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PREVIOUS NUGGETS |
09.30.05: Bowles
in line to head 16-campus UNC system ... End of VPI-WVU
series dampens fiery traditions |
09.29.05: Schnellenberger
faces program he helped build |
09.28.05: Storm-weary
USM starts tough stretch at ECU ... ECU Letterwinners/Hall
of Fame Weekend schedule |
09.27.05: Paper:
Liberty Bowl seals deal with C-USA, SEC ... Busted legs
deplete Memphis quarterback corps |
09.26.05: College
football headliners: stars & storylines ... Conference USA
standings, schedule & scores |
09.25.05: Scoreboard:
C-USA teams & ECU opponents |
09.24.05: Big
names helping UNC-P restore grid program ... Conference USA
schedule, standings & scores |
09.23.05: NCAA
okays instant replay in all 28 bowl games ... Conference USA
schedule, standings & scores |
09.22.05: C-USA,
NFL teams thrown off stride by Rita ... Conference USA
schedule, standings & scores |
09.21.05: Hurricane
Rita threatens disruption of schedule ... Indian mascot ban
extended to bowl games |
09.20.05: Vandy
sheds doormat image in breakout start ... C-USA Standings,
Schedule, Scoreboard |
09.19.05: Injured
Clemson player has spleen removed ... College football
headliners: stars & storylines ... C-USA Standings,
Schedule, Scoreboard |
09.18.05: Scoreboard
[C-USA teams & ECU opponents] |
09.17.05: Fed
judge labels NCAA monopolistic, okays trial ... UTEP wins
double OT thriller in C-USA debut ... C-USA schedule,
standings, scores |
09.16.05: Slive's
contract with SEC extended until 2009 ... Conference USA
Standings and Schedule |
09.15.05: ECU
football ticket sales picking up momentum ... Tulane teams
on a mission to make impression |
09.14.05: Dye
headlines ECU's Hall of Fame Class of 2005 ... Ophelia
shutters ECU; dormitories remain open |
09.13.05: Conference
USA Standings and Schedule ... Auburn player learns family
escaped Katrina |
09.12.05: College
football headliners: stars & storylines ... Conference USA
Scoreboard and Schedule |
09.11.05: SMU
springs milestone upset of No. 22 TCU ... Scoreboard: C-USA
teams & ECU opponents |
09.10.05: Green
Beret parachutist hurt in pre-game jump ... NCAA rebuffs
appeal on Tulsa player's eligibility |
09.09.05: Tulane-MSU
game shifted out of harm's way ...
Ex-Marshall coach latest to pull out of BCS poll |
09.08.05: CSTV,
DISH satellite service finally strike deal |
09.07.05: Pirates
capture two of league's three awards ... Tulane teams to
carry on at five host schools ... Two players jailed on
murder charges |
09.06.05: Conference
USA Schedule and Scoreboard ... N.C. Central wins thriller
in Aggie-Eagle Classic |
09.05.05: College
football headliners: stars & storylines ... Scoreboard:
C-USA teams & ECU opponents |
09.04.05: Dave
Odom brings back lessons from Kuwait ... Scoreboard: C-USA
teams & ECU opponents |
09.03.05: ECU's
"Total Access" expected to launch today ... Uprooted Green
Wave to "carry the torch" ... Storm-trapped sister of UCF
player found safe ... Sun Belt evacuates New Orleans
headquarters |
09.02.05: Green
Wave football team in limbo about future ... Southern Miss
sets up ad hoc camp in Memphis ... Thursday night's college
football scoreboard |
09.01.05: Pirate
QB's second shoulder surgery a success ... East Carolina
fans on the verge of Total Access |
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News Nuggets, 10.01.05
— — — — —
NOTES FROM ECU AND BEYOND...
Previous Day Nuggets...
Next Day Nuggets...
Compiled from staff reports
and electronic dispatches
BCS poll's shaky start signals
same ol', same ol'
The BCS never disappoints when it comes
to comic relief.
The first Harris poll — that mishmash
of people who have a big say in which teams get into college football's
megabuck bowls — came out Sunday. While most of the top 25 was right on
target, check out some of the teams that at least one voter thought worthy
of being among the nation's best.
Illinois picked up 13 votes despite
being 2-2 and fresh from a 61-14 pummeling by Michigan State. Arizona got 10
votes with a 1-2 record, though maybe the Wildcats were mistaken for that
3-1 team that's two hours up the road.
