Durango53
12-21-2004, 11:23 AM
By Gilbert Quiñonez
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
gquinonez@media.ucla.edu
There's been a lot of talk this week about how Auburn and Cal were spurned by the BCS.
But no one got shafted as much as UCLA.
Sure, Auburn went undefeated and got left out of the championship game.
Sure Cal's final ranking dropped the final week of the season despite winning on the road, while Texas did not play.
At least Auburn and Cal don't have to play the mighty football powerhouse that is Wyoming.
But because of the BCS leaving Cal out of the Rose Bowl, all of the other non-USC Pac-10 teams were moved down a bowl game.
And instead of a high-profile match-up against Notre Dame, UCLA was left a date with Wyoming in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Even though Notre Dame is having a down year, playing against them would have done wonders in terms of national exposure for UCLA. When Notre Dame plays any game, ratings go up, and more people around the country would have learned more about the Bruins.
But not many people will watch the UCLA-Wyoming Las Vegas Bowl.
There's a reason why Wyoming is the state with the lowest population, even lower than Alaska.
It's Wyoming.
The only thing the state of Wyoming has going for it is a couple of nice national parks. After that, well, they have ... this is hard ... well, a lot of open space. And you never have to worry about looking foolish in public because there is no public.
And because of the brilliant system that is the BCS, UCLA was robbed of getting the chance to play Notre Dame and will instead have to face a team from a state that just moved into the 20th century – barely. (Yes, I'm now aware I can never go back to Wyoming. How will I ever live?)
There was one glaring thing wrong with the BCS this year, a problem that has been there for years but not heavily scrutinized until now.
The coaches poll needs massive reform, or it shouldn't exist at all.
Currently, the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll accounts for one-third of the BCS formula. The Associated Press Poll and several computer rankings make up the other two-thirds.
But unlike the other two components of the BCS, there is absolutely no accountability in the coaches poll. The coaches voted a couple of months ago not to make their final ballots public.
Because of this secret ballot system, coaches can vote for whomever they want at whatever ranking they want without being questioned.
One coach voted Texas second – which means this coach inexplicably put the Longhorns above two undefeated teams.
Another coach put Cal eighth – eighth? How do you put Cal, whose only loss was to No. 1 USC, and in that game Cal outplayed USC, at eighth?
But we will never know who these coaches were.
In the coaches poll, there is a huge conflict of interest. For the Big 12 coaches voting in the poll, it would help their schools out if Texas went up to No. 4 and moved ahead of Cal. With a BCS bid comes a lot of money – $14 million – and a big chunk of that is shared between the rest of the teams in the conference. This argument also applies to the Pac-10 coaches voting in the poll. But there are more Big 12 coaches voting than Pac-10 coaches, so this probably gave Texas an advantage over Cal.
Cal coach Jeff Tedford, a voter in the coaches poll, released his final ballot. He had Cal fourth and Texas fifth, like many voters did. But if Tedford wanted to help his team as much as possible, it would've been smart for him to leave Texas off of his ballot and rank Cal first (or second, so it wouldn't be too obvious).
Sure, it's unethical to do that. But it's a secret ballot, so no one would have ever caught him.
If Tedford had done this, Cal would have barely eked out fourth place overall in the BCS standings, and would be in the Rose Bowl instead of Texas.
But Tedford, being classy, prevented his own team from going to the Rose Bowl. He didn't resort to begging and pleading for votes like Texas coach Mack Brown (which may have helped him).
I've resigned myself to the fact that the BCS will exist for a long time, as it has a contract that runs through 2014. Every sane college football fan would much rather see a playoff system than the convoluted BCS system.
But at least the system that will exist for another painful 10 years can reform itself correctly. The BCS commissioners should take a stand and make the coaches release their final ballots.
That way, UCLA wouldn't have to play a team from a state that has to mean "the middle of nowhere" in some language.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those of you in the "cities" of Cheyenne, Cody, Casper or Laramie can e-mail Quinonez at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu, if you know how to use that thing called a computer.
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=31279
HEY DUMB ASS WHAT WAS YOUR RECORD THIS YEAR!?!?!?!?
