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The five non-Bowl Championship Series college athletic conferences
will receive a record $24 million from this year's BCS bowl games,
according to BCS figures obtained by The Associated Press Monday.
The distribution of money has been a main point of contention
for critics of the Bowl Championship Series system in Congress.
They have pushed legislation aimed at forcing the BCS to switch to
a playoff system rather than the ratings system it currently uses
to set the games that determine the college championship.
Despite the record amount that now goes to the non-BCS
schools, it still represents a sum far less than that received by
the half-dozen BCS conferences.
Most of the $24 million will go to the two non-BCS
conferences that sent teams to BCS games: Mountain West Conference,
at $9.8 million, and the Western Athletic Conference, at $7.8
million. The other three non-BCS conferences will divide the
remainder.
That compares to $22.2 million each to the Big Ten and
Southeastern BCS conferences, and $17.7 million each for the other
four BCS conferences. Those first two received more because they
each had two teams in BCS bowls.
Under the BCS system, the six BCS conferences get automatic
bids to participate in top-tier bowl games while the other five
don't. The non-BCS conferences will reap a record take this year
because they sent two teams to BCS bowls for the first time --
Boise State and Texas Christian.
BCS executive director Bill Hancock told the AP the new
numbers show the distribution is "fair and appropriate."
"It's an opportunity for us to remind people that every
conference had a chance to earn automatic qualification, and will
again, based on the current evaluation," he said. Hancock said that
the BCS has helped all 11 conferences get more access, revenue and
opportunity to play in the postseason. The previous record for
non-BCS conferences was $19.3 million, set last year, he said.
Still, the figures aren't likely to win over critics in
Congress.
Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, has cited the revenue
discrepancy as a reason for his legislation that would ban the
promotion of a postseason NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
game as a national championship unless it results from a playoff.
The bill passed a subcommittee last month but faces an uphill
battle in Congress.
In a telephone interview Monday, Barton responded to the
figures with a shrug.
"So what?" he said. "What is the BCS theoretically about? I
thought it was about the best teams playing the best teams. This
simply acknowledges the reality that's it's not about that, but
about revenue sharing. It's an economic cartel."
In the Senate, Utah Republican Orrin Hatch has called on
President Barack Obama to ask the Justice Department to investigate
whether the BCS violated antitrust laws, arguing that the millions
of dollars at stake justify oversight by the federal government.
Craig Thompson, commissioner of the Mountain West Conference,
last year called the money distribution system "grossly
inequitable."
Neither Hatch nor Thompson immediately returned messages
seeking comment on the BCS numbers.
