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CNN Live Saturday
Oklahoma, LSU To Square Off For BCS Championship
Aired December 13, 2003 - 14:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, even if Oklahoma's Jason White doesn't win the Heisman, he'll still take his team to the BCS title game in January. Some say Oklahoma shouldn't even play in the Sugar Bowl. It's the controversy that just doesn't seem to die. To debate the much maligned BCS, Chet Coppock with Sports News Radio and David DelGrand with the "Oakland Tribune," good to see both of you gentlemen.
CHET COPPOCK, SPORTING NEWS RADIO: Hi Fredricka.
DAVE DELGRANDE, OAKLAND TRIBUNE: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right well, Dave, you say they got it right. It's OK that LSU and Oklahoma are in the Sugar Bowl?
DELGRANDE: That's correct I think that the computers are programmed to reward the teams that college football wants to reward. They reward you on strength of schedule, on how did you over the course of an entire season, rather than what have you done for me lately, which is a problem with the human polls, and so the computers are almost unanimous saying that Oklahoma is number one, and LSU is number two, and, really, there would be no controversy if the human polls didn't exist.
WHITFIELD: But, Chet, you see a problem with the computers playing a role in this at all. Do you think they really should not be relying on the picks for championship games?
COPPOCK: Well Fredricka, first of all, there's something inappropriate from going from the jobless rate to the BCS. Because they are going from something that is consequential to something that is totally inconsequential because as Dave fully knows, and Dave is a bright newspaper man, if USC and Pete Carol knock off Michigan in the Rose Bowl, on January 1st. That's the national championship. You can't convince people in the name of computers, in the name of the "New York Times," in the name of all the geeks who are running these computers, LSU versus Oklahoma is a legitimate national championship game, not after Oklahoma got blown out by Kansas State last week in the big 12. So I'm a full-blown believer that you're a national championship game does involve USC and Michigan. Because right now, USC, in our human polls with the writers and coaches, they are ranked numeral uno a win in November or December.
WHITFIELD: Well Chet is part of the argument, that perhaps it would be just too predictable to have the number one playing number three? Number two playing numbers four and perhaps this kind of stirs things up a bit? COPPOCK: Ideally, what you would do is you would have these four bowl games and designates two bowl games per year on a rotating basis. With one versus four, two versus three and then have a natural two week hiatus. And this will never transpire because we're dealing with common sense in college football and common sense and never really bridged with each other. But ideally, you would have the winners of those two ball games, be two weeks down the road to play on the field in the name of blood, sweat and tears for a legitimate vital, on the field national title.
WHITFIELD: Well Dave, are you saying this whole argument is stealing the thunder of LSU and Oklahoma? Why can't they just go into the Sugar Bowl and prove what each team has got?
DELGRANDE: Eventually they will.
WHITFIELD: Without the argument?
DELGRANDE: Yes, and -- one of the reason that I'm pro-BCS system, is not because I think it's the perfect system, but because all of the other alternatives are flawed. Including the one my opponent, my rival, has just talked about. Where you are going to put two-bowl game on January 1st. And the winners are going to meet as if you have a final four. You have as many problems with that format if not more than you have today. Who would the number four team be in the country? Is it Michigan? Is it really Michigan? Why wouldn't it be Miami? They have the same record; they're ahead of Michigan in the poll.
WHITFIELD: So Chet how do you resolve that?
DELGRANDE: Why wouldn't it be Florida State? Why wouldn't it be Tennessee? For crying out loud, Miami, Ohio or even ahead of USC. Why don't they deserve that fourth spot?
COPPOCK: Why don't we go back to the simplicity of the Associated Press writers poll, live with it as is, you'll never Fredricka going to have a perfect system. You have to begin with that premise.
DELGRANDE: Because the writer's poll --
COPPOCK: It's not structured like the National Football League is structured. So just go back to the old fashion associated press poll, take one, two, three and four, match one up with four, two up with three, play a national championship game. Again in the great scheme of life, the BCS, first of all was made for ABC television! It wasn't made for college football or for the --
WHITFIELD: Well aren't all these bowl games, aren't they all made for television anyway Dave?
