In Georgia, Colorado Didn’t Get Buffaloed, or Even Homered

Now that the Super Bowl is out of the way, back to the issue that refuses to die: Which college football team is No. 1?

The Atlanta Journal fed all pertinent information into a computer and let it play the ultimate game of the 1990 season.

Result: Colorado, coached by Journal and Constitution college editor Tony Barnhart, defeated Georgia Tech, coached by Yellow Jacket beat writer Darryl Maxie, 41-21.

Big play: “Colorado, leading, 20-13, with 6:49 left in the game, ran its basic option play from midfield. Quarterback Darian Hagan pitched to tailback Eric Bienemy, who picked up a block from wingback Michael Simmons and ran for a touchdown that put the game out of reach.”

Add computer playoff: Some statistics: Not surprisingly, Bienemy was the computer game’s leading rusher, with 178 of the Buffaloes’ 347 yards on the ground.

Meanwhile, Yellow Jacket quarterback Shawn Jones completed 17 of 33 passes for 214 yards (he rushed for only seven), and Tech running back William Bell carried the ball 13 times for 44 yards.

Trivia time: In nine seasons of NCAA women’s basketball competition, which five teams made the postseason tournament field each time?

It was close: Shane Stenerud, son of former NFL kicker Jan Stenerud, was staying at a Tampa hotel where the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee was voting.

Saturday, Shane got a call from his father, who was eligible for the Hall of Fame for the first time and naturally wanted to know the results of the voting.

Shane told his father he hadn’t made it.

Then he said: “I’m just kidding. You’re in.”

Choose two: Charles Barkley, Philadelphia 76er forward, recently found himself in the familiar position of defending himself against critics who complain that, unlike Laker guard Magic Johnson and Boston Celtic forward Larry Bird, he doesn’t raise the quality of his teammates’ play.

Said Barkley: “Who is it easier to make better--James Worthy, Kevin McHale or Jayson Williams?”

Flight of candor: Balloonist Richard Branson and his Swedish co-pilot, Per Lindstrand, recently made the first Pacific crossing in a hot-air balloon, flying more than 6,000 miles from Japan to Canada.

When Branson was asked what motivates a British tycoon to risk his life in such an attempt, he said: “Pure stupidity.”

Voodoo warrior: NBA journeyman Paul Mokeski recently signed a 10-day contract to play with the Golden State Warriors.

When asked what he was doing before that, the 12-year veteran center--formerly with Houston, Detroit, Cleveland, Milwaukee and Cleveland again--said: “I spent all my time sticking pins into the big men of the NBA.”

Trivia answer: Cal State Long Beach, Georgia, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Quotebook: Tyrone (Muggsy) Bogues, the Charlotte Hornets’ 5-foot-3 guard whose father is 5-6 and whose mother is 5-4, on having brothers 5-7 and 5-5: “I even got the short end of that deal.”