Mountain West signs on with BCS

The No. 1 team from the MWC each year does not have an automatic spot in the Bowl Championship Series and the league has argued it deserves such recognition.

Complaints about the way the NCAA determines its national champion in football have led to the issue reaching all the way to the halls of Congress.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told an antitrust oversight subcommittee Tuesday that a Justice Department investigation into the playoff system is warranted.

"The Mountain West believes it has no choice at this time but to sign the agreements," MWC Chairman and University of Utah President Michael Young said.

"If a conference wishes to compete at the highest levels of college football, and the only post-season system in place for that is the BCS, no one conference can afford to drop out and penalize its football programs and student-athletes.

"The Mountain West will continue its efforts for change, including a request for dialogue with representatives of the BCS. Our goal is to ensure the eventual outcome of these endeavors is what our universities and student-athletes need, what the vast majority of American sports fans want, and what is long overdue: an equitable system."

Under BCS regulations, six of the 11 Division I conferences (ACC, SEC, Big East, Big 12, Big Ten and Pac-10) are guaranteed $18 million each to distribute among their schools. The other five conferences (Sun Belt, WAC, MAC, Conference USA and Mountain West) receive only $9.5 million combined. Notre Dame, an independent, receives $1.3 million.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.