Hatch urges Obama to investigate college’s BCS

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WASHINGTON (AP)—A senator whose undefeated home state school was bypassed for the college football national championship last season urged President Barack Obama on Wednesday to ask the Justice Department to investigate the Bowl Championship Series, citing Obama’s own concerns about the way the top team is crowned in building a case for action.

“Mr. President, as you have publicly stated on multiple occasions, the BCS system is in dire need of reform,” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said in a 10-page letter to Obama calling for an antitrust probe of the BCS. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the letter.

Shortly after his election last year, Obama said he was going to “to throw my weight around a little bit” to nudge college football toward a playoff system.

Obama and Hatch are among the many critics of how the BCS—a complex system of computer rankings and polls that often draws criticism—determines its national champion.

Hatch, who held a hearing on the BCS in July, told Obama that a “strong case” can be made that the BCS violates antitrust laws.

Under the BCS system, some athletic conferences get automatic bids to participate in top-tier bowl games while others don’t, and the automatic bid conferences also get far more of the revenue. Hatch’s home state school, the University of Utah, is from the Mountain West Conference, which does not get an automatic bid. The school qualified for a bid last season but was bypassed for the national championship despite going undefeated.

The system “has been designed to limit the number of teams from non-privileged conferences that will play in BCS games,” Hatch wrote.

Hatch said the BCS arrangement likely violates the Sherman Antitrust Act because, he argued, it constitutes a “contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce,” quoting from the law.

He said the system “artificially limits the number of nationally-relevant bowl games to five. The result is reduced access to revenues and visibility which creates disadvantages to schools in the non-privileged conferences.”

Hatch is the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary’s subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy and consumer rights.

The senator said the hundreds of millions of dollars generated by college football “are hardly trivial sums,” given that many schools use such revenue to fund things like other athletic programs.

The Justice Department said it would review the letter and respond as appropriate. The White House declined to comment.

The chairman of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, Harvey Perlman, said, “Like a majority of presidents, commissioners, athletics directors and coaches, we stand behind the BCS as the best way to identify a national champion.”

Perlman, who is chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, noted that 120 schools compete through the season for the opportunity to play in four major bowls and the national championship game.

“No effort should be made to take away some of the best traditions of college football, which include the bowl games,” he said. “Most importantly, our attorneys have done exhaustive reviews over the years, and we are confident that the BCS is in full compliance with the laws of the nation.”

Alan G. Fishel, an attorney for the Mountain West Conference and Boise State University, backed Hatch’s effort.

“If the government can look at the concentration of money in railroads, telecommunications and software developers, then why not the big business of college sports in America?” he said.

Hatch’s letter comes a few days after the BCS released its first standings of the year. And on Monday, a group of college football fans launched the Playoff PAC, with the hope of electing more lawmakers who will pressure the BCS to switch to a playoff system.

Several lawmakers have introduced bills this year aimed at forcing a playoff system, but none of the bills has advanced.

Updated Oct 21, 6:14 pm EDT
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1412 Comments

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  1. Nonreality
    1412. Posted by Nonreality Thu Oct 22 7:02pm EDT

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    #
    Andrew
    1376. Posted by Andrew Thu Oct 22 9:56am EDT

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    1330. Posted by Nonreality Wed Oct 21 11:03pm EDT Report Abuse
    Anneberreta I really doubt that you have seen this. I think you are making it up to try to make your point.
    Quote:
    Dont sweat it TJ, when liberals cant win arguments, they resort to ignorance and personal attacks. Ive seen them spit on our returning soldiers
    End Quote:

    It's not nice to make up things you know.

    Screw you nonreality, because the way liberals think, its technically true
    End Quote.

    So if it fits what you have in your mind, it doesn't matter if it's true or not. You can make it all up to fit your crazy ideas. I've felt that is what a lot of the far right do but it's nice for you to prove it. Thanks.
  2. Nonreality
    1411. Posted by Nonreality Thu Oct 22 6:51pm EDT

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    Misch
    1347. Posted by Misch Thu Oct 22 2:03am EDT

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    "So somehow Obama got Orin Hatch, a republican, to do this so that Obama could look good and try to divert public attention to something that he could do good at and take the attention from so called failed ideas in a attempt to look good? Do you really think that he controls the republicans too? This is an attempt by Orin Hatch to see if this BCS setup is violating anti-monopoly rules. Who else but the government is allowed to do this? Why must everything be some attempt to overthrow our government but using us as tools? You are not that stupid nor am I."

    Nonreality:
    You are not stupid you are just unaware and your reading comprehension is suspect. No mention is made of Senator Hatch because his motives are obvious. You fail to understand that both of these fine gentlemen have separate motives and are utilizing the same issue to achieve them. Next time read carefully and think before you write.

