The Roanoke Times from Roanoke, Virginia • 17

3 The Roanoke Times Monday December 4 2000 B7 Wnidad adds IB Impound championship to his WBA title Trinidad proves not a lightweight ernando Vargas could not continue the fight after he was knocked down for the third time ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS Once again smaller fighters have stepped into the boxing breach created by short and dull heavyweight fights Junior middleweights elix Trinidad Jr and ernando Vargas gave the crowd in the Mandalay Bay Events Center and a pay per view audience their worth Saturday night and then some It was a donnybrook won by Trinidad proud I got a chance to be a part of this said Roger Bloodworth a trainer of Vargas who could not continue after he was knocked down for the third time in the final round This one was for the fans It was marked by crunching power boxing skill determination and courage It was marred by numer ous low blows And it was a fight for boxing critics who will note the fouls the six knockdowns and the fact that Vargas was taken to Valley Hospi tal as a precautionary measure Vargas whose face was badly marked and who complained of stomach cramps after the fight was released from the hospital early Sunday according to Donald Tremblay a spokesman for Main Events his promoter Tremblay said a CAT scan was negative and there were no frac tures of facial bones He also said Vargas was given a lot of fluids and was able to keep them down want to see anybody ASSUOSRESS Junior middleweights elix Trinidad (left) and ernando Vargas (right) provide punch to a sport dulled by short and boring heavyweight fights take anything from Bloodworth said was a great champi on but the better man won the said the 27 year old Trin idad who added the IB 154 pound championship to the WBA title he already held The victory underscored the fact that Trinidad a former wel terweight champion from Puerto Rico is one of the two or three best fighters in the world the best pound for pound fighter as far as con said Gary Shaw chief operating officer for Main Events In the fourth round Trinidad was knocked down for the eighth time in his career Shortly after he got up he hit Vargas low and was penalized a point Vargas was giv en about a minute to recuperate but that minute also gave Trinidad a chance to rest was a great move by a great Shaw said Trinidad also was penalized a point in the seventh round and Vargas had a point deducted in the 10th for low blows Trinidad almost notched the 32nd knockout on his 39 0 record in the opening round when he knocked down Vargas twice in the first minute couldn't trelieve Vargas came back" Bloodworth said How Vargas (20 1 18 knock outs) of Oxnard Calif reacts to his beating remains to be seen Trinidad meanwhile is look ing for new worlds to conquer He has said he would like to move up to middleweight (160 pounds) and challenge WBA champion William Joppy who stopped Jonathan Reid in the fourth round of a title defense on Saturday undercard what he said promoter Don King who indicated he has other plans for Trinidad King talks about having Trin idad fight WBC champion Javier Castillejo of Spain to unify the 154 pound title Then there re mains the possibility of a rematch with Oscar De La Hoya who Trin idad beat on a majority decision in a welterweight title match Sept 18 1999 De La Hoya who has riot fought since losing to Shane Mos ley in June would have to move up' to junior middleweight for anf" match to happen (7 mission we are on is Roy King said immediately af ter the fight are you Roy Jones? calling for Jones is the undisputed light heavyweight (175 pounds) cham pion or a Trinidad Jones fight to' happen Jones would have drop down to the super limit of 168 and Trinidad would have to move up two weight classes ROM Bl Tech they ranked higher than Oregon State in five of the eight BCS computers and ahead of Notre Dame in all eight strength of schedule was 13th toughest compared to 4 1 st for Oregon State and 26th for the Irish you go 1 0 1 and almost undefeated you want to go to the best bowl Tech senior guard Matt Lehr said you see guys ranked lower than you and they choose those two yeah a slap in the While Oregon State was a rags to riches story a program that up to two years ago had en dured 28 straight losing seasons Notre deal was what puz zled the Hokies Whether anybody likes it or not the Irish play by a different set of rules than the rest of the country If the Irish win nine games and finish in the top 12 rules state it has to be included in the BCS puzzle think crazy Tech quarterback Michael Vick said know what the deal is behind that I definitely think that should have been our spot us be ing ranked where we are still think not getting the respect that we deserve What else can we do? been in the top five for the last two seasons we played in the national champi onship last year and went 10 1 this year when everybody thought our season was going to be worse I just think some things happened that just Beamer said he was the iesta take Mi ami and ensure itself a game with national title ramifications In stead Miami is headed to the Sugar