Congress Involvement Regarding the Bowl Championship Series: An Economic Perspective

It seems like a strange coincidence -- the most popular and lucrative athletic subdivision governed by the NCAA (Football Division I-A) also happens to be the only one that does not decide its champion through some kind of playoff-bracket system. Instead, the national champion is decided entirely by the BCS National Championship Game. Which two teams get to play in the Game, one may ask? All Division I-A teams are ranked by a complex amalgamation of opinion polls and computer-generated statistics (further explained in detail here: http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/bcs_explained.html). From there, the top two ranked teams at the end of each season are invited to play in the Championship Game. Every year, however, there is controversy as to which teams are going to be ranked in the top two. Since a significant portion of the ranking system depend on media and coaches polls, it has been criticized as very subjective. Some have even mocked the system as "the only sport where an election decides who gets to play in the championship." Opponents to the current system want a playoff system in place, and look to the success of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Others defend it as the only realistic way to decide the champion without prolonging what is already a very long football season.

However, in December 2009, in a surprising move, the United States Congress passed "The College Football Playoff Act of 2009" (See: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.390:). Led by Senaor Joe Barton (R-Texas), the bill would prohibit the promotion of the Division I-A postseason game as the "National Championship" game unless it is the result of a playoff.

The legislation was met with heavy resistance from supporters of the current system, as well as BCS officials. "With everything going on in the country, I can't believe that Congress is wasting time and spending taxpayers' money on football," Bill Hancock, the BCS executive director, said in a phone interview. "We feel strongly that managing of college sports is best left to the people in higher education" (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bcs-223234-playoff-college.html). Supporters of the bill have also been vocal. "We're pleased that Congressman Barton's bill is moving forward because it will require the BCS to choose — either make college football's championship a competitively earned honor or admit that it's currently the equivalent of being elected homecoming king," stated Matthew Sanderson, a founder of Playoff PAC, a political action committee aimed at electing members of Congress who favor a college football playoff system.

While it is debatable whether Congress has more pressing issues to worry about, to say that it is "none of Congress' business" like some opponents, is simply incorrect. The Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3) states that: "[The Congress shall have power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes." The fact of the matter is, is that college football and its associated Bowl Games have become a multi-billion dollar commodity whose popularity reaches coast to coast. Therefore, Congress is more than justified in attempting to regulate something that has a profound effect on interstate commerce such as the Bowl Games do. Though the view that Congress needs to stay out of sports is understandable, the legislators can and should look at any issue in the country with such huge economic impacts throughout the country.