TCU in the BCS stirs up a hornet's nest

College football is as much "Big Business" as the NFL.

Here are some "outstanding" editorials/letters to the editor" regarding the sad state of affairs of the College BcS cartel. TCU and Boise State upset their little elitist BcS Fake National Championship plans this year.

Read what others have to say and then chime in with your take on the BcS through adding your feedback to this post.

"TCU needs a bowl of its very own
Jennifer Floyd-Engel, Sports Writer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

What the heck is wrong with everybody? Are we really that naïve?

Of course, having TCU and Boise State play in the Fiesta Bowl is a conspiracy to keep them from being able to embarrass the power conferences yet again at their exclusionary game. Anybody who pretends anything else is:

a) Smoking crack.

b) Fibbing.

c) Has a vested interest in protecting this sham of a BcS system.

And c) obviously applies to Fiesta Bowl president John Junker, thus b) does, too, in regards to his laying kisses on TCU and unleashing his "biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard in my life" as a defense.

Where is Rep. Joe Wilson and his "you lie" shtick when really needed?

The Fiesta Bowl took one for the "team," probably in exchange for future considerations. The Fake National Championship (FNC) is in Glendale in 2011 and do not be surprised if this little sacrifice guarantees a prettier pre-Fiesta Fiesta Bowl.

Spin that Fiesta honchos chose TCU because, gosh-darn-it, it was more deserving is giggle-worthy. Name the last time a big-time bowl did the right, altruistic thing?

Bowls do the money thing and the money thing was to invite Iowa and all of those oft-mentioned 50,000 Hawkeyes who would pay anything and go anywhere just to get out of Iowa in January.

So why would the Fiesta pass up on that payday?

Hmmmmmm, what possibly could it be? Could it be that if TCU, ranked No. 4 in BcS standings, played and beat Cincy or Florida, the Frogs would have a legit claim to the national championship right along with whoever wins Texas-Alabama?

And since everybody knows the Frogs have zero chance at this FNC, this only hastens calls for a playoff, and a playoff threatens to decimate their little bowl cartel.

Yes, the single worst thing to happen to the BcS was what Kyle Whittingham and his fine Utah Utes team did to Alabama a year ago in the Sugar Bowl.

Say this for the BcS, it learns. No more inviting Boise to play Oklahoma and Utah to play Alabama because, instead of putting non-AQ schools in their place and shutting them up as planned, it only gave them evidence of what a sham the whole thing really is.

No way are they allowing that to happen again. So TCU plays Boise, and one ends up with a loss and the other is dismissed as still not having beaten anybody. Brilliant, as the Guinness Stout boys would say.

This is standard BcS operating procedure where C stands for conspiracy, and all that leaves is B and S.

Always a doer and a carer, though, I have a solution.

Actually, I have to give credit to my wonderful motley crew of faithful readers for sparking this idea. Red Raider Joe suggested taking their ball and going home, and I thought, "There has to be a sponsor for that."

So may I humbly offer:

The 2010 non-BcS National Championship Game presented by JerryWorld.

This is exactly the kind of rebellious, rogue, crazy idea Owner Jones has turned into billions of dollars in his Cowboy lifetime. And he has an ability to turn this into a wildly popular and profitable venture as well.

Start by having TCU and Boise tell The Fiesta to beat it.

"We are excited to be in the Fiesta Bowl," Horned Frogs PR man Mark Cohen said when I reached him in New York on Tuesday about this very possibility. So Owner Jones obviously needs to place a call.

Next have Owner Jones use his connections to wrangle up a TV partner, and really Football Night in America and NBC need to jump at this chance.

Find a few big-time sponsors, like my good friends at BNSF Railway (and I spoke there once so that makes us friends, right?) and the Dallas Mavs (this seems right up Mark Cuban’s alley) to help defray Jerry’s costs.

Finally, we market this as The National Championship. All we need for legitimacy is a trophy, a logo and a Twitter/FBook account as our good friends at The BcS have proven.

The Star-Telegram graphics department was a little busy Tuesday. So, if any of you graphically inclined Horned Frog fans could whip me up a logo to present to Jerry next time I see him, I’d sure appreciate it. And I’d doubly appreciate any sketches for a possible Ice The Cupcake logo as well.

We could recycle the Fort Worth Bowl runner-up trophy from 2003, and all we lack is an official Tweeter of this non-BcS. And I nominate The Great Joe Barton (R-Arlington).

Quick aside: How soul-sucking must it be to defend this indefensible BcS system in 140 characters or less?

Of course, if this fails, go to the Fiesta Bowl folks.

Good bowl. Good city. And you know the BcS will be taking attendance and looking for a way to justify conspiring against you next time around.

Remember the C is for conspiracy, and all that is left is B and S.”

