BCS Mess Is Result of System Failure

The bowl championship series was created three years ago to produce an undisputed national title game and halt the process in which nitwit football writers and conniving coaches independently adorn champions.

It worked in 1998, thanks to heart-palpitating defeats suffered by UCLA and Kansas State in the span of hours on one Saturday, producing Tennessee vs. Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl.

See? No. 1 vs. No. 2? What’s the problem?

It worked in 1999, when two undefeated teams, No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Virginia Tech, fell into place in the Sugar Bowl.

Say, how do you like our BCS now?

But this year the whole thing fell apart faster than a UCLA defense.

It was with winks and winces that ABC announced Sunday the pairings for the four BCS bowl games, the pronouncements coming with more explanations and instructions than your kid’s model airplane kit.

As thoroughly expected by those of us who have done more math this year than we have since freshman algebra, Oklahoma and Florida State finished first and second in the final BCS standings, a four-pronged formula that purports to spit out winners and losers with dispassionate fairness.

As the lone undefeated school, Oklahoma was a no-brainer in computations.

The Sooners finished with a low-score-wins total of 3.30.

But in the critical race for the second spot--finishing third in the BCS is like finishing fourth in the Olympics--Florida State edged out Miami by .32 and secured the No. 2 spot in the Jan. 3 Orange Bowl, host of this year’s BCS national title game.

Miami gave it all it had. Despite the fact it and Florida State were idle this weekend, the Hurricanes nearly cut the Seminoles’ lead in half, from .61 to .32--Whew, what a finish!

But after results were certified, Oklahoma and Florida State were paired to play for the “national title.”

This is only a problem because Miami finished No. 2 in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN coaches’ polls and defeated Florida State, 27-24.

In the old system, which was scrapped in the name of progress, guess what?

Oklahoma and Miami would be playing in the Orange Bowl for the undisputed national title.

Instead, the very element college football’s brain trust added to the system to make it more fair, namely the computer component, turned out to make it unfair.

Florida State clobbered Miami in the computers, finishing first in five of the eight systems used and besting the Hurricanes by a total of 1.28 points.

“We had nothing to do with the computers,” Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden quipped on ABC’s BCS Selection Sunday show. “The facts were fed. Naturally, we will accept that.”

Naturally, because Florida State gets to play in the BCS title game for the third time in three years.

And so much for ending the confusion.

Miami is taking its snub surprisingly well, graciously accepting Sunday an invitation to the Sugar Bowl, where it will play Florida in what could be a de facto national title game for Miami.

If Miami defeats Florida, which it has not played since 1987, and Florida State defeats Oklahoma, Miami could snag a share of the championship.

For while the voting coaches are contractually bound to award their trophy to the BCS title-game winner, the AP is not so obligated.

You want quandary? Miami Coach Butch Davis is a voter in the coaches’ poll, meaning he has to surrender that share of the title to the Orange Bowl winner.

But he would gladly accept a split decision from the AP.

“If it worked out that way, certainly,” Davis said. “College football has a history of a lot of split national championships.”

This is not exactly what the BCS had in mind.

“If that happens, then that will be what it is,” John Swofford, Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner and this year’s BCS coordinator, said of a divided title. “The BCS doesn’t eliminate that possibility. We knew that all along. It does minimize the chance of that happening.”

The by-product of this system gone haywire is that it has produced some enthralling bowl matchups.

Consider this three-headed monster scenario: What if Washington beats Purdue in the Rose Bowl, Miami downs Florida in the Sugar and Florida State takes care of Oklahoma in the Orange?’

Then, you’re looking at three one-loss teams with pretty good national title claims. In that scenario, Washington would have beaten Miami, which defeated Florida State.

In the heavyweight boxer’s parlance, Washington beat the man that beat the man.

There is also a decent chance the BCS gets bailed out again.

For instance, if Florida defeats Miami on Jan. 2 in the Sugar Bowl, then the Jan. 3 Orange Bowl does become a true national title matchup.

But it won’t likely end the uproar.

There are concerns the computer components have too much of a say in the process, especially the mysterious margin-of-victory formulas.

Swofford says the BCS may have to be “tweaked,” but says he is satisfied with the eight computers and the men who run them.

As for that potential Fiesta Bowl fiasco, well, it all worked out in the end.

Oklahoma’s victory made it easy, allowing the Fiesta to pair Notre Dame and Oregon State in a first-ever meeting.

Last week, Pacific 10 Commissioner Tom Hansen said the conference might consider pulling out of the BCS if Oregon State, No. 6 in the final BCS standings, did not get an at-large pick.

Swofford suggested that Hansen’s remarks were not necessary because the Fiesta Bowl had already decided to take Oregon State.

“I know that for a fact,” Swofford said.

If Swofford does not speak with forked tongue, it means Notre Dame was one Kansas State victory over Oklahoma from getting bounced to the Insight.com Bowl.

Good news, Irish: You’re going to Phoenix. Bad news: it won’t be a Fiesta.

John Junker, the Fiesta Bowl’s executive director, said Sunday that Hansen’s comments “had absolutely no impact on our decision.”

Junker added: “Oregon State deserved to be in our bowl game. The players earned it and the fans earned it. Politics were not a part of our decision.”

