Posted on: Wednesday, April 27, 2005

BCS runs coaches up the poll

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Think about how many times you've heard a college football coach build up an opponent as "one of the best in the country." Or, proclaim: "they're a very underrated team."

Now, imagine how tough it would be to say that with a straight face if everybody knows the coach hadn't been including the team on his weekly Top 25 ballot or had been burying them way down the list.

There you have part of the dilemma coaches face about revealing their ballots in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll and the problem it is posing for the Bowl Championship Series this week.

Meeting in Arizona, the BCS has so far found itself in the desert between a rock and a hard place. After last season's confusion and controversy, the BCS has been faced with a credibility problem. And, now without the Associated Press, which has withdrawn its media poll citing potential conflicts of interest, the BCS not only needs the coaches' participation but will probably have to form another panel of former coaches, administrators and others to fill out the 33/33/33 lineup of two polls and computers used to rank and place teams.

The best solution, of course, is to determine a champion on the field as every other level of college football does. That means a real playoff with four, eight or however many teams.

But the elite conferences that control the BCS — and its $16 million-a-team paydays — are determined to avoid it by trying everything else but. So, here we go again back to polls and computers. And, as long as there is a lack of transparency in the process, there is controversy. Ask Auburn. Or, California both of whom had complaints last year.

The problem is while coaches don't mind voting, most aren't eager to do it if their ballots will be opened up for inspection and comment.

Unlike the AP poll of sportswriters and sportscasters, which has revealed how its members vote for years, the American Football Coaches Association has steadfastly refused since its 1950 inception to allow its members' ballots to be disclosed.

Some coaches, including Hawai'i's June Jones, who took part early in his UH tenure, don't have a problem with disclosing results. "I wouldn't care if anybody saw who I voted for," Jones said. "It wouldn't (bother) me at all."

But others have said they won't participate if votes are made public, fearing they will end up providing ammunition for opponents.

Indeed, participation by coaches is a double-edged sword. While they are positioned to know better than anyone who the best teams are, they also have more vested interests and reasons to manipulate the poll.

As Texas A&M's Dennis Franchione put it last year when asked about his ballot, "You can bet one thing: If we're playing 'em, I'm voting them high."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.