|
Presidents say no, no, no to playoff
By The Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — Despite the
likelihood of a split national championship, BCS coordinator Mike
Tranghese said Saturday a playoff system for college football won't even
be discussed among proposed changes for next season.
"We're engaged in almost
weekly discussions on the next BCS model, but a playoff is not one of
the items we're discussing," he told The Associated Press. "And it won't
be when we sit down four months from now."
Tranghese runs the Big
East Conference and serves as the Bowl Championship Series chief as part
of an annual rotation among the six major conference commissioners.
"The university presidents
in charge of the system have told us not to go down that road," he said.
"We asked about being able to look into it, simply to give them some
idea of its monetary value. They just said, 'No."'
Calls for a playoff have
been mounting as Oklahoma and LSU prepare to play Sunday at the Sugar
Bowl with the BCS national championship on the line and winner assured
the No. 1 spot in the coaches poll.
On Friday, Southern
California beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl and almost certainly locked up
the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press poll of writers and broadcasters,
most likely resulting in the first co-national champions since 1997.
USC had been No. l in both
polls heading into the postseason. But Oklahoma topped the BCS rankings
and the Trojans were nudged out of a spot in the Sugar Bowl because the
BCS computers awarded LSU the No. 2 spot based on a strength of schedule
component.
Tranghese told USA Today
on Friday he would like to see the polls — the so-called human element
in the BCS formula — play a larger role in determining which teams play
for the BCS championship. But he made clear a day later he was speaking
for himself and not the organization he heads.
"I didn't present that as
a BCS solution. What I said was I was a proponent of the human element
from the beginning."
The BCS formula, designed
to match the top two teams at the end of each season, uses the two
polls, seven computer rankings, strength of schedule, losses and a
bonus-point system for quality victories.
Tranghese said it was
developed and fine-tuned several times since 1998 to expand the
decision-making process beyond a "very small core of people." This is
the first time since in the six seasons the No. 1 team in both polls has
not been included in the BCS title game.
"One thing we've learned
about tinkering is that it's better to try and do it four months after
the season ends than in the middle of the week when the big bowl games
are being played," he said. "Believe me, we know it's not perfect and
even if we came up with a selection process that was, there are still
people who would scream for a playoff."
For at least one more
season, though, the BCS will turn a deaf ear to those cries. The
university presidents, Tranghese insisted, "don't waver on this thing.
They just say they're not doing it."
Instead, he suggested fans
appreciate the system that's in place.
"What we'll have is the
winner of this game in New Orleans and the kids from USC both waving
we're No. 1 and telling their kids down the road that they won a
national championship. If that's the worst thing the BCS has done," he
paused, "then it's not such a bad thing after all."
02/23/2007 10:40 AM
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
|
