Columnist Steve Guiremand: Is ‘homeritis’ behind Huskies No. 1 ranking?

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Oct. 5, 2001 | 10:47 a.m.

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. Reach him at 259-2324 or steveg@lasvegassun.com.

Want to know why many college football fans refer to the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) as simply B.S.?

Check out one of the computer ratings released this week that figure in the formula for picking the two teams that will play in the Jan. 3 national championship game at the Rose Bowl.

The Anderson & Hester Seattle Times computer rankings, one of eight computer rankings used by the BCS, has Washington (3-0) as No. 1 despite the fact the Huskies are rated just 10th in the coaches' poll and 11th by the Associated Press. Miami and Florida are the consensus No. 1 and 2 teams in those polls.

Here's the kicker: Jeff Anderson and Chris Hester, who devised the computer rankings for the Seattle Times, just happen to be University of Washington graduates.

Hmmm.

The Huskies opened the season with home wins over rebuilding Michigan and winless Idaho. They needed a furious second-half rally to defeat arguably the worst team in the Pac-10, Cal, 31-28, last Saturday.

That's the same Cal team that BYU (4-0) blasted 44-16 only a few weeks earlier, also in Strawberry Canyon.

In explaining his ratings, Anderson said weight was given to Washington's win over Michigan. "No other team has beaten a team that has performed as well to date as Michigan," he said.

Among the other teams that garnered surprisingly high marks in the Seattle Times computer ratings were Maryland (8th), Toledo (12th, one spot ahead of Florida), Iowa (18th, one spot ahead of Miami) and Rice (No. 42), which is rated ahead of teams such as Clemson (No. 44), Georgia (Mo. 46) and Georgia Tech (No. 49).

I don't know about you, but the day I see a team such as Rice favored to beat Clemson is the day I hit the betting window and head off into early retirement.

By the way, BYU, the team that toyed with that same Cal team that Washington barely slipped by, is the top-rated Mountain West team at No. 24, right ahead of mighty Middle Tennessee State. UNLV is 106th behind teams such as Idaho (98), Buffalo (100) and UConn (103).

Meanwhile, another computer ranking used by the BCS, one by the Atlanta Journal-Consitution, ranks South Carolina as the No. 1 team in the nation.

"You've got to be kidding me," South Carolina head coach Lou Holtz said. "Now I understand why there are so many complaints about the computer rankings. I always had faith in computers, but now I'm going to start looking at my pay stub. I'm surprised, shocked."

Notes and quotes

Air Force superintendent Lt. Gen. John Dallager said that the school will hold the rest of its home football games, including a Nov. 17 matchup with UNLV, at Falcon Stadium despite ongoing heightened security at the Air Force Academy. Air Force's next home game is Oct. 13 vs. Wyoming. The Academy was under a lockdown after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast. ...

Add Air Force: Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson on the idea of playing at Falcon Stadium as scheduled: "I can't think of a safer place to play a game." ...

What is being billed as "The Game of the Century" is being played this weekend. Texas vs. Oklahoma? Nope, Southern California prep powerhouse Long Beach Poly, which has about 20 Division I prospects and is arguably the most talented high school team in state history, hosts Concord De La Salle, which owns a national record 116-game winning streak, on Saturday night at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach. The contest will be shown live on Fox Sports West 2 at 7:30 p.m.

Among the prospects to keep an eye on in the game are Poly senior running back Herschel Dennis, the West Coast's top running back prospect who reportedly has shown some interest in UNLV, Poly defensive tackle Manuel Wright (6-6, 300), the best defensive line prospect to come out of California since Darrell Russell, and De La Salle lineman Derek Landri (6-3, 280), who recently committed to Notre Dame.

How deep is Long Beach Poly? Well, junior offensive guard Alex Freeman (6-5, 285) is a Division I prospect who would start at just about any other high school in the country but backs up senior prep All-American Winston Justice (6-6, 300). He is the son of 1981 CIF Southern Section Defensive Player of the Year Ike Freeman, who was a first team all-Big West defensive line selection for UNLV in 1987. Freeman's portrait still hangs on the wall in the Poly High football film room.

Gene Washington, the former 49ers star who is now assistant commissioner of the NFL, is among the Poly alums expected to be on the sidelines rooting for the Jackrabbits to end "The Streak." Other Poly alums include Pro Bowlers Mark Carrier, Willie McGinest, Tony Gwynn, Billie Jean King, Earl McCullouch, the late former UNLV Rebel RB Kirk Jones, actress Cameron Diaz and rap musician Snoop Doggy Dogg, who actually played a little freshmen football at Poly and is still close friends with McGinest. ...

Florida coach Steve Spurrier gave the game ball from last week's 52-0 win over Mississippi State to student manager Clay Carter. The reason? Last year Carter suffered a severe concussion after getting punched in the face by a Bulldogs' fan while trying to retrieve a Florida football after Mississippi State's 47-35 victory in Starkville. ...

Once around the MWC