Despite the insanity of it, the BCS formula survives

Sporting News, The, Dec 6, 1999 by Mark Blaudschun

Forget any lame debates from backers of Nebraska. Forget any controversy over what the final numbers might say when they officially determine who will play in the Sugar Bowl for the national championship.

It was made clear last weekend--unbeaten Florida State will play unbeaten Virginia Teck

No. 1 vs. No. 2, winner take all. If you lost a game this season, as Kansas State and Nebraska did, you are history. No chance. If you lost two, like Florida and Tennessee, sorry, see you later.

The Bowl Championship Series system again has survived despite itself. Sure, it's nonsense to have all these wild computer rankings, and sure, it's frustrating when you are a good team like Nebraska and feel you deserve a chance.

But the Huskers have a loss and the Hokies and Seminoles don't. End of story. Only Marshall has the right to say it won all of its games and is being unfairly judged, but the Mid-American Conference still is a tier below the leagues that have automatic BCS bids.

The drama last Friday in Blacksburg, Va., and Boulder, Colo., was amazing, even if not quite up to the drama of Super Saturday last year when UCLA and Kansas State lost.

The scene at Lane Stadium was surreal as a sellout crowd of 53,130 watched a scoreboard update of the final seconds of the Colorado-Nebraska game while celebrating the Hokies' rather easy defeat of nationally ranked Boston College, 38-14.

The Hokies might have clinched a Sugar Bowl bid just by covering the 23 1/2-point spread. But a Nebraska loss, of course, would have sealed the matter. Instead, the Huskers survived with a 33-30 overtime win and will play Texas on Saturday in the Big 12 title game for an automatic BCS bid.

But it likely means nothing in terms of the national championship. As the Huskers intoned, "We're playing for the Big 12 title."

In fitting with the trends of the time, college football has become an Internet sport, its champion, or its championship game, determined by computerized rankings that factor in not only wins and losses, but also strength of schedule and margin of victory.

"In my heart, I feel we're going to the Sugar Bowl," superb Tech quarterback Michael Vick said after the B.C. win. "I think we've done enough."

And Tech deserves to play in the game as much as FSU.

Against the three opponents the Hokies shared with the Seminoles--Miami, Clemson and Virginia--the Hokies won by an average score of 35-9. FSU won by an average score of 28-15. And Tech beat the four ranked teams it faced--Virginia, Syracuse, Miami and Boston College--by a combined score of 174-31.

"Does anyone here think we don't deserve to be in the Sugar Bowl?" asks Tech coach Frank Beamer. "There's no question we should be in the big ballgame. We've done better than FSU against common opponents. I've said all along, when it's all said and done, the two best teams will play each other, and I still think that's going to happen. These players and coaches deserve to be there."

Without a doubt

Nebraska can argue all it wants about its credentials, but the Huskers are not the Huskers of a few years ago, when they were one of the most dominant teams in the history of the game. They lost to Texas, barely beat Kansas and had to go to overtime to beat a mediocre Colorado team.

Critics of the Hokies can rip the quality of the Big East and a non-conference schedule that includes I-AA playoff qualifier James Madison and I-A newcomer Alabama-Birmingham.

"What else do you want us to do?" says Corey Moore, Tech's All-America defensive end. "If we don't go to the Sugar Bowl, it will be a tragedy."

Not a tragedy, but a travesty.

RELATED ARTICLE: Marshall deserves some southern exposure

This year's Tulane Award for the best team to get the least respect goes to Marshall. The Thundering Herd is 11-0, with a Mid-American Conference title game against Western Michigan on Friday.

The Herd deserves a top-10 ranking in the major polls, if nothing else. Consider this season. It has an NFL-caliber quarterback in senior Chad Pennington, who has been key in the team's 15 consecutive wins and 30 straight wins at home.

Marshall is one of the few teams that made a smooth jump from I-AA to I-A. How did it get so strong so fast?.

First, it was a dominant team when it bumped up to I-A in 1997. It also hired a great coach in Bob Pruett, a defensive coordinator at Florida who brought some contacts with him when he took over in Huntington, W. Va., in 1996.

Pruett and Marshall have built well. Part of that foundation is Pennington, a prime NFL draft prospect next spring.

But Marshall still is on the outside looking in when it comes to gaining a BGS berth.

Were it in the Big Ten or even Pac-10, it most likely would be a shoo-in for one of the top bowl slots.

But that is fantasy. For the foreseeable future, Marshall will deal in the MAC, from which it must accept a bid to the December 27 Motor City Bowl in Pontiac, Mich.

"Right now we can't worry about anything else," Pennington says. "We have another game to play."

The Motor City Bowl is too low for Marshall. But every other comparable or better bowl has commitments.