Bill Text: HI HR84 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Resolution 84 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill 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.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-10 - (H) Referred to HED, referral sheet 34 [HR84 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2011-HR84-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	84
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

Urging the national collegiate athletic association to implement a 'Plus-one' model playoff system to determine a national champion in the football bowl subdivision of collegiate football.

WHEREAS, football is a very popular sport throughout the United States and is played in leagues of different sizes, player ages, and quality of play, in all regions of the country; and

WHEREAS, one of the most popular football venues is collegiate level football, and 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 (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, known as the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), to determine a national college football champion; and

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

WHEREAS, smaller, less influential college athletic conferences, often referred to as "Mid-major" conferences, as well as independent football schools, are often neglected by the BCS bowl system as they do not receive automatic bids, but instead 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 it has at times been referred to as the "Mythical National Championship" since disputes often arise as to which college football team is deserving of the number one national ranking; and

WHEREAS, the 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 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, and 2010 college football seasons also highlighted the parity of modern college football, with teams from the "Mid Major" conferences and smaller conferences and divisions playing well and defeating teams from larger more powerful BCS conferences; and

WHEREAS, the 2009 college football season saw the matching of two teams from the "Mid Major" conferences 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 ongoing controversy over the true national champion increased; 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 NCAA college football and other NCAA college sports; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2011, that the National Collegiate Athletic Association is urged to implement a "Plus-One" model playoff system, which would allow a playoff between the top four ranked college football teams in the nation, to determine a national champion in the Football Bowl Subdivision of collegiate football; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Collegiate Athletic Association is urged to reserve at least ten per cent 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 per cent 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 resources to attend 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.