You Can Feel the Power in Argument

College football better than pro football? We have heard the arguments. We have seen the bowl games.

As soon as we defrost the glaze from our eyeballs, we can all take a look at the updated scorecard:

1. “College football is more exciting than pro.”

During last weekend’s round of NFL wild-card games, Miami rallied to beat Indianapolis in overtime, the Rams almost rallied back from a 31-7 fourth-quarter deficit in New Orleans, and Tampa Bay and Denver, despite miserable offensive efforts, still outscored Florida State during Big Game Week, 3 points to 2.

A 13-2 championship game? The NFL has never staged a Super Bowl so dull. Although a New York Giants-Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl might come close.

2. “College football’s traditions are so much more colorful than the NFL’s.”

And they include: Miami and Florida renewing their old rivalry in New Orleans by practicing French Quarter mugging techniques on one another; Miami’s mascot getting flagged for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty during the Sugar Bowl; Purdue and Washington renewing the time-honored Big Ten-Pacific 10 Rose Bowl rivalry, which will be scrapped next year to make way for--pick two from the following--Nebraska, Miami, Oklahoma, Florida, Virginia Tech, Florida State; Notre Dame losing by 32 points to age-old intersectional archrival Oregon State, and Florida State losing a national championship because its best receiver didn’t go to class.

That would never happen in the NFL. In the NFL, the player would have his attorneys plead down to a couple of tardy slips, start the following Sunday and, in a few weeks’ time, be named league offensive player of the year.

3. “College football’s regular season is more legitimate than the NFL’s and its bowl system succeeds in preserving the integrity of the regular season.”

Unless Oklahoma had lost, as expected, to Florida State, which would have turned the bowl championship series into a free-for-all with all the integrity of a hot-oil-wrestling match, with five one-loss teams wallowing around in the muck and squealing in unison, “We’re No. 1!”

In the NFL, the regular season is played to determine home-field advantage in the playoffs, which proved more valuable last weekend than a spot in the Insight.com Bowl.

Record of home teams in the first round: 4-0.

Average final score in the first round: home team 24, visiting team 13.

This even though in three of the four games, the visiting team had the better quarterback. Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning, the best passers in their respective conferences, lost at New Orleans and at Miami. Meanwhile, Denver’s Gus Frerotte, at the controls of the league’s No. 3 passing offense, behind St. Louis and Indianapolis, couldn’t manage more than a field goal in a 21-3 loss at Baltimore.

To put it another way: The integrity of the NFL’s regular season has been preserved.

HAD HOME FIELD, WILL TRAVEL

This week, the travel itineraries are turned and each of the first-round home teams takes to the road, set to face well-rested divisional champions on their own turf because they took care of business during the regular season. What it all means:

Miami at Oakland

Oakland at home in 2000: 7-1.

Miami on the road in 2000: 6-2.

Worth noting: Miami is 1-6 on the road in the playoffs since 1990. The Dolphins have been outscored, 117-13, in their last three road playoff losses.

Baltimore at Tennessee

Tennessee at home in 2000: 7-1.

Baltimore on the road in 2000: 6-2.

Worth noting: The Titans are 16-1 at Adelphia Stadium over the last two seasons. The only loss--24-23 to Baltimore, during which Titan kicker Al Del Greco missed an extra point and a fourth-quarter field goal, on Nov. 12.

New Orleans at Minnesota

Minnesota at home in 2000: 7-1.

New Orleans on the road in 2000: 7-1.

Worth noting: The Vikings lost their last three games of the regular season, among them their only one at home--33-28 to Green Bay on Dec. 17.

Philadelphia at New York Giants

New York at home in 2000: 5-3.

Philadelphia on the road in 2000: 6-2.

Worth noting: One of Philadelphia’s two road defeats was a 24-7 decision at Giants Stadium on Oct. 29. The Eagles have not won there since 1996.

QB OR NOT QB: ROUND TWO

Theory: You need a top-shelf quarterback to reach the Super Bowl. Or at least you used to.

Testing laboratory: The 2000-01 NFL playoffs.

How the board looks so far, with playoff quarterbacks ranked according to their regular-season quarterback ratings (in parenthesis). Quarterbacks still alive in the playoffs listed in bold-faced caps:

1. Kurt Warner, St. Louis (98.3): Passed for 365 yards in first-round loss at New Orleans.

2. DAUNTE CULPEPPER, MINNESOTA (98.0): Next up for New Orleans on Saturday.

3. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis (94.7): Passed for 194 yards in first-round loss at Miami.

4. RICH GANNON, OAKLAND (92.4): Next up for Miami on Saturday.

5. STEVE MCNAIR, TENNESSEE (83.2): Pro Bowl backup went 1-1 against Baltimore during regular season, set for Round III Sunday in Nashville.

6. KERRY COLLINS, NEW YORK GIANTS (83.1): Trying to become first Penn State quarterback to start a Super Bowl, since Todd Blackledge, Chuck Fusina, John Hufnagel and Tony Sacca just couldn’t get it done. Plays at home Sunday against Penn state’s finest, the Philadelphia Eagles.

7. Gus Frerotte, Denver (82.1): Couldn’t go the distance in first-round knockout in Baltimore, leaving mop-up chores to rookie Jarius Jackson.

8. DONOVAN MCNABB, PHILADELPHIA (77.8): Should be going to the Pro Bowl, but isn’t. Should have been voted league MVP, but wasn’t. Shouldn’t be winless against the Giants after Sunday.

9. TRENT DILFER, BALTIMORE (76.6): Knocked woozy in first-round victory over Denver, now says, “Tweety Bird is gone and I feel better. This [concussion] isn’t as severe as the one I had in 1995. The good thing about this is that I didn’t lose a whole lot of memory.” The Tennessee Titans would agree. He hasn’t forgotten he’s still Trent Dilfer.

10. Shaun King, Tampa Bay (75.8): Sh-Sh-Sh-Shaun was sh-sh-sh-shivering and almost sh-sh-sh-shut out in first-round loss at Philadelphia.

11. JAY FIEDLER, MIAMI (74.5): Miami defeated Indianapolis in the first round, despite the consensus scouting report on the Dolphins: Good hit, no Fiedler.

12. AARON BROOKS, NEW ORLEANS (NR): Didn’t have enough pass attempts to qualify for the final regular-season rankings. Had one too many for St. Louis last Saturday as he threw for four touchdowns in 31-28 first-round victory over the Rams.