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I caught the tail end of Josh Lewin interviewing the author of a new book, Death to the BCS, on 105.5 on the way back from the luncheon. Sounds interesting. It got an article in Sports Illustrated. Here is the website:
http://www.deathtothebcs.com/site/about_the_book/

and the Blog:
http://deathtothebcs.com/blog/

The guy I heard, Dan Wetzel really hates the BCS, and did a lot of research into the money aspect of the monstrosity. Sounds like the more research he did the less he liked it.

The BCS is a fraud on all of those who care about college football. The "BCS National Championship" is not a true national championship. It is a match up of two beauty contest winners. The so called "Bowl Championship Series" is just a series of match-ups between teams that happen to be operated by a big money cartel of shamelessly greedy athletic directors and coaches. (See Dodds, DeLoss and Brown, Mack). These money hungry schools and the even grubbier television networks set this system up to enhance revenue, not to enhance the sport.

College football lacks two important features found in college basketball:

1. A championship determined on the field of play - not by a computer or vote of anybody.
2. Enhanced opportunities for participation in the hunt for a national title by athletes who go to any Division 1 school.

The system will not change unless an anti-trust lawsuit is brought against the BCS cartel.
I'm not even sure that will work.

The other solution is for the non-BCS schools to pull all of their sports out of the NCAA and make their own deal with a network or two. Hold a football playoff with bowls and a legitimate championship and I think the BCS folks would find some serious competition for talent and TV money.

I think every conference signs the BCS contract technically making them a part of the "cartel." You can't sue yourself.

The system is unfair, but I'm not sure it will ever change for the better.

Restraint of trade lawsuits are brought by the government against a party whose contract practices, among other possible reasons, violate federal law. The beneficiary of the lawsuit might have a contractual relationship with the defendant, but the situation that brought about the contract might be deemed illegal.