did.

That is disingenuous to the point of being dishonest.

Nebraska is in the Big 12 Conference, as are Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas Tech.

Big 12 teams with national championship aspirations are not going to risk playing Utah, from a lower-rated conference, if Utah has even a scintilla of a chance of winning.

Hatch made that point.

However, Hatch missed the opportunity to make an equally important point.

When pressed about the absence of a playoff system to determine a national champion, Perlman said it would be too disruptive academically.

What bilge.

The playoff games would be in December, after the first semester. That's not disruptive to anyone's academics. Even if the first weekend's games were played during exams, accommodations could be made.

And if academics are so valued by BCS presidents, they would not permit their football teams to play road games on weeknights.

Their basketball teams would take overnight trips only on weekends. Their baseball teams would not play 50-plus games every spring.

This is not an academic issue. The issue is control and money. The BCS schools have both and do not want to yield either.

Perlman said, "I don't see how we can have a playoff and maintain the bowl system."

That's the point. The bowl games should be for teams not in the championship playoff.

Utah should have the opportunity to put up or shut up. A playoff makes that possible. The BCS arrangement does not.

"Championships should be decided by competition, not conspiracies," Utah President Michael Young said at the hearing.

Exactly.

It is shameful that college administrators require government intervention to be reminded of that.
Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444 or .