BCS talks progressing at a lineman’s pace

Monday, Nov. 17, 2003 | 9:49 a.m.

If college football isn't careful, the Wishbone offense is going to be back in vogue before it gets around to revising the Bowl Championship Series.

Presidents representing the six BCS and five outside conferences met in New Orleans Sunday afternoon and both sides said progress was made in striking a compromise both could live with.

But that was about as specific as the sides would get. Each put a model of a revised BCS on the table, and each model reportedly has more options than a Lincoln Town Car.

The next step is for the presidents to report to their conference commissioners, who then will hire consultants to test the proposed models and all those options, at least in theory.

"It would be premature to say the solution is 'X' and not have tested it or talked about it with our commissioners," said Scott Cowen, the Tulane president who has assumed the role of quarterback for the BCS outsiders.

In 60-90 days, if the presidents, conference commissioners, their consultants, Notre Dame, and Ralphie the Buffalo can reach some sort of common ground, a new proposal may be ratified.

Other than having gumbo for lunch, here's about all the sides agreed on Sunday: Progress was made during a two-hour discussion, and there won't be a 16-team, NFL-style playoff tournament when the current contract expires.

They also agreed that the Utah attorney general's threat to snitch on the BCS in the form of a letter to the Antitrust Committee of the National Association of Attorneys General probably was not good business strategy, at least at this point.

"My advice to them is not to do anything," Cowen said.

"We have to allow the process to play out; that's been our position all along. We need to let people know the process is moving along and I do not anticipate intervention in the form of courts and legislators at this time."

Judging from the tone of Sunday's teleconference, there's a good chance the politicians may wind up watching this one from the sidelines.

"Clearly there will be changes in the system," University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer said. "It's premature to put a name on anything that may emerge. But it doesn't involve scrapping the system and starting over."

The BCS was formed by schools in the Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10, Southeastern and Atlantic Coast Conferences. The BCS outsiders charge they don't have equal access to the four BCS bowl games, which will generate about $90 million this year.

Only about $6 million of that total, most of which comes from television contracts, goes to schools in non-BCS conferences.

The starting 11

OHIO STATE 16, PURDUE 13 (OT): When he was asked to show what finger he used to deflect Purdue's attempt at a game-tying field goal in overtime, Ohio State's Dustin Fox held up his index finger. But if the Buckeyes don't find some offense, Fox may wind up rushing the kicker with three fingers extended against Michigan this week, because that's where the Buckeyes will probably wind up in the BCS standings. The win against the Boilermakers was OSU's third without a touchdown this season.

IOWA 40, MINNESOTA 22: The Hawkeyes recovered four fumbles and intercepted a pass to keep Floyd of Rosedale, the pig statue that goes to the winner of this rivalry game, in Iowa City for the third consecutive year. The Gophers amassed 563 yards, but given all of their mistakes, they would have had trouble beating Floyd of Mayberry.

LSU 27, ALABAMA 3: If the Tigers were looking ahead to Saturday's SEC West showdown with Ole Miss, it wasn't very far. LSU racked up 28 first downs while limiting the Crimson Tide to 10 to set up the biggest LSU-Mississippi game in generations.

WEST VIRGINIA 52, PITT 31: The game is known as "The Backyard Brawl," which is exactly what it was for a half. Then the Mountaineers took their ball and went home -- or at least, "to the house," as they say on ESPN. West Virginia rushed for 307 yards while holding the Panthers to 10.

MIAMI 17, SYRACUSE 10: A week after proclaiming himself a "soldier" and being benched, Kellen Winslow dropped the military references as well as the football, muffing a pass and turning the ball over on a fumble after coming off the bench late in the first quarter. But he also blocked a punt in the third quarter. "I've just got to learn from my mistakes," a low-key Winslow said afterward.

VIRGINIA TECH 24, TEMPLE 23 (OT): Until Saturday, about the best thing you could say about the Temple football team is that Bill Cosby once played for it. But on Saturday, the Owls did ol' Cliff Huxtable proud, rallying from a 17-0 fourth-quarter deficit only to lose to the once-mighty Hokies on a missed extra point in overtime.

KANSAS STATE 38, NEBRASKA 9: Nebraska defensive coordinator Bo Pelini had to be restrained from attacking Kansas State coach Bill Snyder after the Wildcats beat the Cornhuskers in Lincoln for the first time since 1968. Maybe he should have been cussing at himself after the Nebraska defense yielded 561 yards -- the eighth-highest total ever allowed by the Huskers.

