WASHINGTON — Former BYU football coach LaVell Edwards told a Senate hearing Wednesday that it is time to sack the Bowl Championship Series because it unfairly excludes half of all schools from even dreaming of a championship.
But he doesn't like a true playoff system with brackets either — which many small-conference schools propose — because Edwards says that could destroy the history-rich bowl system. So he is calling for a razzle-dazzle alternative: Combine elements of both systems to score not only more fairness but more money and interest.
"I think it could be huge," Edwards said during break in testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. "I think a system could be devised that would be fair and equitable and would not alter substantially at all what we presently have."
His proposal is a bit complicated. But he envisions staging six bowl games as part of an expanded BCS, instead of the current four. The six large, prestige conferences that now have automatic berths for their champs into BCS bowls would retain them.
However, Edwards envisions a one-game playoff among the top four teams from smaller, non-BCS conferences to determine an additional two automatic qualifiers for the expanded BCS bowls. Other slots would be filled at-large from top teams.
After those six new BCS bowl games are played, the top two ranked teams remaining among the six winners would play in a national championship game. All 12 teams entering the BCS could in theory have a shot at the championship, depending on who wins and loses, and it allows for some Cinderellas to emerge.
The final game "would be tantamount to the Super Bowl," Edwards said. He adds it would make all BCS bowls more important. "Outside the championship game itself now, interest in the other (BCS) bowls has fallen off tremendously," he said.
"I guarantee the payoff would still be about the same as now, if not more," Edwards said.
That Edwards vision for a possible bridge between big and small football powers arguing how to determine a national champion came as the Judiciary Committee held a hearing about problems with the current system — and some senators warned colleges to fix it or face intervention by Congress or the courts.
"It is unclear how a court would rule on an antitrust challenge to the BCS," said Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. "I, for one, hope that we don't find out. It is my sincere hope that the BCS system will be improved through negotiation rather than litigation."
Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., added he does not want Congress to intrude either. But he warned it may anyway "depending on how sincere the negotiations are" between big and small schools. College presidents representing both sides are scheduled to meet Nov. 16 to continue discussions about possible reforms.
The BCS was formed five years ago by six elite conferences — the Southeastern, Big 12, Big East, Pacific-10, Big Ten and Atlantic Coast — to help arrange a national championship game between the top two ranked Division I-A schools each year. That game is rotated among the Rose, Fiesta, Sugar and Orange bowls.
In the system, six of the eight available slots in those four BCS bowls each year go to champions of the six BCS conferences. The two remaining slots may go to other BCS schools or to an outside school if they are ranked in the top six nationally in the BCS system that combines several polls and rankings of schedule strength.
However, no outside school has yet been chosen for any BCS bowl in the alliance's five-year existence. In 1995, the Bowl Championship Alliance, a precursor to the BCS, excluded BYU even though it was ranked No. 5 nationally and had a 12-1 record.
"The BCS is unjust and unjustifiable," said Tulane President Scott S. Cowen, whose school was excluded a few years ago even though it was one of only two unbeaten teams in the nation.
He said some sort of playoff is needed to ensure equal access and fairness, and noted that playoffs are already used in Division I-AA, II and III football. He said he is not necessarily opposed to Edwards' idea. "There are many definitions of a playoff," he said.
Edwards took a short break from an LDS mission in New York, which he completes in two weeks, to testify. He said no team outside the six BCS schools now can even dream of a national championship. "Under today's BCS scheme, that 1984 (national champion) BYU team couldn't have played in a title game. The system wouldn't have allowed it."
He said the system favoring BCS schools hurts recruiting at non-BCS campuses. He said he personally found "that with the BCS in place, PAC-10 coaches could, and would, tell players not only couldn't they play in the Rose Bowl, but they wouldn't play in a national championship game if they chose to enroll in school in Provo."
Cowen complained that the system now also gives 96 percent of all bowl money to BCS conferences and only 4 percent to the others, which he said hurts their ability to fund sports.
But University of Nebraska President Harvey S. Perlman did not apologize for that. He said football powers invest heavily in their programs and should reap the rewards. He said trying to take away advantages they have earned would be akin to making Harvard share research grants it has won with all other colleges nationwide.
Mile Brand, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, said he also opposes a playoff system because fewer colleges could then compete than are now allowed in the 28 bowl games played each year, and it would destroy their history.
On that, Edwards seemed to agree. "I don't favor a playoff system. I like the bowl system. I think it is synonymous with college football," which is why he proposes using the best of both, he said.
E-mail: lee@desnews.com