RESOLUTION KEEPS UO, OSU IN THE GAME.

Byline: Greg Bolt The Register-Guard

One state senator's attempt to tackle the Bowl Championship Series looks like it will be deflected, at least for now.

Sen. Ryan Deckert, D-Beaverton, sought to show his pique with the college football ranking system by submitting a bill that would bar the University of Oregon and Oregon State University from taking part in any BCS games. That would include the Rose and Fiesta bowls, games to which both schools would covet another invitation.

But Deckert says that for now he will score his point by making the bill a nonbinding resolution that puts the BCS on notice without penalizing Oregon schools.

"I feel that's the right tone right now," Deckert said Thursday. "You lead with a kick in the dust, and that's what this is."

Deckert said he never intended to bind the hands of the universities but that the bill-writing process sometimes leads to unintended consequences. He said he would have preferred a resolution all along and is happy to go that route, particularly given the role UO President Dave Frohnmayer is playing in a BCS reform effort.

The BCS, a confederation of the major college football conferences, uses the ranking system to decide which teams play in the major bowl games and to select the top two teams that compete for the national championship. But Pac-10 fans have been miffed at some recent pairings, including the 2001 decision that denied the UO a shot at the national championship in a year that eventually ended with the Ducks ranked No. 2.

More recent choices have bumped other Pac-10 teams out of bowl or championship games, denying the conference the large payouts that come with major bowl appearances. The conference splits that revenue among all teams, meaning less money went to the UO and OSU.

That's what inspired Deckert to write Senate Bill 416, which declares BCS games off-limits to the two Oregon schools starting with the 2008 season.

That soon caught the attention of UO officials, who went into a quick huddle and decided to run a blocking pattern.

"We have talked to Sen. Deckert at great length, and he understands what our concerns are," said Dan Williams, the UO's vice president for administration. "It is our expectation that this bill may not move out of committee."

The bill in its present form also has lost at least one of is two co-sponsors. Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene, signed onto the bill thinking Deckert had cleared it with the universities; when he found out that wasn't the case, he ran a fast reverse.

Although the bill was filed with Prozanski listed as co-sponsor, he said he has withdrawn his name and support.

"I would never have signed on to that bill if I knew the university was not in support of it," he said.

Prozanski said he won't support a resolution without hearing Frohnmayer's view. And Deckert said the UO president's role in the BCS reform effort played a big role in his desire to limit the legislation to a nonbinding resolution.

"His role within the BCS and how he's presided over it relieves a lot of folks', including my own, concerns," he said.

But Deckert isn't the only state legislator with an itch to bring down the BCS. A California lawmaker has filed a nonbinding resolution calling for the dissolution of the BCS, and a Texas legislator has proposed a law that would ban schools in that state from playing in a BCS game once at least four other states join the ban.

Deckert isn't retreating from his opposition to the BCS, which he says is biased against West Coast teams. And he didn't rule out stronger measures if that issue isn't addressed.

"The BCS in some ways has been a joke," he said. "We ought to be making a statement."