NCAA Responds to U.S. Letter about Football Playoff

The National Collegiate Athletic Association "has no mandate to create" a football playoff unless its members push for one, the group's president said in response to a Justice Department letter this month that discussed the wisdom of the Bowl Championship Series and the prospects of replacing it with a national playoff. Mark Emmert also noted that, other than licensing postseason bowl games, the NCAA “has no role to play in the BCS" and that questions about whether it “serves ‘the interest of fans, colleges, universities, and players’ [are] better directed to the BCS itself.” The Justice Department letter to which Emmert responded is the first confirmation the department has given that it is examining college football's system for crowning a national champion and considering action against it. Critics have long called for the government to investigate the BCS for possible antitrust violations.