Auburn coach speaks out against BCS system, ESPN

[KronoRed]

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/...510250348/1002

By Mike Tankersley
Montgomery Advertiser

Join the club, Alabama and Georgia. And Virginia Tech is welcome, too.

That was the message Monday from Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, who spoke at the Montgomery Quarterback Club's noon luncheon two days after watching his team's 13-game SEC winning streak come to an end at Baton Rouge.

Tuberville, whose team was shut out of the BCS national title game last season, was asked if he thought the same thing might happen to an SEC school again this year. That got him started on the Bowl Championship Series system and the national media, particularly ESPN.

"It's done," Tuberville said. "The national media, led by ESPN, wants to see Vince Young vs. Matt Leinart in the championship game. It's going to be those two teams unless Texas or USC get upset.

"Last year, they wanted to see the two Heisman Trophy quarterbacks, Jason White and Leinart. After six or seven games, we were out of it.

"If four teams are undefeated at the end of the season, there should be a playoff. There should've been one last year. But it's decided already. I don't like it."

Tuberville spoke out sharply against ESPN and the influence it wields on the college game. He said the opinions ESPN hosts and analysts put out on the airwaves each week tend to shape the opinions of fans and media people around the country.

And he's not at all happy about that.

"ESPN has gotten so much power lately, it's kinda scary," Tuberville said. "And most of their analysts are coaches who haven't won any games. That's why they're there. I think you know who I'm talking about.

"And Lou Holtz gets on there and talks about what a team has to do win that game, and the guy couldn't beat anybody in our conference. These guys will come talk to you and look you straight in the eye and tell you something, then they'll get on the air and say something else.

"ESPN, I'll tell you, I don't have much to do with them anymore."

Tuberville told the audience that when he got to his office Sunday after attending church, he heard a noise from the practice field. He checked it out and saw that it was John Vaughn, who was kicking by himself off a tee.

"I guess he was kicking out his frustrations," Tuberville said, referring to Vaughn's five missed field-goal attempts Saturday night. "He's sick about it. He's a good kicker. He just had one of those nights. We all have them. And you'll never hear or read about this, but the wind on that field was swirling. It was a guessing game as to where to kick the ball. But he'll recover."

Tuberville said he paid close attention to the Auburn players after the game. He hated losing the game, but what he saw from his players afterward inspired him.

"You find out a lot about people in a situation like that," he said. "I sat back in the locker room and watched John (Vaughn), and every player on that team came by and said something to him. You travel with 70 players, and every one of them went by and talked to him.

"I don't mean they just patted him on the back. They all went up to him and sat down and talked to him. I was very proud of that. That kid was upset."

Tuberville thinks his team grew up a little while battling LSU on the road.

"When you do lose, you want it to affect your players," Tuberville said. "There weren't five words said on the entire plane ride home, and that was a long trip. It affected our guys."

[OnBaseMachine]

The BCS is horrible. Its a joke that Texas passed USC. Please get rid of the BCS! It screws a non-Big 12 team every year.

Why move Texas past the back-to-back champs? USC has won three tough road games against ranked opponents. Who exactly has Texas beat other than OSU? And Va Tech should probably pass Texas considering they play a tougher schedule.

Ivan Maisel of CNNSI wrote today that the Pac-10 has been the toughest conferance this year, with the ACC second and SEC third.

[Danny Serafini]

Um, Tommy, how many national titles does Lou Holtz have? How many do you? If you want to question credibility, you called out the wrong target.

[Chip R]

Um, Tommy, how many national titles does Lou Holtz have? How many do you? If you want to question credibility, you called out the wrong target.

Same as Tuberville. One.

[Roy Tucker]

Golly. TV controls college football? I'm shocked.

When you sell your soul for billions of network television dollars, don't be surprised when they tell you what to do.

[bucksfan]

I can agree with him about the BCS. And I have had my share of people I cannot stand at ESPN (MARK MAY as a fantastic example). But as far as their influence on anything, that should not really be anything to complain about to the network. Complain that so-and-so on ESPN is an idiot, etc all you want & I would agree much of the time, but any complaints about their influence affecting the "standings" should fall at those responsible for the standings, not ESPN.

[KronoRed]

Same as Tuberville. One.

And Tommy deserved last year.