to face lorida If Miami had gone to the iesta Tech may have had a crack at the Sugar amazes me that the iesta want a team that has a chance to win a national champi Beamer said got to do what they got to do I think if the Orange Bowl would have had the same options as the iesta Bowl I believe be in there as opposed to an Oregon State kind of what side of the country Until leaving for Jacksonville on Dec 26 the Hokies will finish exams take some time off then begin bowl preparations before going home for Christmas Need less to say the iesta sponsor Tostitos be the holiday fare told wife Cheryl that just plain potato chips in the bowls at home from now said Beamer laughing Randy King can be reached at 981 3126 or randykroanokecom Seminjoles an 11 point favorite against Oklahoma Another title shot for lorida State An SU win and a Miami win over lorida in the Sugar Bowl could lead to co national champions associated press lorida State always seems to be in the mix no matter what sys tem college football uses to decide a national champion or the fourth time in the last five seasons the No 3 Seminoles (11 1) will play for a national title this time against No 1 Oklaho ma (12 0) in the Orange Bowl on Jan 3 lorida State opened as an 1 1 point favorite The Bowl Championship Se system of rating teams using polls computers schedule strength and losses placed the Seminoles second behind the Sooners in its final standings re leased Sunday The matchup creates the pos sibility of split national champions The AP media poll and the poll have Oklahoma and Miami ranked 1 2 If lorida State beats Oklahoma and Miami beats lorida in the Sugar Bowl on Jan 2 a chance for co champions The AP sports writers and broadcasters vote indepen dently of the BCS but the poll crowns the Orange Bowl win ner as its champion that happens then that will be what it BCS coordinator John Swofford said BCS eliminate that possibility known that all along It does minimize the chances for it lorida State coach Bobby Bowden understands his team could share a national title with the Hurricanes who beat the Semi noles 27 24 on Oct 7 Still he says the BCS formula proves his team deserves to play in Miami was run through the Bowden said had nothing to do with it The facts were fed in during the season and it came out ranking us second We will accept that No 1 vs No 2 in the BCS and if we were to beat Oklahoma then I think we should be No 1 in the nation in the BCS But that probably happen in the AP unless lorida beats Miami coach Butch Davis said his team did its best to reach the BCS title game being played in its own backyard ftSSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25 USft TODftYESPN TOP 25 The Top Twenty ire teams in The Associated The final regular season Top Twenty ive Press college final regular season football poll teams in the USA TodayESPN college football with first place votes in parentheses records poll with first place votes in parentheses through Dec 2 total points based on 25 records through Dec 2 total points based on points for a first place vote through one point 25 points for a first place vote through one for a 25th place vote and ranking in the point for a 25th place vote and previous previous poll: ranking: Record Pts Pvs Record Pts Pvs 1 Oklahoma (67) 12 0 1768 1 1 Oklahoma (56) 12 0 1471 1 2 Miami (3) 10 1 1693 2 2 Miami (2) 10 1 1400 2 3 lorida St (1) 11 1 1640 3 3 lorida State (1) 11 1 1366 3 4 Washington 10 1 1571 4 4 Washington 10 1 1284 4 5 Oregon St 10 1 1473 5 5 Virginia Tech 10 1 1200 5 6 Virginia Tech 10 1 1396 6 6 Oregon State 10 1 1192 6 7 lorida 10 2 1349 7 7 lorida 10 2 1119 8 8 Oregon 9 2 1207 9 8 Nebraska 9 2 1005 9 9 Nebraska 9 2 1160 10 9 Kansas State 10 3 938 7 10 Notre Dame 9 2 1086 11 10 Notre Dame 9 2 894 10 11 Kansas St 10 3 1084 8 11 Oregon 9 2 888 11 12 Texas 9 2 941 12 12 Texas 9 2 822 12 13 TCU 10 1 867 13 13 Clemson 9 2 708 13 14 Purdue 8 3 810 14 14 Purdue 8 3 686 14 15 Georgia Tech 9 2 803 17 15 Michigan 8 3 632 16 16 Clemson '9 2 776 15 16 Texas Christian 10 1 628 15 17 Michigan 8 3 754 16 17 Georgia Tech 9 2 540 18 18 Northwestern 8 3 553 19 18 Ohio State 8 3 427 19 19 Ohio St 8 3 481 20 19 Northwestern 8 3 411 20 20 Auburn 9 3 450 18 20 Auburn 9 3 345 17 21 Tennessee 8 3 366 21 21 Tennessee 8 3 304 21 22 Louisville 9 2 232 22 22 Colorado State 9 2 267 22 23 Colorado St 9 2 198 23 23 Louisville 9 2 159 23 24 Georgia 7 4 110 24 24 Georgia 7 4 90 24 25 Toledo 10 1 84 25 25 Toledo 10 1 76 25 Others receiving votes: Texas 59 Also receiving votes: Mississippi State 70 South Carolina 42 Wisconsin 28 Mississippi Texas 54 Wisconsin 44 Mississippi 34 23 Iowa St 22 Mississippi St 15 LSU 14 Iowa State 29 Southern Mississippi 18 North Air orce 10 Boise St 7 NC State 3 Carolina State 14 Texas Tech 10 South Carolina 9 Texas El Paso 9 Air orce 7 LSU 5 Cincinnati 3 East Carolina 3 resno State 3 Pittsburgh 3 Western Michigan 3 Boise State 2 Marshall 2 UCLA 1 BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES RANKINGS USA TODAY POLL COMPUTER SCHEDULE RANKTEAM AP ESPN AVERAGE AVERAGE STRENGTH LOSSES TOTAL 1 Oklahoma 1 1 10 186 044 0 330 2 lorida State 3 3 30 129 