Aggies May Crash Bruins’ Fiesta

It’s one thing to lose the national championship on a tough call.

But to lose it on a conference call?

Crazy as it may sound, UCLA’s Fiesta Bowl chances were potentially affected Tuesday during a coast-to-coast phone hookup with conference commissioners and bowl championship series officials.

On that call, it was agreed that Texas A&M;’s early-season forfeit against Louisiana Tech would not count as a loss against the Aggies in the BCS rankings.

Ramifications?

For the purposes of the BCS, Texas A&M;’s record will remain at 10-1 instead of 9-2.

Kansas State, which trails UCLA in the BCS standings by .74, plays Texas A&M; in the Big 12 title game on Dec. 5, after which Texas A&M;’s record will be reflected in Kansas State’s BCS strength-of-schedule component.

If UCLA and Kansas State remain unbeaten, the race for the No. 2 BCS spot and a place in the Jan. 4 national title game could be decided by decimal points.

The decision not to count the Texas A&M; forfeit as a loss could be the difference in UCLA going to the Fiesta Bowl.

Or not.

“It’s so close right now between UCLA and Kansas State, there’s the possibility it could be pretty important,” Pacific 10 Commissioner Tom Hansen said.

Texas A&M; immediately forfeited its 28-7 win over Louisiana Tech for using a player, running back D’Andre Hardeman, who was academically ineligible.

The BCS has not counted the forfeit as a defeat as it awaited word from the NCAA and Big 12 Conference.

After listening hard and long to the evidence, Hansen agreed that administrators made the right call in not penalizing Texas A&M.;

The Aggies, not the NCAA, revealed the ineligible player and immediately informed Louisiana Tech of the school’s plan to forfeit.

Hansen said the mistake involving Hardeman was a bookkeeping error. “If an institution deliberately played a player that it knew to be ineligible, and won a game, then I think you have a whole different circumstance,” Hansen said.

Although a member school from his conference might be affected, Hansen said the matter was not worth pursuing.

“The shoe could always be on the other foot,” Hansen said. “In the broader perspective, you have to be careful to take away from a hundred players, coaches, all people involved in the program, what they won on field.”

It’s difficult to say what impact one more loss by a Kansas State opponent might have on the BCS.

“It would affect Kansas State percentage points in BCS strength of schedule,” BCS spokesman Charles Bloom said. “I don’t know how much it would. It basically changes one win from a loss. It would be decimal points.”

So what was the penalty for Texas A&M; using an ineligible player? The Big 12 says the Aggies’ 1998 record will be accompanied by an asterisk. Texas A&M; likely will do the same in its 1999 media guide.

BAN LIFTED

After a check of the First Amendment, the latest Heisman Trophy tracking polls and perhaps his conscience, Kansas State Coach Bill “Crazy Legs” Snyder reversed field Tuesday and lifted the media embargo on Michael Bishop, his star quarterback.

Snyder entered his Tuesday news conference in Manhattan and apologized to the local and national media for not allowing Bishop to speak to reporters since Oct. 10.

In doing the right thing, Snyder avoided a possible revolt by the press, many incensed that Snyder made Bishop available last week to ESPN and Sports Illustrated but not to more than 500 reporters attending last Saturday’s game between Kansas State and Nebraska.

“It was a mistake on my part,” Snyder told reporters. “I have apologized to Michael. I am apologizing to you.”

The post-Nebraska backlash was severe. Rather than focusing on Kansas State’s first win over Nebraska in 30 years, several writers fumed out of KSU Stadium prepared to lambaste Snyder for critically wounding Bishop’s Heisman chances. The Football Writers Assn. of America had readied a letter of complaint.

What might have changed Snyder’s mind?

Here’s a thought:

On Monday’s weekly conference call, Big 12 coaches were asked whom they would select as the conference’s most valuable player. By a 6-2 margin, Bishop was favored over Texas running back Ricky Williams, the Heisman Trophy front-runner. Three coaches said Bishop and Williams should share the MVP award, while Nebraska Coach Frank Solich abstained.

Yet, because of Snyder’s no-interview edict and sometimes harsh criticism of his quarterback’s play, Bishop has barely registered a blip on the national Heisman radar screen. Williams, conversely, has been out pressing the flesh since August.

So, at last, Michael Bishop enters the Heisman race.

Is it too late?

Probably.

The lesson: Coaches who insist on being control freaks can do great harm to the young men they are supposed to be preparing for life.

Part of being a big-time college athlete is dealing with the media. Barring Bishop from interviews not only hurt the communications skills he will need to deal with hard-boiled NFL reporters, it also may have cost Bishop one of the most coveted awards in sports.

