Feds may open anti trust lawsuit against BCS

• FatHobbit

  

  http://www.cnn.com/2011/SPORT/05/04/ncaa.bcs/index.html?hpt=T2
  
  Looks like the party might be coming to an end for somebody.
• enigmaax

  Love how the BCS defense is, "they should have better things to do". Yeah, there are a lot of better things to do than investigate a billion dollar scam.
  
  Still don't believe they'll ever be able to force a playoff. There may be changes to AQ rules and more even distribution of money, but not necessarily a full-blown playoff.
• sherm03

  

  There is no way they can force a playoff. And I'm going to laugh my ass off when the BCS gets hit with this, is forced to disband, and the NCAA just goes back to the old bowl system.
  
  Hope everyone loves conference affiliated Bowl Games and split National Championships!
• Zombaypirate

  sherm03;759802 wrote:There is no way they can force a playoff. And I'm going to laugh my ass off when the BCS gets hit with this, is forced to disband, and the NCAA just goes back to the old bowl system.
  
  Hope everyone loves conference affiliated Bowl Games and split National Championships!

  They will be FORCED to have a playoff. They are now spouting a "national champion" that is crap. Not only that the reason they started the BCS is because of the outcry of fans that the "bowl" system was WORTHLESS.
  
  The fans have had enough of the bullshit. Want a REAL champion then have a playoff. Otherwise who cares what a group of persons thinks. AP. UPI. ETC.
• j_crazy

  

  enigmaax;759771 wrote:Love how the BCS defense is, "they should have better things to do". Yeah, there are a lot of better things to do than investigate a billion dollar scam.
  
  Still don't believe they'll ever be able to force a playoff. There may be changes to AQ rules and more even distribution of money, but not necessarily a full-blown playoff.

  
  i'm with the BCS on this.
  
  government is growing at a much more rapid rate than the BCS' pockets.
  
  it's wasted time and resources as far as i'm concerned.
• Pick6

  

  sherm03;759802 wrote:There is no way they can force a playoff. And I'm going to laugh my ass off when the BCS gets hit with this, is forced to disband, and the NCAA just goes back to the old bowl system.
  
  Hope everyone loves conference affiliated Bowl Games and split National Championships!

  
  There have been split national championships with the BCS.
• j_crazy

  

  Zombaypirate;759818 wrote:The fans have had enough of the bullshit. Want a REAL champion then have a playoff. Otherwise who cares what a group of persons thinks. AP. UPI. ETC.

  
  yet attendance and TV ratings are higher than they've ever been. if you think the kool aid tastes like shit, quit buying it.
  
  please retort
• ts1227

  

  enigmaax;759771 wrote:Love how the BCS defense is, "they should have better things to do". Yeah, there are a lot of better things to do than investigate a billion dollar scam.
  
  Still don't believe they'll ever be able to force a playoff. There may be changes to AQ rules and more even distribution of money, but not necessarily a full-blown playoff.

  
  Yeah. Sure, there are better things to do, but an antitrust violation is an antitrust violation and needs to be looked at.
  
  Don't necessarily need congressmen tied up with it, but I would think every business tries to play that "don't you have better stuff to do?" card on the DOJ, trying to divert attention away from it even though it clearly falls under the jurisdiction which means ITS THEIR FUCKING JOB TO LOOK AT IT. It's not a valid excuse.
  
  Give the state of Utah credit though for going after it even after the University of Utah joined a major conference, moving from the outside to the inside.
• enigmaax

  Zombaypirate;759818 wrote:They will be FORCED to have a playoff. They are now spouting a "national champion" that is crap. Not only that the reason they started the BCS is because of the outcry of fans that the "bowl" system was WORTHLESS.
  
  The fans have had enough of the bullshit. Want a REAL champion then have a playoff. Otherwise who cares what a group of persons thinks. AP. UPI. ETC.

  
  Pretty sure that they won't be able to force a playoff. The NCAA doesn't even technically recognize a national champion, so the BCS may be abolished or at a minimum have to dump the "national championship" tag from that game. But antitrust suits aren't about "champions", they are about money. The little guys may pick up some more dough from this, but sherm is right on as far as what is the most likely post-season resolution.
• ytownfootball

  

  enigmaax;759925 wrote:Pretty sure that they won't be able to force a playoff. The NCAA doesn't even technically recognize a national champion, so the BCS may be abolished or at a minimum have to dump the "national championship" tag from that game. But antitrust suits aren't about "champions", they are about money. The little guys may pick up some more dough from this, but sherm is right on as far as what is the most likely post-season resolution.

