News Nuggets, 01.05.05
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
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Compiled from staff reports
and electronic dispatches
BCS ponders establishment of selection committee
PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
01.04.05: Petrino
sets out to mend fences at Louisville ... Auburn holds off
Tech, turns attention to voters ...
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01.03.05: Tech
sack artist looks to Baghdad for inspiration ... Meyer bids
adieu as Utah relishes perfection ...
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01.02.05: Utah
domination of Pitt exposes BCS ... Petrino backpedals as LSU
zeroes in on Miles ...
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01.01.05: Cards
hang on in Liberty Bowl shootout with Broncos ... Utes
poised to cap off perfect season in style ...
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12.31.04: Offensive
juggernauts collide in Liberty Bowl ... Tire Bowl goes flat
for North Carolina ...
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12.30.04: Boston
College tests ACC waters in Tire Bowl ... Syracuse reverses
field, ousts Pasqualoni ...
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12.29.04: Petrino
flirts with LSU on eve of Liberty Bowl ... Power indexes:
Conference ratings... Team ratings ...
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12.28.04: Utah
carries banner of have-nots into Fiesta Bowl ... Tampa
slaying perplexes victim's friends ...
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12.27.04: Vanderbilt
football star slain by gunfire in Tampa ... Tulsa coach
resigns with C-USA on horizon ...
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12.26.04: Tulane
rewards Scelfo with contract extension ... Big Ten pushes
for instant replay for all of I-A ...
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12.25.04: Chang,
Hawaii spoil UAB's bowl debut in shootout ... Memphis bumps
West up to $800K per year ...
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12.24.04: BCS
produces sequel to 'Night of the Living Dead' ... Cincy
torches Herd in frigid Ft. Worth Bowl ... UAB makes bowl
debut against prolific Warriors ...
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12.23.04: Bowling
Green shakes off Memphis in GMAC Bowl ... Primetime bowl
preview: Bearcats vs. Herd ... Tranghese: BCS not interested
in playoff ...
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12.22.04: Up-and-coming
programs tangle in GMAC bowl ... Petrino hits jackpot with
new pact at U of L ... College basketball power indexes ...
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12.21.04: Cold,
hard facts about health swayed Majerus ... Basketball panel
tinkering with RPI formula ...
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12.20.04: GMAC
Bowl history sets stage for Tigers-Falcons shootout ...
Memphis reinstates Banks after one game ... Mounting
attrition challenges Pitino, Cards ...
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12.19.04: Houston
AD livid with Nebraska over cancellation ... Duke cans
offensive coordinator Galbraith ... Majerus retreats back to
TV booth ...
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12.18.04: Wolfpack's
Hodge not short on self-esteem ,,, James Madison rushes to
I-AA championship ...
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12.17.04: Nebraska
icon Osborne irked with aloof AD's ... William & Mary QB
captures Payton Award ...
More... |
12.16.04: Pirates
hawking hoops tickets with a twist ... Majerus ditches TV
gig to rescue Trojans ...
More... |
12.15.04: Bowl
season kicks off with Southern Miss victory ... Marshall
linebacker suspended for bowl game ...
More... |
12.14.04: Preview:
USM, North Texas kick off bowl season ... Former ECU
assistants McFarland, Brindise land jobs ... McLendon to
bolt Wolfpack for NFL draft ...
More... |
12.13.04: Musical
chairs at full tilt as coaches change jobs ... List of
Division I-A coaching changes ... Heisman Trophy chronology
1935-2004 ...
More... |
12.12.04: Title
game of the Heismans set ... All-time Heisman winners list
... Blue- Gray Classic scratched again ...
More... |
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MIAMI With no plans for a playoff,
the Bowl Championship Series will consider using a committee of college
football experts to set the next national title game.
``I have to tell you, I really do not
see an NFL-style playoff coming to college football any time soon,'' BCS
coordinator and Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said Tuesday.
Weiberg also said the BCS will search
for a replacement for The Associated Press poll to help rank the top teams.
Five teams took perfect records into
this bowl season, prompting many fans, players and even some coaches to call
for a playoff format.
