Mr. Thompson Goes to Washington

Mountain West Conference commissioner Craig Thompson is in Washington, D.C., this week, as part of a lobbying effort .

His mission: Convince SOMEONE to do SOMETHING about the BCS monopoly.

In other words, get a college football playoff system going, or perhaps gain an automatic BCS bowl berth for the Mountain West.

While Thompson is meeting with congressional staffers – who probably have more pressing issues – it’s doubtful anything will come of it.

In his defense, Thompson is only doing what he’s told. The President’s Council agreed to hire a lobbying firm to help their cause. But it’s Thompson who gets to do the leg work.

President Barack Obama has already said he wants a playoff. How much more powerful an ally does the MWC need? If Obama can’t get a playoff to happen, what’s Thompson going to be able to do?

His mission is actually twofold: lobby first for inclusion of the MWC in the BCS mix – now — and lobby for a playoff.

I agree that sitting meekly while the BCS looks after its own interest may not accomplish much. Besides, it doesn’t hurt to try. But the truth is, this expedition probably won’t do anything, except maybe annoy people.

If I were making the visits, I’d save the expense of sending Thompson to Washington and use it to visit every MWC school and talk to the teams about how they can earn an automatic BCS berth: By continuing what they did this year.

Leave the rest of the work to the president.