    Sorry for the late post Misch. This was a sarcastic post and I probably should have marked it for you but I was responding to someone else at the time.
  3. Cactcap
    1410. Posted by Cactcap Thu Oct 22 6:25pm EDT

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    Polygamy is illegal
  4. Jeff
    1409. Posted by Jeff Thu Oct 22 6:18pm EDT

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    This isn't about a game. It is about antitrust. The BCS is illegal.
  5. michael h
    1408. Posted by michael h Thu Oct 22 5:54pm EDT

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    Hatch please investigate the Obama group first. This country is beginning to look like Germany during the war.
  6. Jason
    1407. Posted by Jason Thu Oct 22 5:21pm EDT

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    Life isn't fair!
  7. j
    1406. Posted by j Thu Oct 22 4:11pm EDT

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    How about worring about health care first. Once we are ship shape on that front let the Washington get involved with a game. Do the job we sent you ther to do first.
  8. Cactcap
    1405. Posted by Cactcap Thu Oct 22 3:47pm EDT

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    1404 - Wow convoluted, and seems to make a case for you not being a hypocritical ass, and nonetheless idiotic.

    And, at the same time, you see no correlation between spending public funds to get BYU into a BCS game so Mormons can forget about the September 11, 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre? Further, you make no distinction that these same public funds might be better spend spent stamping out polygamy in Utah, Arizona, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, Canada and Mexico, which the Mormons started, rather than on a football game.

    My, you are so progressive, you should also think about running for public office.

    www.mormonzeitgeist.com
  9. <i>simplyamazing8701</i>
    1404. Posted by simplyamazing8701 Thu Oct 22 3:41pm EDT

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    I'm sure Obama has better things to do than worry about this crappy system, check out the NCAA Week 8 Predictions at www.theidealsportsblog.com
  10. Robert
    1403. Posted by Robert Thu Oct 22 3:30pm EDT

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    Well that's a good point - I wouldn't go so far as giving it my "esteemed approval" but I can at least see the correlation. Clinton was the President in the not so distant past so any discussion of the current President might involve past Presidents. Plus, Obama is black and any criticism of Obama somehow always gets steered towards some comment about racism. Apparently we are no longer able to criticize the President of the United States without it being racial - who knew? And Liberals...well that goes part and parcel with any discussions of Obama - so I can see some direct or indirect correlation to all three. Now polygamy on the other hand...seems a bit of a stretch to me...
  11. Cactcap
    1402. Posted by Cactcap Thu Oct 22 3:04pm EDT

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    1402 - OK...but, talking about Clinton, Blacks and liberals seems to meet with your esteemed approval?
  12. Robert
    1401. Posted by Robert Thu Oct 22 2:56pm EDT

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    No offense intended to those who keep complaining this is about football, but this article is about a Republican senator from the state of Utah requesting that the President of the United States get involved in football and the BCS. Hard to completely remove politics from the discussion don't you think? I will say though I don't see how polygamy and Mormons really have any bearing in this discussion - pretty bizarre if you ask me...
  13. Cactcap
    1400. Posted by Cactcap Thu Oct 22 2:50pm EDT

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    1398 - Wow....BLACKS AND LIBERALS ARE TO BLAME......sounds kind of like Mormon white supremacy to me.

    America's economy would be better now without all of the terrorist events too, right. How about all of the Mormons who were involved in the 1993 WTC bombing, the 1995 OK bombing and 9/11. How about Dyno-Nobel in Salt Lake City, which sold the ammonium nitrate that Ramzi Yousef used for the 1993 WTC bombing, or Terry Nichols who flew to meet with Ramzi Yousef in Cebu City, Philippines in November 1994 (6-months before the 1995 OKC bombing), or the fact that two of the 4 terrorist pilots (Mohammed Attah & Marwan Al-Shehhi) were trained at Huffman Aviation in Venice, Florida, which was secretly owned at the time by a Mormon bishop named Wallace Hilliard.

    WWW.MORMONZEITGEIST.COM
  14. Misch
    1398. Posted by Misch Thu Oct 22 2:45pm EDT

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    Fixing the BCS mess: Organize all college football teams into 8 mega-conferences geographically. In each mega conference would be 2-3 divisions based upon NCAA assigned power rankings. Like the professional football (soccer) leagues in the UK, 2-3 teams in each mega-conference division would move up or down to different divisions within the mega-conference after each season based on win-loss records. The NC would be determined after a 16 team playoff, seeded by the NCAA, comprised of the two top teams from each mega-conference championship division, . Independents would have to join a mega-conference to participate. The thirty plus existing bowls would be allocated as followings: The 15 top grossing bowl games would be allocated to the championship division for the 15 game playoff. the remaining bowl games would be assigned from all mega-conference divisions by the NCAA. One advantage of this system is that the Boise States, TCU's, BYU,s Utahs, etc. can all gain access to the championship division and then to the NC. Poorly performing teams will bump down to their level of performance. Scheduling would be coordinated by the NCAA by slot, for example instead of USC vs Oregon it would be team A vs Team B - PAC 10 - Championship Division. Whichever team in that slot for a particular season would play each other. Something for everyone. Before you start ripping away, instead offer remedies and improvements to what is offered here.
  15. First L
    1397. Posted by First L Thu Oct 22 2:37pm EDT

