In July at the Senate’s Antitrust Subcommittee, two individuals were asked to present their arguments against the current BCS format. Those two individuals were Barry Brett, a lawyer from the firm Troutman Sanders, and Michael Young, president of the University of Utah.
Speaking on behalf of the “have-nots” across the country, Michael Young rattled off numerous reasons as to why the BCS should be disbanded.
“The BCS is perpetuating an unfair system,” said Young. ”Without a doubt, the BCS embraces favoritism, rather than fairness.”
Struggling to move forward and continually spinning their wheels on how to move to a more national football program, the University of Memphis athletic department has made it clear that they are tired of being a have-not. As first reported by Phil Stuckenborg of The Commercial Appeal, the University of Memphis has hired former Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese as a consultant to assist the Tigers’ athletic program in its efforts to gain membership in a Bowl Championship Series conference.
Without a doubt, the old saying “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” comes to mind here. Please do not register this as a disagreement, because anyone with good sense will admit that steps like this should have been taken long ago. For Memphis’ athletic programs to truly move forward, they must get into a BCS Conference.
As Young said in his speech to the Senate, “These [non-BCS] universities have no realistic chance even before their seasons begin.”
You hear that, Memphis fans? No chance. Zero. Zilch. Nada. If membership into a BCS league were to happen, those odds would increase greatly. Higher revenue. More television time. Since the BCS system was introduced into college football, attendance has gone up. Stadium expansion has gone up. The number of games has gone up. Advertising revenue has gone up. Cost per spot of the advertising revenue has gone DOWN, which a good thing for consumers. The number of bowl games has gone up. Sounds good, right?
Unfortunately, at this point, this is merely a positive sign that the University of Memphis athletic department is taking a proactive approach in becoming one of the “haves”. With a cart-load of improvements already needed, Tranghese’s hire will help the university identify areas of weakness.
According to Stuckenborg’s article, R.C. Johnson said, “His role is to help us and advise us. He asked me: ‘What’s my charge?’ I said, ‘There are six BCS conferences. Just get us in one.’”
“There is no shortage of opinion and ideas on how the BCS system should be changed,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, opening the Senate’s Antitrust Subcommittee July hearing on college football’s Bowl Championship Series.
Athletic Director R.C. Johnson threw one more large log into the fire on Tuesday, further expanding the ”how the BCS system should change” debate: add the University of Memphis.
Geoff Calkins weighs in on the Tranghese hire
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