Utah Attorney General Mulls antitrust action against BCS

The University of Utah went undefeated for the second time in five years in 2008, but was passed over for the national championship game in favor of Florida and Oklahoma—two teams with one loss.  In the aftermath of Utah’s destruction of Alabama in the Sugar Bowl—the Utes’ second BCS bowl victory in as many tries—at least someone is looking for some answers from the BCS powers-that-be.  Utah State Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has opened an investigation of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) over possible anti-trust violations.

Shurtleff’s contention is that the BCS puts schools that play in conferences without an automatic bid to the top bowl games—like Utah—at a competitive and economic disadvantage:

"We've established that from the very first day, from the very first kickoff in the college season, more than half of the schools are put on an unlevel playing field. They will never be allowed to play for a national championship."

Shurtleff is reviewing the Sherman Antitrust Act to see if there are grounds for a lawsuit against the BCS.  To be successful in such a legal action, he would have to prove that there is a conspiracy that results in a monopoly.  He says that his preference would be for the BCS to rectify the injustice on their own by creating a playoff system, but that he’s committed to doing whatever is necessary to bring about change.

Making the potential legal action even trickier, however, is the fact that the BCS isn’t really an independent monolith, but a confederation of the 11 Football Championship Subdivision(1-A) conferences, the director of athletics at the University of Notre Dame, and representatives of the bowl organizations. 

In other words, it’s not as simple as just determining grounds for a lawsuit, it’s figuring out whom to sue.  In theory at least, it’s possible that the University of Utah itself would be named as a defendant as part of their relationship with the BCS, meaning that the Attorney General of the State of Utah would be suing a university run by the government that he works for in an effort to achieve competitive equality for their athletic programs.  If that sounds confusing, you’re not alone—asked about the prospect that the Utah state colleges could be involved in the potential litigation Shurtleff responded:

"We have to determine the answer to those questions. You determine who it is you're bringing action against."

As Shurtleff’s primary goal is likely to get his name in the newspaper the BCS isn’t exactly losing sleep over his antitrust allegations at this point.  BCS Administrator Bill Hancock said there would be no comment until he had something in writing from the Utah Attorney General’s office:

"We just don't think it's appropriate to comment until we've seen something to comment on”

The University of Utah’s final national ranking will be determined following Thursday’s BCS championship game between Florida and Oklahoma.