Hawaii-2010-HR33-Introduced

WHEREAS, football, a very popular sport throughout the United States, is played in leagues of different size, age, and quality, in all regions of the country; and

WHEREAS, one of the most popular venues in which the game of football is played is at the collegiate level where a majority of colleges and universities field football teams; and

WHEREAS, the governing body of collegiate sports is known as the National Collegiate Athletic Association, more commonly referred to as the NCAA; and

WHEREAS, the NCAA recently reorganized its football divisions, and renamed Division I-A, the highest level of collegiate football, as the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS); and

WHEREAS, the FBS is the only NCAA-sponsored sport without an organized tournament to determine a champion, relying instead on a number of post-season bowl games in what is known as the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) to determine a national champion; and

WHEREAS, the BCS is a highly lucrative system in which six of the nation's most powerful football conferences receive automatic bids, with an additional four teams receiving bids through a point system; and
WHEREAS, the BCS point system is determined through a variety of factors, most notably complex mathematical computations and polls, but also includes politics and corporate and television influences that rarely relate to the qualities that make a football team successful on the field; and

WHEREAS, smaller conferences, often referred to as "Mid-majors", as well as independent football schools, are often left out of the equation as they do not receive automatic bids but must meet a complicated set of criteria to even be eligible to play in one of the five lucrative bowl games of the BCS; and

WHEREAS, although the BCS was designed with the intent of identifying a true national champion at college football's highest level of play, the system has been controversial and often criticized, and has at times been referred to as the "Mythical National Championship" since disputes often arise as to who is deserving of the number one ranking; and

WHEREAS, the 2007, 2008, and 2009 college football seasons were some of the most memorable to date with outstanding plays and players and a number of unforgettable games, many of which involved major upsets; and

WHEREAS, the 2007, 2008, and 2009 college football seasons also highlighted the parity of modern college football, with teams from the "Mid Majors" and smaller conferences and divisions playing well and defeating teams from the so-called power, or BCS conferences; and

WHEREAS, the 2009 college football season saw the matching of two-teams from the "Mid Majors" in a BCS Bowl, the first time that has happened since the inception of the BCS Bowl system; and

WHEREAS, with five teams remaining undefeated at the end of the regular season of 2009, and the potential for up to three of those teams to remain undefeated after the completion of the BCS Bowls, the controversy over the true national champion has only been enhanced; and

WHEREAS, the only way to determine an undisputed and true national champion in the FBS is to have a playoff system similar to those operated in the other divisions of collegiate football; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2010, that the NCAA is urged to implement a "Plus-One" model playoff system, which would allow a playoff between the top four ranked teams in the nation, to determine a national champion in the Football Bowl Subdivision of collegiate football; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NCAA is urged to reserve at least ten percent of the seating to the first national playoff championship game for men and women who serve in the armed forces of the United States, and is further urged to provide ten percent of the proceeds of the national championship game, after expenses, to initiate or enhance a scholarship foundation for each of the schools involved in the national championship game that would provide educational scholarships to handicapped students who qualify for each university but do not have the financial ability to secure their education at that university; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and members of Hawaii's Congressional delegation.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Urging the NCAA to implement a "Plus-One" model playoff system to determine a national champion in the football bowl subdivision of collegiate football.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	33
TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010
STATE OF HAWAII