The Miami Herald du lieu suivant : Miami, Florida • 54

12D COLLEGE FOOTBALL wwwheraldcom Monday December 4 2000 Canes remain upbeat i 1 -v V- j- rYZ' Vji i 4 f-'- 14 1 (Wv 14 x' 1 4 -1" VI 'to 'UJ i vft- UM seeks split championship I LE BATARD FROM ID 1 BY STEPHEN HOLDER 1 SKY-HIGH: Florida coach Steve Spurrier is carried off the field after the 28-6 victory over Auburn SUGAR BOWL Wait ends after 13 UF UM renew heated rivalry two years earlier than expected I Teams: Miami (10-1) vs Florida (10-2) I When where: 8 pm Jan 2 New Orleans I TV: Chs 10 25 I BCS ranking: Miami No 3 (No 2 AP) Florida No 7 (No 7 AP) Wins: Miami McNeese State (61-14) West Virginia (47-10) Rutgers (64-6) Florida State (27-24) Temple (45-17) Louisiana Tech (42-31) Virginia Tech (41-21) Pittsburgh (35-7) Syracuse (26-0) Boston College (52-6) Florida Ball State (40-19) Middle Tennessee State (55-0) Tennessee (27-23) Kentucky (59-31) Louisiana State (41-9) Auburn (Oct 14: 38-7 Saturday: 28-6) Georgia (34-23) Vanderbilt (43-20) South Carolina (41-21) I Losses: Miami Washington (34-29) Florida Mississippi State (47-35) Florida State (30-7) I Last bowl games: Miami Defeated Georgia Tech 28-13 in the Gator Bowl Florida Lost 37-34 to Michigan State in the Citrus Bowl I Season overview: Miami Stumbled in its second outing losing 34 29 at Washington but the Hurricanes have reeled off nine consecutive victories since then They defeated Florida State and Virginia Tech for the first time under coach Butch Davis and are riding a three-game winning streak in bowl games Florida Has played very well at some points and has performed questionably at others The two victories over Auburn and its wins over Georgia at Tennessee and against South Carolina were impressive Defensive breakdowns led to the loss at Mississippi State and in the regular-season finale against Florida State the Gators never showed any signs of life BYJEFFSHAIN jshamheraldcom Steve Spurrier is one of a very few in the Florida football program who has any memories of the UF-Miami rivalry What he recalls exactly electric was a good Spurrier said course we quite as good as been lately and Miami quite as good It talked up all that much in the Of course the intensity picked up as both programs raised their national profile in the 1980s Now after a 13-year separation their reunion in the Sugar Bowl could have an impact on the national championship The teams already were scheduled to meet again in 2002 and but fans anticipating those showdowns now can celebrate an early present think it definitely adds a little bit Spurrier said after the Jan 2 match was finalized Sunday UM (10-1) ranked second in both polls and third in the BCS still has a shot at gaining a split of the national title if it beats UF and top-ranked Oklahoma falls to Florida State in the Orange Bowl The Gators and Hurricanes love to play UM but it matter who we said strong safety Marquand Manuel a Miami native And one certainly expect great expectations from quarterback Rex Grossman a redshirt freshman who grew up in Indiana we play going to have fun and go out to win the he said Miami Guard Leon Hires a senior from Bradenton Fla was one of the few who understood some of the significance of the sholderheraldcom Contrary to widespread reports the University of Miami might indeed play in a national title game At least the way the Hurricanes see it BCS No 3 Miami which learned Sunday it will play BCS No 7 Florida in the Jan 2 Nokia Sugar Bowl at New Orleans has turned its attention to possibly winning a split national championship The Hurricanes were left out of the Bowl Championship Series national title game the Orange Bowl because of No 1 27-24 victory over Kansas State in the Big 12 championship game Saturday night 7 Thc will face 11-1 Florida State ranked No 2 in the BCS despite a 27-24 loss to Miami on Oct 7 The Hurricanes (10-1 DAVIS and ranked No 2 in The Associated Press poll) remained third when the Bowl Championship Series rankings were tallied for the final time Sunday That excluded them from playing in this BCS title game the Orange Bowl That winner will automatically be crowned champion in the ESPNUSA Today poll but there is no such requirement in the AP poll think our football team is still going with the idea that if 11-1 and somehow find a way to beat the University of Florida got an outstanding chance to possibly win a split national Miami coach Butch Davis said going to prepare with that mind-set and going to be our A Florida State victory in the Orange Bowl coupled with an impressive Miami victory over Florida could give the Hurricanes a lift to No 1 in the AP poll They received three first-place votes in AP poll though undefeated Oklahoma is firmly in place at No 1 It may not be a national championship in the eyes of the BCS but the Hurricanes would