Rankings Might Not End So Rosy

PASADENA —  The promos are out there, pumping the Rose Bowl as the game that will “crown the king of the hill” in college football.

Don’t believe everything you hear, though, because the Fiesta Bowl could deliver a national champion, too.

If Nebraska beats Miami in Pasadena on Jan. 3, the winner of the game between Oregon and Colorado in Tempe, Ariz., two days earlier will probably be the champion in The Associated Press media poll.

The USA Today/ESPN coaches poll will automatically declare the Rose Bowl winner its national champion under an arrangement between the Bowl Championship Series and the American Football Coaches Association. The sports writers and broadcasters in the AP poll vote independently.

“Would we take a share of the national championship? Yeah,” Oregon coach Mike Bellotti says. “I think that probably all four of the coaches involved in these games, if they felt they could win a share of the national championship, would probably be very happy.

“Miami may not be, because they want the whole thing.”

Indeed. If the Hurricanes (11-0) defeat the Huskers (11-1) there will not be a split championship, which has happened three times since 1990. Miami would finish with the only perfect record among major colleges and capture its fifth national crown, all since 1983.

“All we care about is beating Nebraska,” linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. “If we win, we’re the champs in all the polls.”

While the BCS was created in 1998 to try to produce an undisputed national champion, this will be the second straight year a split is possible.

Here’s why: The BCS standings, which use the two polls, eight computer rankings, strength-of-schedule and number of losses to determine who plays in its title game, had Miami first and Nebraska second. In the two polls, Miami, Oregon (10-1), Colorado (10-2) and Nebraska were ranked 1-2-3-4.

Should Nebraska and Oregon win, for example, the Huskers would jump over the Ducks and Buffaloes to claim a piece of the national title. Then, they’d have to wait a few hours to see if the AP voters also select them national champs.

Nebraska won AP titles in 1970-71 and 1994-95. The Huskers claimed coaches crowns in ‘71, 94-95 and ’97.

A casual survey of 55 of the 72 AP poll voters revealed most (44) would vote for or seriously consider the Fiesta winner as national champs if the Huskers win the Rose Bowl.

Nebraska, nine-point underdogs, enters the Rose Bowl as a controversial choice because it lost 62-36 to Colorado on Nov. 23. The loss prevented the Huskers from even playing for the Big 12 title, eventually won by the Buffaloes.

Coach Frank Solich says any uproar is directed at the BCS, not his Cornhuskers.

“I know we deserve to go, our coaches know we deserve to go and our players know we deserve to be in the game,” Solich says. “We’re anxious to play. It’s a national championship game and we’ve earned the right to be in it.”

Nebraska edged Colorado for second in the final BCS standings, with Oregon fourth.

Last year, Miami finished third behind Oklahoma and Florida State in the final BCS standings, even though the Hurricanes beat the Seminoles during the season. In the polls, Oklahoma, Miami and Florida State were 1-2-3. The Sooners beat the Seminoles in the Orange Bowl and ended Miami’s chance to grab a share of the title.

“It’s pretty simple for us, and that’s nice for a change,” Vilma said. “We wanted to make sure we didn’t give the computers a chance to keep us out of the ‘ship again. We knew we had to win them all. That’s the only way to guarantee your spot in the big game.”

In the survey of AP voters, some felt more strongly for Oregon or Colorado, while four said they’d stick with Nebraska if it beats Miami, no matter what happened in Tempe. The others were noncommittal.

“I will absolutely vote the Colorado-Oregon winner No. 1 if Nebraska beats Miami,” AP voter Tom Luicci of The Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J., says. “I don’t know why more people haven’t made an issue of Nebraska’s cushy non-conference schedule ... TCU, Troy State, Rice, Notre Dame. That means the Cornhuskers essentially played two games all year--Oklahoma and Colorado--and were life and death to win one and got pounded in the other. How shortsighted were the BCS people for not including a provision that a team must win its conference title to be eligible for the ‘national championship game?”’

AP voter Mark Tupper, executive sports editor of the Decatur (Ill.) Herald & Review, says: “Unless the scores are quite unusual, if Nebraska beats Miami in the Rose Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl winner will be the national champion on my ballot.”

And Todd Harmonson of the Orange County Register adds: “I’ve had Oregon and Colorado ahead of Nebraska in recent weeks, and it would take something special for me to jump Nebraska to the top spot.”

Mike Shalin of the Boston Herald says: “The way the system is set up, Miami-Nebraska is the championship game. I am therefore inclined to think I’d vote the winner as the champion. But certain things could change that--an Oregon blowout and close Nebraska win in a bad game.”

Colorado, which lost to Fresno State and Texas, would be the first two-loss AP national champion since the poll began in 1936. Oregon, the Pac-10 champs with a loss to Stanford, is looking for its first national title.

While Colorado coach Gary Barnett was disappointed in the BCS, he and his players will become Husker lovers if his team wins the Fiesta Bowl.

“Even though we’re not going to be in the Rose Bowl, there is still a chance,” Buffs offensive tackle Victor Rogers says. “Heads aren’t down. We just have to be ready to go and see if we can get a split of the national championship.”

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Split Decisions

Three times since 1990, college football seasons ended with split national champions:

1997: Michigan and Nebraska were undefeated and ranked 1-2 in the polls entering their bowl games. Michigan, the Big Ten champs locked into the Rose Bowl, beat Washington State, while Nebraska beat Tennessee in the Orange Bowl. The Wolverines stayed No. 1 in the final AP poll; the Cornhuskers moved up to No. 1 in the final coaches’ poll. The sentiment at the time was that fellow coaches thought Tom Osborne deserved a piece of the title in his final season.

1991: Miami was No. 1 in the AP poll and tied with Washington for No. 1 in the coaches’ poll. Miami beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl; Washington beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl. The Hurricanes were AP’s national champions, while the Huskies won in the coaches’ poll. At the time, there were questions raised about Miami’s decision to stay home and play the lower-ranked Huskers instead of higher-ranked Florida in the Sugar Bowl.

1990: Colorado and Georgia Tech were 1-2 in the polls, and both won their bowl games--the Buffaloes beat Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl; the Yellow Jackets beat Nebraska in the Citrus Bowl. Colorado was AP’s champion, but Georgia Tech was the top choice in the coaches’ poll. An argument for Tech grabbing a share of the title was that the Irish would have beaten the Buffaloes on a late punt return for a touchdown, but a penalty nullified the play.