  
  Yep...the NCAA I don't believe has ever "sanctioned" a national champion...ever, it's not been a tournament like basketball. Don't be holding your breath for play-off in football, the money is too old and too entrenched and anyone who thinks that any of those holding the cards gives two shits what the fans want is just flat delusional, they don't care because we'll still watch and eat Doritos, Tostitos and wear gear.
• sherm03

  

  Zombaypirate;759818 wrote:They will be FORCED to have a playoff. They are now spouting a "national champion" that is crap. Not only that the reason they started the BCS is because of the outcry of fans that the "bowl" system was WORTHLESS.
  
  The fans have had enough of the bullshit. Want a REAL champion then have a playoff. Otherwise who cares what a group of persons thinks. AP. UPI. ETC.

  First off, they are not "spouting a national champion." The winner of the game is crowned the BCS Champion. They are not called the NCAA National Champion. That's why the trophy is a crystal football, and not the NCAA National Championship trophy that is awarded in every other sport. The BCS was created because people were upset that the best teams were not playing each other. They were mad about the conference tie-ins and the fact that "national championships" were split so often.
  
  As much as you want them to, the NCAA does not give a shit about a football national champion. They never have. They make FAR too much money off the bowl system. If you want things changed, you need to quit watching the post-season games. But since that won't happen, the NCAA will continue what works, and count their money while you cry about not having a playoff.
  

  Pick6;759852 wrote:There have been split national championships with the BCS.

  
  I remember 2003 when LSU was the BCS Champ and the USA Today Champ, and USC was named the AP Champ. Possibly again in 2007 when LSU and USC each finished with 2 losses...but if I remember correctly LSU won the BCS, the USA Today, and the AP title. So that's not a split title year, IMO.
  
  So one time there has been a split champion under the BCS system. Definitely happened more than once under the old system.
  
  
  
  Just be careful what you guys are wishing for. Doing away with the BCS will not guarantee a playoff.
• sleeper

  

  This about seals ND and the SEC from ever winning a national championship the real way.
• sherm03

  

  sleeper;759963 wrote:This about seals ND and the SEC from ever winning a national championship the real way.

  
  Que?
• stlouiedipalma

  What does the NCAA do for their member schools, other than rake in money and police things?
  
  What's stopping the major conferences from pulling out and organizing their own association?
  
  Not a joke, just wondering.
• sherm03

  

  stlouiedipalma;759985 wrote:What does the NCAA do for their member schools, other than rake in money and police things?
  
  What's stopping the major conferences from pulling out and organizing their own association?
  
  Not a joke, just wondering.

  
  You mean their own organization...like the BCS?
• OQB

  

  Interesting.....
  
  
  I think college football is becoming so outragious and all about money that we are forgetting about the the "STUDENT-Athlete"......The guys that play at these big time programs, what kind of education are they getting, I mean c'Mon really do you think they care about class.....their job and yes I do say job is to win football games and that is it.
  
  I do think something needs to be done, and the government does need to oversee the NCAA because they are ridiculous!
• j_crazy

  

  sherm03;759994 wrote:You mean their own organization...like the BCS?

  
  i think he means pull out of the NCAA and start something sort of like NAIA.
• stlouiedipalma

  Yes. The BCS is a total sham, as most of us like to point out. I'm wondering why the major conferences (where athletics is a big, big business) don't pull together and create their own governing body. Hell, it's as close as you can get to professional sports anyway, why not regulate it and govern it like the professionals do now?
• Con_Alma

  Zombaypirate;759818 wrote:...
  The fans have had enough of the bullshit. Want a REAL champion then have a playoff. Otherwise who cares what a group of persons thinks. AP. UPI. ETC.

  
  I care about what the AP and UPI thinks about as much as I care about what other fans want.
  
  I don't believe there needs to be a playoff. I am very much entertained with the current system.
  
  There's no way the Feds can force a playoff but they can if antitrust laws are being broken break up the current system.
• sherm03

  

  stlouiedipalma;760412 wrote:Yes. The BCS is a total sham, as most of us like to point out. I'm wondering why the major conferences (where athletics is a big, big business) don't pull together and create their own governing body. Hell, it's as close as you can get to professional sports anyway, why not regulate it and govern it like the professionals do now?

  
  Are you proposing that the major conferences just pull their football teams out of the NCAA? Or are you suggesting they pull all of their athletics out of the NCAA?
  
  In either case, it's not a good idea. One would have to assume that if football is pulled from the NCAA, the rest of the sports would suffer greatly because the big money maker is gone. So I don't think it's viable for the major conferences to just pull out the football programs. And I'm sure they don't want to pull out all the athletic teams because it would be more of a headache governing all sports (football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, softball, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, etc.) than those conferences would want to deal with.
  