But how do you explain Bowling Green,
which received five votes even after a 48-20 loss to Boise State dropped the
Falcons to 1-2? Or worse, Idaho, which is 0-4 and scored six points in its
last two games, yet still got five votes?
Granted, the votes are minuscule and
won't affect the BCS standings, which begin next month. But the geniuses who
thought Bowling Green and Idaho should be in the top 25 this week will be
the same ones helping decide who's playing in the Rose Bowl for the national
title.
``Votes like that hurt the
credibility,'' BCS expert Jerry Palm said. ``Whether it's carelessness or
ignorance, you can't have votes for Idaho. It only takes one guy voting for
Idaho to ruin it for the rest of the 114.''
Credibility has never been the Bowl
Championship Series' strong suit, though. The BCS has been trying since 1998
to find a foolproof way to pair the clear-cut No. 1 and No. 2 teams in a
season-ending, winner-take-all matchup. So far, all they've perfected is the
fool part.
Playoffs have worked quite nicely in
college football's lower divisions and pretty much every other sport from
the Pee Wee leagues to the pros, but BCS officials won't budge. They're
convinced a ranking system will produce the 1-2 game everyone wants to see,
along with solid matchups for the other three marquee bowls.
Only it hasn't worked. The BCS has
tried polls, computers and statistical modules only an actuary could love,
tinkered with one formula after another, and gotten it perfect twice.
``Part of their credibility problem
goes all the way back to the beginning, where they just haven't settled on a
formula two years in a row,'' Palm said. ``If you don't have enough faith in
the formula to defend it in the face of controversy, then why should you
have it?''
This latest incarnation came after The
Associated Press told BCS officials last season to stop using its media poll
as part of their formula. The AP poll had counted for one-third of a team's
BCS grade, with the USA Today coaches' poll and a compilation of six
computer rankings counting for the other two-thirds.
Without the AP, the BCS came up with
the Harris Interactive College Football Poll. The panel of 114 former
players, coaches, administrators and media was supposed to be knowledgeable
and give equal representation to all 11 conferences and independents. But,
in true BCS fashion, it was bungled from the start.
A handful of pollsters, including
former Notre Dame and South Carolina coach Lou Holtz, had to bow out right
away because they worked for ESPN. Hardly a surprise, considering ESPN had
pulled its affiliation with the coaches poll over the summer to avoid
conflicts of interest. Another pollster withdrew because his only connection
to the game was his father-in-law, the coach at Troy.
Harris didn't release its first poll
until last Sunday so voters wouldn't get caught up in the kind of preseason
hype that doomed Auburn last year. Obviously some needed a longer reality
check. Or a refresher course on the responsibilities that go with being a
voter.
``Since it is an opinion poll and
you're entitled to your opinion, there certainly is a possibility for an
unusual vote,'' BCS spokesman Bob Burda said.
Well, that's reassuring. With millions
of dollars at stake, it would be nice if the people supposedly in the know
showed more sense than those who rank teams by uniform colors and mascots.
Some do. Dave Newhouse, the Cal beat
writer for the Oakland Tribune, considers everything from game scores to
strength of schedule to a coach's track record. He can give you a detailed
explanation of why he ranked each team where he did.
``I'm trying to be conscientious,''
Newhouse said.
Others vote for Idaho.
The harebrained votes probably weren't
accidents, either. Harris Interactive has safeguards in place so if you
voted for Illinois, Bowling Green or Idaho, you know it. But don't worry,
nobody else does because individual votes aren't published until the final
season ballot. Until then, voters can do whatever they please, and we can
only shake our heads at the nonsense.
Which, come to think of it, is pretty
much what we've been doing since the BCS commandeered the postseason.
Katrina-forced transfer
cleared to play at Cincy
CINCINNATI — The NCAA has approved
Cincinnati's request to make Division I transfer Ronald Allen eligible to
play this basketball season rather than sit out the academic year, the
university said Friday.
Allen, a 6-foot-9 junior, had been
attending Xavier University in New Orleans. He enrolled at Cincinnati at the
beginning of the fall quarter after Hurricane Katrina forced the evacuation
of New Orleans.
Allen was a backup center last season,
averaging 4.9 points and 2.4 rebounds in 19 games.
Xavier University granted Allen a
release from his scholarship. He will have two seasons of eligibility
remaining.
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 2005
Bonesville.net and other publishers. All rights reserved. This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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