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