"There's an arrogance about the BCS that just drives me nuts," Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch supposedly told reporters after a hearing about the Bowl Championship Series by which college football crowns its top team.

Arrogance? How arrogant is it for members of Congress to declare themselves the sports police, threatening to thrust the strong arm of big government into a free-market economic arrangement just because it dissed this senator's or that congressman's favorite team?

"It's just not right" that the BCS should exploit its position of power, Hatch complained on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.

What isn't right is Hatch using the bully pulpit of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee to rah-rah for his home state's University of Utah, even if there is a case to be made that the Utes deserved a shot at last season's national championship bowl game after going undefeated in the regular season.

It's clear, Hatch said, that the BCS violates the nation's antitrust laws, the AP reported.

Why was it not just as clear to Hatch in 2006 when Boise State went undefeated but got shut out of the national championship game, only to pull off a dazzling stunner against Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl?

Or could only the Utah snub have clarified the issue?

To read the complete editorial, visit The Fort Worth Star-Telegram.