OK, while not NCAA president Mark Emmert‘s exact words, that’s basically the summation of the Association’s response to the Department of Justice.
Exactly two weeks after the DOJ released a letter sent to Emmert that asked, in essence, why the hell there isn’t a playoff at the Div. 1-A level of football, the president responded Wednesday by repeating his mantra since officially taking office last October: the NCAA has received no directive from its membership to institute a playoff system at this level, and, short of that, the NCAA “has no authority to take steps to create a playoff.”
In other words, the dog has no power to prevent the tail from wagging the entire canine. Here are a couple of excerpts from Emmert’s letter, which can be viewed in its entirety HERE, which fully illustrates that flea-bitten concept:-- With regard to the Association’s plans for an NCAA FBS football championship, there are no plans absent direction from our membership to do so.
-- Other than licensing the postseason FBS bowls, the NCAA has no role to play in the BCS or the BCS system. As a result, your request for views on how the BCS system serves “the interest of fans, colleges, universities, and players” is better directed to the BCS itself.
-- At no time in the history of the FBS or its predecessor, Division I-A, has a formal proposal come before the membership to establish a postseason football championship in that subdivision. Instead, the FBS has elected to conduct its postseason competition outside the NCAA structure. Without membership impetus for a postseason playoff, the NCAA has no mandate to create and conduct a FBS football championship.
Yeah, just like we said: “Hey, bro, talk to the BcS’.
In tandem with the release of Emmert’s letter, the president also spoke to the media today in Indianapolis and confirmed that he will have a face-to-face meeting with the DOJ at some point in the not-too-distant future.
“We’re going to be doing that, we hope, in the very near future, and getting a better feel for their interest in all of this,” Emmert said according to the Indianapolis Star. “I’ll be responding directly to their letter in the coming days, and we’ll have a better feel for what’s really on their mind.”
So, now that Emmert has indeed responded directly, Justice Department, it’s your serve. Emmert has made it crystal clear once again that the BcS is out there alone on this exclusionary island, and that it’s none of the Association’s concern short of a mandate from its members. With that concept crystallized in letter form, the DOJ can now do what it’s needed to do for years.
Take dead aim at the BcS and its potential antitrust violations. And continue plowing a path that will ultimately lead to a playoff, regardless of the presence of hollow and empty threats to revert back to the old bowl system.