cartman
03-30-2005, 07:16 PM
This is an interesting attempt at forcing the BCS to acknowledge their mess and create a 16 team college football playoff. I wonder what would happen if the other college football centric states join in as well?
Bill would block Texas teams from BCS
Senate bill calls for national championship tournament
By Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Texas' college football teams would be banned from playing in postseason championship games that are not part of a national playoff system under a bill filed Tuesday in the Texas Senate.
With a similar measure pending in the House, the development could signal some momentum for a change, even though the chances of either passing are still considered a long shot.
Under the Senate bill, the ban on bowl games would expire Dec. 2, just before Bowl Championship Series bids go out, if a similar law is not enacted in at least four other states, most of them home to gridiron powerhouses.
The largely symbolic measure highlights growing frustration with the BCS system, in which polls and computer rankings are used to determine which teams will play in major bowl games. The University of Texas received its first BCS invitation this past season and won the Rose Bowl.
Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg, in a letter to the House Higher Education Committee, opposes the lawmakers' idea as "seriously flawed . . . not in the best interests of the Big 12." Weiberg also serves as BCS coordinator.
"I filed it because the current system is unintelligible," said Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, saying the intent of the bill is not to keep Texas teams from playing in postseason games but to encourage the adoption of a new playoff system. "There is widespread dissatisfaction with the current system."
Senate Bill 1790 would prohibit NCAA teams from Texas' public universities from playing in "an intercollegiate post-regular-session competition that is part of a series that includes a national championship game unless that competition is part of a national playoff system."
That playoff system, according to the bill, would have to consist of "at least 16 teams competing in successive elimination games resulting in a final game for the national championship of that entire division or level of intercollegiate competition."
If four out of 12 other states enact a similar law before Dec. 1, the law would stay in effect for Texas schools, according to the bill.
The other states are Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington -- states that Wentworth said were selected because most have top football programs, perhaps indicating "some interest there."
Wentworth's bill is virtually identical to House Bill 981, filed Feb. 14 by Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale, R-Tomball. It is pending in the House Higher Education Committee. HB 981 would apply its restrictions to state-funded schools.
"I don't follow football, really, other than go to some games. . . . But I have read and heard comments about the (BCS) system -- from (retired UT head coach) Darrell Royal and others -- and this bill is intended to address those concerns," Wentworth said.
"That legislation is not going to pass," said UT football coach Mack Brown, who said he is in favor of an eight-team playoff for Division I-A football. "I don't think (UT President) Larry Faulkner, DeLoss (Dodds, athletic director) or the University of Texas would have any interest in pulling out of what the NCAA is trying to do."
Dodds said Tuesday that while he's not taking a position on the bill, he thinks his position on the BCS is clear: "I prefer a playoff."
"I would understand why people are upset" with the current system, he said.
While the deadline for filing bills in the Texas Legislature passed two weeks ago, the Senate on Tuesday unanimously gave Wentworth permission to the file the bill -- among several by other senators. Several of his colleagues perked up to its potential import and briefly peppered him with questions.
For the record, Wentworth is a graduate of Texas A&M University and received his law degree from Texas Tech University. Van Arsdale got his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.
Bill would block Texas teams from BCS
Senate bill calls for national championship tournament
By Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Texas' college football teams would be banned from playing in postseason championship games that are not part of a national playoff system under a bill filed Tuesday in the Texas Senate.
With a similar measure pending in the House, the development could signal some momentum for a change, even though the chances of either passing are still considered a long shot.
Under the Senate bill, the ban on bowl games would expire Dec. 2, just before Bowl Championship Series bids go out, if a similar law is not enacted in at least four other states, most of them home to gridiron powerhouses.
The largely symbolic measure highlights growing frustration with the BCS system, in which polls and computer rankings are used to determine which teams will play in major bowl games. The University of Texas received its first BCS invitation this past season and won the Rose Bowl.
Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg, in a letter to the House Higher Education Committee, opposes the lawmakers' idea as "seriously flawed . . . not in the best interests of the Big 12." Weiberg also serves as BCS coordinator.
"I filed it because the current system is unintelligible," said Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, saying the intent of the bill is not to keep Texas teams from playing in postseason games but to encourage the adoption of a new playoff system. "There is widespread dissatisfaction with the current system."
Senate Bill 1790 would prohibit NCAA teams from Texas' public universities from playing in "an intercollegiate post-regular-session competition that is part of a series that includes a national championship game unless that competition is part of a national playoff system."
That playoff system, according to the bill, would have to consist of "at least 16 teams competing in successive elimination games resulting in a final game for the national championship of that entire division or level of intercollegiate competition."
If four out of 12 other states enact a similar law before Dec. 1, the law would stay in effect for Texas schools, according to the bill.
The other states are Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina and Washington -- states that Wentworth said were selected because most have top football programs, perhaps indicating "some interest there."
Wentworth's bill is virtually identical to House Bill 981, filed Feb. 14 by Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale, R-Tomball. It is pending in the House Higher Education Committee. HB 981 would apply its restrictions to state-funded schools.
"I don't follow football, really, other than go to some games. . . . But I have read and heard comments about the (BCS) system -- from (retired UT head coach) Darrell Royal and others -- and this bill is intended to address those concerns," Wentworth said.
"That legislation is not going to pass," said UT football coach Mack Brown, who said he is in favor of an eight-team playoff for Division I-A football. "I don't think (UT President) Larry Faulkner, DeLoss (Dodds, athletic director) or the University of Texas would have any interest in pulling out of what the NCAA is trying to do."
Dodds said Tuesday that while he's not taking a position on the bill, he thinks his position on the BCS is clear: "I prefer a playoff."
"I would understand why people are upset" with the current system, he said.
While the deadline for filing bills in the Texas Legislature passed two weeks ago, the Senate on Tuesday unanimously gave Wentworth permission to the file the bill -- among several by other senators. Several of his colleagues perked up to its potential import and briefly peppered him with questions.
For the record, Wentworth is a graduate of Texas A&M University and received his law degree from Texas Tech University. Van Arsdale got his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.