  Besides, the major conferences are happy with the BCS. They make a TON of money on it, and it's set up in a way that a team from a major conference just has to win all their games and they are poised for a BCS Championship bid. Why would they want to do away with that? Especially when the alternative would cause them to split money with the teams from the smaller conferences?
• jordo212000

  

  I cant help but chuckle when people use the "don't you have better things to do?" defense any time the BCS comes under fire. It is a multi-million dollar operation, it isn't some lemonade stand. Lots and lots of money is involved here, and if the BCS isn't "big" enough to look into, what is?
  
  On top of that, public universities are involved here. You know, places that get lots and lots of money from the government. I understand completely why the government is getting involved.
• enigmaax

  Jim Delaney isn't scared of the government:
  
  http://content.usatoday.com/communities/campusrivalry/post/2011/05/big-ten-boss-jim-delany-says-bcs-can-stand-up-to-federal-scrutiny/1?csp=34

  Echoing Notre Dame athletics director Jack Swarbrick, Delany insisted that, if the BCS were dismantled, it wouldn't lead to the kind of playoff Varney referenced in her letter. Schools and conferences more likely would return to a pre-BCS format in which they struck their own bowl deals, top to bottom.
  
  "There's no judge or jury in the world," Delany said, "that can make you enter into an four-team, eight-team or 16-team playoff."

  Delany's response, in effect: Bring it on.
  
  In December, he acknowledged persistent criticism and the potential for "BCS defense fatigue." But "I'm not very fatigued right now," he said. "Maybe that was just the end of a long football season and bowl selection process. I'm actually looking forward to whatever comes.
  
  "I know at the end of the day that we've operated in total good faith. I know that (the postseason) is better than it was. . . . And if it can't go forward, it can't go forward. But I also know that we can't be enjoined, we can't be directed or forced into something we don't think is the right thing for us to do."

  Also, this may have been posted already as it is old, but it reinforces the point that the big boys are not going to revamp anything for the little guys....ever.
  
  http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/09/jim-delany-warns-non-aq-leagues-dont-expect-more-than-youre/
  

  "Don't push it past this because if you push it past this, the Big 12's position is we'll just go back to the old (bowl) system," Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe told FanHouse. "You're getting the ability to get to places you've never gotten before. We've Jerry-rigged the free market system to the benefit of those institutions and a lot are institutions that don't even fill their stadiums."

  "The only thing I would say, if you think you (the non-automatic qualifying leagues) can continue to pressure the system and we'll just naturally provide more and more and more," Delany said. "I don't think that's an assumption that our presidents, athletic directors, football coaches and commissioners necessarily agree with.

  "You can discuss it until the cows come home. The only way the system works is if everyone is willing to play the game. It doesn't work if I take my ball and go home. It doesn't work if the Big East takes its ball and goes home. Does it work if Mike (Slive) takes his ball and goes home?

• jordo212000

  

  At this point, I don't care if they choose to be complete morons and walk away from millions on the table. If they want to take their ball and go home, that's on them. It will completely murder the sport. I actually kind of find it funny that Delaney is even threatening to do that. Call his bluff.
  
  I hate the BCS and the system to the point that I am willing to go back to pre-BCS bowl matchups. Because, at the end of the day, they will mean the same to me as they did before. Glorified exhibitions...
• Iliketurtles

  

  sherm03;760752 wrote:Are you proposing that the major conferences just pull their football teams out of the NCAA? Or are you suggesting they pull all of their athletics out of the NCAA?
  
  In either case, it's not a good idea. One would have to assume that if football is pulled from the NCAA, the rest of the sports would suffer greatly because the big money maker is gone. So I don't think it's viable for the major conferences to just pull out the football programs. And I'm sure they don't want to pull out all the athletic teams because it would be more of a headache governing all sports (football, basketball, baseball, volleyball, softball, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, etc.) than those conferences would want to deal with.
  
  Besides, the major conferences are happy with the BCS. They make a TON of money on it, and it's set up in a way that a team from a major conference just has to win all their games and they are poised for a BCS Championship bid. Why would they want to do away with that? Especially when the alternative would cause them to split money with the teams from the smaller conferences?

  Except for Auburn in 2004 . But I agree with your whole post. There is no way that the major conferences would ever spilt away from the NCAA.
• sherm03

  

  Iliketurtles;763289 wrote:Except for Auburn in 2004 .

  
  Touche!
  
  In all honesty, this is the only way we would see a playoff. If more teams from MAJOR conferences finished undefeated, and then got snubbed for the National Championship game...then there would be a real push for the playoffs. But as it is now, that does not happen often...so there isn't a real push for the change.