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Comments September 15, 2003 I read with great interest your testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives concerning the inequities in the BCS system. I am a graduate and supporter of the University of Houston. Since the Cougars and Green Wave are both members of Conference-USA, that puts us on opposite sides of the scoreboard when our teams meet. However, when it comes to the inherent unfairness and anti-competitiveness of the BCS system, I support the efforts of you and your university in raising awareness of this issue, and looking for ways to correct it. Beyond offering my gratitude for you leadership on this issue, I am interested in assisting in this cause however that my be possible. I am just a Software Engineer/sports fan who supports his team through thick and thin--I was as student/fan during the high-flying days of the Run-n-Shoot at UofH, and have suffered long since then but for a bright spot in '96 when we made it to the Liberty Bowl. Please let me know how I can help. Thanks again. ***** As I watch things unfold this year, it is becoming clear that the BCS conferences aren't producing with as much dominance as they've seemed to in the past. There has been upset after upset, with contenders from "lesser" conferences showing BCS teams who's boss on a regular basis. For a good two and a half quarters my little I-AA school that I go to gave LSU a scare (they were getting nervous with their 6 point lead with 3 to go in the 3rd. It didn't hold, but even so, it made a statement.) It is for these reasons that I would like to point something out: When it comes to the football fans, you've (with "you" being the largely unrepresented conferences in the NCAA) got their attention. The truth is, football fans don't LIKE the BCS, they just deal with it because it's what's on TV. We all root for the underdog. We don't like Miami and were thrilled when NIU beat Maryland a couple weeks ago! We liked when Bowling Green upset Purdue! We tire of the press that Maurice Clarett is getting, and we really tire of all the dirty money-grubbing huge schools acting like all the other schools don't belong in I-A. Uninformed fans know very little about the current state of football, and tend to just believe what ESPN tells them to believe. The point is, it's time to rock the boat a little. And boy, do I have an idea for you (I've thought long and hard on this subject). It would require a little comeraderie between conferences largely unrepresented by the BCS, in that they would have to form their own separate group, away from the BCS. If you need manpower in the form of more conferences, dig into I-AA as you will find that there are a couple that have both enough top-end talent and depth to compete with at least a mid-level I-A school (Biased maybe, but the Gateway and the A-10, and possibly the SoCon come to mind, plus a few other schools here and there.) Set up a system of your own, except rather than using the corny ad-laden bowl system use a conventional playoff system. Now, this would work wonderfully but would require a TV contract with a major network to hold water. But then again, with your current press you're a very hot bargain and there is a chance that this would work. I wouldn't suggest committing to a plan like this blindly (and I'm not so ignorant to think that you would either), but if you got it preapproved in writing by both the other conferences (legally, you'd kind of have to offer to the BCS conferences just so they could say no) and those one or two network affiliates, I think you could have yourself a very entertaining, very lucrative grouping that would, hopefully, go head to head with the BCS. A big reason that the BCS conferences get so much press and attention is simply because of tradition in athletics. A move like this would give your school and others a lot of leverage on that front as well. It would give your schools a means to be on television, which is after all what brings the fans to the stadium in the first place. September 10, 2003 I have been a Tulane fan for over 40 years. I admire Tulane's efforts to even the playing field for all college school's sporting events, especially football. I would like to suggest that all teams that play in the BCS Bowl Game have a graduation rate of 62 percent, which is the national average for Division I schools in all sports. If not all sports, they should require a graduation rate of 54 percent for football players. In my opinion, if the NCAA and the BCS does not agree to this , they are admitting that graduating the student athlete is not a priority. September 5, 2003 I commend your efforts to change the BCS. I don't think it's fair how the program is set-up. I don't think it allows for the excitement of college athletics. Look at the time and effort put forth in every other division and sport i.e., Division II, and III football playoffs, NCAA March Madness, College World Series. All of these systems allow for the best team at that time of playoffs to prevail by their spirit and determination. Not by a computer ranking. Why not have a top ten ranking playoff structure? It