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The Red and Black • Thursday, November 1. 1990 • >
SPORTS
Football needs true champ
It’s that time of year again when
the weather gets cold, the leaves
fall from the trees and college foot
ball experts, both armchair and
analyst alike, sit down and argue
over the rightful owner of the
number one spot in the country.
To avoid these senseless squab
bles, I suggest that the NCAA quit
toying with the idea of instituting a
football tournament to determine a
true national champion and put
the blasted thing together.
FACT: The 64 team field in col
lege basketball consistently pro
duces a top-notch, undisputed
national champion year after year.
Louisville (1986), Michigan (1989)
and UNLV (1990) were all domi
nant teams that deserved national
titles.
I suggest that the
NCAA quit toying with
the idea of a football
tournament and put the
blasted thing together.
FACT: College football is consis
tently embroiled in turmoil as to a
unanimous number one choice,
even after the 'decisive’ sponsor
bowls are over and done with.
Notre Dame-Miami (1990) and
Brigham Young vs. any better-
than-average team in the country
(1984) bring to mind such traves
ties of justice.
SOLUTION: A tournament in
cluding 32 football teams from
across the country would definitely
produce the creme de la creme of
the collegiate grid-iron powers.
Think about it: Notre Dame vs. Ne
braska to see who earns the right
to play the winner of the Miami-
Auburn game for the national
championship in the NCAA Super
Bowl, not the Exxon Oil Spill Bowl
or the Federal Express Overnight
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Erik
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Bowl mind you, but simply, the
NCAA Super Bowl.
Sorry sponsors. Advertisers
should not nave the right to taint
the names of bowl games, regard
less of how meaningless they are.
Which brings me to another point.
I’m not calling for the abolish
ment of bowl games. I think they
should remain in existence for
teams not selected to compete in
the tournament, much like basket
ball’s National Invitational Tour
nament. This would provide
second-rate teams to play in a post
season game without cluttering the
national championship picture. A
team, let’s say Virginia, could play
in such a game.
Virginia? Did I just say Virginia?
The same Virginia that’s currently
sitting atop the AP’s top 25 list
with a 7-0 slate?
Putting the Cavaliers in a tour
nament with 31 quality teams
would almost ensure a first-round
elimination for the boys from Char
lottesville.
Virginia reminds me a lot of
West Virginia, who in 1989, at
tempted to compete against a more
talented, and dare I say it, why not,
REAL football team in the Iriesta
Bowl. What happened to the Moun
taineers in their bid for a national
title? Notre Dame beat the pants
off them 34-23, that’s what hap
pened.
When you play a cupcake
schedule that possesses little or no
talent and then play a Notre Dame,
you’re going to take a beating.
West Virginia was led by a
flashy auarterback by the name of
Major Harris. Against weaker com
petition, Harris looked good and
rolled up some big numbers (105-
186, 1,915 yards). Similarly, the
Cavs boasts one of the finest QBs
in the country, statistically
speaking, in Shawn Moore (98-169,
1,573 yards). Moore plays in the
weak Atlantic Coast Conference
that boasts only Clemson and
Georgia Tech as semi-legitimate
contenders.
Basically, Moore can play foot-
i oe able to
ball. In fact, he may even
play second-string for Notre Dame,
Miami or Auburn.
The point of all this is that Vir
ginia should not be number one.
The only decent team they’ve
beaten this year has been Clemson,
unless of course you consider tradi
tional powerhouses (note the sar
casm, please) William and Mary
and Wake Forest to be grid-iron
monsters.
To tell you the truth, I’m not
sure that Notre Dame or Auburn
deserves a national title. What I do
know is this:
A 32-team tournament would
most assuredly produce a top-
ranked team deserving of a na
tional crown. And then the cold
weather and falling leaves could
arrive without the sound of bick
ering over who’s number one.
Erik Schmidt ia a sports writer
for The Red and Black.
