A Bad Day for the Rose Bowl

Until last Saturday, it appeared that the teams in the 88th Rose Bowl college football game in Pasadena would be Miami and Florida. What? The Hurricanes and Gators? They must be talking about the Orange Bowl in Miami. Since 1947, the Rose Bowl has matched the champions of the Midwest’s Big 10 conference and the Pacific 10. Alas, the 2002 Rose Bowl will feature two teams picked by computer to play for the so-called national championship. And pssst, don’t tell anyone, it won’t even be played on New Year’s Day.

The idea of two Florida schools playing in the Rose Bowl illustrates just how contrived the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is. In the past, “mythical” national champions were proclaimed on the basis of two major polls, among sports writers and among college football coaches. On occasion, this produced co-champions because the two groups didn’t agree.

The idea of a series of playoffs was floated but wasn’t practical. Too many teams. Not enough time. So the wizards conjured up the BCS, in which the champions of six major conferences automatically receive bids to one of the BCS bowls--Fiesta, Sugar, Orange and Rose. The championship game is rotated among the four. This year--lucky us--it’s Pasadena’s turn.

It won’t be an all-Florida game after all. Florida lost last Saturday to the Tennessee Volunteers, 34 to 32. Tennessee is now No. 2, selected on factors such as its won-lost record and the strength of its schedule. To get to Pasadena, however, the Volunteers still must defeat Louisiana State tonight. Otherwise, the computer will look elsewhere, probably to Nebraska, even though the Cornhuskers recently were humiliated by Colorado and Colorado won the Big 12 conference championship.

College football is a game of loyalties and emotion. But this system has no heart, no passion, no sense of history or tradition. What it does is produce big bucks for the participating schools and big corporate sponsors. And here’s the real kicker: The Rose Parade will be Jan. 1, New Year’s Day, as usual, but the Rose Bowl game, the series’ grand finale, won’t be played until Jan. 3, beginning at 5 p.m. The after-sundown time obviously was chosen to benefit ABC, which is televising the game.

And for what? Another dubious mythical championship. The presidents of the big football schools should do away with the BCS sham. If they don’t, at least the Tournament of Roses Assn. should take our Rose Bowl back and make it the way it’s always been.