Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: BCS arguments begin

USC is early leader, but Miami noses out Oklahoma for No. 2

By RALPH D. RUSSO
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Unbeaten and second-ranked Oklahoma is third in the opening BCS standings, despite the efforts of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jason White, left, and running back Adrian Peterson. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The new Bowl Championship Series formula is creating the same old confusion.

While Southern California took the top spot in the reworked BCS standings' debut Monday, look who's second: Miami. The Hurricanes edged Oklahoma, a strong No. 2 behind USC in both The Associated Press Top 25 and the coaches poll.

Put in place after last season's split national championship, this year's stripped-down BCS formula relies more on the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls. The idea was to ensure that when there is a clear consensus top two in the polls -- as USC and Oklahoma have been all season -- the BCS standings would reflect it.

Instead, BCS officials again had to do some explaining.

"It's obviously very early. It's important that there not be an overreaction to this poll," BCS coordinator and Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said, adding that when he saw Miami ahead of Oklahoma, "I was a little surprised, to tell you the truth."

Weiberg noted that the top two teams in the first BCS standings of the season have never played in the system's championship game.

"I've never really understood the BCS process," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "And at first look, this year's updated process confuses me once again. I'm not sure how some of the other teams worked out to being where they are."

The AP and coaches polls each count for one-third of a team's total score under the new formula. The other third comes from six computer rankings, and that's where Miami made up ground on the Sooners. The Hurricanes are ranked fourth in the AP media poll and third in the coaches poll, but have the second-most points in the computer rankings. Oklahoma, the chief beneficiary of the old system last season, came out fifth in the computer rankings.

"Our philosophy is that the only thing we can control is how we play," Miami coach Larry Coker said.

Last season, USC finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in both polls but third in the BCS standings -- knocking it out of the BCS title game.

Oklahoma finished first in the BCS standings despite losing the Big 12 Championship and dropping to third in the major polls. The Sooners were beaten in the Sugar Bowl by Louisiana State, voted No. 1 by the coaches. USC finished No. 1 in the AP poll.

Under the new system, LSU and USC would have met in the Sugar Bowl.

"At this point in the season, it just generates a lot of discussion," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. "But it really makes no difference where anyone is ranked today. There is too much of this season left to play for anyone to get too worked up about this now."

The Orange Bowl will host the top two teams in the final BCS standings Jan. 4.

USC, No. 1 in each of the major polls all season, has a big lead in the BCS with a score of .9912 out of a possible 1.000. Miami's score is .9187, and Oklahoma's is .9161. Auburn is fourth with .9036. Florida State, with one loss, is fifth, ahead of unbeatens Wisconsin and Utah.

Utah's seventh-place showing is the best ever for a team outside the six major conferences in an opening BCS standings. It puts the Utes, of the Mountain West Conference, in position to become the first team from a mid-major conference to get a bid to one of the four big-ticket BCS games.

Utah will host UNLV on Saturday.

"Those rankings don't mean anything unless we do win out, and that's a long way off right now," Utah quarterback Alex Smith said. "It's different when a computer is telling you where you're ranked. It's not polls. It's not people. It's not opinions. It's some computer spitting it out, so who knows?"

The champions from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10 and Southeastern Conference get six of the eight berths in the four BCS bowls -- the Orange, Sugar, Rose and Fiesta. The other spots go to wild-card teams.