A lawyer for a college athletic conference told Congress on Tuesday that it would be in the publics interest if the government investigated the system that determines college footballs No 1 team.

Barry Brett, who represents the Mountain West Conference, raised the possibility of antitrust violations in the Bowl Championship Series before a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee.

In written testimony, Brett called the BCS a naked restraint imposed by a self-appointed cartel.

He got a favorable reception from Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the subcommittees top Republican. Hatch noted that the Sherman Antitrust Act prohibits contracts, combinations or conspiracies designed to reduce competition.

I dont believe a plainer description of the BCS exists, he said at the standing-room-only hearing. The BCS brings to mind the major Supreme Court decisions prohibiting price-fixing and horizontal restrictions on output, added Hatch, who ran the hearing.

Utah, which is in the Mountain West, was bypassed for last years national championship despite going undefeated in the regular season. The title game pitted Florida against Oklahoma – each with one loss.

Under the BCS, some conferences get automatic bids to participate, but the Mountain West and others do not. Critics argue that this system reduces competition and distributes money unequally.

But Harvey Perlman, chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the BCS simply recognizes that the public wants to watch powerhouse college football teams such as his. Perlman, the new chairman of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, said the five conferences that dont get automatic bids do not add any revenue to the BCS.

At one point, Perlman prefaced a comment by saying he didnt want to sound disrespectful to Utah.

And you dont want to be in this room, Hatch quipped to laugher.

Perlman conceded that some teams, because of factors such as history or reputation, have a better chance to play in the national championship than others.

The problem is that we dont all play each other, and theres no conceivable way for that to happen, he said.

Posted on July 8th, 2009 by admin
Filed under: College football news, NCAA college football