During the hearing, however, Barry Brett, a lawyer for the Mountain West Conference, called the BCS "a self-designated cartel controlled by six conferences."
And Michael Young, president of the University of Utah, called the BCS a "system designed to channel money to certain universities." He noted that the Mountain West received $9.8 million from the BCS in 2008 -- compared to the $18.6 million received by three automatic-qualifying conferences with lower rankings.
"Championships should be decided by competition, not by conspiracy," Young said.
Hatch, the sole questioner at the hearing, asked Harvey Perlman, chancellor of the University of Nebraska and the new chairman of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, about last season.
"What more could Utah have done to play their way into a national championship game?" Hatch asked.
Said Perlman: "If they'd beaten Alabama before that bowl game, instead of at that bowl game, they might have had a better shot at it."
Tuesday marked Congress' second look at the BCS this session, and the fourth hearings since the BCS' inception.
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ksherry@tribune.com
