Another week, another political sideswipe at the BCS:

WASHINGTON — The incoming chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said Wednesday that he will hold hearings and possibly subpoena NCAA officials, college presidents, players, coaches and athletics directors in effort to force a playoff in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

"I think you really do not get a true No. 1 out of (the Bowl Championship Series)," Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., told USA TODAY. "Nobody questions the Super Bowl. The team that wins is the best team that year. I think we can do the same thing at the college level where once it's over there is no questions about who is No. 1 and who is No. 2."
[...]
"I really feel that you can't leave it as is," Towns said. "Right now, if you ask what the No. 1 team is, a lot of people would say USC. Others would say Texas and if you ask anybody in the state of Utah, they would say their team was the best. I want to get a system that has credibility."

That sounds nothing whatsoever like the "antitrust" strawman that's fueled no fewer than three separate acts of political grandstanding and at least one very earnest blog entry against the Series since Thanksgiving. Towns doesn't even bother with the Constitutional cover: He just wants to know who's No. 1, dammit.

The Oversight and Governmental Reform Committee is the same one that famously hauled in a bunch of washed up baseball players to talk about their hormone levels under threat of perjury, so it certainly knows how to grandstand for the Greater Good without actually accomplishing anything -- it is, after all, aimed at government reform, and "who is No. 1 and who is No. 2" therefore falls well outside of its purview. I guess Jim Delany can expect a subpoena any day now (actually, Representative, I'll swallow my libertarian pride and volunteer if you're looking for someone to serve that one).

As a trend, though, this is as disastrous for the BCS as it is for the concept of disciplined, limited government. Too many coaches, writers and now actual power brokers have jumped ship for this Titanic to remain afloat without some major repairs. Just more proof that it's only a matter of time before the thing ends up at the bottom of the ocean.