College Football Shake-Up Has Senators Wary of Impact on State Schools

First it was the BCS. Now some U.S. senators fear their home state universities may be out in the cold as college football's major conferences move toward realignments that would create a few super conferences, diminishing those schools left behind.

In the money-driven shake-up, the University of Nebraska is reportedly on the brink of joining the Big 10 conference and the University of Colorado is headed to the PAC-10. Both are members of the Big 12, which could lose additional schools regarded as football powerhouses. The issue posed by reporters to such senators as Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), is what happens to the universities remaining in the shrunken conference on the Great Plains.

Brownback, who is running for governor and has a degree from the University of Kansas law school, said he has spoken to Nebraska political leaders and the university's president about the possible shift, according to The Hill newspaper. "I really hope that in that elected body of the Nebraska board of regents, they say, 'Wait a minute, let's take a little more time and think about this and let's see what we might want to change in the Big 12 before we bolt,' " he told KMBZ radio.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) who has one school -- Iowa State -- in the Big 12, and one -- the University of Iowa -- in the Big 10, said his staff was checking to determine "what can be done from a non-profit, antitrust standpoint" about the looming realignment. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, said he was "opposed to the kind of mischief that's going on with the Big 10 and Pacific conference," but wasn't sure if Congress should meddle in the matter.

The BCS system -- or Bowl Championship Series -- has infuriated some lawmakers because it all but shuts out smaller colleges and universities from the lucrative pursuit of the national championship in major bowl games. Of course, besides the upheaval in the Big 12, there's also that concern for Congress in the big Gulf of Mexico, which likely will still be awash in oil when college football season opens over Labor Day weekend.