Not surprisingly, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff met with Justice Department officials in an effort to launch an investigation into the BCS.
Since 2003, Utah Senator Orrin Hatch has led the charge against the BCS, claiming the system used by college football to crown its national champion is in violation of anti trust laws.
In January, Hatch asked the Justice Department to review whether the BCS was in violation of anti trust laws. In a response to Hatch’s request, the DOJ said they were reviewing the legality of the BCS although they did not confirm if an investigation was warranted.
The move by Shurtleff stems from the University of Utah being left out of the BCS national championship game following their undefeated season in 2008.
The Utes, members of the Mountain West Conference – a non-automatic qualifying BCS member – played in one of the five BCS bowls when they faced Alabama in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.
Earlier this year, Utah accepted an invitation from the Pac-10 Conference and will join the newly formed Pac-12 next year.
The Pac-10, along with the SEC, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and Big East are automatic qualifying conferences within the BCS. The champions from each of those conferences automatically earn a berth in one of the five BCS bowl games.
Shurtleff and other opponents of the BCS seek an end to the system and want a playoff format implemented.
However, BCS executive director Bill Hancock voiced an opinion shared by many who are against government intervention attempting to regulate college football.
(It’s) “hard to imagine a bigger waste of taxpayer money than to involve the government in college football,” Hancock said.
Shurtleff believes that getting the Justice Department to launch an investigation into the BCS is critical to the effort.
“You get the DOJ behind one, and the BCS will finally say, ‘OK, we’ll go to a playoff,’ ” Shurtleff said.
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