South Florida Sun Sentinel from Fort Lauderdale, Florida • Page 43

NWS Monday, December 10, 2001 3D Canes know how the others fee. 1 M. '41' Y. "We said we were going to go out and take care of our own self this season so we wouldn't have to worry about anyone else writing our destiny for us," said UM cornerback Markese Fitzgerald, "and that's what we did." Despite the controversy, this year's Rose Bowl matchup will be billed as one of legendary proportions considering the long-standing rivalry Miami and Nebraska have built over the years. This will be the fifth meeting between the two teams since 1983, and all of those games have been played with at least one team ranked in the top two.

In four of the five meetings, the national championship has been at stake. Since 1983, UM has won four national titles while Nebraska has won three. Between the two programs, they will own eight of the last 19 national championships when a winner emerges on Jan. 3, which is one of the reasons why Coker believes the Hurricanes are facing the right opponent. "We all knew what the system was, and how we'd have to play, which is why I don't feel like Nebraska should have to explain themselves that much because they won," Coker said.

"They went through the system, they have an excellent team that lost one game. They were able to come through the system and made it to the championship game." BCS CONTINUED FROM PAGE ID points, Colorado third at 7.28 and Oregon (10-1), the Pac-10 champion, was fourth with 8.67. "I don't really understand the BCS system, but I know it's kept some good teams out of the championship game," said Hur-licanes senior receiver Daryl Jones. Jones is referring to the Hurricanes' snub last season when Florida State was chosen to play Oklahoma in the national championship game, even though UM beat the Seminoles during the season. "My heart goes out to teams like Oregon, Illinois and Colorado," Jones said.

"I've been there. After giving up 62 points in their loss to Colorado for Nebraska to still be in the championship game without even winning the conference, it has to be tough for the nation." Especially tough for Colorado and Oregon to swallow since each could have very well slipped into the national championship game after LSU's 31-20 upset of Tennessee in Saturday night's Southeastern Conference title game. If Tennessee would have won, the Vols would have been UM's opponent on Jan. 3 in Pasadena, Calif. "I put a lot of trust in the system working, and it did work," said Colorado coach Gary Bar-nett, whose Buffaloes will play Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl.

"It just didn't work in our favor. I probably should have lobbied a little bit for it. This sort of takes UM'S NEXT GAME Miami vs. Nebraska (Rose Bowl) The Hurricanes meet the Comhuskers for the national championship. Chs.

1 0 and 25 will broadcast the game Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. MIAMI (11-0) 33 at Penn State 61 0 43 at Pittsburgh 2V 38 State ...7 Florida State 27 45 West Virginia ...3 38 ...0 1 9 Boston College 7 59 ...0 65 Washington 7 26 Virginia Tech ,7 NEBRASKA 1-1) 21 Texas Christian 7 42 State 27 Dame ..1 0 48 Rice 3 36 Missouri 3 48 Iowa State 48.. 7 41 Texas Tech ....31 ........10 51., at Kansas ...7 31 Kansas 21 36 Colorado ...62 UM NEBRASKA SERIES Site or Season Winner (Bowl) 1994 Nebraska 24-17 (Orange) 1992 Miami 22-0 (Orange) 1989 Miami 23-3 (Orange) 1984 Miami 31-30 (Orange) 1976 Nebraska 17-9 Lincoln; 1975 Nebraska 31-16 Lincoln 1962 Nebraska 36-34 (Gotham) 1953 Nebraska 20-16 Lincoln' 1951 Miami 19-7 Miami SHUFFLING OFF THE BUFFALOES: Colorado coach Gary Barnett covers his face as the announcement is made that Nebraska will play in the Rose Bowl. AP photoDavid Zalubowski happen," Like powerhouse teams Oklahoma, Texas, Florida and Tennessee being in line to play in the Rose Bowl before dropping the ball by losing their final games of the season, Oklahoma let rival Oklahoma State pull off a surprising 16-13 victory the day after Nebraska stumbled.

Texas let Colorado upset it 39-37 for the Big 12 title. And Florida, which made a miraculous comeback after an early loss to Auburn, blew its chance with a 34-32 loss to Tennessee, which blew its chance on Saturday. It was just the second time since the poll began in 1936 that the No. 2 team lost three weeks in a row. What all those upsets created was the closest race in the BCS's four-year history, and one that will tarnish the image of any bowl series that doesn't have a playoff format.