Auburn and Utah won their bowl games
while Boise State lost for the first time. Southern California and Oklahoma
were to play for the BCS title Tuesday night in a matchup of unbeatens in
the Orange Bowl.
Weiberg said he is ``very interested''
in a committee structure that would be similar to the one used to set the
field for the NCAA basketball tournaments.
``I'm not prepared to endorse it
because I want to hear more about the discussion with my colleagues,'' he
said.
``I think we certainly need to take a
look and see whether there are alternatives in terms of whether there is
another poll that could perhaps be plugged into the spot that was there for
the AP poll,'' he said.
The men's NCAA basketball tournament
uses a 10-person committee made up of conference commissioners and athletic
directors to set its field of 65 teams.
A BCS selection committee would likely
need more than 10 members, Weiberg said.
``I don't believe it would be an easy
assignment, and I think my sense is, though, there would be people that
would be willing to serve and that care a lot about college football, that
have been tied to it in the past, that are part of institutions now that
would likely step forward,'' he said.
Even if a committee is used to set the
1 vs. 2 game, and possibly even to create a pool of at-large teams for the
bowls to choose from, it wouldn't eliminate the need for the BCS standings.
Weiberg said he didn't envision a
committee setting all the matchups.
``We still are going to have a need in
whatever system we have, even with a committee, to have some sort of
standings,'' he said. ``So it would be very likely that even in a committee
structure, there would have to be some sort of published standings. How
often it would occur, I don't know.
The Associated Press sent the BCS a
cease-and-desist letter last month, asking that the AP poll not be used in
the BCS formula.
Last year, the BCS decided to emphasize
the AP media poll and coaches' poll more than ever before. The two polls
each counted for one-third of a team's BCS grade in 2004. A compilation of
six computer rankings made up the other third.
The AP said the BCS's unauthorized use
of its poll has harmed AP's reputation and interfered with AP's agreements
with AP poll voters.
``I don't believe that the coaches'
poll and a combination of computers is sufficient,'' Weiberg said. ``I think
something else is going to have to happen there.''
Speaking at the Football Writers
Association of America awards breakfast, Weiberg said other issues BCS
officials will address this offseason include:
Future automatic qualification
provisions for conferences. The new standard will allow all Division I-A
conferences the opportunity to earn an automatic BCS bid.
The logistics of a fifth BCS game. A
fifth game was added last year to allow greater access to the BCS. The new
double-hosting model will have the current four BCS games Sugar, Orange,
Rose and Fiesta bowls played about a week before the championship game.
The championship game site will continue to rotate between the four major
bowls.
Two television networks. The BCS
signed a four-year deal worth $320 million with Fox last month for the
broadcast rights to the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls from 2007-10 and the
national title game from 2007-09. ABC still owns the rights to the Rose
Bowl.
Trojans trample Sooners en route to title
MIAMI Matt Leinart and Southern
California teammates played to perfection, leaving no doubt about this
national championship.
Even better, they don't have to share
it.
The Heisman Trophy winner threw a
record five touchdown passes and USC overwhelmed Oklahoma 55-19 Tuesday
night in the Orange Bowl, assuring the Trojans will end the season just as
they started: No. 1.
The much-anticipated battle of
unbeatens, No. 1 vs. No. 2, turned into a coronation for USC, which had to
settle for a share of the national championship last year after being left
out of the Bowl Championship Series title game.
Unbeaten Auburn, the odd team out of
the BCS title game this season, will have to settle for second. The Tigers
certainly couldn't have done any worse against the mighty USC.
The Tigers (13-0) finished their
perfect season with a 16-13 win over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl on
Monday night.
USC surely will become the first team
to repeat as AP national champions since Nebraska in 1994-95 and join
Florida State in 1999 as the only teams to go wire-to-wire from preseason
to post bowls as No. 1.
The final media poll was to be released
early Wednesday morning.
The Trojans wrapped up their 2003
national title three days before the BCS championship game by beating
Michigan 28-14 in the Rose Bowl.
They won't have to wait for their
trophy this season.
With the aide of four Oklahoma
turnovers, the Trojans (13-0) ambushed the Sooners (12-1) with 38 points in
the final 20 minutes of the first half.
