Maybe this will help shake things up as well.
BYU lawsuit might lead to more big changes
Dec. 5, 2001
By Dennis Dodd
SportsLine.com Senior Writer
Tell Dennis your opinion!
Val Hale was sitting in his office Wednesday when a message that might save college football from itself was slipped to him.
"It's from an attorney saying they'd like to take on the BCS case pro bono," said Hale, BYU's athletic director.
The BCS case? Yes, BYU's BCS injustice is moving inexorably toward a courtroom. This week, it became less about playing in a lucrative BCS bowl for BYU and more about what it perceives as an anti-trust violation.
BYU and QB Brandon Doman have outrun every opponent but the BCS.(AP)
BYU (12-0) was released from BCS bowl consideration this week despite still being eligible and having one regular-season game to play. Did it have a BCS shot? Probably not. A top-six finish in the final BCS ratings would have guaranteed BYU a place. It is 12th heading into Saturday's finale at Hawaii. A school from a non-equity (non-BCS) conference must finish in the top 12 to be considered.
What the BCS did this week was say that because BYU isn't guaranteed, it was no longer eligible. So what does "eligible" mean when millions of dollars are at stake?
That's the case that Hale might soon present to lawyers who are lining up to take the BCS to court. So much so that at least one lawyer was eager to take the case pro bono -- without charging a fee.
"Our coaches were using the BCS to motivate the team this week," Hale said. "Now I guess what we may have to do is tell them this is a historical opportunity. This may be the game and the event that swings the future of college football. Maybe that's what we need to do to motivate them."
Seeking a temporary restraining order that would allow BYU into a BCS bowl is a long shot, Hale said. What's more likely is suing for monetary damages. Lawyers told Hale he would have a "great case" for unfair exclusion.
Once again, it's not so much about missing out on the BCS. It's about not being considered, despite being eligible with a game to play.
"I've spouted off so much lately, I feel like a whiner and I don't want to be," Hale said. "I don't know any other situation in college sports where something like this happened. Can you imagine the weekend before the NCAA Tournament? There's a team that's right on the bubble. And the NCAA comes out and says, 'Guess what? You're not going to the tournament no matter what you do.'"
Coincidentally, similar grumbling by BYU five years ago led to the creation of the BCS. The Bowl Alliance came under scrutiny for excluding BYU despite the Cougars finishing 13-1 and ranked fifth.
WAC commissioner Karl Benson and a couple of western senators forced alliance officials to testify in front of a Senate subcommittee. Out of that came changes in the selection process that led to the BCS two years later.
Now the four-year-old system BYU helped create is running amok like Young Frankenstein.
"I was shocked," Benson said when he heard BYU had been released. "I thought I had missed something."
Said Hale: "The fact that we were released came as no surprise whatsoever. The fact that we weren't included in the BCS bowl game came as no surprise whatsoever. But when we got the call and they said, 'We released you today,' we thought, 'Wait a minute, we still play a game Saturday. Why are you releasing us today? Just wait until Sunday.'
"Our kids, it's like a blow to the midsection before maybe the most important game of the year."
His calls to BCS chairman John Swofford for an explanation have not been returned, Hale said. Hale also said SEC commissioner Roy Kramer and Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen "apologized for the announcement." Hansen admitted a "personal apology" but added: "It became obvious (they) weren't going to be selected."
The bowls are responsible for releasing teams, which typically happens each week during the latter part of the season. The elimination process helps bowls get on with marketing the game and selling tickets. Most of the time, the releasing makes sense if it is clear a team is out of BCS competition.
This year, though, the BCS might have left itself out on a legal limb.
"I would rather this not come down to legal action," Hale said. "I don't think anyone wants that. But how long is this system going to go on denying people? Who knows what will happen?"
BYU's "best" chance to get in the BCS is if LSU upsets Tennessee in the SEC title game. That basically would force the Orange Bowl to pick between Florida (9-2) and BYU for an at-large team to match against Maryland.
There basically is no choice for the Orange Bowl, which would love Florida playing in South Florida.
"The bowls were doing the honorable thing (by locking up)," said Hansen, who later added, "The best team doesn't always win the NCAA Tournament."
If BYU follows through with legal action, this might be the week we look back to when college football's postseason was dramatically altered again. Conference champions Oregon, Maryland and Illinois could finish 11-1 if they win their bowl games. Meanwhile, the Big 12's third-best team, Nebraska, could play for the national championship.
Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese suggested to the Boston Globe this week that a committee be added to help select teams for the BCS title game.
"You have to include the human element," Tranghese told the Globe.
The annual tweaking of the BCS is beyond a nuisance. Part of Tranghese's criticism no doubt comes from Miami being excluded last year. This year, the same situation has arisen. BCS fathers should not be surprised that tweaking the system to help Miami in 2000 cannot account for Colorado in 2001. The Buffaloes beat Nebraska by 26 points and find themselves behind the Huskers in the BCS.
Without a clear set of rules, protocol or even common courtesy in team selection process, the BCS sometimes operates with impunity. A college source told SportsLine.com that even ABC, which owns and operates the BCS, is getting nervous that the BCS bowls were locking up their spots so soon.
"Because their selection show wouldn't have anything to announce," the source said. "If I'm ABC, I'm trying to save something to keep the audience tuned in."
No doubt part of the reason bowls are locking up is that the entire season was pushed back a week by events of Sept. 11. The BCS bowls will have only 3½ weeks to promote games, sell tickets and entertain teams after Sunday's final BCS ratings are announced.
But what Tranghese said makes sense. There needs to be a Sam Kinison to scream, "Wait a frickin' second. You can't treat BYU this way, and Nebraska can't have a chance to play for the national championship."
Common sense, though, seldom rules college athletics when money is involved. The BCS wants to make it. BYU feels like it is being denied it. Let the best set of lawyers win.