Left with no other options, the Mountain West conference reluctantly signed on with the BCS for another four years, signing a deal between ESPN and BCS that runs through the 2013 season.

The conference was trying to get changes made to the BCS system, going as far as the United States Congress to try to get changes made. Sen. Arlen Hatch (R-Utah) has said that he thinks the BCS clearly violates antitrust laws, and is leading hearings into the BCS practices in the House of Representatives.

The agreement with the BCS means that the conference will be much more quiet in the coming years when it comes to fighting for equality in college football’s postseason, but they vow that they are not giving up the fight.

Clearly the Mountain West wasn’t thrilled about having to sign the deal, saying:

“… The Mountain West believes it has no choice at this time but to sign the agreements. If a conference wishes to compete at the highest levels of college football, and the only postseason system in place for that is the BCS, no one conference can afford to drop out and penalize its football programs and student-athletes.”

This, to me, is the definition of anti-trust and monopoly. The Mountain West Conference is basically being forced to sign an agreement that they don’t agree with and know could be detrimental to them, but are left with no other options, so they must enter into an undesirable deal.

And there is no other option. To not sign the deal would be to risk subjecting all of the teams in the Mountain West to financial disaster. Not being a part of the BCS, when there is no other option, means that you are not in position to get your piece of the pie when the money is spread at the end of the season. Right now, there are no other options, so the Mountain West was forced to sign a deal they don’t agree with. If you can find a better definition of a monopoly, more power to you.

With this deal being signed, it is not necessarily the end of the battle. There are far more of us that want things changed, and clearly the legal system is on our side. The BCS thinks that since they are simply a college football postseason system that the law won’t bother with them, but they couldn’t be more wrong. The BCS controls the finances of major educational institutions. Once the effects of their unfair practices are explained to the lay non-sports fan, more people will be on board with the government doing something about this.

At the end of the day, there is far too much money at stake, and the money is essentially for legitimate educational institutions. I’m pretty confident that once legitimate hearings take place, the BCS will be broken up.

As for the Mountain West, they say that their fight will continue, despite being a part of it for a few more years:

“The Mountain West will continue its efforts for change, including a request for dialogue with representatives of the BCS. Our goal is to ensure the eventual outcome of these endeavors is what our universities and student-athletes need, what the vast majority of American sports fans want, and what is long overdue: an equitable system.”

Bottom line: The Mountain West is right, the BCS is wrong. It’s just a matter of time before the right people get involved in this.

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