The first meeting of Heisman winners
couldn't have been more one-sided. Leinart set an Orange Bowl record with
his five scoring tosses and Jason White spent another BCS title game running
for his life.
Oklahoma's Heisman winner finished
24-of-36 for 244 yards with three interceptions and two touchdowns.
Leinart was 18-of-35 for 342 yards and
he had the USC band playing ``Fight On'' all night. The laidback Californian
who replaced Carson Palmer became the first Heisman winner to win a national
title since Michigan's Charles Woodson in 1997.
Leinhart looked nothing like the
overrated quarterback for an average offense as Oklahoma defensive end Larry
Birdine described him.
He tossed four scores in the first half
as the Trojans turned an early 7-0 deficit into a 38-10 halftime lead.
And when the demolition had ended, the
Trojans bounced and danced their way to the locker room, grooving in the end
zone as Outkast's ``Hey Yeah'' blared through Pro Player Stadium. Meanwhile,
the Sooners trudged off having already allowed more points in a bowl game
than any team in school history.
Leinart shrugged off Birdine's comment
and played great in what could be his farewell to college football. The
junior could be a top pick in the next NFL draft.
He also got plenty of help. The Trojans
reached a season high for points and turned the game into a USC highlight
reel, with Leinart making pinpoint passes and his receivers making
spectacular catches.
Steve Smith caught an Orange Bowl
record three touchdown, LenDale White ran for 118 yards and two scores and
the USC's defense smothered Oklahoma's freshman sensation Adrian Peterson.
Peterson, the Heisman runner-up,
managed just 82 yards on 25 carries.
Senior Mark Bradley made a freshman
mistake that set off one of those USC runs that have done in so many
opponents during the Trojans' 22-game winning streak.
The Sooners' most versatile player and
the son of former Oklahoma quarterback Danny Bradley tried to scoop up a
punt that had bounced inside the Oklahoma 5. Collin Ashton grabbed on to
Bradley, the ball squirted away and USC recovered at the 6.
Bradley trudged back to the sideline,
where he received some pats on the head and back.
His mood no doubt worsened on the next
play, when LenDale White reached the ball over the goal line to give the
Trojans a 14-7 lead late in the first quarter.
USC made it 21 straight points with the
help of Oklahoma's second turnover. Under pressure, White heaved a deep ball
into quadruple-coverage and Jason Leach came up with USC's 20th interception
of the season.
Then the Trojans went to work on
Oklahoma freshman cornerback Marcus Walker with their own star freshman,
Dwayne Jarrett.
The 6-foot-5 Jarrett went over the 5-11
Walker for an 18 yard gain on third-and-8.
Walker ended up in no-man's land on the
next play. He looked like he wanted to blitz but stopped. Meanwhile, Jarrett
ran straight down the sideline and hauled in a perfect throw from Leinart
for a 54-yard score.
The USC deluge continued.
White was upended while throwing and
was picked off by Eric Wright deep in Sooners territory.
This time Leinart found Steve Smith
alone in the end zone from 5 yards out, to cap a four-touchdown barrage.
In a span of 10:10, USC turned a 7-0 deficit into a 28-7 lead that left the
Sooners looking dumbfounded.
Oklahoma drove for a field goal on the
next possession, but all it did was give USC enough time to catch its
breath.
Reggie Bush ripped off a 33-yard run to
start the Trojans on their way and Leinart again picked on a secondary that
looked like Oklahoma's soft spot much of the season.
Leinart went deep to Smith, who hauled
in a 33-yarder while hitting the ground to make it 35-10.
Coach Pete Carroll greeted Leinart with
a hug after the left-hander's fourth touchdown pass. Leinart gave a sly grin
as he glanced up at the scoreboard.
Oklahoma's season-high fourth turnover,
led to Ryan Killeen's 44-yard field goal just before halftime.
An aching White trudged into and then
limped through the Sugar Bowl last year. But he was spry and agile against
the Trojans at the start.
He rolled out, scrambled and stepped up
in the pocket while completing four of his first five passes for 75 yards.
He finished the 92-yard TD drive by zipping a 5-yarder to Travis Wilson.
Leinart answered quickly, hitting four
straight and finding Dominique Byrd deep down the middle for a spinning,
one-handed 33-yard touchdown. It was the first touchdown the Sooners had
allowed in four games.
