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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, October 20, 1994
3B
Two surprising teams fight to stay undefeated
The Associated Press
You may need a road map to find it, but Saturday's marquee game in college football takes place in Fort Collins, Colo.
In the only matchup of undefeated teams this week-end, No. 18 Utah (6-0) visits No. 12 Colorado State (7-0)
in a Western Athletic Conference showdown.
Colorado State is off to its best start since 1925, and Utah is trying to go 7-0 for the first time since 1947. The winner gains the inside track to the Holiday Bowl and has a chance to become the WAC's first unbeaten team since BYU won the national championship in 1984 with a 13-0 record.
Colorado State already has won at BYU and Arizona, harding those teams their only losses of the season. In last week's 47-9 victory over the University of Texas-Ello Paso, the Rams gained 585 yards and held the Miners to 139 — the second-highest total by the offense and third-highest by the defense in school history.
Utah leads the WAC in every defensive category and also is first in scoring and total offense. Like Colorado State, the Utes are 1-0 on the road vs. the Pacific 10 Conference; beating Oregon 34-16 last month.
The game looks like a tossup, but Colorado State is a 2 1/2-point favorite with the homefield advantage. ... COLORADO ST. 20-17.
No. 19 Kansas St. (plus 14 1/2) at No. 2 Colorado Wildcats haven't beaten Buffs since 1984 ... COLORADO 34-21.
No. 3 Nebraska (minus 25) at Missouri
6-3, 3-1 **29-74** Milwaukee
Coach players have a consecutive games against Tigers. **NRNBRANKA** 38-7-7
Rice (plus 20) at No.6 Texas A&M
Aggies won't lose this season ... TEXAS A&M 35-17.
No. 7 Miami (minus 21) at West Virginia
Hurricanes avenge last year's loss to Mountaineers ... MIAMI 42-10.
Mississippi (plus 10) at No. 8 Alabama
Jay Barker 30-1-1 as starting QB ... ALABAMA 27-10.
No. 9 Washington (minus 8) at Oregon
Clemson (plus 30) at No. 10 Florida St.
Tigers 1-4 vs. Division I-A opponents ... FLORIDA ST.
42-10.
Huskies have won last five meetings ... WASHINGTON 27-14.
No. 11 Michigan (minus 3 1/2) at Illinois
Loser falls out of Big Ten race ... ILLIOIS 21-20.
SMU (plus 20) at No. 13 Texas
As the Rice loss shows, Longhorns can't overlook anybody ... TEXAS 34-17.
Utah vs Colorado St.
Utah vs. Colorado St.
The No. 18 Utah Utes travel to Ft. Collins, Colo., to face the No. 12 Colorado St. Rams. Utah won their last meeting in 1933 and leads the overall
(National rank average yards per game for 1994 season)
Defense
Colorado St.
Offense
9th, 464.4 Total 15th, 434.6
21nd, 189.2 Rushing 31st, 189.7
9th, 275.2 Passing 21st, 244.9
6th, 37.5 Points scored 8th, 32.6
4th, 228.5 Total 34th, 327.7
3rd, 59.5 Rushing 30th, 125.1
3rd, 82.0 Pass efficiency 16th, 97.13
6th, 10.8 Points against 26th, 18.7
SOURCE: National Collegiate Athletic Association Knight Riddler Tribune
SOURCF: National Collegiate Athletic Association
UCLA (plus 16 1/2) at No. 14 Arizona
Bruins have lost five in a row ... ARIZONA 28-7
No. 15 N. Carolina (plus 3 1/2) at No. 25 Virginia
Tar Heels have lost six straight in Charlottesville ... N.
CAROLINA 24-21
No. 16 Syracuse (minus 21 1/2) at Temple Orangemen have held Owls under 10 points in last five meetings ... SYRACUSE 45-14.
Pittsburgh (plus 18) at No. 17 Virginia Tech
Hokles have won nine consecutive games at home ...
VIRGINIA TECH 31-14.
No. 20 Duke (minus 17) at Wake Forest
Blue Devils off to best start since 1952...DUKE 38-10.
No. 21 BYU (minus 22) at University of Texas-EI Paso
Cougars coming off shocking win at Notre Dame ..
BYU 42-14.
Rutgers (plus 12 1/2) at No. 22 Boston College Scarlet Knights upset Eagles ... RUTGERS 24-21.
No. 23 Washington St. (minus 7) at Arizona St.
