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 Friday, December 13, 2002
Miami waits for its playdate
By Jack Arute
Special to ABC Sports Online
One thing we are certain of is that Miami is headed to the Rose Bowl Presented by AT&T. The Hurricanes did what they needed to do -- they avoided the malady that struck many of their suitors (choke on a late season game) and take an undefeated record to Pasadena.
A $10 million question remains: Who will the Hurricanes face? Tennessee needs a dose of magic to be the Hurricanes opponent. On paper, the Vols should beat LSU, but Nick Saban has done a terrific job in Baton Rouge and like the Buffaloes of Colorado, he has a Bayou Bengal team peaking at just the right moment.
Like Texas, Tennessee needs to beat a regular season opponent for a second time to get a shot at Miami. Texas was unsuccessful in its effort, and history shows that beating the same foe twice in the same season is a difficult task. Coach Phil Fulmer might want to break out last year's Big 12 Championship game tape where Oklahoma scored a "double" by beating the Kansas State Wildcats a second time. Championship games have a personality of their own. As Mack Brown can certainly attest to, you are never absolutely assured what "kids will do on a given Saturday."
How 'bout those Texas Longhorns? Here's an idea -- play for your conference title and give up a sure shot at a BCS bowl berth. What would this week's BCS standings be like if Oklahoma had beaten Oklahoma State and lost to Colorado? Would Texas be an at-large BCS candidate?
Nebraska's No. 3 slot leaves the Cornhuskers rooting for LSU against the Volunteers in Atlanta this weekend. If the Vols get upset and the Huskers get their ticket punched for Pasadena, the whining from non-BCS proponents will be louder than a kennel full of hungry puppies. We've come a very long way since the series standings since their first weekly addition was unveiled in October. Much the way it has since its inception, the Bowl Championship Series formula shakes down by its final publication.
The most fascinating matchup for the national championship would be Miami against Colorado. There is no question that Gary Barnett's team is playing some of the best football, but struggles with two regular season losses. It's not out of the realm of possibility that should Tennessee fall in the SEC and the pollsters and computers drop them far enough that Colorado could leapfrog Nebraska.
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