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News Nuggets, 06.08.05
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Other shoe drops for BCS as ESPN dumps poll

ESPN dropped a bombshell on the Bowl Championship Series Tuesday, announcing it is ending its indirect involvement with the contentious process by which teams are selected for college football's most lucrative bowls.

The cable and satellite TV sports giant withdrew from the college football coaches' poll, the second major news organization to say it didn't want to be a part of the BCS's weekly rankings.

An ESPN spokesman alluded to the controversial vote in last season's final coaches' poll as an example of a selection process that might be perceived as suspect. The vote by anonymous ballot had the effect of boosting Texas past California for a Rose Bowl berth even though the Bears defeated a difficult opponent on the road in their final game.

The network said it no longer wanted its name attached to the rankings unless all ballots were made public, not just the final ones. USA Today will continue running the poll, which helps determine who plays for the national championship.

In December, The Associated Press told the BCS to stop using its media poll in its weekly formula.

``Coaches have the perfect right to conduct their voting the way they see fit,'' said Vince Doria, ESPN's vice president and director of news. ``We just feel, in our best interests here, we couldn't reconcile having our name on the poll and being able to cover any controversy that might arise.''

Unlike the AP voters, the coaches' ballots have always been secret. ESPN asked this year that they be public, but the coaches agreed only for the final regular-season poll. Doria said ESPN wanted it for the entire year.

``We just felt that to be as ethical as we possibly could in this situation, that's what we needed to do,'' Doria said. ``This wasn't a case of us questioning the ethics of the coaches or the validity of the voting. These things tend to create controversy. When there is some vetting to be done, it needs to be done thoroughly and we didn't feel it could be done.''

Doria said ESPN notified USA Today and the coaches' association of its decision, but not the BCS.

``There will still be a coaches' poll, and it will be used by the BCS, but we don't have a comment on ESPN's decision,'' said Bob Burda, spokesman for BCS coordinator Kevin Weiberg.

The AP poll and the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll had been the major components of the BCS rankings. However, the AP said such use was never sanctioned and had reached the point where it threatened to undermine the independence and integrity of its poll. ESPN had sponsored the coaches' poll with USA Today since 1997.

Doria said the network became uncomfortable last season, when California lost a shot at a major bowl after dropping in the final coaches' poll, causing a public outcry and debate among fans.

The Golden Bears finished fourth in the coaches' poll, but six coaches dropped them below No. 6 on the final ballots — four at No. 7 and two in the eighth slot. In the previous week's poll, nobody picked Cal lower than sixth.

The final vote came after Cal's 26-16 win at Southern Mississippi — a close game, but a tough road contest that wasn't in doubt in the final minutes.

The drop cost Cal its first Rose Bowl bid in 45 years. The Golden Bears instead went to the less glamorous Holiday Bowl while Texas got into the Rose Bowl.

``In essence, that was really the determining factor,'' Doria said. ``The poll was more than something that is there primarily for fans to discuss and debate. It was a determinant element in the BCS poll.''

In November, the BCS signed a four-year deal with Fox to televise the Sugar, Fiesta and Orange bowls from 2007-10 and the national title game from 2007-09. The Rose Bowl has its own television deal with ABC. ABC is ESPN's parent company and the holder of the BCS's TV rights for one more season.

``Our BCS interest is focused only on our TV coverage, which begins in January of 2007,'' Fox spokesman Dan Bell said.

From Bonesville.net staff and Associated Press reports.

Tulane, Fullerton headline super regional hosts

Defending national champion Cal State Fullerton and top-seeded Tulane head into their super regional matchups this weekend with home-field advantages.

The eight national seeds — Tulane, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Baylor, Mississippi, Cal State Fullerton, Florida and Oregon State — were officially announced as host sites Tuesday by the NCAA's Division I baseball committee.

Cal State Fullerton (45-16), looking to become the fifth school to repeat as national champions, will take on Arizona State (37-22) starting Friday in one of eight best-of-three series.

Tulane (53-9), ranked No. 1 in the Baseball America's and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's finals regular season polls after reigning atop at least one of the national polls for all but three weeks of the season, will host Rice (44-17), beginning Saturday.

The super regional sites and pairings:

STARTING FRIDAY
   -- Rice (44-17) at Tulane (53-9)
   -- Arizona State (37-22) at Cal State Fullerton (45-16)
   -- Miami (41-17-1) at Nebraska (54-13)
   -- Tennessee (44-19) at Georgia Tech (45-17)
   -- Florida State (53-18) at Florida (43-20)

STARTING SATURDAY
   --- Clemson (42-21) at Baylor (42-21)
   --- Texas (49-15) at Mississippi (47-18)
   --- Southern California (40-20) at Oregon State (44-9)

Cal State Fullerton, Texas and Miami are the only teams from last year's College World Series to reach the super regionals.

The Hurricanes are making their seventh straight trip to the super regionals, and are tied with Stanford for the most super regional victories (10) since the format was introduced in 1999.

Florida State and Miami are the only schools to have reached the super regionals each of the past seven years, while Mississippi and Oregon State are playing in the round for the first time.

The super regional winners will advance to the College World Series, which starts June 17 in Omaha, Neb.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically based on material supplied by staff members; data published by ECU, Conference USA and its member schools; and reports from Associated Press and other sources. Copyright 2005 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Page Updated: 02/23/2007 12:24 PM