There’s no traction.

The AP story on the BCS’ Presidential Oversight Committee’s rejection of the Mountain West Conference’s postseason proposal was so blandly underwritten that I wasn’t even going to waste a blog post on it.  Fortunately, USA Today has dug deeper on the story.

Committee chair (and University of Oregon president) David Frohnmayer has more than a few choice words about the subject.

First, a rap on the knuckles for the MWC:

“They signed up for this with their eyes open, and to unravel it now would make no sense. Nobody has a crystal ball to see what could happen five years from now. But it’s fair to say the BCS had already considered almost every single aspect of this proposal in the past. We weren’t plowing fresh ground in that sense.”

Coupled with a reminder of where the moneys floweth from –

“A lot of these playoff proposals have not thought about their business models,” he said. “They seem to assume the bowls would be on-board with this. They’d wreck the Rose Bowl, which is the most storied bowl in American history. To say that would be a quarterfinal destination is ridiculous.”

Along with a reminder that what’s already being paid out isn’t that insignificant:

Frohnmayer, however, said a league such as the Mountain West receives about “10 times” the revenue from the BCS than it did under prior postseason systems.

All of which pretty much adds up to your basic “sit in the corner quietly, Junior, and wait your turn”.  Which will come if there’s a market for it.

Frohnmeyer has a little something for the folks back in DC, too.

… A former Oregon attorney general and ex-member of the state’s House of Representatives, Frohnmayer also criticized the possibility of congressional intervention in the debate over whether there should be a playoff, especially considering the economic conditions facing the country.

“Tinkering legislatively with a football playoff system as a national priority is a huge waste of my taxpayer dollars,” he said. “I think taxpayers would look at it in real anger. To tinker around because you don’t like the outcome of a football season is a classic misuse of priorities.”

Stern message, but a misuse of priorities has never stopped Washington politicians before.  I suspect Senator Hatch is looking forward to having the last word on this, probably in a Senate hearing.