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Sugar Bowl has its ties to national title
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS -- Miami has it tough enough in the Sugar Bowl,
facing in-state rival Florida for the first time since 1987.
The Hurricanes also might be coming into the game with a
23-point deficit if they want to win a share of the national
championship.
As important as it is to beat the seventh-ranked Gators, Miami
also probably needs to do it more impressively than Florida State
did in a 30-7 win last month to convince voters to crown the
Hurricanes the national champions.
That's because No. 2 Miami finished behind the Seminoles in the
Bowl Championship Series standings, despite beating Florida State
27-24 on Oct. 7 and being ranked one spot ahead in the Associated
Press poll. Florida State plays No. 1 Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl.
"You could say if the BCS didn't exist there's a good chance we
could be playing in the national championship game," Miami coach
Butch Davis said.
It is conceivable that if the Seminoles beat the Sooners and the
Hurricanes win the Sugar Bowl, the AP media poll could vote Miami
No. 1 while the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll would be obligated to
crown the Seminoles champions.
But Florida coach Steve Spurrier said it shouldn't have come to
that for the Hurricanes.
"I don't think the BCS is what it should be," Spurrier said.
"If we had scored once more against FSU would that have put Miami
into the championship? I don't know."
The seventh-ranked Gators (10-2) almost did. But on the game's
last possession, quarterback Rex Grossman was unaware of the clock,
and stood under center as it ran out with Florida on the Seminoles'
1.
The Sugar Bowl has no complaints with the matchup. After playing
host to the national championship game last year, the Sugar Bowl
was supposed to wait three years for another title game.
"We'll stick to the BCS rankings and let everyone else
speculate on the other rankings," Sugar Bowl executive director
Paul Hoolahan said. "We think we have two outstanding teams, an
exciting game, and Miami's numbers are very, very close to
Oklahoma's in the BCS."
The Sugar Bowl has found ticket sales slow and national
television ratings down in the past when they have not held the
championship game. Hoolahan said he does not expect that to happen
this year.
"It's a good matchup with two exciting teams," Hoolahan said.
"And we're sitting there all alone on Jan. 2, so I think we'll not
only see strong ticket sales, but good ratings as well."
Last year, the Sugar Bowl matched unbeatens Florida State
against Virginia Tech, which were ranked 1-2 in both the AP and
coaches' polls. The Seminoles won their second national title with
a 46-29 victory.
Miami (10-1) and Florida (10-2) have not played each other since
1987, but once maintained a heated cross-state rivalry. The Big
East champion Hurricanes and SEC champion Gators are scheduled to
play again in 2002.
"The strong feelings between the team remain, but there's more
than state pride on the line," Davis said.
"It's a good opportunity to find out how far we've come,"
Davis said. "In the past we were just happy to get to a bowl
game."
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