Sporting News, The: Four steps to fix the BCS - College Football

Ever see this Ted Waitt guy? Bald on top, long wisps of hair in back pulled right in a tail that dangles past his shoulders. He's 40 with a beautiful family and has more money than most walking the planet. Give it up, brother.

Take it from me: When you're bald, you're bald. It's a futile fight, just like the one Waitt entered last week.

Waitt, who is the chairman of Gateway, Inc., says he's a college football fan. Says life just isn't right because both Southern California and LSU are national champions and offered up $30 million in scholarship money if the NCAA would allow a final game between the two champions, which, not incidentally, would be simulcast on the Internet as he promoted his fancy new plasma television.

The NCAA, of course, said no. Something about logistics, academic strain on student-athletes and other nonsensical gibberish. Here's what NCAA prez Myles Brand should have said: No more pie-in-the-sky solutions or solicitors; no more tinkering and bickering. There will be no playoff--ever. And here's how we're going to fix the Bowl Championship Series for good.

Then he should have given me a holler to lay it all out for him, as plain to see as that 42-inch plasma television Mr. Waitt is sending me for throwing his name in my column--and because we're brothers in baldness. It's not that tough, really. Fixing the BCS would just take a few minor adjustments and one major accomplishment of getting everyone on board.

"If it were as easy as sitting down and figuring out a formula without holes, we'd do it," says Big East commissioner and outgoing BCS coordinator Mike Tranghese.

Well then, follow along, boys and girls, as we stride confidently into the deep, dark recesses of the behemoth BCS. Our step-by-step solution:

1. Make a decision on conference championship games. Either dump them or make them mandatory for every Division I-A league. We're looking for clearly defined conference champions because a team must win its conference to qualify for the BCS.

If the championship games are dumped, there must be a clearly stated formula for determining the league champion in the event of a tie. If opponents' winning percentage in I-A games doesn't do it, BCS ratings would.

This wouldn't he easy. Getting the SEC, the Big 12 and eventually the ACC to give up that extra $8 million to $10 million in revenue will be like getting that last doughnut from Anna Nicole Smith. And the Pac-10 and Big Ten would have to bend. "You don't think we've tried to bring that up?" says one Big 12 athletic director. "You'll never get the Pac-10 and Big Ten to agree to a championship game."

Fine. We'd give them a choice: Add an extra $8 million to $10 million yearly to the coffers--which will help keep nonrevenue sports afloat--or forget about playing for a national title. Now see how exciting the Rose Bowl becomes.

2. Return margin of victory to the computer rankings. As much as it pains me to say this, who says human polls are more accurate than computer polls? The New York Times computer poll had Maryland No. 3 in its final rankings, but one AP voter actually voted LSU third in his final poll.

Look, margin of victory influences human voters now more than ever. Why should it not have any bearing on computer polls? If anything, it would give them more credibility; it is a fair way to determine the difference between two or three or four teams.

We would cap the point number polls can use at 25, so Vanderbilt and Indiana aren't getting unfairly pummeled on a weekly basis and so some talking head who doesn't watch college football can't complain about coaches running up the score when USC hangs 60 on Stanford.

3. Add a fifth BCS game. This isn't just hush money for non-BCS leagues; it's a way to keep the current system. University presidents have asked the BCS conference commissioners to give them models of various changes to the system, and one of the proposals is a reversion to the old bowl system--an idea one BCS official says "is picking up steam."

The fifth game, one SEC athletic director says, could be played as an additional game at one of the current BCS bowl sites, likely the Sugar or Fiesta. The bowl would guarantee a spot to the non-BCS team with the highest BCS rating, but the payout would be significantly less than the $14 million per team for this year's four BCS games.

That payout would have to be supplemented by the BCS teams because it's doubtful ABC will shell out comparable bucks for a game between a BCS at-large team and the best non-BCS team. That game this year would've been Miami (Ohio) against Texas. We'd all love to see the Shorties blow it in another big game, but how much advertising revenue do you think that game would've brought ABC?

The fifth game would give non-BCS teams access to a bigger stage and a bigger payday, but the new system would not prevent a non-BCS team from playing in a bigger bowl should it finish in the top four of the BCS rankings.

4. Make the BCS rankings the final numbers. No matter what the media and coaches polls say, we're all part of the same system. So, let's all embrace it.

Forget about a national playoff system; there's as much a chance of that happening as Ted and I waking up tomorrow with mops like George Hamilton.

(S) Keep up with all the offseason news and notes at www.foxsports.com, keyword: college football.

