BCS Faces Unbearable Scenario

Dawn broke Sunday in the bowl championship series, and let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.

The euphoria over Utah’s becoming the first “coalition” school to make a BCS game gave way to yet another potential disaster scenario that could shatter what credibility the BCS has left.

A series of Saturday results set up the potential for two non-BCS schools to earn major-bowl berths and for No. 4 California to get shut out of the Rose Bowl.

Reached at his home Sunday, Pacific 10 Conference Commissioner Tom Hansen pored over the BCS rule book to confirm the possibility of this peril, paused for a moment, and sighed, “Oh boy.”

Reaction from the Rose Bowl was tense but measured.

“We will play the hand of cards that we get,” Executive Director Mitch Dorger said.

Here’s what happened and what can happen next.

Michigan, No. 7 in the BCS last week, lost. So did No. 8 Florida State.

If you reason that Boise State, which was No. 9 in the BCS, would move into the No. 7 spot today when the BCS standings are released, that would leave the Broncos only one spot removed from reaching No. 6 and earning an automatic BCS berth. (Note: The fight for today’s No. 7 spot figures to be close among Boise State, Miami, Georgia and Louisville).

If Utah and Boise State finish in the top six of the BCS, both schools get into a major bowl and the Rose Bowl couldn’t take Cal, which is 9-1 with one game remaining, Dec. 4 at Southern Mississippi.

In fact, the future of the BCS and perhaps the Rose Bowl’s participation in it might boil down to Friday’s game involving BCS No. 5 Texas and Texas A&M; in Austin.

If Texas wins, everything is fine for the BCS because the Longhorns would keep Boise State out of the No. 6 spot.

If Texas A&M; wins, though, Boise State (or even another non-BCS school, Louisville) could move into the No. 6 position and make life miserable for BCS creators.

In carving out an access spot for non-BCS teams, officials never thought of a scenario in which two non-BCS teams make the top six.

“No way, nohow would anyone have dreamed of that one,” Hansen said.

Suffice to say, Hansen, Rose Bowl officials and everyone else with a stake in the BCS will be rooting like the dickens for Texas to beat Texas A&M.;

There are other ways out of this mess: USC could still lose to Notre Dame or UCLA, which would knock the Trojans into the Rose Bowl.

Two-loss Miami or Georgia could also conveniently jump Boise State and Louisville in the standings and start another round of conspiracy theories.

If USC wins out, though, and Texas loses Friday, there could be a controversy that almost matches last year’s uproar when the Trojans finished No. 1 in both polls but third in the BCS standings.

If this year’s disaster scenario unfolds, Hansen said there is nothing the Rose Bowl could do but wish Cal luck in the Holiday Bowl.

“They’re bound to observe those selection procedures,” Hansen said.

Dorger was understandably upset over the prospect of losing California to two lower-ranked, non-BCS teams but said he would reserve judgment until the situation plays itself out.

“It would certainly turn the BCS on its head,” Dorger said. “Once again, we’ve learned something we’ve never anticipated when we joined the BCS. It seems like there are surprises every year that no one thought through....

“It would be fair to say we’d be extremely disappointed to lose the opportunity to invite a Cal team that was one of the best teams in country, one that gave No. 1 [USC] all it could handle, and hasn’t been to the Rose Bowl since 1959.”

It also would be fair to say the Pac-10 will have all eyes fixed on Austin on Friday.

“Go Texas,” Hansen said.

Weekend Wrap

Is Urban Meyer going to leave Utah for Florida?

Meyer didn’t say so Saturday night, yet he sounded pretty nostalgic after Utah’s BCS-clinching win over Brigham Young.

Meyer, normally laser-focused, admitted that he paused during the game to soak up some of the atmosphere.

“I have to apologize,” Meyer said. “I looked up there a few times, because I couldn’t get over how beautiful the stadium looked with a packed house.”

Meyer also lamented how tough it is fighting perception battles with the six major conferences.

“I lose three coaches to BCS conference schools because I can’t pay them what these other conferences are paying them,” Meyer said. “And we’re better than some of those schools.”

Utah finished the regular season 11-0 and defeated three schools from BCS conferences -- Texas A&M;, Arizona and North Carolina -- yet has virtually no shot of winning the national title.

“Eventually, I think you could,” Meyer said, “but a lot of things would have to happen. It’s going to take time. At some point, I think you could.”

You couldn’t blame Meyer for taking the Florida job now -- he’ll probably never be a hotter candidate.

Imagine Meyer at Florida butting offensive heads with Steve Spurrier, the incoming coach at South Carolina? Against BYU, Meyer went for it four times on fourth down ... in the first half.

One last Meyer footnote: Asked whether he was going to coach Utah in its BCS bowl game, Meyer said, “Absolutely.”

Commissioners from the Southeastern and Atlantic Coast conferences plan to open an investigation into Saturday’s brawl between South Carolina and Clemson players. “There is no place in intercollegiate athletics for this kind of conduct and no excuse for it,” SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said in a statement.

Liberty Bowl Executive Director Steve Ehrhart says he is pursuing the possibility of replacing Utah in his game with Notre Dame. That would be a real longshot considering the Irish are tied to the Insight Bowl and probably would face UCLA if the Bruins lost to USC.