Rep. Joe Barton, a Texas Aggie, proposes bill to kill BCS
By ANNA M. TINSLEY
atinsley@star-telegram.com
President-elect Barack Obama isn't the only one who wants to change the way champions in college football are determined.
Obama, who has said he'd like to replace the controversial Bowl Championship Series with an eight-team playoff, was joined in a call for change Wednesday by Rep. Joe Barton of Arlington, a Texas Aggie.
Barton said he's introducing a bill to kill the BCS system, seen by many for years as confusing and unfair.
"College football is more than an exhilarating sport, it's a billion-dollar business," said Barton, R-Arlington. "Despite every effort to fix the problems of the BCS, college seasons still end in sniping and controversy, rather than clear winners and losers determined on the field."
The best way to stop that, he said, is to prevent marketing of a post-season game as a national championship game, unless it is the result of a newly created playoff system.
Although it doesn't lay out how that system would work, the bill does say that all Division I Football Bowl Subdivision teams should initially be eligible at the start of every season. The measure is being offered by Barton, Bobby Rush, D-Illinois, and Michael McCaul, a Republican whose district stretches from Austin to Houston.
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