DENNY O'BRIEN: Rivalry lacking old luster

DENNY O'BRIEN'S HARRIS POLL BALLOT

Denny O'Brien is a member of the 2006 voting panel for the Harris Interactive College Football Poll, commissioned by the Bowl Championship Series. O'Brien is also the editor of The Pirates' Chest magazine, a senior writer for Bonesville Magazine and co-host of WNCT-AM Talk 1070's Game Day Countdown Show.

The Harris Poll is a component of the BCS Standings. The season's sixth BCS Standings were released on Sunday.

Here is O'Brien's ballot for this week's Harris Poll, conducted by Harris Interactive:

1. Ohio State
2. Florida
3. Michigan
4. Southern Cal
5. Notre Dame
6. Arkansas
7. Louisville
8. West Virginia
9. Louisiana State
10. Texas
11. Boise State
12. Wisconsin
13. Rutgers
14. Auburn
15. Oklahoma
16. Georgia Tech
17. Brigham Young
18. Boston College
19. Virginia Tech
20. Tennessee
21. Hawaii
22. California
23. Wake Forest
24. Nebraska
25. Texas Christian

Checking In:
Texas Christian (25)

Checking Out:
Oregon

Biggest Jump:
Hawaii

Biggest Plunge:
Rutgers

BCS STANDINGS

East Carolina and N.C. State once staged a proud and passionate football rivalry. In a hoops-minded state, no gridiron tussle ballooned the blood pressure of its faithful more than the annual showdown between the Pirates and Pack.

That all changed when former Wolfpack AD Jim Valvano administered the death penalty to the series after an ugly incident following the 1987 game. Since then the two have played only five times, with unequal stakes involved in all but two of them.

Exactly why this rivalry has lost the appeal it once boasted should be no mystery. The removal of its annual status and its current positioning as the regular season finale have eliminated much of the anticipation and buzz that once surrounded the game.

That certainly was the case in 2004, when two teams hobbled into Charlotte with zilch on the line. The number of empty blue seats largely outnumbered the scattered pods of red and purple. The loudest applause on that dreary day occurred during the final horn, when both sides cheered the merciful end to disappointing seasons.

It was one of two recent meetings in which one side was led by a lame duck coach. Perhaps the biggest buzz about this year's clash is if it will carry the same distinction.

That's the sad state into which the State-ECU rivalry has evolved. Instead of anticipating promising years during an exciting season opener, at least one side seems to ponder new leadership and questions the overall direction of its program.

This time that shoe is squarely on the foot of N.C. State. The Wolfpack has lost six straight and head coach Chuck Amato's long-term future is questionable at best.

To some, a loss would all but seal Amato's fate, leveraging the argument that his roster of blue-chippers has greatly underachieved for three years running. Others will point to the renovated palace the Pack now calls home as sound reasoning for keeping 'The Chest' in Raleigh.

And while ECU coach Skip Holtz's future is secure, his team is hardly riding an emotional high. Saturday's heartbreaking loss at Rice could prove hard to shake off for the Pirates as they turn their focus to an opponent that possesses fewer wins but more talent.

Not to be overlooked is the reality that both possess offenses that might struggle to score against Greenville Rose or Leesville Road. That's a dagger that makes ESPNU's decision to televise the game at 7 p.m. seem like a butter knife.

I'm guessing both sides could endure 40-degree temperatures if they had any confidence that their offense could score. That sure sounds better than a battle of turnovers and field goals amid tropical conditions.

I'm banking on the worst of both worlds.
Granted East Carolina still has plenty on the line, including a bowl bid and a 50-50 shot to play in the Conference USA title game. Right now that ranks as the only light at the end of either team's tunnel.

But that's a scenario that didn't work so well against Rice, and you can't help but wonder just how long that painful hangover will linger. Ditto for the Wolfpack, which has been licking its wounds since mid-October and became the only Division I-A team this season to lose to North Carolina.

It hardly adds up to a post-Thanksgiving treat, and we can thank the scheduling gods for that.

If the series between N.C. State and East Carolina has any shot at being restored to its old glory, Labor Day is the holiday it should follow. That apparently is the only way to even the stakes, not to mention the interest within the rank and file.

Because it's apparent that the two just can't make it to November reading from a similar script.

East Carolina has itself to thank for its muddy postseason future. A win over Rice would have guaranteed a spot in the C-USA championship game and clinched a bid to one of the league's five bowls.

Of course a win over N.C. State would push the Pirates to 7-5 overall and extend their season at least by one game. And if Marshall happens to beat Southern Miss — and there's a solid chance that it will — ECU will be back in Houston on December 1st.

Then there's the scenario that has the Pirates at 6-6 and in postseason limbo. The catch-22 is that bowls must take a 7-5 team from the conference ahead of one that is 6-6.

The good news is the potential that the ACC might not fill all of its guaranteed slots. C-USA is already in discussions with the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise about filling that potential vacancy.
And while Boise in December hardly makes for a festive climate, it certainly beats staying put.

However, if the league office is unsuccessful in booking another postseason destination, it will be interesting to see how the politics play out. There could be as many as three teams at 6-6 battling for the final bowl slot, and you have to wonder which school the league office will back most.