New Mexico president David Schmidly released a statement regarding the BCS and specifically directs toward BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock from his statement that says government should stay out of collegiate athletics.
Before we get to Schmidly's letter here is Hancock's response to the Department of Justice getting involved:
"Goodness gracious, with all that's going on in the world right now and with national and state budgets being what they are, it seems like a waste of taxpayers' money to have the government looking into how college football games are played," he said.
Yes, state budgets are dwindling due to the past few years with the economy being down, however if the BCS money that is dispersed would be more equally instead of $145 million going to the BCS leagues and a paltry $24.5 million going to the non-AQ leagues then state universities would not have to cut programs. Also, the DOJ is not looking into how college football games are being played, but rather how the money is disbursed in the BCS and whether or not the BCS is violating anti-trust laws.
Here is Schmidly's response:
"Recently, BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock stated that looking into the Bowl Championship Series seemed like a waste of the taxpayer's money, and that the Department of Justice should not investigate the legality of the BCS. The BCS and college football is a multi-billion dollar enterprise, and that is reason enough for why the Department of Justice needs to investigate the matter.
Having served as the president of two institutions that are members of the BCS, and now serving here at the University of New Mexico in the Mountain West Conference, currently outside of the BCS, I bring a unique perspective to the issue, having seen with my own eyes the differences in revenues that the BCS generates for the haves and the have-nots.
If there is a way to alleviate the burden on tax-payers, while potentially increasing revenues and finding a more equitable way to distribute those revenues throughout college football, then an investigation by the Department of Justice is well worth the time and energy, and I fully support it."
With state support declining, and all of us in higher education looking to alleviate the financial problems brought on by the current economy, to not investigate the legality of the BCS, and to not look at the potential revenue streams that can be afforded to all Division I FBS institutions through other postseason means is short sighted and irresponsible.
It should be noted that the two prior schools Schmidly presided over were Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
Schmidly brings up some good points with state's budgets being cut more and more toward higher education. Just look at the state of Nevada where there is a possibility that the University of Nevada may have to decide to drop from the division one level due to state budget cuts.
School presidents typically do not speak out on BCS issues, and if they do they come from the non-AQ schools. For any change or movement toward a playoff the presidents of BCS schools are the one's who need to be sending out letters like this one.