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Justice Department asks for information on college bowl process

(CNN) -- In a letter to the NCAA on Wednesday, the Justice Department's antitrust chief asked for information on the current Bowl Championship Series system, which excludes some athletic conferences from the formula for choosing schools to play in major bowl games.

The NCAA is not required to answer the questions posed by Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney, the Justice Department said. The information she is seeking would be used to help determine whether an antitrust investigation should be opened.

Millions of dollars in revenue are at stake in the football bowl selection process.

"Serious questions continue to arise suggesting that the current BCS system may not be conducted consistent with the competition principles expressed in federal antitrust laws," Varney wrote in the letter to Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA in Indianapolis.

The decision to release the letter came hours after Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a major opponent of the current system, demanded further consideration of the issue in a face-to-face appearance with Attorney General Eric Holder at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Holder then disclosed the Justice Department had sent the letter to the NCAA on the issue.

In her letter, Varney asked Emmert to explain why college football does not have a playoff when so many other college sports do. She also asked what steps, if any, the NCAA has taken to create a playoff, and whether the NCAA has determined that there are aspects of the BCS system that do not serve interests of fans, colleges, universities, and players.

Currently, the BCS system limits automatic bids to the winners of the Big Ten, Big East, Big 12, ACC, Pac 10 and SEC, thereby leaving out other conferences, including almost all schools in the Rocky Mountain region.

From CNN's Terry Frieden

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