And it would only get worse from there
for the Sooners.
Final Associated Press & USA
Today/ESPN Coaches polls
(Through games of Jan. 4, 2004.
Conference USA team, including future members, and Carolinas teams in
bold. ECU opponents in red. Teams not
belonging to conferences with guaranteed BCS bowl bid in italics.]
The Top 25
teams in The Associated Press college football poll, with
first-place votes and record in parentheses, total points based on
25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place
vote, and previous ranking:
TEAM PTS PVS
1. SOUTHERN CAL (62) (13-0) 1,622 1
2. AUBURN (3) (13-0) 1,559 3
3. OKLAHOMA (12-1) 1,454 2
4. UTAH (12-0) 1,438 5
5. TEXAS (11-1) 1,391 6
6. LOUISVILLE (11-1) 1,261 7
7. GEORGIA (10-2) 1,204 8
8. IOWA (10-2) 1,111 11
9. CALIFORNIA (10-2) 1,060 4
10. VIRGINIA TECH (10-3) 996 9
11. MIAMI (FL) (9-3) 917 14
12. BOISE STATE (11-1) 888 10
13. TENNESSEE (10-3) 868 15
14. MICHIGAN (9-3) 842 13
15. FLORIDA STATE (9-3) 754 17
16. LOUISIANA STATE (9-3) 711 12
17. WISCONSIN (9-3) 482 16
18. TEXAS TECH (8-4) 476 23
19. ARIZONA STATE (9-3) 463 21
20. OHIO STATE (8-4) 423 24
21. BOSTON COLLEGE (9-3) 314 25
22. FRESNO STATE (9-3) 203 NR
23. VIRGINIA (8-4) 157 18
24. NAVY (10-2) 126 NR
25. PITTSBURGH (8-4) 99 19
Others Receiving Votes:
FLORIDA 85, BOWLING GREEN 74,
TEXAS A&M 29, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 27,
WEST VIRGINIA 26, OREGON STATE 17, COLORADO 13, CONNECTICUT
11, PURDUE 10, GEORGIA TECH 6, MINNESOTA 6,
SOUTHERN MISS 1, TEXAS-EL PASO 1. |
The Top 25
teams in USA Today/ESPN Coaches college football poll, with
first-place votes in and records in parentheses, total points based
on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a
25th-place vote, and previous ranking:
TEAM PTS PVS
1. SOUTHERN CAL (61) (13-0) 1,525 1
2. AUBURN (13-0) 1,460 3
3. OKLAHOMA (12-1) 1,366 2
4. TEXAS (11-1) 1,324 5
5. UTAH (12-0) 1,300 6
6. GEORGIA (10-2) 1,191 7
7. LOUISVILLE (11-1) 1,166 8
8. IOWA (10-2) 1,022 13
9. CALIFORNIA (10-2) 937 4
10. VIRGINIA TECH (10-3) 906 9
11. MIAMI (FL) (9-3) 903 14
12. MICHIGAN (9-3) 802 12
13. BOISE STATE (11-1) 792 10
14. FLORIDA STATE (9-3) 776 15
15. TENNESSEE (10-3) 771 17
16. LOUISIANA STATE (9-3) 693 11
17. TEXAS TECH (8-4) 478 21
18. WISCONSIN (9-3) 449 16
19. OHIO STATE (8-4) 430 22
20. ARIZONA STATE (9-3) 377 24
21. BOSTON COLLEGE (9-3) 245 NR
22. FRESNO STATE (9-3) 206 NR
23. VIRGINIA (8-4) 157 18
24. NAVY (10-2) 129 NR
25. FLORIDA (7-5) 101 19
Others Receiving Votes:
WEST VIRGINIA 96,
BOWLING GREEN 57, PITTSBURGH 45, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 40,
TEXAS A&M 16, COLORADO 15, MINNESOTA 13, OREGON STATE 11, IOWA STATE
7, PURDUE 5, CONNECTICUT 4, GEORGIA TECH 3, TEXAS-EL PASO 2,
TOLEDO 2, WYOMING 2, HAWAII 1. |
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 2004
Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be
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