M@IL BONDING

MATT HAYES ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

I heard that Maurice Clarett and Ohio State are talking again, and there's a possibility he could play for the Buckeyes next season. What are the odds of that?

Kelly Shipman, Cleveland

Kelly: Let's clarify this--Clarett and coach Jim Tressel are talking again, not necessarily Clarett and the university. The running back's future in Columbus will depend on Clarett's lawsuit against the NFL. If he wins the lawsuit and is eligible for the draft, he will leave college immediately. If he loses, he definitely will try to return to Ohio State. He first must be reinstated by the NCAA; then he must pass enough classes to be eligible to play in the fall.

It's certainly possible--and maybe likely--that the university will decide to cut its losses and deny Clarett's return. Tressel will do his best to smooth over hurt feelings among the administration, but Clarett has done too much damage off the field to get another pass.

E-mail: mhayes@sportingnews.com

SPEED READS

* Navy recently extended coach Paul Johnson's contract to 2009. Now the tough part: improving on Navy's first bowl season since 1996. The Middies brought 20,000 fans to the Houston Bowl; that's 40,000 eyes who want to see more in 2004.

* Kansas State quarterback Ell Roberson and coach Bill Snyder have been sort of exonerated, but both made poor decisions at the program's most visible moment. Though Roberson never was charged with sexual assault, he should've been suspended for at least a quarter of the Fiesta Bowl for breaking curfew. What a distraction in the program's first BCS bowl appearance.

* Florida coach Ran Zook received a two-year extension despite another 8-5 season and a demoralizing Outback Bowl loss. He says the program has made progress and is heading in the right direction. He should've said, "We're all learning, and we've got a long way to go, but we were the only team to beat LSU this season." At least there's truth in that.

INSIDE DISH

By MATT HAYES

Oregon could have its best recruiting class under coach Mike Bellotti, with mammoth OL Aaron Klovas (6-6, 300) and Jacob Hucko (6-8, 295) leading the way. But the the biggest reason the Ducks could move back into the Pac-10 elite is the emergence of QB Kellen Clemens. He shared time with Jason Fife much of the season, but he took over for good late in a comeback victory over California in early November and led the Ducks to wins in three of their last four games. Clemens completed 65 percent of his passes in those games, with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. Says one Pac-10 coach: "He started using his arm, not his legs." Translation: Clemens was too quick to release from the pocket and eventually learned to slide around and gain more time to throw.... Syracuse has lost two home games because of Miami's and Virginia Tech's defection to the ACC, and the fallout could mean the Orangemen will play more road or midweek games in 2004. More road games means less revenue, and a midweek game--which Syracuse never has played--would mean a parking nightmare around the on-campus Carrier Dome. Two potential opponents for Syracuse to play on the road next season are LSU and Oklahoma. LSU needs a game after Virginia Tech pulled out of its contract to play the Tigers in Baton Rouge next season.... Ohio State may move rising LB Mike D'Andrea to defensive end to make room for transfers Anthony Schlegel (Air Force) and John Kerr (Indiana). New defensive coordinator Mark Snyder, OSU's linebackers coach the past three seasons, contemplated the move in the middle of the season. The Buckeyes are deep at linebacker, with young stars A.J. Hawk and Bobby Carpenter, and D'Andrea can give the line needed speed off the edge with senior DE Will Smith gone.... Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen says he won't bring in a junior college player to replace QB Scott McBrien, who won more games (21) than any player in any two-season stretch in school history. Sophomore Joel Statham and redshirt freshman Ryan Mitch will get the first opportunity at quarterback in spring practice, but the staff believes freshman recruit Jordan Steffy could compete for--and possibly win--the starting job. That's another indication of how far the Terps have come under Friedgen: Not only are they 31-8 the last three years, they are recruiting elite quarterbacks with the ability to play immediately in Friedgen's complex system.... Texas QB Chance Mock quietly has been researching transfer possibilities in the I-AA ranks. Among the schools he is considering: Northwestern State, Western Illinois and Massachusetts .... Speaking of Texas, the state's two top recruits, QB Rhett Bomar and RB Adrian Peterson, have committed to Oklahoma. Not a good sign for Longhorns coach Mack Brawn, whose reputation has been built on his ability to recruit and keep blue-chip talent in the state.... Washington A.D. Barbara Hedges' decision to retire puts pressure on coach Keith Gilbertson, who inherited a Pac-10 championship-caliber team and struggled to finish 6-6. Hedges panicked and hired Gilbertson to stop the bleeding after NCAA gambling issues arose with former coach Rick Neuheisel. Gilbertson won't have as much leeway with whomever the university hires to replace Hedges.

MATT HAYES

mhayes@sportingnews.com