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Nov 24, 2009 11:19 am US/Eastern
BCS Hires Ari Fleischer To Improve Image
WASHINGTON (CBS4) ―
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Ari Fleischer, former Bush administration press secretary, has been hired to improve the BCS' image
AP
The Bowl Championship Series has been controversial since it was implemented in 1998. The purpose of the BCS was to more easily decide the national championship and insure the number one and number two teams played for the title. The system has failed for several years and is getting pressure from Congress, so the BCS decided to hire someone to help improve its image, former George W. Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer, according to Politico.com.
The BCS combines human polls and computer polls to determine who the number one and number two teams are when the college season ends. It's been widely despised by college football fans across the country. College fans have been frustrated with seeing the same teams over and over in what are many times uncompetitive championship games.
Over the past several months, a political group called Playoff PAC has been focusing an anti-BCS campaign on the BCS. Politico reported the group was created by six college football fans who know the Washington insider game. The spokesman for the group, Matthew Sanderson, worked for Senator John McCain's presidential campaign.
"This hire says a lot about the state of college football. The BCS needs a hired mercenary to sell the system," Sanderson told Politico. "Even a respected professional like Mr. Fleischer will have a hard time selling an arbitrary system that a recent Sports Illustrated poll shows is not supported by 90 percent of college football fans."
In every other division of NCAA football, a playoff is held to determine a National Champion. However, the big six conferences, the SEC, Pac-10, Big 10, Big East, Big XII, and the ACC, have fought against a playoff for decades. University presidents have claimed in the past that a playoff system would kill the bowl system, hurt television deals, and make the schedule too long for players.
However, with some teams already playing as many as 14 games per season and taking the entire month of December off, the argument against a long schedule has holes. BCS proponents say it's the best system that all parties can agree on, but with teams like TCU and Boise State having next to no chance of playing for the national championship, despite being undefeated, is only going to further cause more fans to loathe the BCS.
source: Politico 
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