Most college football fans agree that the method the NCAA decides who gets to play for its football championship is competitively abhorrent, and now a political action committee is claiming that the system is buried in financial malfeasance as well.

Instead of a playoff system to decide a national champion in football as it does in other sports, the NCAA uses the Bowl Championship Series, a set of four bowl games that operate as 501(c)3 charities and have agreements with the major conferences to set up a series of season-ending one-off bowl games. A combination of computer and voter-determined rankings determines the participants.

The Associated Press reports Playoff PAC, an organization of interests who want to take down the BCS and clear the way for playoffs, says BCS bowl honchos took zero-interest loans, coaxed employees to make political donations with the understanding that they’d be reimbursed, and funneled funds to lobbyists, among other indiscretions. All are big no-nos for non-profits.

The PAC wants the Internal Revenue Service to yank the bowls’ nonprofit status.

Fiesta Bowl, other BCS groups accused of financial, lobbying violations

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2010/09/22/20100922BCS-tax-violation-allegations22-ON.html#ixzz10JlLiKz2 [AP via AZ Central]

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