Reached at his home Sunday, Hansen said he was perfectly willing to go along with that story.

“That’s what we’re going to say,” Hansen said. “I think the fact is they were leaning that way, but they hadn’t pulled the trigger. They will tell you it [Hansen’s comments] didn’t make a bit of difference. That’s what we’ll say and let it go.”

Hansen added: “I have no regrets.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BOWL SCHEDULE

Bowl lineup with dates, sites, teams (* indicates tentative berth), payouts, times (Pacific) and networks:

MOBILE ALABAMA

DEC. 20 at MOBILE, ALA.

Texas Christian vs. Southern Mississippi

Payout: $750,000. Time: 5 p.m., ESPN2

LAS VEGAS

DEC. 21 at LAS VEGAS

Nevada Las Vegas vs. Arizona State

Payout: $800,000. Time: 5 p.m., ESPN2

OAHU

DEC. 24 at HONOLULU

Boston College or Virginia

vs. Arkansas or Georgia

Payout: $750,000. Time: 5:30 p.m., ESPN

ALOHA

DEC. 25 at HONOLULU

Boston College or Virginia

vs. Arkansas or Georgia

Payout: $750,000. Time: 12:30 p.m., ABC

MOTOR CITY

DEC. 27 at PONTIAC, MICH.

Marshall vs. Cincinnati

Payout: $750,000. Time: 1 p.m., ESPN

GALLERYFURNITURE.COM

DEC. 27 at HOUSTON

* Texas Tech vs. East Carolina

Payout: $750,000. Time: 5 p.m., ESPN2

HUMANITARIAN

DEC. 28 at BOISE, IDAHO

Boise State vs. * Texas El Paso

Payout: $750,000. Time: 10:30 a.m., ESPN2

MUSIC CITY

DEC. 28 at NASHVILLE

*West Virginia vs. * Mississippi

Payout: $750,000. Time: 1 p.m., ESPN

MICRON PC.COM

DEC. 28 vs. at MIAMI

Minnesota vs. North Carolina State

Payout: $750,000. Time: 4 p.m., TBS

INSIGHT.COM

DEC. 28 at PHOENIX

* Pittsburgh

vs. * Iowa State

Payout: $750,000. Time: 4:30 p.m., ESPN

LIBERTY

DEC. 29 at MEMPHIS, TENN.

Colorado State

vs. Louisville

Payout: $1.25 million. Time: 10:30 a.m., ESPN

SUN

DEC. 29 at EL PASO

UCLA vs. Wisconsin

Payout: $1 million. Time: 11 a.m., CBS

PEACH

DEC. 29 at ATLANTA

Georgia Tech vs. *Louisiana State

Payout: $1.8 million. Time: 2 p.m., ESPN

HOLIDAY

DEC. 29 at SAN DIEGO

* Oregon vs. Texas

Payout: $1.9 million. Time: 5:30 p.m., ESPN

ALAMO

DEC. 30 at SAN ANTONIO

* Kansas State vs. Northwestern

Payout: $1.2 million. Time: 5 p.m., ESPN

SILICON VALLEY

DEC. 31 at SAN JOSE

Fresno State vs. Air Force

Payout: $1.2 million. Time: 3:30 p.m., FSN

INDEPENDENCE

DEC. 31 at SHREVEPORT, LA.

* Texas A&M; vs. * Mississippi State

Payout: $1.1 million. Time: 5 p.m., ESPN

OUTBACK

JAN. 1 at TAMPA, FLA.

Ohio State vs. * South Carolina

Payout: $2 million. Time: 8 a.m., ESPN

COTTON

JAN. 1 at DALLAS

Tennessee vs. * Kansas State

Payout: $2.5 million. Time: 8 a.m., Fox

GATOR

JAN. 1 at JACKSONVILLE, FLA.

* Virginia Tech vs. Clemson

Payout: $1.4 million. Time: 9:30 a.m., NBC

CITRUS

JAN. 1 at ORLANDO, FLA.

Michigan vs. Auburn

Payout: $4 million. Time: 10 a.m., ABC

ROSE

JAN. 1 at PASADENA

Purdue vs. Washington

Payout: $13.5 million. Time: 1:30 p.m., ABC

FIESTA

JAN. 1 at TEMPE, ARIZ.

Notre Dame vs. Oregon State

Payout: $13.5 million. Time: 5 p.m., ABC

SUGAR

JAN. 2 at NEW ORLEANS

Florida vs. Miami

Payout: $13.5 million. Time: 5 p.m., ABC

ORANGE

JAN. 3 at MIAMI

Oklahoma vs. Florida State

Payout: $11-$13 million. Time: 5 p.m., ABC

ALL-STAR GAMES

Dec. 25: Blue-Gray at Montgomery, Ala.,

Time: 9 a.m., ABC

Jan. 13: Gridiron at Orlando, Fla.,

Time: 10 a.m., ESPN2

Jan. 13: East-West Shrine at San Francisco

Time: 1 p.m. ESPN

Jan. 20: Senior at Mobile, Ala.

Time: 10 a.m., ESPN

Jan. 20: Hula at Maui

Time: 5 p.m. ESPN