Article Is the Bowl Championship Series a Cartel? Some Evidence

The cartel view of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) implies that it creates an advantage for automatic qualifying (AQ) member schools relative to other Division IA/FBS schools in recruiting the best players and hiring other inputs. The resulting playing-field advantage should produce more wins over ‘‘outsiders.’’ Weaker AQ schools benefit relatively more because previously they had competed more closely with outsiders for players. The evidence generally supports the cartel view. The AQ BCS schools and conferences have significantly increased their win percentage against outsiders. Also, the weaker AQ schools have performed better against the top tier, and have shown the greatest improvement against outsiders. Keywords BCS, cartel, NCAA football The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) attempts to satisfy the long-standing demand for a clear-cut American college football champion. Its goal is to place the two best teams in an end-of-season game, with the winner declared national champion. The BCS is an agreement that (currently) includes all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences plus independent Notre Dame and four major bowls. These entities jointly determine the rules by which teams are selected to play in the BCS bowls and championship game