It Has Become a Run for Fiesta

It is just plain weird.

After more than a half-century of making runs for roses, five Pacific 10 Conference schools are tied for first place and vying for a spot in the Jan. 1 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. What do we call this, “Quest(a) de la Fiesta?” Are players spilling sweat to “Win a Trip to the Chips?” No sir, this isn’t your granddaddy’s Rose Bowl season.

Sad, really, because this year’s Fiesta Bowl race would have made a terrific Rose Bowl race, while this year’s Rose Bowl could turn out to be a pretty good Orange Bowl: Miami-Florida. The Rose, as you know, is hosting this year’s national title game Jan. 3, yet last weekend’s wipeout of unbeaten Pac-10 schools has all but put the kibosh on the conference getting a team in the title game.

That said, it might help if the coach of the No. 6 team in the bowl championship series standings, Stanford’s Tyrone Willingham, paid a little more attention to his team’s outside chances.

“I do not know the details of it,” Willingham said of the BCS.

“Until the conclusion of the season, it doesn’t mean anything.”

Here’s how that conclusion is shaping up: Oregon, Washington State, Washington, Stanford and UCLA begin weekend play in what essentially becomes a Fiesta Bowl elimination tournament.

All five teams have one defeat, although two of the five are guaranteed a second conference loss as Stanford (5-1, 4-1) plays at Washington (6-1, 4-1) and UCLA (6-1, 3-1) travels to Washington State (7-1, 4-1). Oregon (7-1, 4-1) has the path of least resistance as it hosts Arizona State (4-3, 1-3).

In the big picture, Stanford has the inside track at the conference title because it has defeated two of the leaders, Oregon and UCLA. However, it should be noted Stanford has not won at Washington since 1975.

It’s best not to get carried away with scenarios, because in the next month Oregon plays at UCLA, Washington State plays at Washington, Oregon State plays at Oregon, UCLA plays at USC and Washington plays at Oregon State. None of the five leaders completely controls its fate, so you can understand why Willingham isn’t ready to hang a banner.

“At this stage, there’s no award for anything we’ve done,” he says.

Here are a few procedural tidbits:

In a two-way tie, Stanford wins against UCLA and Oregon but loses against Washington State. UCLA needs to win out and hope Stanford loses.

Oregon wins a two-way tiebreaker against Washington State, but loses to Stanford. In a three-way tie involving Oregon, Stanford and Washington State at 7-1, the tie would have to be broken based on nonconference records. If Stanford defeats Notre Dame and San Jose State, Washington State would be eliminated and Stanford would win based on its head-to-head win over Oregon.

Washington State could pay a price for playing Division I-AA Montana State instead of Colorado, a game that was scrapped after the events of Sept. 11. Division I-AA wins don’t count in tiebreaking procedures.

What if Oregon and Washington tie for the conference title? The schools do not meet this year, so the tiebreaker would go to nonconference games. Even if Washington beats Miami on Nov. 24 and Oregon and Washington end up undefeated in nonconference, Oregon would go to the Fiesta Bowl because Washington most recently appeared in the Rose Bowl.

If this sounds confusing, well, welcome to the brave new BCS world.

Pac Bits

Whatever floats your boat dept.: One reason Stanford at Washington won’t be televised? Washington does not allow home night games once daylight saving time has ended.

Stanford-Washington would have been a natural for the Fox 7:15 slot, but Washington couldn’t drop anchor on the deal. Why?

“It’s a safety issue because of all the boats we have coming to the game,” Washington Athletic Director Barbara Hedges told the Seattle Times.

You heard it right. Washington is one of the few places (Tennessee also comes to mind) where fans can actually boat to games. Ever try to parallel park a yacht after dark?

Oregon sophomore tailback Onterrio Smith’s school-record, 285-yard rushing performance against Washington State last week earned him Pac-10 player of the week honors and ... a seat back on the bench.

Provided his sore hamstring allows, senior Maurice Morris will start against Arizona State this week. Lost in the afterglow of Smith’s performance was the fact Morris had 138 yards rushing before leaving the game in the third quarter. “Mo’s a senior, it’s his job, but Onterrio is obviously more than a reserve,” Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti said.

Oregon State was supposed to have the conference’s best 1-2 running punch with Ken Simonton and Patrick McCall, but the tandem of Morris-Smith has left its rivals in the Oregon sawdust. UCLA’s DeShaun Foster’s average of 143.9 yards leads the Pac-10, but Smith and Morris have combined to average 188.7 yards. Smith has rushed for 781 yards this season, with Morris close behind at 729.

Smith transferred to Oregon after Tennessee kicked him off the team for a marijuana charge. He got into more trouble in Eugene in August when he was arrested for driving under the influence. Smith finally seems to have his off-the-field act together. “He’s working very hard at those things,” Bellotti said.

The Pac-10 is 20-5 against nonconference opponents. Only three conference schools have lost nonconference games: Cal (Illinois, Brigham Young), USC (Notre Dame, Kansas State) and Oregon State (Fresno State). The combined record of those nonconference teams is 26-11.