Tuesday, October 30, 2001

Huskers No. 1 in BCS poll
By Richard Rosenblatt
Associated Press

Even with a loss, Oklahoma is still the choice over Miami in the Bowl Championship Series computer — but just barely.

Nebraska (9-0) replaced Oklahoma in first place in the new BCS standings Monday after its 20-10 win over the Sooners.

Andy Scott/DALLAS MORNING NEWS Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Eric Crouch runs downfield past celebrating players on the bench Saturday to score in the fourth quarter as Nebraska beat Oklahoma 20-10 in Lincoln, Neb.

Despite Saturday’s loss, Oklahoma (7-1) was second, .12 ahead of Miami (6-0).

The Hurricanes, ranked No. 1 in the AP media and USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll, moved from fourth to third after a 45-3 win over West Virginia last Thursday night. The Huskers and Sooners are ranked 2-3 in the AP media and coaches’ polls.

The BCS standings determine which teams play in the BCS’ national championship game in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 3. The rankings are based on a formula that incorporates the AP media and coaches’ polls, eight computers, strength of schedule, won-lost record and bonus points for big wins.

In addition to Oklahoma, five other teams in last week’s 15-team BCS standings lost over the weekend — UCLA, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Washington State and South Carolina.

Michigan (6-1) moved from seventh to fourth place this week, with Texas (7-1) fifth and Stanford (5-1) up eight spots to sixth after its 38-28 upset of UCLA.

Nebraska had 2.02 points in the BCS standings — 2 for poll average, 1 for computer-rank average, 0.32 for strength-of-schedule, zero for losses and a 1.3-point bonus deduction for beating Oklahoma.

The bonus award — new this season — is based on a sliding scale from 1.5 points for beating a first-place team down to .1 for a win over the 15th-place team. The bonus is awarded after the first four elements are added.

Without the bonus-point element, Miami would have been second and Oklahoma third — 7.71 points to OU’s 8.69 points. Ironically, the bonus-point system was devised in the aftermath of Miami being left out of last year’s title game in favor of Florida State, a team the Hurricanes beat during the season.

Oklahoma had 7.59 points — 3.5 for poll average, 3.83 for computer rank, .036 for strength of schedule, 1 for losses and a 1.1-point deduction for beating Texas earlier this season.

Miami had 7.71 points — 1 for poll average, 3.67 for computer rank, 3.04 for strength of schedule, zero for losses and zero bonus point deductions.

The final BCS standings will be released Dec. 9.