Posted on 12/05/2004 7:59:17 PM PST by pete anderson
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- California refused to run up the score or beg for poll votes.
Maybe the Bears should have.
Cal (10-1) was left out of the Bowl Championship Series, denied one of the eight spots in college football's big-money games despite a season of statistical superlatives and dominating victories.
The fourth-ranked Golden Bears will be stuck at the Holiday Bowl while Texas plays in the Rose Bowl.
Cal's Rose Bowl drought reached 46 years despite one of the best regular seasons in school history.
The Bears felt beaten as they left their team meeting. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers saw confusion and disappointment in his teammates when they found out their Rose Bowl dreams were replaced with a trip to San Diego to face Texas Tech.
``It just shows it's a faulty system, and we've got to do something to change it up,'' Rodgers said. ``I bet Auburn is pretty ticked, too. ... Nobody cares about West Coast football, I don't think. I just hope Southern Cal represents us well.''
Texas (10-1) surged past the Bears in the final BCS standings despite Cal's 26-16 road victory over Southern Mississippi on Saturday night. The Longhorns gained points in both polls, and the computer rankings kept Texas well in front of Cal. The Longhorns will face Michigan (9-2) on Jan. 1.
There were dozens of factors in the decision, but the Bears felt they were superior in almost every venue -- except the political arena. Rodgers figured Texas coach Mack Brown's pleading for poll support made a difference, and he was glad Cal coach Jeff Tedford never did likewise.
``I thought it was a little classless how Coach Brown was begging for votes after the (Texas A&M) game,'' Rodgers said. ``I think a team's record and the way you play should speak for itself, and you shouldn't have to complain about the BCS system. Coach Tedford isn't going to, although he's frustrated just like we are. I think we're a bigger team, classier than that.''
Tedford was less emotional than Rodgers, but no less disappointed as he evaluated the Bears' long list of accomplishments.
The only blemish on their record was a six-point loss at top-ranked USC. They beat 10 teams by an average of 23.9 points per game. They were the only school in the nation's top six both in scoring offense and scoring defense.
The Rose Bowl has matched a Big 10 team against a Pac-10 school for decades, and with the Pac-10 champion Trojans headed to the Orange Bowl, Cal hoped to end the conference's longest Rose Bowl drought. Instead, there will be burnt orange in the Pasadena stands.
``I just feel terrible for the alumni and the fans who have waited so long for this,'' Tedford said. ``As a program, we were set on the Rose Bowl. I felt like we did enough to earn that.''
Most of the Bears still were jet-lagged and exhausted after grinding out a victory in Hattiesburg just 18 hours earlier in a game postponed from Sept. 16 by Hurricane Ivan. The late-season road trip provided a national television audience -- but when the Golden Eagles were difficult to put away, it might have swayed some voters away.
And that was baffling to Tedford, who refused to try to score one last touchdown in the waning seconds to pad the score. The Bears also were hurt by a questionable clipping call in the closing minutes, which negated a touchdown run by J.J. Arrington.
Normally, Tedford wouldn't spare a second's thought on such issues -- but in the BCS world, it might have made a difference.
``If yesterday's game was the game that turned anybody's head, then that's sad, because it's about a season,'' Tedford said. ``We're going to keep our same philosophy. It's hard enough just to win games.''
I remember you Sooners talking sh*t last year after back-dooring your way into the National Championship....then getting it handed to you hard by LSU - But I do agree ...Love this time of year!
Put down the crack pipe, Texas always chokes the big games.
There's no question the Big 12 South was a monster of a division (5 teams ranked in top 25 for a good part of the year -- I think all 5 are in the top 35 of at least some computers), but Cal struggled in only 2 games: a loss to the number one team in the country that they were competitive in, and another game to a 5-6 Oregon team.
t.u. on the other hand wasn't competitive with OU in the least, should have lost to KU, struggled against Mizzou, and was down at halftime to OkSU (big) and A&M. They won both games with great second half performances, but both teams completely collapsed and didn't even put up a fight.
I can't understand how a ten point win on the road against a 6-5 team can cause anyone to drop.
Cal is out, but Pitt is in?
Good Lord, the BCS sucks.
Here's what I would do: The AD of Cal and Auburn get together and hammer out a game after the season. Neutral site, highest bidder among all networks get the game. They get the cash, NCAA gets the finger, and we get one more great game.
Michigan v.Cal would be good. Two leftie schools banging each other in California. Perfect. That said, PAC-10 is the Rodney Dangerfield of BCS conferences.
yES!
If we are going to talk about "who's left out", we have to rank Auburn as the one left out in the cold.
Winning fourteen games in a row - going back to last season... Beating four teams ranked in the top ten when they played them - like LSU, co-national champion...allowing only one rushing touchdown all season until the SEC Championship last night...scoring on their opening drive in every game but one...truly a special team.
The BCS critics have predicted something like this would happen, but every year the supporters say that by season's end, everybody will lose at least one game. It didn't happen, and there is no playoff system to resolve the dispute...and the BCS Gods still rule NCAA Football.
Bring on the playoffs!!!
Agree with about everything you said in your post but the above statement - I simply think the Big 12 teams were over-ranked from the begining....thus continually helping them in the polls as the season went -
But completely agree - how you win by 10 on the road and drop is crazy (CAL) -
Without Question Auburn got shafted. I think they are better than USC.
Any team that comes out of the SEC at 12-0 should practically be given the national title without even playing for it in a bowl game.
Hook 'em
Hmm...2-1 against the top 25. And 26-16 against a #63 team is thoroughly unimpressive. A one-pont win hosting the #51 team is perhaps worse.
Does that mean I have to cheer for the Sand Aggies?
What do you expect when you have an athletic competition decided by an opinion poll. Asinine.
Ook'em.
I'm a Michigan grad and left handed, but that doesn't make me or the football team lefties:)
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