"Not cheering Fiesta

Congratulations to the TCU football players for an outstanding season. However, I am very disappointed in the TCU and Mountain West Conference administrations and coach Gary Patterson. TCU should be in the Sugar Bowl playing Florida.

Playing and beating Florida would do far more to enhance the school’s reputation than playing and beating Boise State. When the BCS came with the Fiesta Bowl offer, both administrations and Patterson should have told the BCS to take a hike and demand a Sugar Bowl appearance.

I believe the BCS and the NCAA are scared to death of an antitrust lawsuit by a school like TCU. Giving automatic BCS bowl bids to only select conferences and not to others and the fact that all these schools accept federal money makes them a prime target for antitrust action.

These significant bowl opportunities do not come that often, and the TCU players deserved better this year. They were ill-served by their administration and coach for not standing up to the BCS and getting the bowl matchup the players earned.

I hope the local TCU alumni come down hard on this administration for its failure to support its players and stand tall against the very unfair BCS.

— James Sumpter, Mansfield"

"Biggest Concession Stand?

An objective person might think that if you work hard on the practice field and in the classroom, put the team above yourself, devise a good game plan, stay focused at every position for every minute of the game you would be considered the best team.

Not so fast, it has nothing to do with any of that, it’s how many hot dogs you sold.

BCS really means who has the Biggest Concession Stand.

— Perry Cozzen, Fort Worth"

"Love from Boise

I wanted to congratulate the TCU football program and say I do feel you should be playing Alabama for the national title instead of Texas (whom I think you could have beaten). I live in Boise and am a Boise State University fan, and it is an honor to be able to play the team that should be playing for the national championship. We respect your team and in some ways fear the quality of players you have on it, and it will truly be an all-out effort on our part to win. I (and many in Boise) pulled for Nebraska to beat Texas (even if it was not going to be good for BSU), because that might have allowed TCU to play in the big game against Alabama. So, congratulations and see you in Arizona for the Fiesta Bowl.

— Steve Hasse, Boise, Idaho"

"12 reasons the Fiesta Bowl is a good thing for TCU
By David Thomas, Sports Writer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Imagine you move into a much nicer, higher-dollar neighborhood.

You walk outside your first morning in your new home and bend over to pick up the newspaper. (The Star-Telegram, of course. Double-wrapped, because we care.)

But as you stand back up, you notice a U-Haul truck across the street. Out your old neighbor from your old neighborhood. ... of the cab jumps

Now here is a scene we do not have to imagine.

TCU works its way into a much nicer, higher-paying, BCS bowl game. When the other opponent is revealed, it’s Boise State the Horned Frogs defeated last season in the — take a deep breath — San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.

TCU and Boise State both went undefeated and earned a chance to beat up one of college football’s bullies. They will see each other in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl instead.

That is no knock on the Fiesta Bowl, and definitely no knock on the projected $17.5 million payout to the participating conferences.

But with third-ranked TCU and sixth-ranked Boise State being matched against one another, there certainly is the feel — which I have heard on at least two occasions — that the adults have sent SuperFrog and Buster Bronco off to the kids’ table for the family holiday meal.

The consensus of local purple-wearers is that TCU deserved better. A better opponent ("better" as in status, not ability) and a better bowl (as in the big enchilada.)

I am not going to join in the launching of a TV show called BCSI to investigate whether it was indeed only one person who amended the Big 12 replay rules at the last second, leaned the goal post to the side on Texas’ game-winning kick and dictated the BCS bowl matchups.

I do, however, want to at least try to make things better in our beloved city by offering 12 reasons TCU’s bowl and opponent are a great thing:

1. Tostitos rock.

2. If you have last year’s Poinsettia Bowl on DVR and have not gotten around to watching it yet, you won’t need to now.

3. The Horned Frogs have a chance to beat Boise State in the same bowl in which the Broncos beat Oklahoma three seasons ago. That would be an indirect bowl victory against a top-10 BCS team.

4. Playing on a green field gives TCU a decided statistical edge. Boise State has six victories on green fields. TCU has 11.

5. Would you rather have a fiesta or an orange?

6. Of the BCS bowl sites, only New Orleans is closer to Fort Worth than Glendale, Ariz. Playing in the Fiesta Bowl will save some mileage when hauling Frog Horn to the game.

7. "BCS buster, Broncos buster" sounds good.

8. Having undefeated teams meet in a non-championship game for the first time in BCS history has to move us that much closer to the act of Congress apparently needed to create a playoff.

9. Glendale is on the way to Pasadena, Calif. That gives Texas fans the opportunity to stop en route to the championship game and show their support for TCU. You know, bring some much-needed college football unity back to our state.

10. This will be the highest-combined ranking of teams for a TCU bowl game since No. 1 TCU defeated No. 5 Carnegie Tech 15-7 in the 1939 Sugar Bowl. Carnegie Tech football will appreciate the attention.