HEY DUMB ASS DONT YOU THINK IF YOU WON MORE GAMES YOU MIGHT BE IN A BETTER BOWL?!?!?!?
HEY DUMB ASS IF THEY DIDNT CHANGE THE SYSTEM YOUR FREAKING TEAM WOULDNT BE PLAYING!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS YOUR TEAM DIDNT GET SHAFTED THEY SHOULD BE THANKING THERE STARS THEY GOT IN A BOWL GAME!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS YOUR TEAM SHOULD HAVE TOOK CONTROL OF THERE OWN FATE INSTEAD OF LETTING OTHER TEAMS DESIDE IT!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS THE REASON WE HAVE A LOW POPULATION IS BECAUSE WE KICK THE SHIT OF OF DUMB ASS PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND SEND THEM BACK TO WHERE THEY ARE FROM!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS A ND HAD A SUCKY RECORD TOO!!!
HEY DUMB ASS IF YOU ARE SO FREAKING GOOD STRAP ON THE PADS!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS IF WE ARE SUCH PUSH OVERS COME ON IN THE STATE AND SEE IF YOU CAN MAKE IT!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS WHY NOT COME OVER HERE AND TEACH ME TO USE THIS COMPUTER!!!
HEY DUMB ASS WHAT IS YOUR RECORD?!?!?! 6-5 FUNNY WYOMINGS IS THE SAME YOU JACKASS!!!!
:bonehead :bonehead :bonehead
Ok first off I feel that both these teams shouldnt be in this game!!! But this is the system now and it give teams like this bowl games... Dont you think if you won more games you would be in a better bowl.
I was hoping for a good game and Wyoming would win but I did figure on Wyoming getting blown out. But now I hope Wyoming scores 100 Points on you ass holes and dont stop. Hey buddy if you have watched any Wyoming games this year or looked before you wrote you would find out that Wyoming has a good offense and can score with the best of them and you might have just fired up this defense!!!
I hope we kick your ass now and dont let up the whole game.
Sorry for the bad words all!!!
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
gquinonez@media.ucla.edu
There's been a lot of talk this week about how Auburn and Cal were spurned by the BCS.
But no one got shafted as much as UCLA.
Sure, Auburn went undefeated and got left out of the championship game.
Sure Cal's final ranking dropped the final week of the season despite winning on the road, while Texas did not play.
At least Auburn and Cal don't have to play the mighty football powerhouse that is Wyoming.
But because of the BCS leaving Cal out of the Rose Bowl, all of the other non-USC Pac-10 teams were moved down a bowl game.
And instead of a high-profile match-up against Notre Dame, UCLA was left a date with Wyoming in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Even though Notre Dame is having a down year, playing against them would have done wonders in terms of national exposure for UCLA. When Notre Dame plays any game, ratings go up, and more people around the country would have learned more about the Bruins.
But not many people will watch the UCLA-Wyoming Las Vegas Bowl.
There's a reason why Wyoming is the state with the lowest population, even lower than Alaska.
It's Wyoming.
The only thing the state of Wyoming has going for it is a couple of nice national parks. After that, well, they have ... this is hard ... well, a lot of open space. And you never have to worry about looking foolish in public because there is no public.
And because of the brilliant system that is the BCS, UCLA was robbed of getting the chance to play Notre Dame and will instead have to face a team from a state that just moved into the 20th century – barely. (Yes, I'm now aware I can never go back to Wyoming. How will I ever live?)
There was one glaring thing wrong with the BCS this year, a problem that has been there for years but not heavily scrutinized until now.
The coaches poll needs massive reform, or it shouldn't exist at all.
Currently, the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll accounts for one-third of the BCS formula. The Associated Press Poll and several computer rankings make up the other two-thirds.
But unlike the other two components of the BCS, there is absolutely no accountability in the coaches poll. The coaches voted a couple of months ago not to make their final ballots public.
Because of this secret ballot system, coaches can vote for whomever they want at whatever ranking they want without being questioned.
One coach voted Texas second – which means this coach inexplicably put the Longhorns above two undefeated teams.