0 08 1 537 3 Miami 2 2 20 257 012 1 5j9 4 Washington 4 4 40 543 024 1 1067 5 Virginia Tech 6 5 55 514 056 1 1220 6 Oregon State 5 6 55 650 168 1 1468 7 lorida 7 7 TO 571 (104 2 1475 8 Nebraska 9 8 85 700 072 2 1822 9 Kansas State 11 9 10 10 14 1 16 3 2430 10 Oregon 8 11 95 1186 096 2 2432 11 Notre Dame 10 ULO 1207 LOO 2 2507 12 Texas 12 12 120 986 336 2 2722 13 Georgia Tech 15 17 160 986 176 2 2962 14 TCU 13 16 145 1371 380 1 3301 15 Clemson 16 13 145 1443 224 2 3317 The BCS formula consists of four parts: a school's average ranking in both major polls average ranking by eight computer formulas strength of schedule and losses Each loss adds a point to the total The Nos 1 and 2 schools in the final BCS standings will compete for the national title in the Jan 3 edex Orange Bowl Tech's computer rankings: Richard Billingsley 5 Dunkel Index 5 Kenneth Massey 4 New York Tinies 4 David Rothman 7 Jeff Sagarin 5 MatthewsScripps Howard 7 Hester AndersonSeattle Times 6 (The lowest ranking is thrown out) of how it turned out it take anything away from our great Davis said had some great games against lorida State and then Vir ginia Tech won nine in a row and did everything we think we could Sooners coach Bob Stoops have to explain how his team landed where it did just glad there any debate on he said a month glad I certainly have to defend our Oklahoma the only major unbeaten team after its 27 24 win over Kansas State in the Big 12 title game Saturday night is gunning for its sixth national title and first since 1985 lorida State (11 1) is trying to become just the seventh school to win back to back national titles and the first since Nebraska in 1994 95 The teams last met in the Or ange Bowl in 1981 with the Soon ers winning 18 17 In the final BCS standings Oklahoma had 330 points lorida State 537 and Miami 569 The clinching category for the Semi noles was computer rankings where the Seminoles had a 128 point edge over the Hurricanes Last year the BCS matched unbeatens lorida State against Virginia Tech which were ranked 1 2 in both polls in the Sugar Bowl The Seminoles won their second national title with a 46 29 win In the 1998 season lorida State lost to Tennessee in the i esta Bowl the first title game and the were beat en by lorida in the Sugar Bowl after the season lorida State won its first national title in 1993 The BCS standings were set up to determine the top two teams with the three other bowls in the series choosing from the remain ing qualified schools Six major conferences received automatic bids and Oregon State and Notre Dame received at large selections Other BCS bowl matchups al so were announced along with most remaining bowl pairings In one of the more intriguing games Miami (10 1) and lorida (10 2) renew a heated rivalry that ended in 1987 The Big East champion Hurricanes and SEC champion Gators are scheduled to play again in 2002 Because lorida State beat lorida 30 7 Miami may need to win by a similar or greater margin to have a chance at a co national title In the iesta Bowl on Jan 1 No 5 Oregon State (10 1) vs No 10 Notre Dame (9 2) putting both schools in a BCS game for the first time and leaving No 6 Vir ginia Tech (10 1) with a Gator Bowl date against No 16 Clemson (9 2) Georgia likely for Oahu Bowl Cavaliers may face familiar foe By DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROAXOKE TIMES or the second time in tlue'e years and third time since 1995 it looks as if Virginia will be prepar ing for a bowl matchup with? Georgia UVa athletic director Terry( Holland said Sunday night that hen had not been notified but various sources were reporting that Geor gia is the pick to play Virginia in the Oahu Bowl at 8:30 pm5 Christmas Eve A makes sense to said Holland who said he understood the information came out of the ACC office must have told the bowl sponsors abouf some of the games Virginia beat Georgia 34 27 in the 1995 Peach Bowl before the Bulldogs rallied from a 2 1 0 deficit' in the 1998 Peach Bowl to defeat the Cavaliers 35 33 The Cavaliers (6 5) officially received an invitation Tuesday 4o play in one of the two bowl games played in Hawaii on Dec 24 and 25 but there was no word on an opponent Boston College (6 also was named Tuesday Aloha Sports Inc had agreed to take two Pacific 10 Conference teams but when the Bowl Cham pionship Series took Oregon State (10 1) and the rest of the Pac 10 bowl tie ins had been filled only Arizona State was available The Sun Devils (6 5) are cx pected to play Boston College ih? the Aloha Bowl at 3:30 Christmas Day The Eagles were a natural choice for that game which will be televised by ESPN because of their large TV audience The Oahu Bowl will also be aired by ESPN Georgia (7 4) was a candidate for higher profile bowls before losing to Georgia Tech 27 15 in the regular season finale in Ath ens Ga It is not known if quat tcrback Quincy Carter will be able to play in the postseason of a torn ligament in his right thumb Carter missed the last three games of the season but stil passed for more than 1000 as did replacement Cory Phillips The Bulldogs lost three of their last four games after starting 6 1 i i i.