|
|
|
|
 Wednesday, November 7, 2001
BYU politicking for BCS berth
By Brent Musburger
Special to ABC Sports Online
We hit the November stretch with three unbeatens -- Miami, Nebraska and Brigham Young.
|  | | Brandon Doman has thrown 23 TD passes and rushed for eight for the 9-0 BYU Cougars. |
Of the three, BYU is the least likely to reach the Rose Bowl presented by AT&T and play for the national title. In fact, that is impossible. Why? Because of the Cougars' strength-of-schedule. Forget Miami or Nebraska; that schedule will not boost BYU past once-beaten Oklahoma, Florida, Texas, Oregon, Tennessee or Washington.
However, there will be an intense lobby for BYU to be invited to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl if the Cougars wind up 13-0 and all of the available at-large teams from the power conferences have lost at least twice.
This Saturday, Gary Danielson, Jack Arute and I will be on hand for Miami at Boston College (ABC, 12 p.m. ET). We look forward to seeing the Hurricanes for the first time since last year's Nokia Sugar Bowl. The BCS boys got it right this week -- winning at Tallahassee is finally a quality win and the 'Canes are second behind Nebraska. If they sweep Boston College, Syracuse, Washington and Virginia Tech, they will play for the national championship in Pasadena.
This weekend became a lot easier for Miami with the suspension of Boston College running back William Green, who was the nation's leading rusher. The burden for BC now falls on quarterback Brian St. Pierre, who is the most underrated quarterback in the Big East, but outscoring the high-flying Hurricanes is something else again.
Chance for an upset: Falls from 20 to 10 percent with Green's suspension. The last time Boston College beat Miami was the legendary Hail Flutie game. Unfortunately for the Eagles, Doug is busy this week with the San Diego Chargers.
Kansas State at Nebraska (ABC, 3:30 p.m. ET). The Wildcats are improving by the week. But the Cornhuskers are focused.
Chance for an upset: 15 percent.
Brigham Young at Wyoming. BYU comes on with a great offense, questionable defense.
Chance for an upset: 10 percent.
Bowl forecasting
Here is how I foresee the BCS bowls this week (*this is all subject to change each week):
Rose Bowl presented by AT&T: Nebraska vs. Miami
FedEx Orange Bowl: Florida State vs. Tennessee
Nokia Sugar Bowl: Florida vs. Texas
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl: Oregon vs. Michigan
So what happened to Oklahoma? Under this scenario, I am projecting a Nebraska win in the Big 12 Championship game, which would boost a once-beaten Texas ahead of the twice-beaten Sooners.
Brent's Heisman Ballot
The Heisman Trophy is going to a quarterback this year. DeShaun Foster fumbled his way out of the big hardware, and UCLA has been in full retreat the last two weeks.
1. Nebraska QB Eric Crouch: He made the biggest play in the year's biggest game so far.
2. Miami QB Ken Dorsey: He can come on strong down the stretch. He has now thrown 50 TD passes. That's more than Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson or Gino Torretta.
3. Florida QB Rex Grossman: He's passed for more than 300 yards in every game this season. But of the three, he's the only one who has lost a game. His interceptions hurt the Gators at Auburn.
The lingering controversy in the Big Ten
I hear that Michigan coach Lloyd Carr is still furious with the officials and the clock operator at Michigan State for leaving that critical second on the clock as Jeff Smoker was desperately spiking the ball in an effort to give the Spartans one last play. That second was enough for Smoker to take the snap and find T.J. Duckett in the end zone for the dramatic game-winner.
Michigan should never, never have allowed this game to be put in the hands of the clock operator. The Wolverines should be more concerned about those two previous silly penalties. On fourth-and-16, the Wolverine DBs mugged receiver Charles Rogers. Following that, Michigan lined up with 12 defenders on the field. Inexcusable.
Michigan should have put this game away early in the second half. The Wolverines made a lot more mistakes than the officials did.
I can't wait to get to Boston and the BC-Miami game. No game brings back more memories for me than the day after Thanksgiving in 1984 when Flutie found Gerard Phelan for the dramatic touchdown. In case you haven't seen it, it plays weekly on ESPN Classic.
I will give you a headstart on the AFLAC Trivia Quiz this week: Who was the losing quarterback in that dramatic game? We'll have the answer for you on Saturday.
Brent Musburger is a play-by-play announcer for ABC's coverage of college football. He writes a column every week for ABC Sports Online.
|
|
|
|
ESPN.com:
HELP |
ADVERTISER INFO |
CONTACT US |
TOOLS |
SITE MAP
Copyright ©2001 ESPN Internet Group. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Safety Information are applicable to this site. Employment opportunities at ESPN.com.
|
|