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    Is this about football or politics, whoever was in the last eight years the financial breakdown would have happened. The NY Times 09/30/99 warned of what would happen to the financial system, if the lending system went unchanged. Clinton ignored it and signed a bill making derivatives legal. In 2003, and 2005 the administration tried to change the law and was overturned by the liberals and the black cacus. Would changing the law have helped, I don't know. The war in Iraq, look at the year leading up to the war, every liberal was crying to get Sadam and his WMD's. Once the war turned they suddenly forgot about what they had said a few months earlier, all this is public record just look.
  16. Cactcap
    1396. Posted by Cactcap Thu Oct 22 2:22pm EDT

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    1396 - Give me a friggin break.....Hatch is doing this specifically because of Utah and BYU, both of which are located in his home state of Utah. Hatch doesn't give a rats-Ass about any other University in any other State in the Union.

    Utah Attorney General has said he won't prosecute Polygamy in Utah, because he said, there aren't enough beds in Utah jails to accommodate all of them if they were arrested. Then, he spoke at a Mormon polygamy conference in Park City in September to provide tips on how polygamists can skirt the polygamy laws. Polygamy, by the way, is a Federal crime.

    Why doesn't Hatch start by attempting to get Utah to ban polygamy in Utah and all of the other States the Mormons exported polygamy into with the "1890 Manifesto". What a bunch of sorry hypocrites.

    If BYU could beat Florida State and go undefeated, they might make it to a BCS bowl, JUST LIKE UTAH DID, AND JUST LIKE BOISE STATE DID. WHAT A BUNCH OF IGNORANT HYPOCRITE WHINERS.

    WWW.MORMONZEITGEIST.COM
  17. <i>boasocal</i>
    1395. Posted by boasocal Thu Oct 22 1:59pm EDT

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    I almost never agree with Sen. Hatch on politics but in this I very much agree. This is a rigged system, it's anticompetitive, and precludes many teams from even having a chance. The SEC and Big 12 have rigged the system, the PAC10 and Big 10 aren't even represented on the BofD, because they wouldn't play ball at the system's inception....NPI. It's rigged, unfair to all D I schools. I won't even get into the rigged "soft" scheduling of many schools to insure they make it to the big game. Utah was totally jobbed last season. And it goes on and on.
  18. Robert
    1394. Posted by Robert Thu Oct 22 1:20pm EDT

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    I say let Obama get involved - he hasn't accomplished anything else in 10 months so why not tackle the BCS quagmire? Might keep him from making so many speeches and limit the amount of CO2 emissions from one person! The only downside is that someone in Africa wouldn't benefit from the Cap and Trade dollars from all the hot air he would no longer be putting out...
  19. Cactcap
    1393. Posted by Cactcap Thu Oct 22 12:50pm EDT

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    Orrin Hatch and the Mormons are like Forrest Gump. Stupid is as stupid does.


    www.MormonZeitgeist.com
  20. Matthew S
    1392. Posted by Matthew S Thu Oct 22 12:48pm EDT

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    Boycott the bcs and college football then you will see a playoff!!!! no money means no system!!!!
  21. ClappDaddy
    1391. Posted by ClappDaddy Thu Oct 22 12:45pm EDT

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    #1387 Your a Moron...
  22. Jarhead
    1390. Posted by Jarhead Thu Oct 22 12:34pm EDT

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    Hey Hatch,
    How about focusing your time and effort on something that really matters. Say like the unemployment rate in America, or maybe the homeless children in America, maybe health care. You WERE NOT ELECTED to worry about football. I think the system sucks, but I would much rather be paying my tax dollars to for doing what you were elected for, FIXING THE GOVERNMENT. I suggest you resign and give up your seat to some one he really has the best interest of this country in mind, not his hoe states football team. What a freaking joke. No wonder America is becoming the laughing stock of the world. Our idiots in Washington are more worried about some stupid football championship series that putting its citizens back to work!!!!
  23. VOODOOPHANTOM
    1389. Posted by VOODOOPHANTOM Thu Oct 22 12:21pm EDT

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    NO DOUBT OBAMA'S TEAM WILL APPOINT A " FOOTBALL CZAR " then give everybody a group hug free insurance for life with 10% raise every year..........and because OBAMA watched one football game they will give him the HEISMAN TROPHY....DAM N PROUD TO BE GOP
  24. <i>bcs0629</i>
    1388. Posted by bcs0629 Thu Oct 22 12:15pm EDT

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    I see a lot of people saying why is congress worrying about this? Why did they investigate baseball and steriods? At least some good would come out of this, and you could still use the BCS ratings to determine the seeds for a playoff.
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