Another coach put Cal eighth – eighth? How do you put Cal, whose only loss was to No. 1 USC, and in that game Cal outplayed USC, at eighth?
But we will never know who these coaches were.
In the coaches poll, there is a huge conflict of interest. For the Big 12 coaches voting in the poll, it would help their schools out if Texas went up to No. 4 and moved ahead of Cal. With a BCS bid comes a lot of money – $14 million – and a big chunk of that is shared between the rest of the teams in the conference. This argument also applies to the Pac-10 coaches voting in the poll. But there are more Big 12 coaches voting than Pac-10 coaches, so this probably gave Texas an advantage over Cal.
Cal coach Jeff Tedford, a voter in the coaches poll, released his final ballot. He had Cal fourth and Texas fifth, like many voters did. But if Tedford wanted to help his team as much as possible, it would've been smart for him to leave Texas off of his ballot and rank Cal first (or second, so it wouldn't be too obvious).
Sure, it's unethical to do that. But it's a secret ballot, so no one would have ever caught him.
If Tedford had done this, Cal would have barely eked out fourth place overall in the BCS standings, and would be in the Rose Bowl instead of Texas.
But Tedford, being classy, prevented his own team from going to the Rose Bowl. He didn't resort to begging and pleading for votes like Texas coach Mack Brown (which may have helped him).
I've resigned myself to the fact that the BCS will exist for a long time, as it has a contract that runs through 2014. Every sane college football fan would much rather see a playoff system than the convoluted BCS system.
But at least the system that will exist for another painful 10 years can reform itself correctly. The BCS commissioners should take a stand and make the coaches release their final ballots.
That way, UCLA wouldn't have to play a team from a state that has to mean "the middle of nowhere" in some language.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Those of you in the "cities" of Cheyenne, Cody, Casper or Laramie can e-mail Quinonez at gquinonez@media.ucla.edu, if you know how to use that thing called a computer.
http://www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=31279
HEY DUMB ASS WHAT WAS YOUR RECORD THIS YEAR!?!?!?!?
HEY DUMB ASS DONT YOU THINK IF YOU WON MORE GAMES YOU MIGHT BE IN A BETTER BOWL?!?!?!?
HEY DUMB ASS IF THEY DIDNT CHANGE THE SYSTEM YOUR FREAKING TEAM WOULDNT BE PLAYING!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS YOUR TEAM DIDNT GET SHAFTED THEY SHOULD BE THANKING THERE STARS THEY GOT IN A BOWL GAME!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS YOUR TEAM SHOULD HAVE TOOK CONTROL OF THERE OWN FATE INSTEAD OF LETTING OTHER TEAMS DESIDE IT!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS THE REASON WE HAVE A LOW POPULATION IS BECAUSE WE KICK THE SHIT OF OF DUMB ASS PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND SEND THEM BACK TO WHERE THEY ARE FROM!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS A ND HAD A SUCKY RECORD TOO!!!
HEY DUMB ASS IF YOU ARE SO FREAKING GOOD STRAP ON THE PADS!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS IF WE ARE SUCH PUSH OVERS COME ON IN THE STATE AND SEE IF YOU CAN MAKE IT!!!!
HEY DUMB ASS WHY NOT COME OVER HERE AND TEACH ME TO USE THIS COMPUTER!!!
HEY DUMB ASS WHAT IS YOUR RECORD?!?!?! 6-5 FUNNY WYOMINGS IS THE SAME YOU JACKASS!!!!
:bonehead :bonehead :bonehead
Ok first off I feel that both these teams shouldnt be in this game!!! But this is the system now and it give teams like this bowl games... Dont you think if you won more games you would be in a better bowl.
I was hoping for a good game and Wyoming would win but I did figure on Wyoming getting blown out. But now I hope Wyoming scores 100 Points on you ass holes and dont stop. Hey buddy if you have watched any Wyoming games this year or looked before you wrote you would find out that Wyoming has a good offense and can score with the best of them and you might have just fired up this defense!!!
I hope we kick your ass now and dont let up the whole game.
Sorry for the bad words all!!!