BCS buried in controversy over Rose Bowl bid

Colorado, Oregon better options than Nebraska

Dec. 10, 2001

Had Tennessee defeated LSU Saturday in the SEC championship game, the Volunteers would have taken on Miami. But the late-season upsets continued — following the form of Colorado’s upsets of Nebraska and Texas and Tennessee’s win over Florida — and the BCS was turned upside down. BCS chairman John Swofford said controversy doesn’t affect credibility. Whether the BCS is a credible format is still open for debate.

Michael Holbrook and Jeff Reynolds, the managing editor and associate editor of special projects, respectively, look at the existing arguments for Nebraska, Colorado and Oregon, the teams that finished behind Miami in the final BCS shakedown.

Nebraska (11-1)

Reynolds: The Cornhuskers are deserving of their top-five national poll position. A lot of people reference the schedule, and the revolving format brought only ranked Oklahoma to the fore this season. Kansas State was down, Notre Dame amounted to a mid-major and the only big-time opponent Nebraska faced away from Memorial Stadium was the landslide loss at Boulder. But Nebraska was 11-1 — period. It did what it had to do in all but one game, a road date in a grudge match that some claim was an aberration. The Cornhuskers would argue that they are as good, if not better, than any other BCS participant with one loss — Illinois, Oregon or Maryland. As far as Colorado is concerned, put Nebraska in Colorado’s position. Nebraska starts the year with a loss and adds another setback at Texas, but then runs the table, ending with a victory in the Big 12 championship game. Would they go to Pasadena? I don’t think so.

Holbrook: As much as I’ve flip-flopped over the last few days in deciding who I feel deserves to play Miami for the national title, the one team that clearly was NOT an option was Nebraska. To me, it was between Colorado and Oregon. Once the Cornhuskers gave up 62 points — that’s 62!! — to Colorado the day after Thanksgiving, I eliminated them from my national title picture. The only problem is, the BCS sure didn’t. How can a team that didn’t win its own conference, let alone its own division, deserve to play for the national title? It’s a question that doesn’t have a sufficient answer. I certainly give Nebraska credit for taking care of business during its first 11 games this season (even if six of the wins came against TCU, Troy State, Rice, Missouri, Baylor, Kansas and a mediocre-at-best Notre Dame team). But to suffer a humiliating defeat on national television, then, a few weeks later, wind up in the national title game is an embarrassment to college football. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame Nebraska for any of this, it’s the BCS system that failed Division I-A college football this season.

Colorado (10-2)

Reynolds: The team that is playing the best at the end of the season is rewarded in every other NCAA sport with at least a shot at a national title. Unfortunately for Colorado, that doesn’t apply to college football because there is no postseason tournament. Whether the hot potato should get passed or not is another issue. When Florida State played Oklahoma for the national championship last season, the Seminoles reached the title game over a Miami team with one loss despite having lost head-to-head to Miami for its lone defeat. The NCAA decided to fine-tune the format to weigh head-to-head meetings more heavily, so a team that lost to another title contender would not receive too much credit in the polls. Now Nebraska, despite a loss to Colorado, is going to the Rose Bowl. The difference? Colorado has two losses — Fresno State and Texas — and is the victim of a system that awards less for what you do at the end of the season and more for what you did over the 11- or 12-game season.

Holbrook: The Buffaloes came into this season with high hopes for a big year. When they dropped a 24-22 decision to a scrappy Fresno State team in late August — thanks in no small part to five turnovers and a blocked extra point — it was a damaging blow. It meant they couldn’t afford to lose again this season and still harbor hopes for a national title. After five straight wins, they self-destructed again, making three early turnovers and falling 41-7 to Texas. Most teams would’ve been crushed, but this Colorado team rallied to win five straight, capped by the impressive win over Nebraska and the Big 12 title game win over Texas. There’s no question in my mind that Colorado is playing the best of any team in Division I-A right now, and the Buffaloes would’ve been a worthy opponent for unbeaten Miami. But two losses are two losses and, until a playoff system is in place, the regular season has to be considered part of an elimination process toward crowning a national champion. Therefore, based on the current system, I ultimately can’t support a team with two losses to play for the national championship. Sorry, Buffs fans!

Oregon (10-1)

Reynolds: The Ducks were really hurt by the decline of Pac-10 rivals UCLA, Stanford and Washington State as the season played out. The strength of schedule in the Pac-10 wasn’t as great as it appeared to be and Oregon lost to Stanford at home and was unimpressive in the season-ender vs. Oregon State at Autzen Stadium. In fact, forget about the Rose Bowl, I believe Maryland, who was victim to a down year overall in the ACC, deserves more attention than Oregon and should be playing Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl.

Holbrook: I’ll agree that by the end of the season, the Pac-10 wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be, but it was still a very, very competitive conference with several top-notch teams and Oregon was its deserving champion. UCLA and Oregon were ranked in the top five for a time, and Arizona, Washington State and Stanford all made it into the top 10 during the season. That’s pretty good competition, and that’s not counting an improved USC team or dangerous Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon State. The only patsy on the Ducks’ schedule this season was fellow Pac-10 member California. Oregon played, and beat, three ranked teams and lost at home, 49-42, to a ranked Stanford team by blowing a fourth-quarter lead. As Jeff said about Nebraska, the bottom line is that Oregon took care of business. It won 10 of 11 games by doing whatever it takes to get the win. QB Joey Harrington led a handful of fourth-quarter comebacks; the defense ranks among the top rush defenses in the country; and head coach Mike Bellotti is one of the finest coaches in the land. To me, Oregon had one misstep, just like Nebraska, and would’ve been a worthy participant in a championship game. But hey, I’m not a computer.

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