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 Wednesday, January 9, 2002
A memorable season
By Terry Bowden
Special to ABC Sports Online
Bowden's Weekly Chat Show
Now that the season is over, it's time to reflect on how the college football season went, and see what we can make of it.
Before the season began, I predicted that Miami and Oregon would play for the national championship. If the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and the Associated Press poll had been the determining factors, that scenario would have played out. After Miami destroyed Nebraska to win the national championship, I don't think anyone doubts that Oregon probably should have been in the game. I guess that's why they say hindsight is 20/20.
|  | | Nobody could escape Miami's talent this season. |
Of course, if there is anybody out there that thinks Oregon would have beaten Miami in Pasadena, I have some waterfront property here in Florida that I would like to sell you. The fact is, Miami was by far the most talented team in the country this year, and as long as the Hurricane coaches did as good a job as the ones standing across the field from them, then Miami was going to win.
And that is exactly what happened.
This season will be forever remembered as the year in which the tragic events of Sept. 11 occurred. I will never forget how unimportant college football seemed in the days that followed. And yet, two weeks later, there was college football helping us all move on with our lives.
On the field, as we wound down to the final couple of weeks, this became the year of the unexpected. It all started on the day after Thanksgiving with the game between Colorado and Nebraska. The Huskers looked like the favorite to win the Big 12 and face Miami in the Rose Bowl Presented by AT&T. But when the final gun sounded, they had allowed an amazing 62 points and lost to Colorado by 26 points.
With Nebraska's loss, most people felt Oklahoma would quickly step up into the favorite's position. But on that same afternoon, who would believe the defending national champion Sooners would drop be stunned by their cross-state rival Oklahoma State Cowboys, who came in with a 3-7 record?
Then came Dec. 1, the makeup weekend for Sept. 15. With Oklahoma out of the picture, college football fans generally agreed that Florida would work its way into the Rose Bowl. The Gators were facing their SEC East Division rival Tennessee, and as everyone knows, the Volunteers never win in the Swamp. That was, until Dec. 1, 2001.
Not only did the Vols win, but they looked to be in a dead-heat with Texas as the candidate to face Miami. In fact, prior to the Big 12 Championship game that night in Dallas, the Longhorns heard the word that the Gators had lost. They knew that if they beat the same Colorado team that they had beaten 41-7 earlier in the year, they were going to be in a tight BCS computer race with Tennessee for No. 2. However, Chris Simms folded in the first half and Major Applewhite's efforts proved too little too late to advance the 'Horns. Texas was no longer in contention.
With Texas' loss, Tennessee only needed a win over LSU in the SEC Championship game to climb the BCS standings to face an undefeated Miami for the championship. The Vols had already beaten LSU, and it looked like a slam dunk that they would be in the big game. So what happened? Tennessee took it on the chin.
Heading into the next day's final BCS standings, there was no clear-cut favorite.
On Selection Day, both the coaches and writers picked Miami No. 1, Oregon No. 2, Colorado No. 3 and Nebraska No. 4. However, it wasn't until 3 p.m. that we learned that Nebraska had earned the right to play in the championship game. Because the Huskers had lost to Colorado in their final game and because they had not even won their own division in the Big 12, you just knew there would be controversy. Oregon and Colorado both felt they should have been in the title game instead of Nebraska.
But realistically and objectively, there was no perfect choice.
Miami's blowout of Nebraska guaranteed that the debate as to who should have been there will continue. One thing is for sure -- the Miami Hurricanes are the only team to finish undefeated and are without a doubt, the undisputed national champions.
However, the lingering doubts of the 2001 season will remain as to whether the BCS is doing a good job of selecting the two most worthy teams for the championship game. It will be interesting to see what changes, if any, are made to the BCS system. Only time will tell.
It's funny, I was talking to my good friends Brent Musburger and Jack Arute before the Rose Bowl, and Jack came up with what I think is the best and simplest answer of all. If the two voting polls come up with the same No. 1 and No. 2 like they did the last two years, then we don't even need to factor in the computer rankings. But if the two polls are different, the computers could then be used to serve as a tiebreaker.
There wouldn't be much room for debate when it was all said and done. You may not know Jack, Jack, but you understand the BCS.
Regardless of what happens, college football has proven again that it is the most exciting game around.
See you next season.
Terry Bowden was the head coach at Salem College, Samford University and Auburn University. He is ABC's college football studio analyst and contributes regularly for ABC Sports Online.
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