He was correct about Lou not winning much in the SEC

[Playadlc]

This system doesn't work because of this basic fact: the BCS only works if there are just TWO undefeated teams from major conferences.

If there's 1 it doesn't work because you have to pick an opponent from the 1-loss teams. (Remember Nebraska a few years back after giving up 60 points to Colorado)

If there's 3 teams it doesn't work, because how do you seperate USC (Pac 10) Oklahoma (Big 12) and Auburn (SEC) to anyone's satisfaction?

That's why the media should continue using the phrase "mythical National Champions" until we go to a playoff system.

Like the one the NCAA uses in ALL OF THEIR OTHER DIVISIONS.

And if you skim 8 or 16 teams off the top, there's still plenty of bowl games (i.e. football's NIT) that could take schools like an Indiana that's trying to build a program if they post a winning season.

[Danny Serafini]

Same as Tuberville. One.

Moral victories don't count.

[MWM]

Tuberville accomplished everything USC accomplished last year. Now, I don't think they were as good as USC, but who the hell cares wat people THINK, even if it's concensus, if they don't actually play. I absolutely consider Auburn co-National Champ last year.

The BCS is a joke and I've never a single argument as to why a playoff wouldn't be preferable.

[kbrake]

It's a joke to get bent out of shape with ESPN in about this. College Football would be near as big as it is today if it was not for all that ESPN does for it. Over 300 games a year on ESPN network. As far as the BCS everyone agrees that it is a joke and that it has never worked. As for this year though it should be USC/Texas. This year BCS will probaly get lucky though Va Tech has it real tough rest of the year and I highly doubt they go undefeated. Same with the SEC teams, Georgia and Alabama.

[Cedric]

It's a joke to get bent out of shape with ESPN in about this. College Football would be near as big as it is today if it was not for all that ESPN does for it. Over 300 games a year on ESPN network. As far as the BCS everyone agrees that it is a joke and that it has never worked. As for this year though it should be USC/Texas. This year BCS will probaly get lucky though Va Tech has it real tough rest of the year and I highly doubt they go undefeated. Same with the SEC teams, Georgia and Alabama.

College football would be just fine without ESPN. They do a good job at what they do, that still doesn't exclude them from criticism in my view. I could write a million things I see wrong with ESPN and the way they do business today, but it's of no use, nothing could change them, they are so big.

[Caveat Emperor]

The BCS is a joke and I've never a single argument as to why a playoff wouldn't be preferable.

Like many things, in life...money.

Bowl games are big money for conferences, especially the power conferences who send a large number of teams to bowl games. Even schools that don't field a winning team can make money off bowl games as the winnings are dispersed to the various conference members.

Further, the bowls are big business for the cities who host these games, adding to the tourism revenue as well as providing another date for various stadiums, many of which are operated by city and county governments. It'd be difficult for a playoff to replicate the windfall that many bowls recieve when major programs with marginal records (like, say, Michigan this year) and their fans travel to bowl games, especially with the prospect of teams playing multiple games and the difficulty of getting fans to travel to neutral sites for consecutive games.

The only "playoff" I see happening in the near future is, potentially, the BCS transforming into a "Finals" concept, with 6 teams making the tournament and the 5 BCS bowls being used as the various 'rounds' (Top 2 teams get byes) and then doing 2 game (3 v. 6, 4 v 5) , 2 game (1 v. lowest seed, 2 v. other), 1 game format (winner v. winner for national title). This system would retain the other bowls in the traditional format while also ensuring, at the very least, that no "3rd Wheel" undefeated team gets left out of the national title picture.

But, the bowls are here to stay forever, I fear.

[KronoRed]

The bowls can stick around, but I like the idea of a final 6 type thing using the BCS bowls.

[Chip R]

Moral victories don't count.

Auburn's claim was just as legit as Notre Dame's.

Technically speaking, the NCAA does not recognize a Division I national champion. They recognize Division I-AA, Division II and DIvision III but not Division I. That's why Auburn can lay claim to a national championship last year. Not the national championship since the NCAA doesn't recognize it. That's why schools like Alabama can claim to have so many national championships in football. If some podunk newspaper thought a team was the national champion, who was going to say different? Back in the day they had 2 or 3 teams claim to be national champions some years. Why is the BCS championship any more legitimate than any other organization that votes on such a thing?