Also, the Department of Justice is wading ankle-deep into the lack of a college football playoff at the sport’s highest level, which we’re sure will end well for everyone involved.
BCS Director Bill Hancock ‘Confident’ Following Department Of Justice Meeting
The BCS and the Justice Department had their long-anticipated meeting Thursday. Bill Hancock sat down with the DOJ for 90 minutes to discuss concerns about fairness and anti-trust legislation. Hancock came away from the meetings “confident.”
Hancock also slyly mentioned “No. 1 and 2 have met 13 of 13 years by our standards,” which is a sneaky way of throwing that out there, especially since the BCS’ “standards” of what constitutes the No. 1 team and the No. 2 team have not always been eye-to-eye with other voting bodies.
Read Article >Mark Shurtleff Summoning Legal Team For BCS Antitrust Battle
After announcing that he would file an antitrust lawsuit against the BCS, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff is now seeking law firms to join his case against the football entity. The Deseret News reported that Shurtleff’s office filed a request of information on a government website designed for law firms. Readers are directed to this link to see the filing.
From there it is possible to read the 11-page filing, which includes a list of questions to be answered. Outside of fee arrangements, the questions ask if the answering law firm has had experience litigating the BCS or similar institutions.
Read Article >BCS’ Bill Hancock, Justice Department To Meet Tuesday, According To Report
So when the Justice Department requested a meeting with the BCS for some time this summer, most probably assumed that would mean late July or early August or something. Turns out they’re actually meeting on the very first day of the 2011 summer, with CBS Sports reporting a Tuesday meeting.
The nature of the meeting is apparently a voluntary visit by Hancock to describe how the BCS system works to Department officials. By no means is it yet an antitrust investigation, though the Department has publicly pondered the fairness of the bizarre method used to determine the NCAA’s premier sport, to which NCAA president Mark Emmert shrugged.
Read Article >Justice Department Schedules Meeting With BCS For Summer
While NCAA President Mark Emmert has responded to the Department of Justice’s inquiry into the BCS, that has not quelled concerns over college football’s postseason. The Justice Department has requested and will receive a meeting with the BCS this summer. This doesn’t appear to be anything more than a preliminary examination of the system the BCS has set up. A federal investigation of the BCS system is not in the discussion yet.
BCS officials want to show that its system fits in with existing antitrust legislation. Though the BCS has made changes in recent years to open up its postseason games to teams that play in non-automatic qualifying conferences, critics of this system still aren’t satisfied.
Read Article >Mark Emmert Responds To Justice Department Inquiry Into BCS
Here is an excerpt of Emmert’s response to the DOJ’s most basic question: Why not a playoff?
Read Article >NCAA Responds To Justice Department’s BCS Antitrust Inquiry
The NCAA has responded snippily to reports of a letter from the Justice Department on the subject of the Bowl Championship Series and whether the governing body has looked into a playoff for FBS football. In the brief statement, NCAA vice president of communications Bob Williams says the NCAA will respond shortly, but to the Department itself:
We have the full text of the letter right here, sir! The NCAA knows it doesn’t have PR on its side on this one, and is thus wise to operate one-on-one instead of letting this continue to air out in public.
Read Article >Justice Department Asks NCAA Why BCS Instead Of Playoff System
Christine Varney, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for antitrust, sent a letter to NCAA president Mark Emmert about the Bowl Championship Series, essentially asking why the BCS shouldn’t be considering in violation of antitrust laws. This didn’t quite come out of nowhere, as Utah attorney general Mark Shurtleff has previously met with the Justice Department about the matter, and Varney cites several other experts who’ve joined the cause.
Varney asks Emmert why FBS college football doesn’t have a playoff, when other NCAA sports do.
Read Article >Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff Filing BCS Antitrust Lawsuit
Shurtleff had previously met with the Justice Department to attempt to activate its involvement. His timing in announcing this suit couldn’t have been better, considering it’s breaking on the heels of the NCAA investigation into the Fiesta Bowl.
BCS executive Bill Hancock, of course, was ready with a retort, telling USA Today the parameters of a hypothetical antitrust lawsuit wouldn’t apply to the BCS.
Read Article >
