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News Nuggets, 07.03.04
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Compiled from staff reports and electronic dispatches

Will humans clear up BCS formula's fuzzy math?

NEW YORK — Bowl Championship Series officials are considering a proposal in which the media and coaches polls would account for 80 percent of the formula that determines the title game matchup, a BCS source told The Associated Press on Friday.

The BCS is changing its formula for the upcoming season, hoping to simplify and improve a system that left college football with two national champions last season.

In one of the latest proposals, the AP media poll and USA Today/ESPN coaches poll would each count for 40 percent of the BCS standings, the source said on condition of anonymity. An average of six or seven computer polls would make up the final 20 percent.

Other formulas are still being considered, the source said, including one that counts the three components (media, coaches and computer rankings) as one-third each.

Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg declined Friday to give details on any of the formulas being considered.

"We are looking at different ways of weighting the elements," he said. "We're still trying to make sure we get all the input we need."

Weiberg has said the BCS plans to put greater emphasis on the human polls and eliminate components such as bonus points for quality wins and strength of schedule.

The new formulas being studied would also take into account the number of votes a team receives, not just its rank in the polls.

Weiberg said the BCS wants to unveil its new math in about two weeks. The BCS was widely criticized last season when LSU and Southern California finished as co-champs.

USC was ranked first in both human polls at the end of the regular season, but third in the BCS standings. That left LSU and Oklahoma playing for the BCS title. The coaches were required to vote LSU No. 1 after it won the Sugar Bowl, while USC held on to its top spot in the final AP poll after beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

BCS officials last month decided to add a fifth game to the system. Starting in 2006, the championship game will be played about a week after the Fiesta, Orange, Rose and Sugar bowls. The site of the game would rotate between the four BCS bowls.

The champions of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-10 and Southeastern Conference all receive automatic bids to BCS bowls.

USM's Boley on Nagurski watch list

Southern Miss senior linebacker and preseason All-American Michael Boley was named to the 2004 Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list, as the preseason accolades keep coming in for the Athens, Ala. native.

Boley, the preseason Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year selection by Lindy’s, has been tabbed for many preseason awards. He was selected as a first-team All-American by Athlon’s Sports Magazine, Phil Steele’s and Blue Ribbon magazine and has been named on a number of other national preseason all-star lists.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list is a compilation of the best defensive players in college football, regardless of position, as selected by the Football Writers Association of America.

The FWAA will select a defensive player of the week during the 2004 season. Top defensive performances across the country will be submitted by schools and conferences, with the winner selected by an FWAA committee from the nominees.

The winner will be presented with the trophy at the Charlotte Touchdown Club, Dec. 6, in Charlotte, N.C., with Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops as the keynote speaker.

The Bronko Nagurski Trophy, created in 1993 by the FWAA, is named after Bronko Nagurski, a standout athlete who played tackle, fullback, defensive end, offensive end, linebacker and quarterback. He was a consensus All-American defensive tackle in 1929, and also made All-America teams that year as a fullback, the only man ever picked at two positions.

Nagurski played at the University of Minnesota from 1927-1929 and subsequently joined the NFL with the Chicago Bears. He was a charter member of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame (college) and the NFL Hall of Fame. In college football's centennial year, 1969, he was elected to the Football Writers Association of America's all-time team.

News Nuggets are compiled periodically from staff, ECU, Conference USA and its member schools, and from Associated Press and other reports. Copyright 2004 Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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