More Convincing Efforts Needed

Now, about those flaws in the system . . .

The latest bowl championship series rankings released Monday put UCLA back in the national title race, that mind-of-its own New York Times computer on notice and the USA TODAY/ESPN coaches on the defensive.

Despite winning a shaky game at Oregon State on Saturday and losing poll ground Sunday, UCLA held off Kansas State for the critical No. 2 spot in the BCS rankings . . . at least for this week.

The top two teams in the BCS will play for the national title in the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 4.

Former BCS No. 1 Ohio State’s stunning loss to Michigan State on Saturday provided the comeback opportunity for UCLA, which had fallen from first to third in the BCS after a narrow victory over Stanford Oct. 31.

To no one’s surprise, Tennessee is this week’s BCS leader with a 3.92 rating score. UCLA is second at 5.73, followed by Kansas State at 6.99.

Two one-loss schools still in title contention swapped BCS positions, Florida State jumping to the No. 4 spot, ahead of No. 5 Florida.

“All the news that’s fit to print” is the New York Times’ noted motto, but the newspaper’s college football computer raised eyebrows and won hearts in Tallahassee by elevating Florida State to No. 1.

Yep, the same Seminoles who lost to unranked North Carolina State.

Ohio State fell from first to eighth, while Arkansas (8-0) made the most dramatic jump, from 11th to seventh, with a chance to become a legitimate BCS contender if the Razorbacks beat Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday.

UCLA held a 1.43 lead over Kansas State heading into last weekend’s games, and it was thought the Bruins’ last-minute, 41-34 win over Oregon State might create a Jeff Gordon drafting opportunity for the fast-charging Wildcats, 43-point winners over Baylor.

Yet UCLA surrendered only .17 of its BCS lead over Kansas State.

How’s that?

In the complex BCS formula, the Bruins lost a point to Kansas State in poll average, but made up .63 of it in the computer component and increased by .26 its already substantial lead over Kansas State in strength of schedule.

UCLA remained No. 1 in the Seattle Times ratings and, thanks to Ohio State’s fall, improved from No. 4 to No. 3 in the Sagarin computer rankings. In the New York Times, rankings, the Bruins fell to No. 5, which the BCS computer adjusted to No. 3 for purposes of its rankings.

UCLA is now the wedge school in what could become a potential embarrassment for the USA TODAY/ESPN coaches, who stipulated before the season that the winner of the Fiesta Bowl would be deemed its national champion.

If the Fiesta Bowl were held today, however, Kansas State, which shares the coaches’ No. 1 ranking with Tennessee, could not even be matched in the 1-2 game.

“As of today, we don’t award the award,” Grant Teaff, executive director of the American Football Coaches Assn., said Monday.

True, a lot can happen in a month, but the coaches do face the prospect of having Kansas State as their No. 1 team on Dec. 5, then awarding their national title trophy to the Tennessee-UCLA winner the night of Jan. 4 in Tempe.

Imagine how that might go over in Manhattan, Kan.

“I’ll just say this,” Teaff said. “When we get down to the end, if the coaches can’t select No. 1 or No. 2, then we probably should be criticized and we probably shouldn’t have a poll next year.”

Teaff said it was important for credibility’s sake that the coaches’ poll commit early to anointing the title-game winner.

Of the potential problem, Teaff said, “We knew that coming in. Sure it could happen. When it does, there’ll be a lot of columns written about college football. But this year is the BCS, it’s not the coaches’ poll. So, yes, [Kansas State] could be No. 1 in the coaches’ and not be selected.”

The Associated Press did not join the coaches in agreeing to name the Fiesta Bowl winner its national champion.

The AP will release its final poll after the game, meaning there exists the possibility of another split championship, something the new BCS system has painstakingly tried to eliminate.

“That’s their problem,” Teaff said of the AP’s decision not to go along. “But how’s it going to look if they name somebody else the national champion?”

Uh, good?

Yes, there are miles to go in this computer race. And although it may seem that UCLA can maintain its BCS lead over Kansas State as long as the Bruins keep winning, that thinking could be flawed.

UCLA is staving off Kansas State based on the Bruins’ schedule-rank lead--No. 10 versus No. 79.

But, in the next month, Kansas State can dramatically improve its lot with victories over AP-ranked No. 11 Nebraska, No. 13 Missouri and either No. 6 Texas A&M; or No. 18 Texas in the Big 12 title game.

Conversely, of UCLA’s last three games against Washington, USC and Miami, only the Hurricanes are ranked nationally, 24th.

No telling what the New York Times computer will ever spit out, but UCLA could keep winning and still lose ground to Kansas State.

Do the Bruins have enough schedule gas to hold off the Wildcats? Can the Bruins win back poll support with a convincing victory over . . . anyone?

Stay tuned.

* NO DEFENSE: Coach Bob Toledo conceded that blame for the Bruins’ confusion on defense falls on Nick Aliotti’s shoulders. Page 4