"Colorado and Oregon are great teams," Nebraska coach Frank Solich said. "Any time you don't have two clear-cut, undefeated teams, you're going to have controversy." The Hurricanes learned their lesson about the BCS computations last season when UM was hoping that the final computations would spit out its name, but instead the Seminoles got the shot to play Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. a little luster off my support for the BCS." Even UM coach Larry Coker admitted that he was startled that Nebraska, a team that lost its final game, could end up playing against the Hurricanes. "We're just pleased we didn't get into the melee of being there with all those one-loss teams," said Coker, who had sympathy for Oregon, which was the consensus No. 2 team in both the USA TodayESPN and AP polls.

"It is surprising how it works out," Coker said. "You think you have a good system, but you know how things can happen. It's college football. Crazy things without a question will FINAL BCS RANKINGS POLLS ASSOCIATED PRESS (WRITERS) Stop me if you Ve heard the one about the BCS Polls comp. schedule Sub Final AP U-E Avg.

Avg. str Rank Total QWIn Total 1. Miami 1 1 1.0 1.00 18 0.72 0 2.72 2.62 2. Nebraska 4 4 4.0 2.17 14 0.56 1 7.73 7.23 3. Colorado 3 3 3.0 4.50 2 0.08 2 9.58 7.28 4.

Oregon 2 2 2.0 4.83 31 1.24 1 9.07 8.67 5. Florida 5 5 5.0 5.83 19 0.76 2 13.59 13.09 6. Tennessee 8 8 8.0 6.17 3 0.12 2 16.29 14.69 7. Texas 9 9 9.0 6.67 33 1.32 2 18.99 17.79 8. Illinois 7 7 7 0 9.83 37 1.48 1 19.31 19.31 9.Stanford 11 11 11.0 7.83 22 0.88 2 21.71 20.41 10, Maryland 6 6 6.0 11.17 78 3.12 1 21.29 21.29 11.

Oklahoma 10 10 10.0 9.00 36 1.44 2 22.44 21.54 12. Wash. State 13 13 13.0 10.83 42 1.68 2 27.51 26.91 13. LSU 12 12 12.0 13.33 10 0.40 3 28.73 27.73 14. S.Carolina 14 14 14.0 19.17 40 ,1.60 3 37.77 0.0 37.77 15.

Washington 21 20 20.5 14.83 21 0.84 3 39.17 38.17 Rec. Pt. PV. 1. Miami (72) 11-0 1.100 1 J.Oregon 1 10-1 1,698 Si 3 3.

Colorado 10-2 1.649 4 4 Nebraska 11-1 1,556 5 J. Florida 91 1.39 6. Maryland 10-1 1.3K4 7. Illinois 10-1 1,381 8 10-2 1,309 2 9. Texas 10-2 1,226 10 10.

Oklahoma 10-2 1.222 11 11. Stanford 9-2 1,088 12 12. LSU 93 1,006 21 13. wash. State Wj; 92 897 i 13 14.

South Carolina 8-3 742 14 15. Virginia Tech 8-3 732 15 16 Georgia 8-3 672 16 17. Michigan 8-3 670 17 18. Syracuse 9-3 523 18 19 BYU 12-1 522 9 20. Fresno State 11-2 518 19 21.

Washington 8-3 502 20 22 OniO State 7-4 268 22 23-Louisville 102 225 23 24. Florida Stat 7-4 160 24 25. Toledo 9-2 85 25 Others receiving votes: Hawaii 57, n.c. State 37, Auburn 26, Arkansas 22, Marshall 21, Boston College 13, Georgia Tech 11, North Carolina 7, Texas 6, UCLA 6, Iowa St. 4, Mississippi 3, Texas Tech 3, Louisiana Tech 2, Bowling Green 1.

