BCS Twists Their Manners

There are certain days (the ones ending in “y”) when you think the bowl championship series is, how to put this delicately, driving people stark, raving mad.

Or, maybe you didn’t catch Kansas Coach Mark Mangino’s postgame news conference ode to Captain Queeg.

The quest for big-money bowl berths is testing the limits of human behavior and bringing into play three or four of the Seven Deadly Sins.

There used to be a pretense of civility in college football, but the BCS has laid waste to that concept.

The race now is for precious trinkets -- eight spots in four BCS bowl games.

In terms of morality tales, think of college football as “The Lord of the Rings” with helmets and title sponsors.

The whole thing is becoming, well, not becoming.

College football has no playoff, so schools competing for the “mythical” title spar in blood-sport frenzy to impress a governing body of writers, coaches and (computer) wizards.

All of this has put at risk the integrity of the sport, not to mention the traditional postgame handshake.

It is no longer enough to defeat an opponent on a field of competition; you must beat it into submission.

Example:

Oklahoma had a 30-0 lead on Nebraska at Norman, Okla., on Saturday and, well, it just wasn’t enough. See, Oklahoma is No. 2 in the BCS standings but being pushed hard for the second spot by Auburn.

Sooner Coach Bob Stoops felt he had no choice but to try to score another touchdown late in the game in an effort to keep its lead over Auburn in the writers’ and coaches’ polls.

The idea backfired. Oklahoma failed to score and Nebraska, significantly annoyed at having its nose rubbed in the dirt, marched down the field and kicked a meaningless field goal with no time remaining.

“I felt they tried to stick it to us,” Nebraska quarterback Joe Dailey said.

Stoops admitted he was trying to score a touchdown he didn’t need to win and admitted he wasn’t proud of it.

“It’s a rotten position to be in as a head coach,” he was quoted as saying in the Omaha World-Herald.

Well, guess what, Stoops was right.

Oklahoma did not beat Nebraska by enough points Saturday and, on Sunday, lost ground to Auburn in both the writers’ and coaches’ polls. In fact, Auburn is now tied for second with Oklahoma in the writers’ poll.

It now seems a decent bet that if the top three teams -- USC, Oklahoma and Auburn -- all finish 12-0, Auburn will pass Oklahoma in the final BCS standings and play USC in the Jan. 4 Orange Bowl.

The pressure on coaches is not limited to championship contenders.

Utah is in a fight to finish sixth or better in the final BCS standings and thus become the first mid-major team to win a BCS bowl bid. That would bring Utah unprecedented fame and a $14-million check to share with the Mountain West Conference.

It is imperative that Utah try to win every game by as many points as it can.

Two weekends ago, Utah watched a huge lead on Colorado State start to slip away. Urban Meyer, the Utes’ coach, was forced to put his starters back in a game he was never going to lose.

It’s not about losing anymore as much as it is about losing ground.

The absurdity reached new lows Saturday when Kansas’ Mangino, after a gut-wrenching loss to Texas, accused officials of calling a game-defining penalty against Kansas in order to help Texas win and keep alive the Longhorns’ quest to earn an at-large BCS bid.

“You know what this is all about, don’t you?” Mangino said. “BCS

Mangino immediately apologized for his comments in a statement he may have read just before issuing.

“I have always supported the BCS system and will continue to do so,” Mangino’s statement read in part.

We’re happy to report that fair play is not in complete retreat. Last Thursday, Florida State led, 17-10, and had the ball inside North Carolina State’s five-yard line with a chance to tack on a last-second touchdown.

Out of respect for the opposing coach, Chuck Amato, a longtime former Florida State assistant, Seminole Coach Bobby Bowden ordered his quarterback to take a knee and let time expire.

You wonder whether Bowden could have afforded this dignity had his two-loss team been in the national-title race this year.

Weekend Wrap

Oklahoma is going to be very upset if it gets passed by Auburn in the BCS standings and is unable to play for the BCS national title.

The Fiesta Bowl, however, is not going to be upset. In that scenario, Oklahoma would fall to the Fiesta and possibly play 11-0 Utah in a battle of unbeaten schools.

Best guess right now at the BCS bowls:

Orange: USC vs. Auburn.

Rose: California vs. Michigan

Fiesta: Utah vs. Oklahoma.

Sugar: Boston College vs. Miami.

Wisconsin’s loss should bump Utah back into the No. 6 BCS spot today, which would guarantee the Utes (for now) a major bowl bid. Utah could have really solidified its position had Kansas upset Texas.

Here’s the Pacific 10 Conference bowl situation: UCLA’s win at Oregon moved the Bruins closer to a spot in the Insight Bowl against

Why-you-keep-trying department: Duke, Buffalo, Kentucky, Temple and Ball State entered weekend play with a cumulative record of 5-40. All five teams won.

Midwest coast offense report: Nebraska is 5-5 under first-year Coach Bill Callahan and needs to defeat Colorado to avoid its first losing season since 1961. Nebraska fired Frank Solich last year. That team finished 10-3.