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Bowl scouts select marquee teams
By QENE WILLIAMS
Sports Writer
When the mercury drops and
October turns into November, the
college football bowl scene heats
up as bowl scouts from around
the country scramble to select
marquee teams to grace their sta
diums.
Unlike most years, each of the
m^jor conferences has an oppor
tunity to have a team play for the
national championsnip. Even
though bowl invitations cannot
be officially extended until Nov.
24, let’s take a look at the cloudy
bowl scene.
Citrus Bowl If the ACC
champ is ranked No. 1 in the UPI
poll on the second Tuesday in No
vember, they have the option of
playing in the Sugar, Cotton or
Orange Bowls instead of the
Citrus if their opponent is ranked
2,3 or 4. If the ACC champ is 2, 3
or 4, they may play the No. 1
team in the Sugar, Orange, or
Cotton Bowls and forgo the
Citrus. With Virginia on the road
to finishing the season unde
feated and ranked No. 1, they
will be on every bowl scouts’
Christmas wish list.
If the Cavaliers defeat Georgia
Tech this Saturday, they will
probably play second-ranked
Notre Dame for the national
championship, provided the Irish
win the rest of their games. Notre
Dame still has games against
Navy, Tennessee. Penn State and
Southern California. If the Irish
fall and the Cavs continue to win,
then the door is open for them to
leave the Citrus and possibly
play Nebraska in the Orange or
Auburn in the Sugar for the title.
Sugar Bowl The host team is
always the SEC champ which
this season will probably be
fourth-ranked Auburn (6-0-1, 3-
0-1 in the SEC). Tennessee (4-1-
2, 2-1-1) and, suprisingly, Ole
Miss (7-1, 3-1) are still in the
hunt. The Sugar Bowl wants Au
burn because the Tigers will be in
the top five and contending for
the national title if they don’t
falter the rest of the season,
making them a bigger TV draw
than the upstart Rebels.
But the Tigers have a tough
road to New Orleans with games
against Florida, Georgia, and Al
abama upcoming. Ole Miss still
has dates with LSU, Tennessee
and Mississippi State, while the
Volunteers must face Notre
Dame, Kentucky and Vanderbilt
in addition to the Rebels.
Orange Bowl The Big 8
winner goes here and the leading
candidate is third-ranked Ne
braska. With a cream puff
schedule, the Comhuskers have
breezed to an 8-0 record, but have
tough games against ninth-
ranked Colorado and Oklahoma
remaining. With Oklahoma on
probation, the Buffaloes (7-1-1)
are the only team standing in the
way of another trip to Miami for
Nebraska. Nebraska and Colo
rado meet this week at Lincoln.
Rose Bowl In recent veers,
the “Granddaddy of them air has
had as much impact on deter
mining the national champion as
the Tournament of Roses Parade.
The game, which pits the win
ners of the Big 10 and the Pacific
10, could feature two teams in
the top 10. Fifth-ranked Illinois
(6-1, 4-0) and 13th-ranked Iowa
(6-1, 4-0) are the frontrunners in
the Big 10 and the two titans
meet Saturday in Champaign to
determine who will have the in
side track to Pasadena. The Pac-
10 is led by the seventh-ranked
Huskies (7-1, 5-0) from Wash
ington. The Huskies have run
over the Pac-10, but they still
must play 23rd-ranked Arizona
Saturday as well as a weak
UCLA team and Washington
State.
The Cotton Bowl is really the
big loser in the bowl bonanza.
The SWC champ hosts the event,
but the conference will probably
be forced to send its second best
team. Sixth-ranked Houston (7-
0) is on probation and is ineligible
for a bowl bid. With games re
maining against TCU, Texas,
Eastern Washington and Arizona
State, the Cougars will probably
finish the season undefeated and,
even though they are on proba
tion, will be in the top five in the
country.
Discounting Houston, 14th-
ranked Texas (5-1, 3-0) leads the
race to visit Dallas on Jan. 1.
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