Utah meets with Justice Department
Utah’s attorney general met with the United State Justice Department to discuss the possibility of an investigation into the college Bowl Championship Series (BCS).
Utah’s attorney general Mark Shurtleff would like the Justice Department to look into possible anti-trust violations committed by the BCS. Shurtleff mentioned that the department had already done some preliminary research on the matter.
An anti-trust violation is committed when an organization does not promote an open and equal competitive playing field. The idea is to promote competition and market stability. Shurtleff is arguing that the automatic bids that are given to specific conferences
to play in high profile bowl games are in violations of those laws.
The Justice Department mentioned that the Obama administration had been considering looking into the legality of the BCS.
At the moment six conferences are given automatic bids, while five conferences are not and must achieve a certain record in order to be accepted to a high profile bowl game.
The six schools who are given automatic bids are, the Atlantic Coast Conference, who is given a bid in the Orange Bowl, the Big 12 Conference, who is given a bid in the Fiesta Bowl, The Big East Conference, who is not tied to a specific bowl, the Big Ten,
who is given a bid in the Rose Bowl, the Pac-10, who is also given a spot in the Rose Bowl, and the Southeastern Conference, who is given a bid in the Sugar Bowl.
The five conferences who are not included are considered mid-major conferences and include Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, Sun Belt Conference and the Western Athletic Conference.
The system has recently come under scrutiny, as several strong teams from conferences who do not have automatic bids have been shut out of major bowl games, or not given an opportunity to compete for a national title.
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