A playoff could'nt have stirred more passion

Sporting News, The, Dec 13, 1993 by Ivan Maisel

The Coalition's announcement of the bowl pairings last Sunday brought to a close the first act in a noisy debate. West Virginia, despite a determined grassroots campaign, did not crack the top two.

The Mountaineers, in the most American of gestures, then went where the money is. West Virginia snubbed the Cotton Bowl's $3 million and No. 7 Texas A&M in favor of the Sugar's $4.1 million and No. 8 Florida.

It is the first time that anyone involved with playing on January 1 turned down the highest-ranked team available since -- last year, when the Cotton Bowl snubbed No. 3 Florida State to pick No. 5 Notre Dame.

This season, the Cotton invited No. 3 West Virginia only to find out the Mountaineers didn't want the Cotton. The Dallas game wound up with No. 4 Notre Dame, and no, this was no elaborate charade to get the Irish. The Cotton Bowl really wanted the Mountaineers.

The arguments concerning who's No. 1 and who should be playing for No. 1 consumed everyone in college football last week. Granted, a playoff probably would keep discussion alive this time of year. But you can't tell me it would be any more passionate than what has transpired this season.

1.) One of the loudest screams heard out of Appalachia is that if Miami had played West Virginia's schedule, the Hurricanes would be one of the top two teams.

Well, of course. The Hurricanes started out highly ranked. West Virginia started out unranked. The Mountaineers had more to prove. That may be unfair. Any team picked to finish in the middle of its conference would be treated the same way.

For instance, Wisconsin, picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten, went 6-0 and rose only to No. 15 in the Associated Press poll. But the Badgers, by sharing the Big Ten title and winning a berth in the Rose Bowl, climbed to No. 9 by the end of the season.

2.) West Virginia's schedule hurt them -- and not in the way you think. The Mountaineers played four bowl teams, which is close in strength to the other No. 1 contenders. But West Virginia played its two toughest opponents, Miami and Boston College, at the end of the season.

By that time, the other national championship contenders had proved themselves and entrenched their position in the Top 25. West Virginia had to climb over teams not only predicted to be good but also teams that had shown themselves to be good.

With the standards higher, the Mountaineers beat the Hurricanes and Eagles by three-point margins and didn't look like national champions in doing so.

3.) West Virginia beat four bowl teams, yes, but by a total of only nine points. The Mountaineers' two-point victory against Louisville paled as the Cardinals collapsed at season's end. Give them credit for beating Boston College without playing well.

But Florida State beat five bowl teams by margins ranging from 12 points to 57 points. Nebraska beat five bowl teams by an average of 12 points. Notre Dame beat five bowl teams, including Florida State, by an average of 15 points. When all is said and done, polls deal in perception. The Mountaineers didn't prove themselves at a level worthy of being in the top two.

Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz makes a telling point in talking up the Fighting Irish's overlooked chances at a national title. "I can't understand why Penn isn't playing for the national championship," he says. "They went 10-0, didn't they?"

4.) Yes, the Irish might have a claim for No. 1. If Florida State defeats Nebraska, Florida defeats West Virginia and Notre Dame defeats Texas A&M, then Florida State and Notre Dame both will have one loss.

"The chances of that happening are not good," Holtz says. "But in 1989, we went 12-1, played eight bowl teams, beat seven of them and beat the No. 1 team (Colorado) by two touchdowns. They said Miami beat us head-to-head.... I have no problem with everybody explaining why West Virginia, Nebraska and Florida State are in. Nobody has explained to me why we aren't."

The parallels to 1989 are fascinating and Holtzz, who never misses an angle, is the one coach who would hop on them. The first words out of his mouth Sunday, when asked to appraise the Cotton Bowl rematch with Texas A&M, were, "I'm not real happy to be playing Texas A&M. We have not fared well in rematches."

Actually, the Irish are 2-1 in rematches, 2-0 in the Cotton Bowl. Holtz might have been referring to losing to No. 1 Colorado, 10-9, in the 1991 Orange Bowl.

The point is, Holtz called for the comparison to the 1989 Irish. There is a difference in the two situations. Miami beat Notre Dame on the last weekend of the season. This season, since the Irish defeated Florida State, they are 0-1.

5.) Give the Coalition credit for forcing the bowls to wait until the end of the season before making their selections. But the Sugar Bowl didn't help matters by forcing everyone to wait until last Sunday.

Officials of the New Orleans game refused to sign off on selections at mid-week. They waited in the hope that Florida, with a victory against Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship, would jump 373 points and three positions in the Coalition poll.