Monday, August 5, 1996
Bowl alliance allows conference to reach championship gameBy
Brent Boyd
Summer Bruin Senior Staff
The first weeks of August are the best of times for football
coaches nationwide. Two-a-days are beginning, every team is tied
for first place and not one school has chalked up a mark in the
loss column.
The college football season won’t be kicked off for another
three weeks, but the coaches of the Pac-10 conference are already
convinced they are the big winners.
At the Pac-10 Media Day on July 31, the 10 head coaches of the
West Coast’s premier conference had only good things to say of the
recent changes that have taken place in Pac-10 football.
Most notable among the changes was the commitment of the Rose
Bowl to the bowl alliance. Following the 1998 season, the
granddaddy of bowl games will no longer be an annual clash between
the champions of the Pac-10 and Big Ten, but instead will be part
of the new bowl agreement with the Sugar, Orange and Fiesta Bowls,
as well as with the major conferences across the country.
In effect, it will allow a team from either the Pac-10 or Big
Ten that is ranked first or second to play the other top-ranked
team for the national championship, whether it be in the Rose Bowl
or not.
The Rose Bowl is guaranteed a championship game by 2002, which
would include the top two nationally ranked teams, regardless of
conference affiliation. It’s very possible that it would feature
two teams from neither the Pac-10 nor the Big Ten.
Approval was not hard to find at Media Day.
"I have nothing but good feelings about it," USC head coach John
Robinson said. "I think it is a necessary step. If we came up
winning the conference and ranked No. 1 or 2, I would like to play
for the national championship."
That is something that hasn’t been possible in the past. Two
years ago Penn State was unable to play for the championship when
they were forced to play Oregon in Pasadena. The same thing almost
happened a year ago, but Ohio State’s undefeated season was ruined
by a loss to Michigan in the final game of the regular season.
Although sacrificing tradition, this agreement is thought to
ensure the future success of the league.
"Many times a player wants to go to a school with a shot at the
national championship," Washington coach Jim Lambright said. "I
think the move that we made in tying in with the alliance is a
great step and removes the barriers that might exist when
recruiting players and keeping this conference at the very very
top."
In recent years the lack of a shot at the national championship
has hurt recruiting efforts. As a result, at the present time, the
Pac-10 is not considered among the elite conferences in the nation
and is not thought to possess a team in contention for the national
title.
"There are different teams, probably a group of 10 to 15, that
are among the consistently elite in college football. We’ve not
been able to get back into it, but neither has any other Pac-10
team," Robinson said. "I am worried about any of us getting back to
that level. I think our conference needs to work to be among the
best and I think that is an ongoing effort  the Rose Bowl
decision was positive in that regard."
Head coaching changes at UCLA and California, and new
post-season agreements committing five conference teams to bowl
games (one of which will be the first-ever Haka Bowl in New
Zealand) also have teams anxious for the 1996 season to begin.
Steve Mariucci, new head coach for California, was the most
excited of all.
"This is hard to do sitting down," Mariucci said, "because when
I talk to people about Cal and our upcoming season, I like to do it
standing up pacing."
That’s exactly what members of the West Coast media think
Mariucci will be doing a lot of during the course of the season
 pacing. In a poll of 30 journalists, Cal was picked to
finish ninth, just ahead of traditional doormat Oregon State. USC
was picked to repeat as champion, followed by Arizona State, Oregon
and Washington. UCLA was picked for fifth place.
But Bruin fans hope this may be an omen for UCLA football. Three
years ago, they advanced to the Rose Bowl after being picked sixth
in the preseason poll, while the previous two Bruin Pac-10
championships occurred after being slated for fifth. But fifth was
still too high according to new UCLA head coach Bob Toledo.
"Please pick us tenth," asked Toledo of the media, alluding to
the fact that the past two teams picked to finish in the cellar
advanced to bowl games (Stanford in 1995, Washington State in
1994).
However, despite his request and the prospects of facing one of
the nation’s most difficult schedules, Toledo is optimistic about
the 1996 season.
"Our goals are to win the conference and a Rose Bowl, and
eventually compete for a national championship," Toledo said,
realizing his goals are not easily attainable. "I think this
conference is extremely tough. In the Pac-10, top to bottom anybody
can really beat anybody else. But, I also have to say USC is the
team that would be picked to win."
He seemed to echo the opinion of every coach to take the
podium.
"It is an awful difficult task to talk about what will happen in
the conference," Stanford head coach Tyrone Willingham said. "But I
think you have to start with the defending champ. Until someone
knocks them off, they have to be considered the top dog."
With no dominant teams, the conference is not perceived to be
among the strongest nationwide. But success in a tough
non-conference schedule could put the Pac-10 back into the
forefront of national prominence.
In addition to UCLA’s visits to Tennessee and Michigan, USC
begins the season with Penn State and concludes it with Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish also will host Washington, Washington State
opens up the season at Colorado, while Arizona State battles
two-time defending champ Nebraska in September.
"Are we as talented as Nebraska?" Robinson asked the media and
then answered himself. "I don’t know about that."
Whether or not they are, the Pac-10 is sure to find out early in
the season. But, regardless of how they fare, the conference
coaches refuse to do anything but look ahead and anticipate the
future success of the conference.
After all, losing four of five bowl games a year ago, and having
only two teams among the Top 25 (USC No. 12, Oregon No. 20), they
can’t bear to look back.