The Associated Press (AP) withdraws from BCS system

[Ethereal]

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

ESPN.com news services

Apparent concern over the Bowl Championship Series process had led The Associated Press to pull its football poll from the BCS system used to select the national title game and the three other BCS bowls, The Boston Globe is reporting.


BCS coordinator Kevin Weiberg, the commissioner of the Big 12, told The Globe he has received a letter from AP indicating it wasn't comfortable being part of the process.


The move would take place starting next season. The BCS is expected to make a statement later Tuesday.


The eight teams selected for the four major bowls -- Orange, Rose, Sugar, and Fiesta -- are picked by the BCS, which uses a combination of the AP poll (voted on by writers and broadcasters), the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll, and several computer rankings. Each segment receives a one-third weighting in picking the teams.


In the wake of Texas leapfrogging Cal for a BCS bowl bid, the Charlotte Observer announced it no longer will vote in The AP poll.

 

[Ethereal]

This is great news! The first step towards eliminating the system that has been screwing teams over since it was put in place. Looks like that Texas-Cal tragedy was the last straw. Anyone know if the BCS is under contract or if it is internal?

 

[Grim]

yes this is great news....I think it was the tradegy of the bullshit match ups....I mean what the fuck....none of the teams besides USC and Oklahoma got really good match ups...Its not a big deal for Texas to of gotten into the BCS over Cal....its not a huge stretch of the imagination for that to of happened...its what happened after words was these bullshit match ups...there really arent any bowls games I am looking forward to for real....why are the top 3-7th placed teams not playing anyone that is near their ranking? this is such fucking bullshit, it has basically ruined the bowl season this year, I dont even have a desire to watch the shit even though my team is playing in the title game, the rest of the games just ruined the shit for me

#3 Auburn Vs #9 Virginia Tech
#4 California Vs #21 Texas Tech
#5 Texas Vs # 12 Michigan
#6 Utah Vs. #20 Pittsburgh
#7 Georgia Vs. #16 Wisconsin

I want to see any of those top 3-7 placed teams play each other...this bcs matching up shit is bullshit and the games they didnt match up even are fucked up....its like they matched these games up so that the result of them wouldnt tell us shit....cuz if Utah, Texas, Cal and Auburn win, its like hmmmm we knew damn well that would happen and nothing is proven. If Texas and Cal played...we would at least get a comparison from 2 conferences in the title game on the 2nd placed teams in those conferences or let Auburn play one of those 2nd placed teams to at least get a measure for how good they stack up.....thanks AP poll, i am very curious to see what happens now

 

[Grim]

The Associated Press did the dirty work for the Bowl Championship Series. The AP's decision to pull its poll from the BCS Standings is all but a death sentence for the 7-year-old idea of the formula, which has gone through more changes in its brief life than Madonna.


Rather than use another poll in the formula, a BCS official said Tuesday night that the BCS commissioners are considering appointing a blue-ribbon committee of athletic directors and other executives to name the teams that will play in the national championship game.


The concept, although foreign to college football, is not foreign to the NCAA as a whole. Many NCAA postseason playoff participants are named by committees, including March Madness.


The commissioners understand that the credibililty of the BCS is at stake. The AP is out, and the American Football Coaches Association has refused to reveal the votes of its members in the ESPN/USA Today poll.


Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg, the current BCS chair, released a statement Tuesday saying that, "We respect the decision of The Associated Press to no longer have its poll included in the BCS Standings. Since the inception of the BCS, the AP poll has been a part of our Standings. We appreciate the cooperation we have received from the organization in providing its rankings on a weekly basis. We will discuss alternatives to The Associated Press poll at upcoming BCS meetings and plan to conclude our evaluation of the BCS Standings Formula, including any other possible changes, by our April meeting."


Weiberg was traveling Tuesday and couldn't be reached for further comment. As the BCS chair, he will give an informal State of the BCS talk at the Football Writers Association of America annual meeting on Jan. 4, the morning of the BCS championship game, the FedEx Orange Bowl.


By pulling out of the formula, the AP has come full circle. In 1998, a sufficient number of AP members didn't want their college football writers to be responsible for voting teams into the national championship game that the Division I-A commissioners developed the Bowl Championship Series formula to determine the standings used to pick teams for the BCS games.


AP members, worried about making the news instead of reporting it, felt better that their poll was only indirectly responsible for which teams received the eight-figure payout (this season: $14.4 million).


However, after the controversy in 2003, when USC finished No. 1 in both the AP and the ESPN/USA Today polls and failed to qualify for the championship game, the BCS simplified its formula to rely more heavily on the polls.


With USC, Oklahoma and Auburn all finishing the regular season undefeated, the simpler formula didn't end the controversy. The controversy, however, renewed the AP's concerns regarding making news.


An AP voter in Alabama, Paul Gattis of the Huntsville Times, was chastised for voting Auburn No. 3 by the editor of his paper -- in print. Three AP voters in Texas drew attention when they moved Texas ahead of California in the final poll, helping the Longhorns qualify for a BCS berth in the Rose Bowl instead of the Golden Bears.

 

[Grim]

Rather than use another poll in the formula, a BCS official said Tuesday night that the BCS commissioners are considering appointing a blue-ribbon committee of athletic directors and other executives to name the teams that will play in the national championship game.


.

i sure hope the fuck not....that isnt going to solve a damn thang

 

[Grim]

while we are at it...we can get rid of all these rinky dink ass 50th placed teams getting bowls games and shit....56 fuckin teams get to play in bowl games....what kinda fuckin shit is that, there arent 56 good teams in college football. wow some 7-5 teams playing each other is hella fun to watch.