ESPNUSA TODAY (COACHES) POLL AVERAGE The average of The Associated Press media poll and USA Today-ESPN coaches poll. Others receiving votes are calculated in order received. COMPUTER AVERAGE The average of Anderson Hester, Colley Matrix, Richard Billingsley, Kenneth Massey, David Rothman, Jeff Sagarin, Matthews Scripps-Howard, and the Peter Wolfe computer rankings. The computer component will be determined by averaging six rankings. The highest and lowest will be disregarded.

SCHEDULE RANK Rank of schedule strength compared to other Division l-A teams divided by 25. This component is calculated by determining the cumulative wonloss records of the team's opponent (66.6 percent) and the cumulative wonloss records of the team's opponents' opponents (33.3 percent). For example, Miami finished the regular season with the 1 8th most difficult schedule in the nation. LOSSES One point for each loss during the season. QUALITY WIN COMPONENT The quality win component will reward to varying degrees teams that defeat opponents ranked among the top 1 5 in the weekly standings.

The bonus point scale will range from a high of 1.5 points for a win over the top ranked team to a low of 0.1 for a victory over the 1 5th-ranked BCS team. The final BCS standings will determine final quality win points. If a team registers a victory over a team more than once during the regular season quality win points will be awarded Just once. Quality win points are deducted from the team's total of poll average, computer average, schedule rank and losses. Rec, Pts.

Pv. I. Miami (60) 11-0 1,500 1 2. Oregon 10-1 1,398 3 3. Colorado 10-2 1.337 5 4.

Nebraska 11-1 1,334 4 J. Florida 1,184 6. Maryland 10-1 1.16 7 7. liltnois 10-1 1,145 8t 8. Tennessee 10-2 1.105 2 9 Texas 10-2 1,034 10 IQ.Oklahoma 10 2 9 16 11 II.

Stanford 9-2 889 12 12. LSU 9-3 78 20 13. Wash. State 9-2 764 13 14. South Carolina 8-3 660 14 15.

Michiean 8-3 624 15 16. Virginia Tech 8-3 595 16 17. BYU 12-1 529 8t 18. Syracuse 93 492 17 19. Georgia -5-'fc 8-3 469 18 20.

Washington 8-3 393 19 21. Fresno state" 11-2 323 21 22 Louisville 10-2 221 22 23 Ohio State 7-4 198 23 24. Florida state 7-4 137 24 25 Marshall 10 2 59 25 Omar Kelly can be reached at ceptions than touchdowns, but that didn't affect the Heisman voters nearly as much as it will this national championship game. Crouch runs the option rushing attack evidently as well as anyone at one of those Option U. schools has.

But as Miami defensive back James Lewis said: "They really haven't shown a passing game, and you can't beat us just running the ball. This isn't high school." You'd like to say Nebraska has the same chance Oklahoma did last year in beating favored Florida State. But Oklahoma had a great defense. Nebraska's defense gave up those 62 points to Colorado. Miami has the most potent offense in the country.

But let's say Miami's day isn't like Colorado's day. Let's say it only puts up 30 points. Do you think Nebraska's one-dimensional, always-predictable, dare-we-say-high-school offense can do 31 points of damage to Miami's defense? Well? "I'm looking forward to that can be ordered. Those or dering will be informed of the price at time of ordering. In other bowl news: FIESTA Oregon (10-1) and Colorado (10-2) will get a chance to prove that the BCS computer had its wires crossed by choosing Nebraska instead of them.

Oregon's Mike Bellotti, who rarely shows anger on or off the field, fumed at the BCS rankings, calling them a "travesty." "I liken the BCS to a bad disease, like cancer," he said before the Ducks' practice in Eugene. "We're No. 2 in both polls, but those things don't have a lot of merit, obviously." Colorado coach Gary Barnett couldn't understand how Nebraska, which was thrashed 62-36 by the Buffaloes in Boulder on Nov. 23, could be ranked ahead of his team. "It's hard to be gracious at this moment," he said.

SUGAR LSU's reward for winning its first SEC Championship Game was an invitation to play No. 7 Illinois (10-1) on Jan. 1. It's the first trip to the New Orleans gets on Orange crate, calls for playoff playing the Heisman Trophy winner," Lewis said. For now, there will be a lot of talk about how to remedy the BCS system.

