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.''
"Baylor is tough."
Yes, they whipped Texas A&M this year.
"The Big 12 South makes PAC 10 look like high school football."
You got that right. The Big 12 South is brutal !!
The team? No, of course not. The school? Without question.
A&M wasn't ranked early. Neither was OkSU or tech if I recall correctly, or if they were it was right around 25. OU was top 3 and t.u. was top 10, and both lived up to that. So, in that respect, none were overranked at any time, and 4 moved up in their ranking. Now, OU goes NC game, t.u. goes Rose Bowl, A&M Cotton, tech Holiday, and OkSU Alamo Bowl. Can you name 5 teams out of any division, much less conference, with as high of Bowls?
The point about Cal can easily be made, but the South wasn't overrated.
The fourth-ranked Golden Bears will be stuck at the Holiday Bowl while Texas plays in the Rose Bowl.
Since the Holiday Bowl has had teams like Ohio St. and
other majoy teams and big names who now in the NFL,
I think it is the Holiday Bowl who is stuck with little
Cal.
BTW I would rather be stuck in San Diego rather than LA
I wouldn't call a one point win in OT a "whipping," but it is true they won.
But I guess the Aggies will take what they can get.
I was just teasing. Believe me, I know the politics at the University of Michigan. They didn't make them mine.
Did you see the game last night against Southern Miss? They struggled all night to break away. Southern Miss was just one extra point away from tieing the game with just over five minutes left.
09/04 North Texas ( 71 7-4 ) 65- 0 09/11 at Arkansas ( 39 5-6 ) 22-20 09/25 Rice ( 97 3-8 ) 35-13 10/02 Baylor ( 81 3-8 ) 44-14 10/09 vs Oklahoma ( 2 12-0 ) 0-12 (Dallas TX) 10/16 Missouri ( 64 5-6 ) 28-20 10/23 at Texas Tech ( 21 7-4 ) 51-21 10/30 at Colorado ( 29 7-5 ) 31- 7 11/06 Oklahoma St ( 20 7-4 ) 56-35 11/13 at Kansas ( 54 4-7 ) 27-23 11/26 Texas A&M ( 15 7-4 ) 26-13 01/01 vs Michigan ( 18 9-2 ) (Pasadena CA)
That makes #5 Texas 3-1-1 against the top 21. Five of six Big 12 south teams rank among those top 21.
I hope they get mad enough to run up the score on ttech, which is ironically a team that has no problems with doing just that to other teams.
Yes, I did see the game. It was a 10 point win on the road to a 6-5 team.
I'm not trying to crown Cal National champs, but if you read the rest of my post, you would see where t.u. struggled. They should have lost to KANSAS! If you want to talk about this "5 minutes left" nonsense, explain that one away.
Pray for W and Our Troops
I could care less...
....that idiotic phrase grates on me every time I hear or read it.
I like your reaction.....better than mine, which is to ridicule and harangue.
I miss the SWC (Royal and Broyles, Teaff, Bellard, Stallings etc.)and knew several of the 69' Texas players. The South Big 12 and the SEC are equal IMHO this year. Miami and FSU are having off years but they are never off for more than a couple of years. Auburn is getting the shaft but Oklahoma and USC will be an eye opener as to who is for real. I would bet on another co-championship if Auburn thrashes Va Tech and the National Championship game is a snoozer.
When the #4 team in the country in both major polls does not get a bid to any major bowl something is seriously wrong. They were, after all, one short pass away from an undefeated season, and that just barely defeat was on the road against USC.
Regarding the Rose Bowl, now, will anyone go? Who?
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