Bowl Alliance Might Leave Fans Without a Team to Argue About

The bowl alliance has been a lot of things--bewitched, bothered, bewildered.

One thing it has never been:

Boring.

Chaos has its place as a spectator sport, as evidenced by all those harrowing, thrill-ride twists and turns during Saturday’s action.

In what other arena can the Rose Bowl, like a thief, steal the

national championship game from the Orange Bowl between breakfast and dinner?

Like a pebble in my shoe, I’m going to miss the mind-boggling machinations the bowl alliance often wrought.

With Michigan on Sunday having solidified its No. 1 position in the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN polls, and the Rose Bowl a year from joining the “super” alliance, the Orange Bowl cannot match the nation’s top two teams in its Jan. 2 “title” game.

If form holds, the best it can do is match No. 2 Nebraska with No. 3 Tennessee, then hope Washington State beats Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

If Michigan wins, they’ll be serving dead duck L’Orange in Miami.

As much as a playoff would bring a tidy, sanitized, lock-step NFL-order to the college game, it would also cut by half the spirited and half-cocked discussions the alliance has elicited in campus pubs across America.

If Michigan and Nebraska end up 1-2 next year, the schools will play for the title in the Fiesta Bowl.

What are we going to argue about?

Until then, let us, as USC players used to do, fight on.

After sifting through Saturday’s rubble, here’s a look at the winners and losers.

WINNERS

* Rose Bowl. Hey, such a deal. Buy one national title game--get one free. As part of its agreement to join the alliance next year, the Rose Bowl received the championship game of 2002.

“Granddaddy,” which was brought kicking and screaming into the new deal, suddenly has two of the next five title games. Michigan’s win over Ohio State was sweet, but it was pure manna that Florida upended Florida State, the coaches’ No. 1, to make the Wolverines a unanimous No. 1 entering the Rose Bowl.

* Steve Spurrier. The Florida coach galvanized his status as college football’s best game-day tactician with his strategy of platooning quarterbacks Doug Johnson and Noah Brindise on alternating plays against Florida State. Spurrier suspected the Seminoles had intercepted the Gators’ hand signals, so he adjusted. Florida won, 32-29, denying Florida State a shot at the national title for the third consecutive season.

* Tennessee. Whoa, looky here. The Volunteers were left for dead after another defeat to Florida in September, but Florida State’s loss puts them right back in the chase. If No. 1 Michigan loses in the Rose Bowl, an Orange Bowl matchup of No. 2 Nebraska and No. 3 Tennessee would be for the title, no?

* Arizona State. Washington State knocked the Sun Devils out of the Rose Bowl race Saturday but, funny, no one in Tempe is crying. That’s because 8-2 Arizona State will likely get a hometown Fiesta Bowl bid if the Sun Devils beat Arizona on Friday.

* Auburn. The Tigers’ miracle 18-17 comeback win over Alabama not only may have saved Coach Terry Bowden’s job, it also kept Auburn’s alliance chances alive. The alternative might have been the, uh hum, Independence Bowl.

* Michigan. Not only are the Wolverines great, they’re great when it counts. Saturday’s win over Ohio State was Michigan’s eighth in a row against AP top 10 opponents.

* Notre Dame. Order has been restored in South Bend, where the Irish can clinch a bowl spot with a win against lowly Hawaii on Saturday.

* Penn State. Two weeks after getting crushed at home by Michigan, the Nittany Lions are back at No. 4 in both polls and can clinch an alliance bowl berth with a win at Michigan State on Saturday.

LOSERS

* UCLA. The Bruins have won nine in a row, are ranked No. 6 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the coaches’, yet TWO other Pac-10 teams will likely end up at better bowls. This is politics, pure and simple. UCLA is certainly alliance worthy, but the Fiesta will take 9-2 Arizona State over 9-2 UCLA because the New Year’s Eve time slot is a ratings dog and the Sun Devils will sell tickets.

* Washington State. How is it the Cougars are 10-1 and ranked only 10th in both polls? This is an outrage, another example of a team that wasn’t ranked in the preseason being overlooked in favor of traditional favorites. If Washington State beats No. 1 Michigan, and every other team has one defeat, why shouldn’t the Cougars be national champions?