OKLAHOMA 41, BAYLOR 3: Given the Sooners' 73-0 victory against Texas A&M last week and the Bears' 73-10 defeat to the Aggies earlier this season, most expected Oklahoma to score seven to the third or fourth power against Baylor. But the Bears got exponentially stronger as the game wore on. "This will give us something to be angry about," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. "We realize we're not as good as all you guys say we are."

TEXAS 43, TEXAS TECH 40: The Red Raiders want to know what happened to the idea of being true to your school. Chance Mock came off the bench to throw a 54-yard pass to Roy Williams setting up a last-minute touchdown as the Longhorns rallied for an exciting victory. Mock's father, Mike, and Williams' brother, Lloyd Hill, both played for Tech.

TCU 43, CINCINNATI 10: During the pregame warmup, the Cincinnati players made it a point to tell their TCU counterparts how they were going to burst their BCS bubble. Instead, it only grew to Bazooka size, as the Horned Frogs posted their most lopsided victory of the season. What's that you were saying, Mort?

TOLEDO 49, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 30: The Huskies' glass slipper shattered in the Glass Bowl, as Bruce Gradkowski threw a 60-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Clarke on third-and-33 late in the third quarter as the Rockets blew open a close game and past Northern Illinois in MAC West Division. While NIU is reading its press clippings, Toledo and Bowling Green will settle the MAC West title the day after Thanksgiving.

Big men on campus

Stat's enough

Florida State won its 11th Atlantic Coast Conference title in 12 years, beating North Carolina State 50-44 in double overtime. ... Penn beat Harvard 32-24 to win its second consecutive Ivy League championship. ... East Tennessee State beat Chattanooga 68-7. It was the most points in school history for the Bucs, who will drop football after this season for budget reasons. ... California set a school record with 729 total yards in a 54-7 rout of Washington. ... Notre Dame beat BYU 33-14 to avoid losing four home games in a season for just the second time. ... Arkansas offensive tackle Shawn Andrews, a Lombardi Award finalist, became the first Razorbacks lineman ever to rush for a touchdown. Andrews, 6-foot-5 and 353 pounds, scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter of Arkansas' 48-20 win against New Mexico State. ... Vanderbilt snapped the nation's longest conference losing streak at 23 with a 28-17 victory against Southeastern! Conference foe Kentucky. ... Penn State's 52-7 victory against Indiana broke a six-game losing streak, the school's longest since losing seven in a row in 1931. ... North Texas won the Sun Belt Conference title with a 58-14 win against Arkansas State. It was the Mean Green's 17th consecutive conference win, the longest streak in Division I-A. ... Arizona was shut out for the first time in 146 games, 45-0 by No. 2 Southern Cal.

Division I-A Lite

A look at the top teams in the non-BCS conferences:

1. Miami of Ohio (MAC): RedHawks blow away Marshall on a windy Wednesday.

2. TCU (USA): Heavenly Frogs or Horned Frauds? It's looking like the former after Cincy rout.

3. Bowling Green (MAC): Bowling going bowling?

4. Boise State (WAC): Another half-hundred for Potato boys.

5. Northern Illinois (MAC): Northern exposed in conference play.

6. Utah (MWC): Muck and Meyer as Utes take charge in Mountain West.

7. Toledo (MAC): Rockets science: Wins equals success in MAC West.

8. Memphis (USA): Long-distance information, get me some respect.

9. Connecticut (IND): UConn can do as Wake discovers.

10. New Mexico (MWC): Me and You and Dontrell Moore: Lobos no one-hit wonders.

Games we'd like to see

In this space each week the Sun will present a dream college football matchup, with statistics and highlights provided by Lance Haffner Games' 3-in-1 computer simulation. Readers who would like to propose future matchups can do so by contacting the Sun via e-mail at ron@lasvegassun.com.

1957 AUBURN 14, 1957 OHIO STATE 7: Long before the advent of the BCS, Ohio State was one of the first to prove that it is possible to rebound from an early loss, as the Buckeyes won nine consecutive games after losing their 1957 season opener to TCU to capture their third national championsip (UPI) and second under Woody Hayes. Auburn was the AP champion, as Shug Jordan's team shut out six of its 10 foes. In our computer matchup, Lloyd Nix threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to All-American Red Phillips and Tommy Lorino scored on a 41-yard run as the Tigers took a 14-0 lead en route to a 14-7 victory. Auburn outgained OSU 385 yards to 185 as Lorino rushed for 75 yards on just nine carries.

archive