WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- A Senate subcommittee Tuesday tackled one of the most contentious issues in U.S. sports : the fairness of the Bowl Championship Series that decides the top college football team each season . Tim Tebow , right , of the Florida Gators talks to coaches at the 2009 BCS national championship game January 8 . Convened by Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah , the hearing by the Antitrust , Competition Policy and Consumer Rights subcommittee provided a sounding board for his state 's disappointment over the inability of the undefeated University of Utah to qualify for the BCS national championship game last January . The BCS operates under an agreement among the major college football conferences that decides which teams qualify for the biggest bowl games each season , including the national championship game . It also distributes the revenue generated by the bowl games , with the participating members taking part in more of the post-season matches and taking home more money . Every season brings heated debate over the bowl lineup and calls for a playoff system similar to the ones used for every other National Collegiate Athletic Association sport , including small-college football . President Obama has joined many Americans in expressing his preference for a playoff system to decide the nation 's top college football team . Hatch complained that the BCS system denies outsiders -- such as Utah of the Mountain West Conference -- a fair chance to compete with major conferences such as the Big 12 , Big 10 , Pacific 10 and Southeast Conference for a spot in the lucrative bowl games . Last season , he said , Utah went undefeated and gained a BCS berth in the Sugar Bowl against perennial power Alabama , which it defeated 31-17 . However , the BCS ranking system prevented Utah from any realistic chance of selection for the national championship game , which pitted two teams that each had one loss on their records , Hatch said . For schools outside what he called the `` privileged conferences , '' the BCS system has `` significant and largely insurmountable obstacles to playing for a national championship , '' Hatch said . University of Utah President Michael Young complained that the BCS system both stifles competition and guarantees the majority of revenue from bowl games to the traditional powers . `` If you ca n't beat them , eliminate them , '' he said of BCS policy . In response , University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman said the BCS system -- while imperfect -- is the only workable formula that ensures participation by major football powers such as his institution . The BCS recognizes the strength and depth of traditional programs , Perlman said , rejecting Young 's argument that Utah has no chance to improve its status . `` There realistically is something Utah could do , '' Perlman said . `` They could play the schedule Nebraska played . '' At the same time , Perlman said that uneven odds are part of every university 's experience at one time or another . `` It 's the same as when Nebraska walks into the NIH [ National Institutes of Health ] and seeks a federal grant and competes with Harvard , '' he said . `` Theoretically we have the same the chance , but do we really ? '' Two anti-trust experts provided conflicting testimony on whether the BCS system violates the Sherman Antitrust Act . Barry Brett of the law firm Troutman Sanders insisted the BCS holds what amounts to an illegal monopoly and `` uses this control to exclude all but its founding members [ from ] fair access to the competition and control of hundreds of millions of dollars . '' In response , William Monts III of Hogan and Hartson noted the BCS members created the national championship game and therefore have the right to determine who participates . He also warned against seeking anti-trust relief in court , saying a ruling against the BCS would end its existence without creating an alternative . `` The peculiar irony of an anti-trust claim is that it is likely to sound the death knell for the playoff system proponents want , '' Monts said .
Convened by National Institutes of Health Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah . Hatch went undefeated and beat Utah in Hatch last season , noted Orrin Hatch . But BCS ranking system kept Utah out of national championship game , he said . Teams in championship game each had one loss on their records , Hatch noted .