* Nebraska. There’s a real chance the Cornhuskers will end up unbeaten and without a piece of the national title. Fair or not, many pollsters have deemed Nebraska’s fluke victory against Missouri a political defeat.

* Kansas State. The Wildcats, guaranteed, are going to have a tizzy fit if Arizona State aces them out of the $8-million Fiesta berth. We’ll say again to Kansas State: Get a schedule. Michigan played Colorado and Notre Dame in September, K-State opened with Northern Illinois, Ohio and Bowling Green, then lost to Nebraska by 30 in Big 12 play.

* North Carolina. The Tar Heels are also in gripe mode about being 10-1 and likely not getting an alliance berth. Boys, you were 8-0, had Florida State at home, and didn’t even put up a fight. Next case, please.

* Ohio State Coach John Cooper. How can you not feel sorry for this guy? He has fielded terrific teams year after year, but he was hired specifically to beat Michigan. He’s 1-8-1 against Michigan.

* Mississippi State. That Arkansas loss was a gut punch. Instead of having an inside track for spot in the SEC title game, the the Bulldogs need to beat Mississippi and have LSU and Auburn to lose next week to win the SEC West.

Good luck there.

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Tentative Bowl Lineup

Projections of bowl matchups, which in many cases are made based on teams winning any remaining regular-season games and/or the outcome of conference championship games. All times Pacific.

SATURDAY, DEC. 20

* LAS VEGAS BOWL (At Las Vegas): Mississippi State vs. Brigham Young, 3 p.m. (ESPN2)

THURSDAY, DEC. 25

* ALOHA BOWL (At Honolulu): Oklahoma State vs. USC, 12:30 p.m. (ABC)

FRIDAY, DEC. 26

* MOTOR CITY BOWL (At Pontiac, Mich.): Marshall or Toledo vs. Michigan State, 5 p.m. (ESPN)

SATURDAY, DEC. 27

* INSIGHT.COM BOWL (At Tucson): New Mexico vs. Notre Dame, 5 p.m. (ESPN)

SUNDAY, DEC. 28

* INDEPENDENCE BOWL (At Shreveport, La.): Louisiana State vs. Air Force, 5 p.m. (ESPN)

MONDAY, DEC. 29

* HUMANITARIAN BOWL (At Boise, Idaho): Utah State vs. Oregon, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN2)

* CARQUEST BOWL (At Miami): Clemson vs. West Virginia, 4:30 p.m. (TBS)

* HOLIDAY BOWL (At San Diego): Texas A&M; vs. Colorado State, 5 p.m. (ESPN)

TUESDAY, DEC. 30

* ALAMO BOWL (At San Antonio): Missouri vs. Purdue, 5 p.m. (ESPN)

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 31

* SUN BOWL (At El Paso): Washington vs. Iowa, 11 a.m. (CBS)

* LIBERTY BOWL: (At Memphis, Tenn.): Mississippi vs. Southern Mississippi, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN)

* FIESTA BOWL (At Tempe, Ariz.): Arizona State vs. Syracuse, 4 p.m. (CBS)

THURSDAY, JAN. 1

* OUTBACK BOWL (At Tampa, Fla.): Wisconsin vs. Auburn, 8 a.m. (ESPN)

* GATOR BOWL (At Jacksonville, Fla.): North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech, 9:30 a.m. (NBC)

* CITRUS BOWL (At Orlando, Fla.): Ohio State vs. Florida, 10 a.m. (ABC)

* COTTON BOWL (At Dallas): Kansas State vs. UCLA, 10:30 a.m. (CBS)

* ROSE BOWL (At Pasadena): Washington State vs. Michigan, 2 p.m. (ABC)

* SUGAR BOWL (At New Orleans): Florida State vs. Penn State, 5 p.m. (ABC)

FRIDAY, JAN. 2

* PEACH BOWL (At Atlanta): Virginia vs. Georgia, noon (ESPN)

* ORANGE BOWL: (at Miami): Nebraska vs. Tennessee, 5 p.m. (CBS)