11. The 2011 BCS National Championship Game will be played at University of Phoenix Stadium. Consider this game the Frogs’ dress rehearsal.

12. Still working on a 12th reason. I’ll get back to you."

"Barton: Playoff system would end BCS cartel
Congressman Joe Barton, of Arlington represents U.S. House District 6

'My bill does not seek a federal government takeover of college football. In fact, it is just the opposite. It simply puts the onus on the BCS to come up with a playoff system. Every other sport in intercollegiate athletics at every level has some sort of playoff or merit-based national meet or tournament. Why not the top tier of Division I football?

Obviously, this isn’t the most important issue in Washington. I’m actively engaged in the healthcare debate, and I’m leading the effort to defeat the economy-killing “cap and tax” climate-change policy.

Having said that, college football is a multibillion-dollar-a-year operation, and it is interstate commerce. That makes it a legitimate candidate for congressional oversight. After all, we are talking about schools that receive public funding.

The Forth Worth Star-Telegram Dec. 2 editorial said that the BCS “is a lucrative operation” for “a few lucky conferences.” The conferences involved aren’t lucky. They deliberately set up a system that maximizes revenue for their members. It isn’t about student-athletes or determining a “champion.”

The BCS is a cartel in the truest sense of the word. If Exxon Mobil and Chevron did in the oil industry what the BCS has done in college football, they would be prosecuted for violating antitrust laws.

Need proof of the cartel? Well, look at TCU (non-BCS conference) vs. Baylor (BCS conference). Here’s the tale of the tape from 2005 to 2008:

■ Season record: TCU 37-10, Baylor 16-31

■ Bowl record: TCU 4-0, Baylor 0-0

■ Bowl receipts: TCU $2.01 million, Baylor $6.2 million

Baylor is earning more than $1.5 million a year from bowls it never plays in, while TCU — which during this time period beat teams such as Oklahoma, Texas Tech and even Baylor, twice — received just a third of that.

Since the BCS began in 1998, guess how many teams have played in the “championship” game. Only 11.

This means that each year, more than 6,000 student-athletes are left out and learn firsthand how a cartel really works.

This is a perversion of what college football is all about, and that’s why I introduced this bill.

Players and their millions of fans deserve a fair playoff system. It’s time for the backroom bullies of the BCS to replace the current system with a playoff that’s fair and open to all teams.

Let’s determine the college football champion on the field of play, four downs at a time.'"

"House panel passes college football playoff bill
By Frederic J. Frommer, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON — A House subcommittee approved legislation Wednesday aimed at forcing college football to switch to a playoff system to determine its national champion, over the objections of some lawmakers who said Congress has meatier targets to tackle.

The bill, which faces steep odds, 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 measure passed by voice vote in a House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee, with one audible "no," from Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga.

"With all due respect, I really think we have more important things to spend our time on," Barrow said before the vote, although he stressed he didn't like the current Bowl Championship Series, either.

The BCS selections announced last weekend pit two unbeaten teams, No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas, in the Jan. 7 national title game. Three other undefeated teams - TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State - will play in a BCS bowl game, but not for the championship.

"What can we say - it's December and the BCS is in chaos again," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He said the BCS system is unfair and won't change unless prompted by Congress.

The legislation, which goes to the full committee, would make it illegal to promote a national championship game "or make a similar representation," unless it results from a playoff.

There is no Senate version, although Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has pressed for a Justice Department antitrust investigation into the BCS.

Shortly after his election last year, Barack Obama said there should be a playoff system.

In a statement before the vote, BCS executive director Bill Hancock said, "With all the serious matters facing our country, surely Congress has more important issues than spending taxpayer money to dictate how college football is played."

The subcommittee chairman, Rep. Bobby Rush, an Illinois Democrat who co-sponsored the bill, said, "We can walk and chew gum at the same time."

Yet Barrow wasn't alone in criticizing his colleagues' priorities; Reps. Zach Space, D-Ohio, and Bart Stupak, D-Mich., made similar arguments. Space said that with people facing tough times, the decision to focus on college football sends the "wrong message."

The bill has a tough road ahead, given the wide geographic representation and political clout of schools in the six conferences - the ACC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-10 and SEC - that get automatic BCS bowl bids

The current college bowl system features a championship game between the two top teams in the BCS standings, based on two polls and six computer rankings. Eight other schools play in the Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose bowls.

Under the BCS, the champions of those six big conference get automatic bids, while other conferences don't. Those six conferences also receive far more money than the other conferences."

"Class act, Frog fans

I attended the recent TCU-Utah game with my twin 8-year-old birthday boys. As this was their first college football game, they were crushed to find that virtually every person in the stadium was not rooting for "our" Utes.

With his feelings hurt, one son buried his tearful head in my lap. A few students sitting behind us perceived what was happening and proceeded to start cheering for both teams just to make him feel better. Class act, Frogs, class act.

-- Steven Lund, Lewisville"