Obama Wants Playoffs

Washington » Two high-ranking senators are demanding a peek at the inner workings of college football’s Bowl Championship Series, just the latest move in an ongoing campaign to force changes in the way the national champion is crowned.

In a letter sent Tuesday to the BCS executive director, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Finance Committee chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said they have “ongoing concerns” that BCS leaders have not been forthcoming in explaining how their system operates.

“Legal and antitrust concerns aside, I think it’s clear that the BCS is fundamentally unfair and harmful to schools, students, college football fans and consumers throughout the country,” Hatch said in a statement. “At the very least, I think the architects of the BCS should provide the public with more information to dispel the notion that the system is explicitly designed to favor certain teams while disfavoring others.”

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_14640573

President Barack Obama on Monday welcomed the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) winner Alabama Crimson Tide football team to the White House.

The number one-ranked Tide won its 13th college football national championship in January, soundly defeating the Texas Longhorns by a score of 37-21.

Obama has also expressed displeasure with the BCS system and has voiced support for a playoff system, but the White House declined to invite Boise State.

http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/2625-obama-welcomes-college-football-champions-to-the-white-house

Big legal troubles could be in store for the college football playoff system that the Utah attorney general says disadvantages his and other states.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said Tuesday that the Bowl Championship Series could face multistate litigation — and even federal antitrust action — over the way the BCS chooses its championship game participants.

“This could be a multi-hundred million lawsuit,” Shurtleff told Legal Newsline, adding that litigation would be a last resort for him. “Ultimately the goal is not to get money but to get them to change the system to be more competitive.”

http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/225870-utah-ag-takes-football-antitrust-case-to-holder-varney

Q: How do you feel about playoffs?

A: I really do love it. I cannot think of any reasonable expectations why we would not play a playoff at the Bowl Championship Series level as well. I do believe we should use the bowl sites, but I do not think there’s any justification for us not playing a playoff at every level of football. It’s a lot of fun, it’s just a lot of excitement, it builds the pressure, but I think it’s how the game was supposed to be played. It’s supposed to be won on the field. Mythical national championships are fun to write about, but they’re not much fun to earn.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college/2010/03/terry-bowden-bring-on-playoffs-in-bcs.html