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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Peter Brown
Aired January 04, 2004 - 09:18 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Moving on to college football. Tonight's Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, just hours before the clash in Cajun Country. Fans and foes of the Championship Series are still talking about the BCS mess. Joining us from Chicago with more insight on the BCS backfire and the Sugar Bowl is Peter Brown. He is the host of Sporting News Radio. Hey, Peter, thanks for joining us today.
PETER BROWN, HOST, SPORTING NEWS RADIO: Any time.
CALLEBS: OK. If LSU wins tonight, does that resolve it at all or is there going to be a split championship?
BROWN: Well, there's going to be a split national champion. The problem is, they allowed the AP as part of the process and now they feel like they are the process, that they can go off as sort of a rogue nation, invoke their own national champion. I mean, they voted them in as a poll, not as to pick their own national champion, but they want to ruin the system.
The system says that the BCS champion, tonight's winner is the national champion. What they should have done is told the AP you have to vote our way, otherwise you are not part of the process. They let them go off on their own, and that's why we have a split national champion.
CALLEBS: OK, where do we go from here? Are they going to have to go back to ground zero, because as I understand it, most of the coaches are simply fed up with this system. And most want it changed.
BROWN: They are. But the problem is the coaches don't have the say here. The university administrators and the athletic directors, they are the guys that have the say, including, by the way, the USC University president and the USC athletic director. You know, the guys that are moaning about the system now. You know, they voted for the system. I'm sure Al Gore will tell his grandkids that he's president of the United States, but that's not the system. The system has it has to be the BCS. You have to live with it, accept it, and move on from there.
CALLEBS: What about Oklahoma? It's in a tough shape, because it did not win its own conference. So if they win tonight, what kind of claim do they have?
BROWN: Well, and that's going to be the argument, the fact that they didn't win their conference. The problem is, the Big 10 and the Pac-10 don't have a conference championship game. So last year, Iowa and Ohio State had the same conference record. But they didn't play each other. So how do you determine who the conference champion was there? So the notion that you have to be conference champion to be national champion is ridiculous.
But Oklahoma does have an image issue. They were blown out by Kansas State. They have to come out tonight, play well and be dominant, and that's how they're going to get the national championship.
CALLEBS: And for USC, as well as it played against Michigan, this was a team that beat one top 25 team before that bowl game.
BROWN: They were a 6-6 team in California who last year was on probation. I mean, their strength of schedule was worse than LSU's and Oklahoma. Oklahoma dominated people. They are the third conference next to the Big 12 and the SEC (ph). They have nothing to moan about. They are third in this race, and they just have to be on the outside looking in. The problem is, the media wants to make this big story about the BCS so they become pumped up as the people's champion.
CALLEBS: Well, it is kind of messed up. Give me your insight into tonight's game. Who's going to win? And how is it going to turn out tomorrow? Is the world still going to be turning? Is college football still going to be played next year?
BROWN: For 100 years we've had this argument. It's still going to live, we're still going to love college football.
And I'll tell you what, you give Bob Stoops a month to prepare -- you know, their average margin of victory after losses is 35 points. Kansas State exposed everything that Oklahoma does poorly. They have a month to prepare. You know, I'm afraid Britney is not going to get a marriage, you know, present from Nick Saban. It's going to be an Oklahoma victory. They're the best team in the country. They were before Kansas State, and they will be afterwards.
CALLEBS: OK. Peter Brown, host of Sporting News Radio, thanks very much. And I really think LSU is going to win. But we will talk about that another time. Thanks again.
BROWN: Thanks.
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 January 4, 2004 - 09:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Moving on to college football. Tonight's Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, just hours before the clash in Cajun Country. Fans and foes of the Championship Series are still talking about the BCS mess. Joining us from Chicago with more insight on the BCS backfire and the Sugar Bowl is Peter Brown. He is the host of Sporting News Radio. Hey, Peter, thanks for joining us today.
PETER BROWN, HOST, SPORTING NEWS RADIO: Any time.
CALLEBS: OK. If LSU wins tonight, does that resolve it at all or is there going to be a split championship?
BROWN: Well, there's going to be a split national champion. The problem is, they allowed the AP as part of the process and now they feel like they are the process, that they can go off as sort of a rogue nation, invoke their own national champion. I mean, they voted them in as a poll, not as to pick their own national champion, but they want to ruin the system.
The system says that the BCS champion, tonight's winner is the national champion. What they should have done is told the AP you have to vote our way, otherwise you are not part of the process. They let them go off on their own, and that's why we have a split national champion.
CALLEBS: OK, where do we go from here? Are they going to have to go back to ground zero, because as I understand it, most of the coaches are simply fed up with this system. And most want it changed.
BROWN: They are. But the problem is the coaches don't have the say here. The university administrators and the athletic directors, they are the guys that have the say, including, by the way, the USC University president and the USC athletic director. You know, the guys that are moaning about the system now. You know, they voted for the system. I'm sure Al Gore will tell his grandkids that he's president of the United States, but that's not the system. The system has it has to be the BCS. You have to live with it, accept it, and move on from there.
CALLEBS: What about Oklahoma? It's in a tough shape, because it did not win its own conference. So if they win tonight, what kind of claim do they have?
BROWN: Well, and that's going to be the argument, the fact that they didn't win their conference. The problem is, the Big 10 and the Pac-10 don't have a conference championship game. So last year, Iowa and Ohio State had the same conference record. But they didn't play each other. So how do you determine who the conference champion was there? So the notion that you have to be conference champion to be national champion is ridiculous.
But Oklahoma does have an image issue. They were blown out by Kansas State. They have to come out tonight, play well and be dominant, and that's how they're going to get the national championship.
CALLEBS: And for USC, as well as it played against Michigan, this was a team that beat one top 25 team before that bowl game.
BROWN: They were a 6-6 team in California who last year was on probation. I mean, their strength of schedule was worse than LSU's and Oklahoma. Oklahoma dominated people. They are the third conference next to the Big 12 and the SEC (ph). They have nothing to moan about. They are third in this race, and they just have to be on the outside looking in. The problem is, the media wants to make this big story about the BCS so they become pumped up as the people's champion.
CALLEBS: Well, it is kind of messed up. Give me your insight into tonight's game. Who's going to win? And how is it going to turn out tomorrow? Is the world still going to be turning? Is college football still going to be played next year?
BROWN: For 100 years we've had this argument. It's still going to live, we're still going to love college football.
And I'll tell you what, you give Bob Stoops a month to prepare -- you know, their average margin of victory after losses is 35 points. Kansas State exposed everything that Oklahoma does poorly. They have a month to prepare. You know, I'm afraid Britney is not going to get a marriage, you know, present from Nick Saban. It's going to be an Oklahoma victory. They're the best team in the country. They were before Kansas State, and they will be afterwards.
CALLEBS: OK. Peter Brown, host of Sporting News Radio, thanks very much. And I really think LSU is going to win. But we will talk about that another time. Thanks again.
BROWN: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
