Congress Pushing for College Football Playoff?

Honestly, we didn't think this one would come up so soon, certainly not in the middle of March Madness, not to mention the ongoing economic recession.

But on March 25, U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights, and Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, ranking minority member of the subcommittee, announced their agenda of hearings and legislation for the new session of Congress. And among the 18 items on that list: College football's Bowl Championship Series.

Here's what the news release said: "The Bowl Championship Series ("BCS") generates revenue for participating schools at a level that is unmatched in the history of collegiate sports. Even teams that never play in a BCS game are able to reap the financial benefits simply by virtue of their membership in one of the six original BCS conferences. Though the BCS claims to represent all of college football – even going so far as to call the winner of the BCS Championship Game the "National Champion" – the BCS system leaves nearly half of all the teams in college football at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to qualifying for the millions of dollars paid out every year. This system’s critics allege that the system is not only unfair to the football fans throughout the country, but also to the colleges and universities nationwide that depend on revenues from their football teams to fund their other athletic programs. They further argue that, at the very least, a fair system would provide equal opportunity, regardless of conference, for all teams to play their way into one of the BCS’s bowl games and, if they’re good enough, to compete for the national championship."

The announcement notes that the subcommittee "will hold hearings to investigate these issues" and that Sen. Hatch will introduce legislation to "rectify this situation." - Politifact Story

This is definitely something that will garner a lot of attention from football fanatics around the country. I hope that they don't screw this up too. I am all for a playoff, but with the Government who knows what you will end up with.