MWC's proposal won't alter BCS

The Mountain West Conference's proposal to revamp the Bowl Championship Series was up for review this week in Colorado and ...

Let's just say it provoked all the stirring debate and cliffhanging drama of, well, another re-election of Kim Jong Il by the Supreme People's Assembly in North Korea.

Which is to say that nothing changed.

Nor should anyone who has followed the 11-year-old history of the tightly controlled process of determining a national champion have expected otherwise when the conference commissioners met.

The six conferences that call the shots on the BCS and, therefore, its riches, have no incentive to share access to the golden goose with the Mountain West, Western Athletic Conference, or anybody else.

And unless Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and his cohorts can rally the Department of Justice to action or the Mountain West has the guts to refuse to sign the new TV deal and take the BCS to court, nothing will change. At least not until 2014 at the earliest, which is when the $125 million per year agreement with ESPN expires.

With Utah going 13-0 this past season, 12-0 in 2004 and Boise State 13-0 in 2006, it would sure seem there are some persuasive suggestions of monopoly and arguments about being denied a real opportunity to compete for a national championship in football.

Which was why, you suspect, the BCS pooh-bahs cheered Georgia's 41-10 thumping of Hawai'i in the Sugar Bowl two seasons ago as much ? if not more ? than the red-clad Bulldogs' fans.

Having had enough, the Mountain West this year put forward a reasoned ? if wholly self-serving ? proposal for changing the BCS system. With great fanfare it announced its plan and then has sat back and waited ... and waited.

What it failed to do was enlist the WAC, Conference USA, Mid-American and Sun Belt conferences in a united front that would have carried more weight. For there is no doubt they all want greater access and more widespread revenue distribution. But given the choice of backing a selfish end run by the Mountain West or staying with the status quo, is it any wonder the other have-nots failed to wildly embrace the proposal.

The proposal now goes to the eight-member BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, which will follow though undoubtedly with more refinement and token deliberation, the lead of its predecessors.

Composed of one member from each of the six guarantee conferences, plus Notre Dame and one representative of the have-nots, it will patiently review the material, yawn, and do nothing to take away from its wallet or alter the balance of power.

By Ferd Lewis

Date of Article: Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:02 am