| 1 | 1 | | 81R4013 JH-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Paxton H.C.R. No. 35 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | CONCURRENT RESOLUTION |
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| 6 | 6 | | WHEREAS, The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was implemented |
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| 7 | 7 | | in 1998 as a means to organize postseason play in college football |
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| 8 | 8 | | and to decide the sport's national championship; it is intended to |
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| 9 | 9 | | showcase the nation's top teams in prestigious bowl games and to |
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| 10 | 10 | | match the two finest teams in a national championship contest, but |
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| 11 | 11 | | throughout the period it has been in existence, the BCS has fallen |
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| 12 | 12 | | short of those goals time and again; and |
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| 13 | 13 | | WHEREAS, At the heart of the system are the BCS standings that |
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| 14 | 14 | | designate the top teams and ultimately determine the two that will |
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| 15 | 15 | | battle for the national crown; these ratings are decided by a |
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| 16 | 16 | | complex system that is mystifying to even the most ardent fans, |
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| 17 | 17 | | combining six different computer rankings as well as polls of |
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| 18 | 18 | | college coaches, sports reporters, and other authorities on the |
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| 19 | 19 | | game; all too often, the outcome of this process has resulted in |
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| 20 | 20 | | questionable bowl-game selections; and |
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| 21 | 21 | | WHEREAS, In more than half of the 11 years that the BCS has |
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| 22 | 22 | | been used to determine the national championship, controversy has |
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| 23 | 23 | | surrounded the selection of the two title contenders, including |
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| 24 | 24 | | well-documented incidents during the 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, and |
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| 25 | 25 | | 2007 seasons; and |
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| 26 | 26 | | WHEREAS, The year 2008 saw a continuation of the BCS |
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| 27 | 27 | | shortcomings, and these were especially harmful to teams from the |
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| 28 | 28 | | Lone Star State; The University of Texas Longhorns and Texas Tech |
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| 29 | 29 | | Red Raiders both finished the regular season with 11-1 records, |
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| 30 | 30 | | equaling other top-rated teams in the nation, yet both were denied a |
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| 31 | 31 | | shot at the national title because of the arcane BCS scoring system; |
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| 32 | 32 | | when the ratings were tallied at the end of November, the University |
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| 33 | 33 | | of Oklahoma, also 11-1, edged ahead of the two Texas teams by a |
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| 34 | 34 | | miniscule margin; according to the Big 12 tie-breaking rules, this |
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| 35 | 35 | | gave the Sooners the conference's South title, despite the fact |
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| 36 | 36 | | that UT had beaten Oklahoma in their head-to-head matchup in |
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| 37 | 37 | | October; ultimately, Oklahoma landed a spot in the national |
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| 38 | 38 | | championship game while the Longhorns and Red Raiders had to settle |
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| 39 | 39 | | for lesser postseason matchups; and |
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| 40 | 40 | | WHEREAS, Texas Tech suffered further injustice because it was |
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| 41 | 41 | | prevented from competing in one of the top-tier bowl games that are |
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| 42 | 42 | | part of the BCS system, an outcome that resulted from a rule |
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| 43 | 43 | | allowing only two schools from the same conference to compete in the |
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| 44 | 44 | | BCS games; with Texas and Oklahoma claiming those spots, Texas Tech |
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| 45 | 45 | | ended up in the non-BCS Cotton Bowl; and |
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| 46 | 46 | | WHEREAS, Another Texas college team that was disappointed by |
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| 47 | 47 | | the BCS system in the most recent college season was Texas Christian |
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| 48 | 48 | | University, which posted an impressive 10-2 record and was rated |
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| 49 | 49 | | 11th in the nation, yet was relegated to the Poinsettia Bowl, |
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| 50 | 50 | | another game outside the premier BCS events; and |
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| 51 | 51 | | WHEREAS, Teams from other states were likewise snubbed by the |
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| 52 | 52 | | flawed design of the Bowl Championship Series; the most striking |
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| 53 | 53 | | examples are the University of Utah and Boise State University; |
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| 54 | 54 | | both went undefeated in the 2008 regular season but were not given a |
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| 55 | 55 | | spot in the national championship game because of the machinations |
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| 56 | 56 | | of the BCS system; and |
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| 57 | 57 | | WHEREAS, Numerous members of the sports media as well as |
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| 58 | 58 | | other prominent figures have long promoted a postseason playoff as |
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| 59 | 59 | | an alternative to the BCS system; though differing plans have been |
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| 60 | 60 | | put forth, all of them place a greater emphasis on face-to-face |
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| 61 | 61 | | matchups to crown a national champion, rather than relying on the |
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| 62 | 62 | | vagaries of polls and computer ratings; such a design would bring |
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| 63 | 63 | | college football into line with the other major sports on the |
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| 64 | 64 | | college and professional level, nearly all of which employ a |
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| 65 | 65 | | playoff system; further, the playoff format would introduce a |
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| 66 | 66 | | greater degree of fairness than is found under the current system |
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| 67 | 67 | | and result in compelling games that would thrill football fans |
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| 68 | 68 | | throughout the nation; now, therefore, be it |
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| 69 | 69 | | RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas |
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| 70 | 70 | | hereby respectfully urge the presidents of the public universities |
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| 71 | 71 | | in Texas and the Big 12 Conference commissioner to work to promote |
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| 72 | 72 | | the institution of a playoff system to decide the national |
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| 73 | 73 | | championship in college football in place of the current Bowl |
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| 74 | 74 | | Championship Series; and, be it further |
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| 75 | 75 | | RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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| 76 | 76 | | copies of this resolution to the presidents of the public |
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| 77 | 77 | | universities in Texas and to the Big 12 commissioner. |
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