Satisfying ending unlikely for 'BCS Goes to Washington'

The disclaimer is right there on GovTrack.us, one of those watchdog websites that monitors of the voting records in the House and Senate:

The majority of bills and resolutions never make it out of committee.

Utah legislators still have a beef after the Utes not being invited to the title game. (US Presswire)

Remember that when you think politicians are going to "fix" the BCS. There are at least three bills floating around Capitol Hill that address college football's postseason. It's kind of the trendy thing to do. The president makes an off-hand mention of a playoff, and the checkered flag goes down on another race to the Senate floor.

The main participants are co-sponsoring each other's bills like some sort of WWF tag team.

H.R. 599 would withhold federal funds from any Division I-A school that doesn't participate in a playoff.

H.R. 390, "The College Football Playoff Act of 2009," would prohibit a national championship game on the grounds that it was unfair and deceptive.

H.Res. 68 would reject the BCS as an illegal restraint of trade in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.

Sounds like powerful, serious stuff. It isn't. Check the batting averages of the legislators involved in those bills:

• H.Res. 68 main sponsor Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii): .040.
• H.R. 599 sponsor Rep. Gary Miller (R-California): .041.
• H.R. 390 sponsor Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas): .042.

Those percentages reflect the lawmakers' success rates at passing legislation. In his career, Abercrombie has sponsored 74 bills; three have passed. Fifty-eight never made it out of committee. Miller is 2-for-49. Only 14 of his bills have it out of committee. Barton is the most "successful" of the three at 4-for-96, according GovTrack. Still, 72 of the 96 haven't made it out of committee.

That's 75 percent of their bills dying in committee. Any fifth-grade civics class knows that the majority of bills don't make it past that infancy stage. Veteran Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, batting .132, is among the most successful. These guys will pass a kidney stone before they pass any meaningful legislation against the BCS.

Image the Justice Department investigating the BCS, as Abercrombie wants it to do, in the current political climate. We're at war on two fronts. The economy is collapsing around us. The politicos can scream all they want, sooner or later they will come to the realization that Edolphus Towns did last week: It's time to pipe down.

I called Rep. Towns' office to follow up on comments he made last month. As the incoming chairman of the powerful Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Towns told USA Today he would convene hearings on college football's postseason. Towns said he might subpoena NCAA officials, college presidents, players, coaches and ADs.