Stoops Rolls Dice (Wins), Doba Takes Safe Bet (Loses)

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One coach took a chance Saturday and one didn’t.

One Bobby Knight-grabbed a game by the throat and the other hoped things would work out.

It was fascinating to study the delicate difference between victory and defeat and the difference between Bob Stoops and Bill Doba.

Top-ranked Oklahoma beat Alabama because it has a coach in Stoops who isn’t afraid to risk defeat in pursuit of victory.

Washington State lost to Notre Dame because it has a coach, Doba, who didn’t have enough ice in his veins to steal victory when he had the chance.

You can’t blame Doba, coaching his first game, in the town he grew up in, for playing the percentages.

But let’s look at what the difference wrought.

At Tuscaloosa, Stoops cold-cocked momentum and the Alabama crowd when he ordered a fake punt on fourth and 11, his Oklahoma team holding a 13-10 lead. The play worked, the Sooners scored on the next play and won, 20-13.

Stoops took a bold, calculated risk and that is why he is, unquestionably, the best big-game coach in college.

At South Bend, Ind., underdog Washington State rallied in the final minutes to cut the Notre Dame lead to 26-25 on Sammy Moore’s sensational, one-handed touchdown grab.

Had Doba had Stoops’ killer instinct, he would have faked the extra point to tie and tried a two-point attempt to win.

Why? Doba’s kicker, Drew Dunning, already had missed an extra-point try.

Why? If you lose at Notre Dame on a play like that, well, you were supposed to lose anyway.

Why? Because in three years no will care that you almost won at Notre Dame.

But Doba played for the tie, and Dunning knuckled the extra point through.

In overtime, Doba missed another chance after Washington State’s first overtime drive stalled, ordering a field-goal try on fourth and two.

Again, why?

Why not go for it?

Doba knew Dunning was wobbly and that Notre Dame was going to start its overtime possession in field-goal position with a great kicker, Nicholas Setta.

Naturally, Dunning missed his field-goal try in overtime, Setta made his and Notre Dame won, 29-26.

One coach gambled and won.

One didn’t and lost.

Vive la difference.

On to Chicago

Today, in the Windy City, the Coalition for Athletics Reform will take on the Presidential Oversight Committee in a no-holds-barred match, the winner to dictate the future of college football.

The presidents representing the two sides will dress in inflatable sumo-wrestling suits and try to win points by bouncing each other out of a giant ring at the O’Hare Hilton.

Don’t we wish.

In fact, the meeting between bowl championship series presidents and non-BCS presidents probably will not produce a startling resolution.

The meetings are, however, an important first step toward an inevitable compromise to provide more inclusion for non-BCS schools and possibly stave off antitrust action.

Negotiations for the new BCS contract, which expires after the 2005 season, will begin in the spring.

It seems almost certain the BCS schools will offer the non-BCS schools either more flexible access into the system or more money, or both.

The non-BCS schools claim the six major conferences that control college football operate as a cartel. The BCS says that’s nonsense, but is willing to talk.

“We want to have a discussion but it’s got to be fact-based,” Southeastern Conference Commissioner Michael Slive said Saturday before the Alabama-Oklahoma game. “Rhetoric is one thing, but let’s sit down and go over the facts.”

Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson, a leading spokesman for the non-BCS cause, will be in Chicago to provide support for the non-BCS presidents.

“We’ve got a game plan,” Thompson said. “We’re like the offensive and defensive coordinators, getting the head coach ready.”

Weekend Wrap

Conference of the Week: Mid-American. The MAC continues to take its lumps from the big boys (Iowa 56, Buffalo 7; Pittsburgh 43, Kent State 3), but we acknowledge the occasional haymakers too. Last week, Northern Illinois upset Maryland, and this week Bowling Green bowled over Purdue, picked to finish in the Big Ten’s upper echelon.

Conference of the Weak: Pacific 10. Our Left Coast Lads lost a little luster after an opening weekend highlighted by USC over Auburn.

This week the conference coughed up two games to non-BCS conferences, Fresno State over Oregon State and Colorado State over California. UCLA lost its opener at Colorado, Oregon was less than impressive against Nevada, and Arizona got hammered at home by Louisiana State (John Mackovic, your future at U of A is now on the clock).

Team of the Week: Wake Forest. A golf school (Arnold Palmer) whose most famous football player is still Brian Piccolo, is 2-0 after upset wins against Boston College and North Carolina State. Keep this up and we’ll have to learn the fight song.

Team of the Weak: Auburn. The team that started the year ranked No. 6 and touted on the cover of ESPN the Magazine and the Sporting News is 0-2 after Saturday’s loss to Georgia Tech. Forget the national title, the bet now is whether Auburn, which has three points, will score a touchdown this year.

Closing thought: Anyone interested in winning this year’s Heisman Trophy should send his or her (New Mexico kicker Kate Hnida?) resume and a passport photo to New York’s Downtown Athletic Club. Yes, the race is that wide open.