savor it still get a ring on your Miami receiver Reggie Wayne said still national champions That was the dream for us Even in when we were 5-6 our goals were to win the Big East and win a national To have any shot at the title Miami must defeat a Florida team that has been explosive offensively and at times tough defensively The Gators (10-2) dropped then-No 18 Auburn 28-6 in SEC championship game at Atlanta In many ways Miami and Florida are similar Both have high-powered offenses amazing speed and great athletes The teams have all the ingredients to produce an entertaining ball game is a matchup a lot of people have been wanting to see for a long UM receiver Daryl Jones said think going to be exciting for the nation to get this opportunity to watch this Davis said the fact that Florida is a talented team will help the Hurricanes in their efforts to sway voters going to have any opportunity to win a split national title the more highly rated a team you can play the more impressive the Davis said fortunate enough to win it gives you another leg to stand With the recent implementation of the BCS the possibility of future split titles was reduced But in previous years the pollsters frequently disputed the No 1 team In the past 10 years the polls produced three split wearing fatigues and setting fire to computers if not pollsters They particularly need an injustice to riot their games were riots that simply came complete with timeouts and scoreboards But these Hurricanes deserve better because it is plainly wrong and ridiculous that a Florida State Seminoles team Miami beat in October is getting the championship chance that Miami stole from it right on the field I keep hearing that Washington having beaten Miami has the same right to this championship game as the Hurricanes No Washington Because unlike Miami Washington beat the No 1 and No 2 teams in the country Because unlike Miami Washington hand the only loss to two of the teams presently ranked in the top five Because unlike Miami Washington slaughter a slew of winning teams Yes Washington played three ranked teams beating two of them Miami included But the rest of the records of the opponents on resume this year: 5-6 3-8 6-5 3-8 5-6 5-6 6-5 4-7 not a schedule a smorgasbord Miami which faced only three teams with losing records have played against McNeese State and Louisiana Tech? Fine But the punishment is taking away a championship chance? The only reason those teams were scheduled is because Florida and Notre Dame tired of losing much feel like playing non-conference games against Miami anymore The only reason Florida State can put UF and UM on its non-conference schedule is because it spends the season fattening up on Wake Forests and Dukes But at least I understand the head-to-head argument for why Washington deserves a chance I have yet to hear a good reason why FSU is in this game The Seminoles did what exactly? Cruised through an absurd ACC schedule that has handed them all of two losses the past decade? FSU played two teams presently ranked in the Top 10 Beat Florida Lost to Miami not impressive 500 I told FSU coach Bobby Bowden that there were a lot of people in South Florida angry about his team playing for the championship blame he admitted blame them at There are those who argue this mess is good for college football because it stirs debate and brings attention to the sport You can have some fun with this kind of logic Stupidity and incompetence usually bring attention wherever they go which is why Marge Schott was so good for baseball and the Los Angeles Clippers are so good for basketball Amateurism died about the day the Heisman Trophy was sponsored by a beer company so tell me college football is about sportsmanship and giving it the college try If that was the idea those godforsaken computers have rewarded Bowden for running up the score on his son The point of money-making football played at this high a level is not to teach antiquated values of rah-rah team spirit The point is supposed to be to determine a winner Stirring dialogue would be a fine goal if this were some sort of college debate class but would be too busy lifting weights studying film and getting arrested to attend such a class anyway In the absence of a true champion supposed to instead celebrate the merits of being able to argue about it? 1 absurd of course Just like what happened to Miami on Sunday dlebatafd heraldcom JOHN BAZEMOREAP in the SEC championship game years matchup a little extra motivation because a team in our Hires said like to dominate the though we had too much luck against The anticipation should ratchet up in the coming weeks as alumni pass on a little of the history and the players discover how many of the Hurricanes they know from their high school playing days think probably going to be