Posted on 12/05/2004 7:59:17 PM PST by pete anderson
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- California refused to run up the score or beg for poll votes.
Maybe the Bears should have.
Cal (10-1) was left out of the Bowl Championship Series, denied one of the eight spots in college football's big-money games despite a season of statistical superlatives and dominating victories.
The fourth-ranked Golden Bears will be stuck at the Holiday Bowl while Texas plays in the Rose Bowl.
Cal's Rose Bowl drought reached 46 years despite one of the best regular seasons in school history.
The Bears felt beaten as they left their team meeting. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers saw confusion and disappointment in his teammates when they found out their Rose Bowl dreams were replaced with a trip to San Diego to face Texas Tech.
``It just shows it's a faulty system, and we've got to do something to change it up,'' Rodgers said. ``I bet Auburn is pretty ticked, too. ... Nobody cares about West Coast football, I don't think. I just hope Southern Cal represents us well.''
Texas (10-1) surged past the Bears in the final BCS standings despite Cal's 26-16 road victory over Southern Mississippi on Saturday night. The Longhorns gained points in both polls, and the computer rankings kept Texas well in front of Cal. The Longhorns will face Michigan (9-2) on Jan. 1.
There were dozens of factors in the decision, but the Bears felt they were superior in almost every venue -- except the political arena. Rodgers figured Texas coach Mack Brown's pleading for poll support made a difference, and he was glad Cal coach Jeff Tedford never did likewise.
``I thought it was a little classless how Coach Brown was begging for votes after the (Texas A&M) game,'' Rodgers said. ``I think a team's record and the way you play should speak for itself, and you shouldn't have to complain about the BCS system. Coach Tedford isn't going to, although he's frustrated just like we are. I think we're a bigger team, classier than that.''
Tedford was less emotional than Rodgers, but no less disappointed as he evaluated the Bears' long list of accomplishments.
The only blemish on their record was a six-point loss at top-ranked USC. They beat 10 teams by an average of 23.9 points per game. They were the only school in the nation's top six both in scoring offense and scoring defense.
The Rose Bowl has matched a Big 10 team against a Pac-10 school for decades, and with the Pac-10 champion Trojans headed to the Orange Bowl, Cal hoped to end the conference's longest Rose Bowl drought. Instead, there will be burnt orange in the Pasadena stands.
``I just feel terrible for the alumni and the fans who have waited so long for this,'' Tedford said. ``As a program, we were set on the Rose Bowl. I felt like we did enough to earn that.''
Most of the Bears still were jet-lagged and exhausted after grinding out a victory in Hattiesburg just 18 hours earlier in a game postponed from Sept. 16 by Hurricane Ivan. The late-season road trip provided a national television audience -- but when the Golden Eagles were difficult to put away, it might have swayed some voters away.
And that was baffling to Tedford, who refused to try to score one last touchdown in the waning seconds to pad the score. The Bears also were hurt by a questionable clipping call in the closing minutes, which negated a touchdown run by J.J. Arrington.
Normally, Tedford wouldn't spare a second's thought on such issues -- but in the BCS world, it might have made a difference.
``If yesterday's game was the game that turned anybody's head, then that's sad, because it's about a season,'' Tedford said. ``We're going to keep our same philosophy. It's hard enough just to win games.''
No, it's not that simple.
Cal lost to USC, the number 1 team in the country. Traditionally, the Pac 10 and Big 10 play in the Rose, before the BCS got to it and loused it up.
Stated simply, Texas cried on the kneecaps of the sports writers, and the press being mostly liberal, refused to acknowledge that Cal was a stronger team this year.
By your logic, Texas shouldn't have lost to whoever they lost to this year either.
And it would be a part of a long tradition of Big 10/Pac 10 matchups in the Rose.
I'll take some of that action. How much you willing to put up?
I don't think it would matter in the end, becuase they would have beaten the #8 team in the country. The Orange Bowl winner will have beaten either the #1 or #2 team in the country. Unfortunately I think Auburn gets the short end of the stick here. Playoff anyone?
You can't make this stuff up.
I still don't understand why collage athletics are televised, much less the bowl system.
Teams have been getting screwed since long before the BCS was ever conceived. Remember 1994?
The whole bowl system is flawed. When Pitt makes a BCS poll and Nebraska beats them at home...puhleez. Should be: USC v OU; Aub v Tx; CA v Utah. Those would be awesome games. But no, Pitt makes BCS...Auburn, Texas, California, and Utah...all getting screwed.
Pit, Va Tech and even UM are questionable entrees. The current system puts no value on strength of Conference. The Big 12 (South)is tough, the SEC is Brutal and the PAC 10 is rough.
The big ten is not what it once was but it will be back. Tell the ACC and Big East to put some real teams on the field and end up in the top Eight in the Rankings to go to a BcS Game.
Actually, Utah and Boise State have legitimate rights as well. They had undefeated seasons too.
Boise State should certainly be offered a BCS game over Pitt by your math.
I think that an unbiased person can look at the two losses - Cal's loss to USC in the final play, and Oklahoma's humiliation of Texas 42-0 and come to the rational conclusion that Cal's only loss was so close to being a victory, and against the number 1 team in the country, that Cal should be ranked over Texas. Both polls certainly reflected that.
No, to really screw things up, it takes a computer. Nothing like encoding bias into software to make something really stink.
Oklahoma beat Texas 12-0. Not really a humiliation.
Yeah....this is it.
Thanks.
Yeah, right.
I'll take some of that action. How much you willing to put up?
Just wondering how much you lost Warrior?
Glad you found your thread -
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