DELGRANDE: It wasn't the AP poll made for newspapers? I mean we're talking about college football. It has finally stepped in and decided, look, we are not going to allow the writers to determine our national champion. We are not going to allow the writers and coaches to determine two different champions. We're going to determine our own champion. And the way we are going to do that is by programming the computers to determine and evaluate and over the course of an entire season, which are the teams that most deserve to be in the title game? Not the teams that won be last Saturday, and this is where Oklahoma's getting knocked down. Oklahoma over the course of the season was three laps ahead of LSU and USC if this was an auto race, and, yes, they did lose last Saturday. So they're penalized two laps. But you what when it's all said and done, they're still a lap ahead of these other teams.
COPPOCK: As you know -- David, you know --
DELGRANDE: First off, don't tell me what I know, that's the second time you said that. And you don't know what I know. USC according to strength of schedule, haven't beaten anybody all season. They tried to, they tried scheduling tough.
COPPOCK: If Notre Dame had beaten Syracuse, USC is playing in New Orleans.
DELGRANDE: But they didn't, if Notre Dame had won anything this year, maybe USC's schedule would be tougher.
COPPOCK: So why allow computers to determine the fate of USC base and a ball game between Notre Dame and Syracuse? Explain that one?
DELGRANDE: Because it tells us something about USC's schedule and only the computer in the course of a short turnover, this game was played on a Saturday. The poll came out Sunday morning. You are talking about a very quick turnover. Writers decided among themselves to themselves and, hmm, Oklahoma lost today. We have to knock them down a couple spots because they lost. Where it as a computer went ahead a rethought of the entire schedule and said you know what Oklahoma did loose, but according to our calculations they are still a better team.
WHITFIELD: All right, Dave Delgrande, and Chet Coppock we are going to find out in January just who is the most deserving of this title, at least in the Sugar Bowl. And we will be determining --
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 13, 2003 - 14:23 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, even if Oklahoma's Jason White doesn't win the Heisman, he'll still take his team to the BCS title game in January. Some say Oklahoma shouldn't even play in the Sugar Bowl. It's the controversy that just doesn't seem to die. To debate the much maligned BCS, Chet Coppock with Sports News Radio and David DelGrand with the "Oakland Tribune," good to see both of you gentlemen.
CHET COPPOCK, SPORTING NEWS RADIO: Hi Fredricka.
DAVE DELGRANDE, OAKLAND TRIBUNE: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right well, Dave, you say they got it right. It's OK that LSU and Oklahoma are in the Sugar Bowl?
DELGRANDE: That's correct I think that the computers are programmed to reward the teams that college football wants to reward. They reward you on strength of schedule, on how did you over the course of an entire season, rather than what have you done for me lately, which is a problem with the human polls, and so the computers are almost unanimous saying that Oklahoma is number one, and LSU is number two, and, really, there would be no controversy if the human polls didn't exist.
WHITFIELD: But, Chet, you see a problem with the computers playing a role in this at all. Do you think they really should not be relying on the picks for championship games?
COPPOCK: Well Fredricka, first of all, there's something inappropriate from going from the jobless rate to the BCS. Because they are going from something that is consequential to something that is totally inconsequential because as Dave fully knows, and Dave is a bright newspaper man, if USC and Pete Carol knock off Michigan in the Rose Bowl, on January 1st. That's the national championship. You can't convince people in the name of computers, in the name of the "New York Times," in the name of all the geeks who are running these computers, LSU versus Oklahoma is a legitimate national championship game, not after Oklahoma got blown out by Kansas State last week in the big 12. So I'm a full-blown believer that you're a national championship game does involve USC and Michigan. Because right now, USC, in our human polls with the writers and coaches, they are ranked numeral uno a win in November or December.
