The Bowl Championship Series (“BCS”) has no long been argued to be disastrous for college football.  Fans and a host of lawyers have indicated a desire for a playoff and have threatened legal action.  Last week, the BCS held meetings to discuss the future of the BCS.  One proposal could significantly change the BCS as we know it.  According to the proposal, the BCS would no longer have direct ties to the BCS Bowls (i.e., Sugar Bowl, Fiesta Bowl, Orange Bowl, and Rose Bowl) and would only host a national championship game at what could be a nontraditional location.  Like the Super Bowl, the BCS could potentially open bidding for the championship game to be hosted at locations like the Cowboys Stadium.  Additionally, the terms AQ and non-AQ would fall out of college football lexicon.

Such changes would likely have a seismic effect on potential litigation.  The main arguments set forth by the detractors of the BCS are that 1) there is a gross disparity in revenue distributed between AQ and non-AQ institutions; and 2) highly ranked teams from non-AQ institutions are excluded from BCS competition and not given a legitimate opportunity to compete.  If the BCS merely offers a championship game and drops the AQ/non-AQ designation, then it is likely both of these scenarios will be put to sleep.  Of course, there has been no clear indication that the BCS will adopt this proposal, but it appears likely that substantial change is coming.

For any questions, feel free to contact Christian Dennie at cdennie@bgsfirm.com.