Give Snyder credit for finally getting it right.

WHERE THEY STAND

It’s mid-November. Do you know how your favorite conference is stacking up?

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PACIFIC 10

The race: UCLA has clinched a Rose Bowl berth but seeks a higher calling in the Fiesta Bowl.

End game: If the Rose Bowl loses UCLA, look for 11-1 Arizona to meet the Big Ten champion and Oregon to move up to the Holiday Bowl.

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BIG TEN

The race: Michigan clinches the title with a win over Ohio State on Saturday. Wisconsin wins if it beats Penn State and Michigan loses. Ohio State needs to beat Michigan and a Penn State victory.

End game: If 10-1 Ohio State misses out on the Rose Bowl, the Buckeyes still could earn a BCS bowl bid as an at-large team.

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SOUTHEASTERN

The race: Tennessee clinches the SEC East title with a win over Kentucky. Arkansas wins the SEC West with a victory against Mississippi State.

End game: Tennessee vs. Florida for the national title? Without winning their own division, the Gators can meet the Volunteers in the Fiesta Bowl if Tennessee wins the SEC, Florida beats Florida State and Kansas State and UCLA each lose once.

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ATLANTIC COAST

The race: Florida State has clinched the conference’s BCS bowl berth and remains a contender in the national title race.

End game: Georgia Tech to the Gator Bowl, Virginia to the Peach.

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BIG 12

The race: Division champions Kansas State and Texas A&M; meet in the Big 12 title game Dec. 5

End game: If UCLA edges out Kansas State for the Fiesta Bowl, Kansas State could end up in the Rose Bowl should Arizona lose Nov. 27 to Arizona State.

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BIG EAST

The race: If Miami and Syracuse take care of Pittsburgh and Temple this week, the schools will meet for the title Nov. 28.

End game: Conference winner goes to a BCS bowl.

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WESTERN ATHLETIC

The race: Air Force clinches the Mountain Division with a win over Rice on Saturday; Brigham Young wins the Pacific if it wins at Utah. San Diego State wins the Pacific if Aztecs beat Texas El Paso and BYU loses.

End game: WAC still trying to place its champion in a bowl game.

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BIG WEST

Idaho clinches the title and a Humanitarian Bowl bid with victory over Boise State.

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MID-AMERICAN

Marshall and Toledo play in Dec. 5 title game; winner earns a bid to the Dec. 23 Motor City Bowl.

NOTRE DAME

Even at 10-1, the Irish might get aced out of a BCS at-large bid should the Rose Bowl decide to take 11-1 Arizona and the Sugar opts for one-loss Florida. Notre Dame then could end up in the Gator Bowl as part of a safety-net deal the Irish worked out with the BCS.

TWO-MINUTE DRILL

* If Pac-10 champion UCLA is lost to the Fiesta Bowl, the Rose Bowl can go outside the conference for a replacement.

But it dare not turn down an 11-1 Arizona.

“I think that would cause irreparable damage to the relationship if they didn’t take the Pac-10 team,” Hansen said this week.

* So, you want to gamble on sports? Kansas State closed as a 10 1/2-point favorite against Nebraska at most Las Vegas sports books. Kansas State won by 10 points, 40-30, scoring with three seconds left on a 23-yard fumble return for a touchdown by linebacker Jeff Kelly. After a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebration, Kansas State chose not to kick the extra point that would have won bets for those betting on the Wildcats. Fearing a block for return on the extra point, quarterback Bishop instead took a knee, and the final three seconds ran off on the ensuing kickoff.

* Don’t be surprised if Clemson, which fired Coach Tommy West on Wednesday, fills the position with another Tommy: Tulane Coach Tommy Bowden. That would pit Tommy against his dad, rival ACC coach Bobby Bowden of Florida State. “That wouldn’t bother me at all,” Bobby told reporters this week. “I’d love to see my children. And I never get to see them.”

* Nebraska (8-3) has lost three games in the regular season for the first time since 1977.

* Want to impress your friends with two intriguing possible bowl matchups? The Insight.com Bowl would love to match Nebraska against Miami in a flashback to that great 1984 Orange Bowl. And how about a Cotton Bowl pitting Texas against Arkansas in a matchup of former Southwest Conference foes?

* When Iowa Coach Hayden Fry promoted defensive coordinator Bob Elliott to assistant head coach this year, it was seen as a way of endorsing Elliott for the job Fry may relinquish after this season. But all thoughts of the future and jockeying for Fry’s job became trite this week when Elliott, 45, disclosed he has been secretly undergoing chemotherapy treatments for a life-threatening blood disorder.