SPORTS
What if March Madness was in BCS form?
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Wednesday, December 5, 2001
A recent Badger Herald column by Sports Editor Lars Russell sang the praises of the Bowl Championship Series over a playoff. And while my colleague made some very good points, I remain a staunch supporter of football tournaments, based on the juggernaut that the NCAA uses to determine its national basketball champion.
After all, can you imagine the loss of luster basketball would suffer if it used a BCS system? I asked myself that very question. What if it was football that had the tournament? This is the vision I saw as the answers to these questions.
It’s early March, and based on the recently released BCS standings, Maryland and Duke would play in the new BCS title game, which replaces the old tournament, at Chicago’s United Center if it were held today. Kentucky and Missouri are close behind. Those are the only four teams with a shot at the title game. Duke and Maryland will face each other in the ACC title game, while Kentucky faces Florida in the SEC title game. Missouri has the easiest route, facing Oklahoma to the Big 12 championship.
Meanwhile, let’s go back to December. The final conference championship games have been played, and the first-ever 16-team NCAA Football Tournament field has been set. The first round is under way and the first upset has already occurred. No. 9 BYU, who got into the field as the Mountain West champ, pulled out a thrilling 53-48 win over Illinois. That game overshadowed another upset, as 11.5-point underdog Maryland knocked off Texas 31-28. The Terrapins stormed to a 31-0 lead, but after UT coach Mack Brown pulled Chris Simms for Major Applewhite, the Longhorns staged a furious comeback that fell just short. Top-seeded Miami advances, as does Colorado, Nebraska, Tennessee, Florida and Oregon.
“Words can’t express how I feel right now,” BYU coach Gary Crowton said. “We would have never gotten our chance before this year because we don’t play in a ‘power conference.’ This is so fulfilling.”
Back in March, Duke takes a convincing 90-75 victory over Maryland to essentially lock up a berth in the BCS title game. After Kentucky takes a tight, 71-69 win over the Gators, it appears that the national title game will be Blue Devil-Wildcat matchup. But Missouri is yet to play, and with Oklahoma without both Ebe Eri and Josh Price, who went down with injuries in OU’s semifinal upset of Oklahoma State, a big Missouri win could push the Tigers past Kentucky in the BCS standings because of the margin of victory factor in all of the computer polls.
“The fate of my team comes down to how Missouri performs,” UK coach Tubby Smith said. “It’s not like it used to be. It’s either us or them—we don’t get the chance to earn the title.”
In December, Maryland is quickly becoming the darlings of the nation after stunning second-seeded Tennessee 24-14 to advance to the semifinals. In the other early game, BYU has run ends quickly with a 41-14 loss to Miami. At the Gator Bowl, the home-state advantage keys a 27-24 Florida win over Oregon, and No. 4 Nebraska avenges its earlier loss to Colorado, knocking off the Buffalo’s 48-28.
This March is not a good time to be an Oklahoma Sooner basketball player. Missouri coach Quinn Snyder is going for the throat, pressing on defensive and giving star Kareem Rush freedom on offense. With six minutes to go and the Tigers leading 71-41, the Sooners go to the bench to give its seniors one last time on the floor. Missouri does not, instead keeping full pressure on and when the game was over, the final score showed a 102-45 Tiger win.
Columnists nationwide denounced Missouri’s tactics, but the Tigers were nevertheless rewarded—Missouri did indeed jump Kentucky and will face Duke in the BCS title game.
“I don’t like having to win like that to get in,” Snyder said after the final standings were released. “But I had to do what was best for our kids and give them a shot at their dreams.”
In December, the Maryland-Florida semifinal game at the Orange Bowl is THE sports event Saturday afternoon. There is overwhelming public support for the Terrapins to knock off the mighty Gators, but it is not to be. Behind the devastating combination of quarterback Rex Grossman and wide receiver Jabar Gaffney, Florida becomes the first team to earn a spot in the tournament’s championship game. But it’s only a precursor of what is to come.
There is a buzz in the air heading into the evening in New Orleans. The Sugar Bowl will host the hotly anticipated matchup between Nebraska and Miami. The game lives up to it’s hype. When Eric Crouch scored on a three-yard scramble with two seconds left to give the Huskers a 29-27 win, the game had scored the highest television rating for a college football game of all time. The title game is still to be played, but there is no doubt that the tournament is a wild success.
In March, guest commentator and Gonzaga coach Mark Few makes an interesting observation. The Zags had won the West Coast Conference title with a 90-74 win over Pepperdine before knocking off WAC champion Fresno State in their bowl game a few days earlier.
“No one really has a chance to see us play,” Few said. “There is no Cinderella this season. One game, win or lose, and the season is over. It doesn’t seem right.”
On the floor, Rush has the game of a lifetime with 46 points, but ultimately the Blue Devils pull away and win the title with an 84-70 victory. There is the traditional championship celebration, but after the game the mood is simply not as jovial as one would expect.
“It just feels kind of weird,” Duke guard Jason Williams said. “Last year it was a month-long battle and there was such a sense of accomplishment. Tonight it just felt like another game against a good team. It wasn’t just any game, but that’s how it felt.”
Meanwhile, Pasadena is rocking in early January. Nebraska and Florida are set to go head-to-head at the Rose Bowl for the first tournament championship. In a back-and-forth battle, the Huskers, behind the legs and arms of Crouch, edge the Gators 41-35 to capture the title.
Following the game, as Nebraska fans flooded the field, Husker coach Frank Solich gushed to reporter Gary Danielson.
“This is the most thrilling experience of my life,” Solich said. “We’d have been frozen out under the old BCS. Now that the tournament is over, I have only one question. Why on Earth did we wait so long to do this?”
That’s a very good question. Why?
