Championship polls only a bunch of bowl-oney

Wednesday, November 11, 1998

Championship polls only a bunch of bowl-oney

COLUMN: Complicated ranking system takes value away from
wins

It’s all a bunch of BCS. The teams playing for all the tortilla
chips in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl will be determined by a couple of
microchips. The new Bowl Championship Series poll has turned
football fans into computer nerds and made PCs more important than
TDs.

Yes, in 1998, a good DOS is needed for a chance to play for all
the glory. The whole bowl situation was supposed to be resolved
this season. Simply enter a bunch of numbers into a computer,
double-click a couple times and bam ­ out comes two teams
worthy of playing for the national championship on Jan. 4 at the
Fiesta Bowl.

No problemo, eh? It’s not like more than two teams will go
undefeated. Error: system overload. It seems like this
solve-everything system has created more problems.

As a Bruin fan (whoops, I’m supposed to be an unbiased
reporter), I’m satisfied with the polls right now because UCLA is
No. 2 in the BCS behind Tennesee, meaning they’d be in Tempe if the
standings hold. But still, the whole poll can vacillate with a
slight byte change. There have been three polls so far and three
No. 1 teams. UCLA led the first poll with 3.04 points. Not a bad
GPA, but what does it really mean?

It comes from a complex combo of quartile rankings, computer
polls, adjusted deviations and so on. That probably means nothing
to you, just as it does to most players and coaches.

When you take a closer look at these polls, it makes you
question their validity. For example, in the Seattle Times poll,
UCLA is No. 1.

That’s great and all, but in the New York Times poll, UCLA is
fifth and Florida State, which lost to North Carolina State, is
first. Explain that one to me. That’s a pretty big gap in two polls
that are intended to figure out the nation’s best team. Finally,
UCLA is No. 3 in the Jeff Sagarin computer poll, which is published
in the USA Today. And who is this Jeff Sagarin guy anyway? What did
he do to deserve a poll? I’ve got an IBM and Microsoft Excel, so
why not the Jeff Kmiotek poll? We can print it in the Daily Bruin.
I mean, it is one of the biggest papers in all of Westwood.

Anyway, my point is that this whole BCS thing is a mess. It’s
bowl-oney.

There’s got to be a way that a national champion can be
determined on the field and not on a hard drive. The BCS poll is an
unnecessary distraction to players and fans. And it’s getting kind
of annoying that at every press conference, a plethora of questions
are asked concerning the BCS, and the same answer is given time and
time again.

"We’re not concerned about the BCS. We’re just taking one game
at a time and we’ll worry about the poll when the season is
over."

Yeah, right. Now teams know they need to win "convincingly." A
win is no longer good enough; only a blowout impresses the
computers. UCLA was first in the BCS when the initial poll was
released three weeks ago, but fell to third following a close win
against Stanford. True, they didn’t play very well, but they won
the game. Doesn’t that count?

"What they’re telling us is that it doesn’t matter just to win.
You must score a lot of points, and that sometimes leads to running
up the score, and I don’t buy that. It sends the wrong message,"
said UCLA coach Bob Toledo.

Last weekend, Kansas State displayed awful sportsmanship in an
apparent bid to up their BCS position. Leading 42-6 against
helpless Baylor, the Wildcats scored a touchdown on a quarterback
sneak on the game’s final play, instead of kneeling like they
should have. It was a tasteless play, but all the computer sees is
a 49-6 victory. It wasn’t PC ­ but a PC doesn’t know that.

Kansas State should lose ground in the poll on grounds of bad
judgment. But they won’t, so I’ll move on.

Despite narrow wins over Stanford and Oregon State, the Bruins
are still in a good position to play for the whole enchilada in the
Fiesta Bowl. Of course, in this single elimination tournament known
as the college football season, they must keep winning.

UCLA holds a BCS lead over Kansas State solely based on strength
of schedule (SOS). But if the Bruins keep winning squeakers, they
might be yelling SOS for "Save our Season."

Kansas State finally begins to play solid opposition this
Saturday against Nebraska, and if they win big, they could sink
UCLA in the poll. No more games against Rancho Cucamonga Christian
Technical Institute for the Performing Arts for the mighty
Wildcats.

After Nebraska, they play No. 13 Missouri and then a ranked
opponent in the Big-12 title game. If Kansas State sweeps those
games, their SOS will be greatly improved. UCLA has three tough
games left, but only No. 24 Miami is ranked.

But, as Cade McNown likes to say, there is still a lot of
football left to be played, and anything can happen.

So my advice to college football fans ­ forget the BCS poll
for now. Stop thinking about it, stop analyzing it, stop
speculating. The only poll that matters is the final one.

"I’m not concerned if we’re No. 1 or No. 2, "said Toledo. "I
just want to be one of the two."

And if the Bruins aren’t, they’ll just have to settle for the
Rose Bowl.

What a shame.

Jeff is a football beat writer. Don’t forget to e-mail him at
[email protected] Kmiotek

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