National Sports Ducks out of Rose Bowl race

Ashland Daily Tidings (Ashland, OR — Wayback)

2003-05-03

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--> --> Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington unleashes a pass earlier this season, and has guided the Ducks to a 10-1 record, the best mark in school history. AP Ducks out of Rose Bowl race By Landon Hall AP Sports Writer Oregon will have to settle for the Fiesta Bowl after all. A series of major upsets in college football the past two weekends, combined with Oregon's 17-14 win over Oregon State in the Civil War on Saturday, wasn't enough to propel the Ducks from No. 5 to the doorstep of the national title game. The new Bowl Championship Series rankings, released Monday, had Oregon (10-1, 7-1 Pac-10) staying put at fifth. Miami remained No. 1, followed by Tennessee, Nebraska and Colorado. "Obviously we were disappointed in the latest BCS rankings, but it's not something I'm going to dwell on," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said in a statement. He was on the road recruiting. "It's very difficult to see how a two-loss team (Colorado) can be ranked ahead of a one-loss team, especially since at one time the Pac-10 represented almost one-third of all teams ranked in the BCS standings. It is particularly unfortunate for our players and fans." Oregon will play in the Fiesta in Tempe, Ariz., a game the Ducks secured last month by earning a share of the Pac-10 title. The Civil War helped Oregon clinch its first outright conference title in seven years. Oregon likely will play Big 12 champion Colorado in the New Year's Day game, meaning the teams could face each other in the postseason for the third time in seven years. The Ducks were hoping that losses by two teams ahead of them - Florida and Texas - would push them up to No. 3. That would hang Oregon's Rose Bowl hopes on this Saturday's SEC title game between Tennessee and LSU. A loss by the Volunteers would move Oregon to No. 2, sending them to the Rose Bowl to play for the national title against Miami. Those hopes were quickly dashed Monday by the BCS computer, which apparently wasn't impressed by the Ducks' narrow victory over the 5-6 Beavers. Last week, Nebraska was fourth, just .39 points ahead of the Ducks. Nebraska didn't play Saturday but still jumped to third, increasing its lead over Oregon to 2.05 points. Nebraska also was helped by Saturday's upsets, and by Colorado's 39-37 win over Texas. The Cornhuskers were No. 1 in the BCS standings when they were trounced by the Buffaloes 62-36 two weekends ago, but that defeat looked a little better in the eyes of the computer because of Colorado's latest win. The BCS standings are based on a formula that incorporates the AP media and coaches' polls, eight computer polls, strength of schedule, won-lost record and bonus points for wins over top teams. The BCS treated the Ducks quite differently than the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN coaches' polls, both of which had the team third, the highest ranking in school history. "I once felt that one of our biggest foes to convince, regarding the quality of our program, were the other coaches around the country, but I feel we have convinced them," Bellotti said. "But there are obviously others around the country who still need convincing regarding the quality of our program, as well as the Pac-10. "There still exists a bias when it comes to college football on the West Coast. I know the computers that make up the BCS were supposed to eliminate that, but you still have people inputing the data into the computers." With idle Nebraska moving up a notch in the BCS, and Colorado vaulting from seventh to fourth after only a two-point victory, Oregon fans have a gripe. The Ducks' only loss came on Oct. 20, when they blew a 14-point fourth-quarter lead and lost to Stanford 49-42. At the time, Stanford appeared to be in contention for the Pac-10 title, but eventually the Cardinal - as well as Washington State and UCLA - dropped out of the race, leaving Oregon as the only team standing. The Ducks rallied from a 6-3 halftime deficit Saturday, taking the lead early in the fourth quarter on Keenan Howry's 70-yard punt return for a touchdown. An 8-yard run by Maurice Morris put Oregon ahead 17-6, but the Beavers rallied with a late touchdown. A fumble by Oregon put OSU in position to tie the game in the final minutes, but the Ducks held on. Oregon State's final touchdown probably cost Oregon in the BCS polls that emphasize margin of victory, but the Ducks' biggest problem was that the teams it beat later proved to be paper tigers. Oregon beat Wisconsin to open the season, but the Badgers slumped to 5-7; after the Stanford loss, the Ducks beat previously unbeaten Washington State in Pullman, 24-17, on Oct. 27, but the Cougars lost to Washington in their season finale; UCLA fell apart completely late in the season. After a 21-20 home loss to the Ducks on Nov. 10, the Bruins lost to mediocre Southern California the next week. Oregon has lost both its bowl games against Colorado - 38-6 in the 1996 Cotton Bowl, in Ducks coach Mike Bellotti's first season, and 51-43 in the 1995 Aloha Bowl. Email your... 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