Cougars have nation's stingiest defense ... WASHINGTON ST. 21.7
Purdue (plus 11 1/2) at No. 24 Ohio St.
Boilermakers are Big Ten's surprise team ... PUR-
DUE 24-23.
Top teams may not play in bowls
By Rick Warner The Associated Press
Prior commitments, bans restrict football
If you love to argue about college football rankings, this could be your most enjoyable season ever.
Imagine this: Five teams go undefeated in the regular season, and none meet in a bowl game because of conference commitments or bowl bans. The debates would be endless.
"It would be wild," said Beano Cook, ESPN commentator. "There'd be arguments in every bar in America."
It could happen this season with Penn State in the Rose Bowl, the Nebraska-Colorado winner in the Orange, the Colorado State-Utah winner in the Holiday, Alabama in the Sugar and Texas A&M sided by probation.
Like Texas A&M, Auburn can't play in a bowl because of NCAA violations. Both teams are eligible for the national championship in The Associated Press media poll, although probation teams are barred from the USA Today-CNN coaches' poll.
The last time five Division I teams had perfect regular seasons was in 1979, when Alabama, Brigham Young, Ohio State, Florida State and McNeese State did it. They all played in different bowls, and they all lost except for national champion Alabama, which beat Arkansas 24-9 in the Sugar Bowl.
The situation could be more confusing this year because of the sanctions against No. 4 Auburn (7-0) and No. 6 Texas A&M (6-0). What happens if the probation teams are the only ones left without a loss after the bowls?
Cook said he might vote for Auburn because the Tigers would have completed their second straight 11-0 season. They finished fourth in the AP poll last season behind a trio of oncebeaten teams, including national champion Florida State.
"If they're allowed to play, the games should count," Cook said. "You can't ignore a team that goes two years without a loss."
Cook's ESPN colleague, Lee Corso,
disagrees.
"Probation teams should not win the national championship because they can't take the last step, which is winning a bowl game." Corso said.
So who's got the inside track to the
title?
Is it top-ranked Penn State (6-0), which leads the nation in scoring and just beat Michigan at Ann Arbor?
Is it No. 2 Colorado (6-0), which has already beaten four teams that were ranked at the time they played?
Is it No. 3 Nebraska (7-0), which continues to win despite the loss of star quarterback Tommie Frazier?
What about No. 8 Alabama (7-0), which keeps winning close games with clutch plays?
Nebraska-Colorado on Oct. 29 and Auburn-Alabama on Nov. 19 will serve as elimination games. And we'll know more about Penn State's chances following the Lions' upcoming stretch against Ohio State, Indiana and Illinois.
Cook picked Penn State to win the national championship, but he thinks the Nebraska-Colorado winner will take over the No. 1 ranking.
And what about the winner of Saturday's Western Athletic Conference showdown between No. 12 Colorado State (7-0) and No. 18 Utah (6-0)?
"They don't have a shot because they haven't played enough stiff competition," Corso said.
Big 12 officials plan football schedule
The Associated Press
Big 12 Conference athletic directors on Tuesday finished planning league football schedules for the years 1996 through 2007, although actual game dates weren't included.
They also looked at the league's bowl possibilities but did not announce an agreement.
The Cotton Bowl appears to be the front-runner to play host to the Big 12's No. 2 team, said Wally Groff, Texas A&M athletic director.
and three of the six teams in the other division.
The Big 12, which will include the current Big Eight Conference schools and Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech from the Southwest Conference, was expected to release the 12-year football schedules yesterday after president and football coaches reviewed them.
Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma will be in the South Division for football; Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Colorado, Iowa State and Missouri will be in the North.
Each year, teams will play all five division opponents
Bill Marolt, Colorado athletic director, said schools would play teams in the opposite division in consecutive years to create a home-and-away balance. Big 12 teams will play four conference games at home and on the road each year.
That means the Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry will lie dormant for two consecutive years in every four-year period, unless the two schools schedule each other as a nonconference game.
The vote was 11-1 to approve the schedules.
The lone vote opposing the schedule was by a current Big Eight school, which Marolt wouldn't identify.
The Big 12 also is considering a championship football game between division winners, but Marolt said he didn't expect a decision on that soon.
At its next meeting, Nov. 7 in Kansas City, Mo., the Big 12 will consider a proposal by its basketball coaches to have quadrants in men's and women's basketball instead of the North and South divisions.
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