This is like plugging another finger in the dam. Last year, when a one-loss Florida State beat out a one-loss Miami for the title berth despite Miami beating Florida State, they tweaked the system to consider head-to-head games. Now they might factor in a conference title to the mix. Whatever. Sunday's best answer came when Miami running back Clinton Portis was asked who he wanted to see in the Rose Bowl.

As if it mattered. As if mattered what anyone wanted. "I want to see Halle Berry," hesaid. He then smiled. That's the best option today.

Roll your eyes. Shake your head. And smile at how the BCS screwed it up once again and, once again, in a way no one could have imagined. i 1 1 i. nj.li 1 1 Dave Hyde can be reached I game for the school in Baton Rouge, in 15 years.

"The game is now a sellout," Sugar Bowl Executive Director Paul Hoolahan said Sunday. "That happened almost simultaneous with LSU winning" against Tennessee, COTTON Unranked Arkansas (7-4) accepted a bid to play No. 10 Oklahoma (10-2) on New Year's Day. Coach Houston Nutt said the Razorbacks are excited about the postseason, which didn't seem all that likely earlier this year. "I don't think they ever stopped believing, but at 1-3 you're not thinking about the Cotton Bowl, you're just trying to get a first down," Nutt said Sunday.

Oklahoma will make its first appearance in the Cotton Bowl. CITRUS Tennessee's loss in the SEC Championship Game was a win for the Citrus Bowl. The No. 8 Volunteers (10-2) will play No. 17 Michigan (8-3) on New Year's Day in Orlando in the first meeting between the schools.

HYDE CONTINUED FROM PAGE ID funny? Surely it's not funny if you're an Oregon or Colorado fan, although Colorado fans should button it up some. Their team lost two games this season. Two games isn't just a back-breaker. It's a discus-sion-ender. A one-loss Oregon has a better argument, and it doesn't matter if Colorado would have given Miami a better game.

A two-loss Florida would have given it a better game than Colorado. And Florida isn't complaining. "You won your close ones, and we didn't," Florida coach Steve Spurrier told Miami's Larry Coker at the Heisman Trophy award ceremony Saturday night at which neither oftheirplayerswon. Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch won the Heisman, and there will be no arguing with that. Whoever won this year had warts that couldn't be cut off.

Crouch threw more inter er said. "The Orange Bowl is one of the big four." Those interested in buying tickets through UF can call toll-free at 877-428-6742 or 352-384-326 1 and place an order through the school's automated system. There are no limits to the number of tickets BOWL SCHEDULE Jan. 3 Rose: Miami-Nebraska, 8 p.m, Pasadena, 063 Jan. 2 Oranga: Maryland-Florida, 8 p.m.

Pro Player Stadium, CD69 Jan. 1 Fiesta: Oregon-Colorado, 4:30 p.m, Tempe, Ariz, CDXi) Jan. 1 Sugar: 8:30 p.m., New Orleans, CD Jan. 1 Citrus: Michigan-Tennessee, 1 p.m, Orlando, T)) Jan. 1 Outback: Ohio State-South Carolina, 1 1 a.m.

Jampa, (fp) Jan. 1 Cotton: Oklahoma-Arkansas, 1 1 a.m, Dallas, fSw Jan. 1 Gator: Florida State-Virginia Tech, 1 2:30 p.m., Jacksonville, G0 Dae. 31 Libarty: BYU-Louisville, 4 p.m, Memphis, (jESPN) Dae. 31 Paach: North Carolina-Auburn, 7:30 p.m., Atlanta, (SPrD Dae.

31 Humanitarian: La. Tech-Clemson, 1 2:30 p.m, Boise, Idaho, (fSPSD Dae. 31 Sun: Purdue-Washington State, Noon, El Paso, Texas, CB Dec. 31 Silicon Valley: Fresno State-Mich. State, 3 p.m, San Jose, Calif, (FSN) Dac.

29 Alamo: Iowa-Texas Tech, 3:30 p.m, San Antonio, SPfD Dac. 29 lnsight.com: Syracuse-Kansas St, 5:30 p.m, Phoenix, (I SPNg) Dac. 29 Motor City: Toledo-Cincinnati, Noon, Pontiac, Mich, (E SPNJ Dec. 28 Holiday. Washington-Texas, 8:30 p.m., San Diego, ESPN) Dec.

