The Oregon Ducks are the No. 2 team in the country,
their highest-ever ranking, but will not play for the
national championship at the Rose Bowl.
The Associated Press media poll and the ESPN/USA Today
coaches poll both have the Ducks (10-1) as the
nation’s second-best team, but the all-important Bowl
Championship Series – which decides who plays for the
national title – ranked the Ducks No. 4 in the
season’s final poll Sunday, with the top-two teams
playing for the national title.
Nebraska (11-1) – fourth in the media and coaches
polls – will play No. 1 Miami (11-0) in the Jan. 3
Rose Bowl. Where the lowest score is best, Nebraska
(7.23) narrowly edged Colorado (7.28) for the No. 2
spot in the BCS.
Colorado (10-2), ranked third in the three polls,
defeated Nebraska 62-36 three weeks ago.
Oregon, the Pacific-10 Conference champion, finished
with 8.67 points in the complicated and controversial
BCS standings. Head coach Mike Bellotti, while
disappointed about Oregon’s spot in the BCS, said the
Ducks will be ready to face Colorado in the Fiesta
Bowl on New Year’s Day.
“I once felt that one of our biggest foes to convince
regarding the quality of our program were the other
coaches around the country, but I feel we have
convinced them,” Bellotti said. “But there are
obviously others around the country who still need
convincing regarding the quality of our program as
well as the Pac-10.”
Colorado head coach Gary Barnett also said he was not
happy about the being third in the BCS.
“This sort of takes a little luster off my support for
the BCS,” Barnett told the Associated Press. “I think
I put a lot of trust in the system working, and it did
work. It just didn’t work in our favor.”
Bellotti agreed that the BCS may need tweaking.
“There still exists a bias when it comes to college
football on the West Coast,” he said. “I know the
computer that make up the BCS were supposed to
eliminate that, but you still have people imputing the
data into the computers.”
BCS chairman John Swofford defended the system.
“We think the formula is fair,” Swofford said about
the recent debate about changing the college football
system. “Controversy doesn’t affect credibility.”
It’s a long shot, but the Ducks may still be able to
claim a share of the national championship without
even playing in the title game. If the Ducks defeat
Colorado in the Fiesta Bowl and Nebraska wins the Rose
Bowl, the media poll could vote the Ducks the top team
in the country. The coaches have already agreed to
name the winner of the Rose Bowl as the national
champion.
The same scenario is also true for Colorado.
“Let’s go play Oregon and win it another way,” Barnett
said. “That’s how we’ll do it. Sort of the way we’ve
done it anyway.”
The Fiesta Bowl will kick off at 2 p.m. on Jan. 1. By
participating in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, the Ducks
and Buffaloes will each receive between $11 million
and $13 million from the BCS.
FINAL BCS STANDINGS
1. Miami 2.62
2. Nebraska 7.23
3. Colorado 7.28
4. Oregon 8.67
5. Florida 13.09
6. Tennessee 14.69
7. Texas 17.79
8. Illinois 19.31
9. Stanford 20.41
10. Maryland 21.29
11. Oklahoma 21.54
12. Washington St. 26.91
13. LSU 27.73
14. South Carolina 37.77
15. Washington 38.17