sets up great games, underdog triumphs and defeats, and the excitement of amateur sports as it should be. Tell me who else I should write to and what else I could do to help the efforts of doing away with the current BCS. It is not a fair system for all the great teams out there. ***** I am glad to hear finally that someone will champion this fight against the BCS. It's about time for change in College football...and I'm glad to see you at the forefront asking for reform. ***** Thank you for taking a stand against the B.C.S. I have been a fan of college football for as long as I can remember. I'm an average citizen who realizes that the B.C.S. and their obvious ties to the corporate world are changing the true competitive nature of collegiate football in exchange for profits. Shame on the NCAA for letting this happen and thank you again. ***** The solution to the inequities at the NCAA division 1-A level may lie in the formation of a new athletic association that includes all of the "Non-BCS" schools that would compete on equal grounds and where each institution has the ability to make post-season play based on the merits of its season and not its history. The economic impact would be significant to the larger schools in that they would not be able to generate as much television, bowl money, and other revenues due to a competitive league that promotes parity as opposed to a monarchy. This would be accomplished by the increase in fan interest in this new league that rewards teams based on their accomplishments as opposed to their reputation. As well as the fact that there are more alumni of smaller schools across the country than there are of the "traditional top-20" powerhouses. This is where the BCS falters in it's approach, it forgets that we are all democratic citizens where....majority rules! Maybe then, with the possibility of so many schools leaving the NCAA, the powers that be would realize that they do need the "smaller schools and conferences" around the country to maintain the interest level that exists in college football. And that it is in the best interest of the NCAA as a whole to create parity and equality. After all, we all know that they have no incentive to change the system as it exists until it impacts them where they would feel it the most.....and that's in their bank accounts. ***** Thank you...Thank you...THANK YOU for this work. I am a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh - obviously one of the institutions in the Big East that is a part of the BCS-opoly. However, I think that it is unfair and will eventually drag college athletics down a horrible road. Keep it up! September 4, 2003 Thank you for taking a stand against the B.C.S. I have been a fan of college football for as long as I can remember. I'm an average citizen who realizes that the B.C.S. and their obvious ties to the corporate world are changing the true competitive nature of collegiate football in exchange for profits. Shame on the NCAA for letting this happen and thank you again. September 3, 2003 Dear Sir, I just wanted to tell you I appreciate what you are going to say to congress about the BCS. As a football fan, it is impossible not to see there is a better way. I hope your fight prevails. Sincerely, September 2, 2003 To whom it may concern I graduated from Tulane in 1981 and earned varsity letters in Track and Cross Country. I support your movement to reform college athletics. I have an opinion that I would like to share that is how a PhD in Economics (which I am) would likely view this situation. Winning percentages in revenue sports translate into dollars to the University athletic programs through two avenues: (1) greater donor and booster support and (2) bowl game revenues, TV revenues and so on. There is little that can or should be done about booster support. Linking revenues to success on the field at either the institution or conference level has two problems. First, it creates an economic incentive to bend or brake NCAA rules. When there is a lot of money at stake, questionable practices will no doubt emerge. Commentators have argued that the accounting scandels that have plauged so many firms are the result of managers having compensation tied to short term accounting returns. NCAA enforcement will always be a losing game when the incentives to cheat are so profound. Second, the economic rents that accrue to winning programs go to the people responsible for generating those rents. Head football and basketball coaching salaries are in the range of five times what highly paid professors and deans make. The end result is exactly what an economist would predict. You have winning (successful) programs that do not funnel resources back to the university and programs that either chronically lose money or cannot compete. You have access to data that I do not. However, it is my understanding that financially successful athletic progams do very little funnel income back to the university. If they did, there star coaches would get hired away or the facilities would no longer be as gold plated as the other elite schools. I don't see how anybody except coaches win under the current situation. |