28 Galleryfurnltura.com: Texas 1 :30 p.m, Houston, (ESPN) Dec. 28 Music City: Boston College-Georgia, p.m, Nashville, Tenn, (ESPN) Dec. 27 Independence: Iowa State-Alabama, 7:30 p.m, Shreveport, La, (ESPR) Dec. 27 Seattle: Stanford-Georgia Tech, 4 p.m, SPND Dec. 25 Lai Vegas: Southern California-Utah, 3:30 p.m, C9 Dec.

20 Tangerine: State, 7:30 p.m, Orlando, (ESPN) Dec. 1 9 GMAC: Marshall-East Carolina, 8 p.m. Mobile, Ala, (E SPN2) Dec. 18 New Orleans: North Texas-Colorado State, 8 p.m, tiSPN2) Others receiving votes: Toledo 45, Hawaii 30, Auburn 29, North Carolina State 23, Arkansas 22, Boston College 21, Iowa State 1 3, Alabama 10, North Carolina 10, Texas 7, Mississippi 6, Southern California 5, Georgia Tech 4, UCLA 3, Texas Tech 1. -S -i 1 1 ill tTi 1 SEC CHAMPIONSHIP 21.

LOUISIANA STATE 31, 2. TENNESSEE 20 TannetsM LSU 17 3 320 1531 FIRST QUARTER LSU Mauck 4 run (Corbello kick), 8:14. SECOND QUARTER Ten Washington 31 pass from Clausen (Walls kick), 9:04. Ten Fleming 3 pass from Clausen (walls kick), 618. Ten FG walls 51, 3:52.

LSU FG Corbello 45, :29. v. THIRD QUARTER LSU FG Corbello 47, 11:51. LSU FG Corbello 45,2:45. FOURTH QUARTER LSU Mauck 13 run (Reed pass from Mauck), 14 20.

Ten FG Walls 21, 9:55. LSU Davis 1 run (Corbello kick), 2:26. A 74,843. TEN LSU First downs 17 20 Rushes-yards 18-50 42-134 Passing I 332 151 Comp-Atllnt 27-43-0 14-35-0 Return Yards 17 .39 PuntsAvg. 4-392 4-452 Fumbles-Lost 2-2 0-0 Penalties-Yards 10-78 5-32 Time of Possession 25:39 34.21 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING Tennessee, Stephens 14-37, Stallworth 1-11, Clausen 3-2.

LSU, Davis 16-78, Mauck 12-43, Toefieid 7-18, Davey 4- 5, team 3-(minus 10). passing Tennessee, Clausen 27-43-0-332. LSU, Davey 9-20-0-84, Mauck 5- 15-0-67. receiving Tennessee, Washington 9-140, Stallworth 7-96, Witten 3-40, Graham 2-24, Bartholomew 2-18, Stephens 2-7, Parker 1-4, Fleming 1-3. LSU, Reed 4-60, Clayton 4-54, Royal 2-17, Myers 2-13, Toe-field 1-5, Henderson 1-2.

Spurrier BOWLS CONTINUED FROM PAGE ID on the line, so I don't know. I guess you could ask Tennessee why they didn't either Saturday night." One victory from the national title game, Tennessee was upset by LSU 3 1 -20 on Saturday night in Atlanta. Instead of playing Miami in the Rose Bowl, the Vols will play Michigan in the Citrus Bowl. The Gators have played in two Orange Bowls a 31-10 rout of Donovan McNabb and Syracuse in 1999 and a 27-12 victory over Georgia Tech in 1967, when Spurrier was Florida's quarterback. Not surprisingly, Spurrier reiterated his plea for a playoff system.

"As we all know, college football is not the most fair thing without a playoff system," he said. "I heard Nebraska only beat two ranked teams the entire season. I didn't realize that." Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen agreed with Spurrier and added that Maryland is "euphoric" about heading to Miami. Orange Bowl CEO Keith Tribble said his bowl chose the Gators over Tennessee because of their large fan base and high BCS ranking (fifth, to the Vols' sixth). "We're excited to be playing in a mam bowl game," Spurri.