WHITFIELD: Well Chet is part of the argument, that perhaps it would be just too predictable to have the number one playing number three? Number two playing numbers four and perhaps this kind of stirs things up a bit? COPPOCK: Ideally, what you would do is you would have these four bowl games and designates two bowl games per year on a rotating basis. With one versus four, two versus three and then have a natural two week hiatus. And this will never transpire because we're dealing with common sense in college football and common sense and never really bridged with each other. But ideally, you would have the winners of those two ball games, be two weeks down the road to play on the field in the name of blood, sweat and tears for a legitimate vital, on the field national title.
WHITFIELD: Well Dave, are you saying this whole argument is stealing the thunder of LSU and Oklahoma? Why can't they just go into the Sugar Bowl and prove what each team has got?
DELGRANDE: Eventually they will.
WHITFIELD: Without the argument?
DELGRANDE: Yes, and -- one of the reason that I'm pro-BCS system, is not because I think it's the perfect system, but because all of the other alternatives are flawed. Including the one my opponent, my rival, has just talked about. Where you are going to put two-bowl game on January 1st. And the winners are going to meet as if you have a final four. You have as many problems with that format if not more than you have today. Who would the number four team be in the country? Is it Michigan? Is it really Michigan? Why wouldn't it be Miami? They have the same record; they're ahead of Michigan in the poll.
WHITFIELD: So Chet how do you resolve that?
DELGRANDE: Why wouldn't it be Florida State? Why wouldn't it be Tennessee? For crying out loud, Miami, Ohio or even ahead of USC. Why don't they deserve that fourth spot?
COPPOCK: Why don't we go back to the simplicity of the Associated Press writers poll, live with it as is, you'll never Fredricka going to have a perfect system. You have to begin with that premise.
DELGRANDE: Because the writer's poll --
COPPOCK: It's not structured like the National Football League is structured. So just go back to the old fashion associated press poll, take one, two, three and four, match one up with four, two up with three, play a national championship game. Again in the great scheme of life, the BCS, first of all was made for ABC television! It wasn't made for college football or for the --
WHITFIELD: Well aren't all these bowl games, aren't they all made for television anyway Dave?
DELGRANDE: It wasn't the AP poll made for newspapers? I mean we're talking about college football. It has finally stepped in and decided, look, we are not going to allow the writers to determine our national champion. We are not going to allow the writers and coaches to determine two different champions. We're going to determine our own champion. And the way we are going to do that is by programming the computers to determine and evaluate and over the course of an entire season, which are the teams that most deserve to be in the title game? Not the teams that won be last Saturday, and this is where Oklahoma's getting knocked down. Oklahoma over the course of the season was three laps ahead of LSU and USC if this was an auto race, and, yes, they did lose last Saturday. So they're penalized two laps. But you what when it's all said and done, they're still a lap ahead of these other teams.
COPPOCK: As you know -- David, you know --
DELGRANDE: First off, don't tell me what I know, that's the second time you said that. And you don't know what I know. USC according to strength of schedule, haven't beaten anybody all season. They tried to, they tried scheduling tough.
COPPOCK: If Notre Dame had beaten Syracuse, USC is playing in New Orleans.
DELGRANDE: But they didn't, if Notre Dame had won anything this year, maybe USC's schedule would be tougher.
COPPOCK: So why allow computers to determine the fate of USC base and a ball game between Notre Dame and Syracuse? Explain that one?
DELGRANDE: Because it tells us something about USC's schedule and only the computer in the course of a short turnover, this game was played on a Saturday. The poll came out Sunday morning. You are talking about a very quick turnover. Writers decided among themselves to themselves and, hmm, Oklahoma lost today. We have to knock them down a couple spots because they lost. Where it as a computer went ahead a rethought of the entire schedule and said you know what Oklahoma did loose, but according to our calculations they are still a better team.
WHITFIELD: All right, Dave Delgrande, and Chet Coppock we are going to find out in January just who is the most deserving of this title, at least in the Sugar Bowl. And we will be determining --
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
