The BCS needs to fix own problems

Mark Twain wrote in "Eruption": The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet.
I'm not sure what Twain's opinion of the Bowl Championship Series would be -- if he cared at all -- but it's my guess he'd enjoy a hearty laugh at the expense of the House Judiciary Committee, which spent your tax dollars and mine this week, hard at work, discussing the legalities of the BCS.
Now, I don't claim to be any expert on government and I don't wish to get into any kind of political debate, but it seems to me (particularly when I'm paying $1.89 for a gallon of gas) that the people we've elected to run our country should have more important issues to consider than whether Tulane University is worthy of a New Year's Day bowl.
Not that I'm unfeeling towards the conferences left out of the BCS loop. If and when the day comes that a Mid-American Conference school or a Mountain West team is deserving of a bid, I'll be right out front leading the fight.
But, let's be honest. In the vast majority of years, even a dominant MAC team should not be considered an equal to an upper-echelon Big Ten or Southeastern Conference squad.
Example No. 1
In the mid-'70s, Miami (Ohio) was ranked 10th and 12th in the Associated Press in consecutive seasons. In a three-year span, Miami defeated Florida, Georgia and South Carolina in bowl games, and Purdue and Kentucky in regular season contests.
Yet, in all likelihood, under the present system, Miami would have not have qualified for a BCS bowl.
More recently, Marshall was ranked 10th in the final AP poll in 1999 following a 13-0 season.
Yet again, Marshall would not have qualified for a BCS bowl.
The argument here is not that Miami and Marshall weren't worthy of such lofty rankings, nor that either couldn't have been competitive in a one-game scenario against one of the traditional powers.
Rather, put the Miami teams of the '70s and the '99 Marshall squad in a Big Ten schedule -- I contend they would not have gone unbeaten.
And those are the two or three best teams the MAC has produced in the last 30 years.
It's called tradition
I don't buy the argument that the system -- the so-called power conferences conspiring to keep out the mid-majors -- is to blame.
Half of the six BCS conferences have been around for more than 75 years. The Atlantic Coast Conference recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and the Big XII is a conglomeration of the Big 8 and the Southwest Conference, both of which had equally long histories. And the Big East Conference, while relatively young, features several schools that were considered major independents for decades.
Compare that to the Mountain West, which is the result of at least two conference breakups in the last 15 years.
If any of the mid-major conferences had a reason to beef, it might be the MAC, which was formed shortly after the end of World War II.
But, as recently as 1982, several MAC schools were classified as Division I-AA by the NCAA because they couldn't meet attendance mandates.
(A rule change allowed the MAC to remain classified as I-A the following year because at least half of its schools met those mandates.)
It's not often you'll find me siding with the NCAA -- which, technically, isn't even involved in the BCS -- but if I have to choose between the colleges fixing the problem or allowing the federal government to mandate change, I'll go with the good 'ol boys in Indianapolis every time.
Sir Alec Issigonis wrote in The Guardian, "A camel is a horse, designed by a committee."
I feel the same way about government intervention. The Judiciary Committee should stick to matters of government. Let the NCAA and its member schools decide their own fates.
XRob Todor is sports editor of The Vindicator. Write to him at todor@vindy.com.