Poll Position Is a Concern

The final damage report from the cancellation of the game at Miami is in:

Approximately $700,000 in lost income--$500,000 in television money and the rest in the payout from the host Hurricanes--one lost spot in the polls and one gained spot in the polls.

Go figure. The Bruins did not play and at the same time were penalized by Associated Press voters who treated them worse than Mother Nature and then rewarded, perhaps for having the sense to stay out of Florida late last week, by voters in the USA Today/ESPN rankings.

Were this simply about pride, that would be one thing. But every movement has the potential for impact with the arrival of the Bowl Championship Series that relies on the polls as one of the components to help determine who will play for the national championship.

UCLA fell from No. 3 to 4 in the AP rankings, passed by Tennessee, which beat Houston, 42-7, on Saturday, after which Cougar Coach Kim Helton, hardly a favorite around Westwood to begin with, noted that the Volunteers are “a lot tougher” than the Bruins. UCLA beat Houston, 42-24, a week earlier.

The USA Today/ESPN voters were so taken by the comparisons that they moved UCLA from No. 5 to 4 and Tennessee from No. 4 to 5.