some hatred out Graham acknowledged own program if you feel like you have to unnecessarily run up the score at the expense of your opponents Because obviously going to come back to hurt you in future years going to play less players expose some players to injuries and obviously from a sportsmanship standpoint there are some issues of how it has turned out nothing is going to take away from a great season this year We did everything we possibly could have not going to look back and be BCS coordinator John Swof-ford commissioner of the ACC said the BCS would be evaluated after the season to see margin of victory is playing a role we want it to and to determine the validity of each of the eight computer polls He said he believed the computer polls were working well r-' BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES STANDINGS Oregon State will face Notre Dame met 49 times before the series was discontinued in 1987 For more than two decades UM not FSU was the traditional season-ending showdown for the Gators was a good said Spurrier who went 1-2 against UM as the quarterback from 1964-66 had a lot of players from Miami that really got up for the The reasons why the series demised depends on talking UF cited increased scheduling demands by the Southeastern Conference with the number of league games going from six to seven Hurricanes fans said the Gators were running scared having lost three of four to UM before the break Regardless nearly a half-century of UF-UM history is lost on the current crop of Gators who were in grade school the last time the teams met After capturing the first SEC crown in four years with 28-6 romp over Auburn many were blase about the prospects thought too much about said running back Earnest Graham who grew up in Fort Myers know been a before the season ever started having no idea how it would ever end up It came out ranking us second so naturally accept Bowden said if the Seminoles beat the Sooners in the OB his players deserve to be No 1 in the BCS But in the AP? probably happen in the AP unless Florida beats he said is my opinion That bother me one bit We only want one So who did end up bothered after announcement? Probably BCS No 5 Virginia Tech (10-1) whose only loss came to Miami but was snubbed by the Fiesta Bowl for the more desirable Notre Dame Last year quarterback Michael Vick led his team to an exciting matchup with Florida State to decide the national title in the Sugar Bowl (FSU won 46-29) This year the Hokies will play Clemson in the Gator Bowl on Jan 1 at Jacksonville BCS No 8 Nebraska (9-2) also got passed over in the BCS games The Cornhuskers will play Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl on Dec 30 at San Antonio BCS was planned and programmed to match No 1 vs No Fiesta Bowl executive director John Junker said bowls 5 The standings each week will list the top 15 teams or more until each conference with an automatic BCS selection is represented BCS FROM ID BCS No 2 Florida State (10-1) which lost to Miami 27-24 on Oct 7 will play top-ranked Oklahoma (12-0) in the national championship game Jan 3 in the FedEx Orange Bowl at Pro Player Stadium just glad there any debate on Sooners coach Bob Stoops said certainly had to defend our Nor will former UM coach Dennis Oregon State Beavers (10-1) No 6 in the BCS who will play BCS No 11 Notre Dame (9-2) in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Jan 1 at Tempe Ariz On the same day BCS No 4 Washington (10-1) the only team to defeat Miami will play BCS No 17 Purdue (8-3) in the Rose Bowl at Pasadena Calif The Seminoles who edged past Miami with 537 BCS points to 569 finished first in five of eight computer polls while the Hurricanes finished no better than second in three of the computer polls FSU finished with the best strength-of-schedule rating in the BCS Miami finished with the third-ranked schedule and Florida with the second was run through the computer We had nothing to do with FSU coach Bobby Bowden said criteria was determined have the ability to make the matchups in their best interests Once we decided on Oregon State we then had to look for a matchup and we see the matchup as a 5 vs 6 or 4 vs 5 Interest in our marketplace ability to travel locale and a variety of other issues determine who we choose Virginia Tech also is a worthy team but unfortunately we only had two spots to University of Miami coach Butch Davis chose not to whine about his ordeal but instead accepted his matchup gracefully while still offering his perspective on national television and in a teleconference has an outstanding Davis said fans will be excited about being able to play again I were going to say one thing to defend our position certainly one thing all coaches would agree on is clearly not in the best interest of your 1 1 wail M-iju nw i jfBimMUPL.