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David Stanley Ford

Will Texas' coach Mack Brown break ranks?
Coaches poll: Voting Texas No. 1 would be breaking agreement with BCS

By John Rohde    Comments Comment on this article86
Published: January 7, 2009

When Texas coach Mack Brown votes his team No. 1 in the final USA Today coaches poll, he will be breaking an agreement between the American Football Coaches Association and the Bowl Championship Series.


Texas coach Mack Brown watches his team play against Ohio State during the first quarter of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football game in Glendale, Ariz., Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

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According to the agreement, the winner of the annual BCS national championship game automatically earns the No. 1 ranking.

"The (coaches’ poll) panel would then vote No. 2 through 25, so there actually is no vote for No. 1,” said Mel Pulliam, the AFCA’s director of marketing and development. "In other words, the coaches should not list a No. 1 on their final ballot.

"Occasionally, a coach will stray from what the agreement was. USA Today’s policy has been to accept that ballot. We talk about that every year, and we make sure coaches understand our relationship with the BCS. I’m sure it will be discussed in our Division I-A head coaches meetings coming up in Nashville (next week).”

The last time coaches strayed from the agreement was the 2003 season after LSU beat Oklahoma in the BCS title game and three coaches voted USC at No. 1.

After his team’s last-second victory over Ohio State in Monday night’s Fiesta Bowl, Brown said he would vote his team No. 1 on his final ballot, no matter what the outcome of Thursday night’s BCS national title game between No. 1 OU and No. 2 Florida at Dolphin Stadium.

"I wasn’t sure before, but Friday morning I’m going to vote Texas No. 1 because I think this is the best team in the country,” Brown said.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and Brown are both members of the AFCA’s board of trustees.

"They know the drill,” Pulliam said.

Tressel said he would abide by the AFCA-BCS agreement in his final ballot.

"I have always been one that believes you go with the system because you agreed upon it on the way in the door,” Tressel said after losing to Texas. "Now, did Utah have an extraordinary year? Absolutely. Man, they’re good. They will be ranked very high on my ballot. But for me to say they should be ranked No. 1, I don’t think so because we have a system.”

Another agreed-upon first-place vote is expected to stray from Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, whose unbeaten team defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

"It’s understandable, especially to those coaches who coach those teams that are in the mix,” Pulliam said. "They have strong feelings.”

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David Stanley Ford


Related Topics: Sports, Football, College Athletics, College Football, Bowl Championship Series


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Mac Brown aint a crybaby he is a BCS winner ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
OH Yeah i nearly forgot Hook'em Gators
soonersuck, anywhere but norman - Jan 8, 2009 at 10:35 am
The solution is simple, permanently ban Brown from the AFCA board.
burt, edmond - Jan 8, 2009 at 9:17 am
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Poor Mack...The guys with your new straight jacket will be there shortly! Go peacefully. They will serve you jello for good behavior!
michelle, Oklahoma City - Jan 8, 2009 at 7:14 am
So let Mac vote Texas #1... according to the official, they are only accepting votes for #2 - #25. His vote would be wasted. Seems like he would want to help his team finish as high as possible in the final poll. Booooomer!
- Jan 8, 2009 at 12:36 am
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Mack Brown is a raving lunatic.
Gary, Oklahoma City - Jan 7, 2009 at 9:19 pm
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Texas Tech was #2 in the country after they beat Texas. Oklahoma crushed them. So all you guys telling me that Texas is more impressive obviously are biased. Texas almost lost to OSU at home(won by 4). Oklahoma beat OSU on the road by 20. If you go by point differential in the THREE way tie Oklahoma wins. If you go by season Statistics Oklahoma wins. If you go by Home field neutral field points for the season Oklahoma wins. This is why we have a computer system in place because of guys that are so biased they cant see the truth. Oklahoma is the best team. They EARNED their spot. TEXAS DIDNT
Oklahoma is the BEST team in College Football and will prove it on Thurs. BOOMER SOONER!!!!!!
Michael, Oklahoma City - Jan 7, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Broken Arrow Sucks....
UnSub, Yukon - Jan 7, 2009 at 8:17 pm
I'll root for OSU before I will the Longhorns. That's what I think of Texas....
UnSub, Yukon - Jan 7, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Lets see Utah is undeafted, the big 12 leaves it to the experts of the and other coaches (1/3) of the BCS to determine the it title game. It seems OU has a short memory Boise State, WV, Utah beats Bama, I suspect the Big 12 chiefs will know they screwed the pooch if the gators win. Hell who care about heads up anyway. Utah and Texas either one or both deserve the AP title. Certainly not the probation ridden sooners program. Ohhh but they beat the heck out of T Tech WOW!! Brown rightfully so stand behind his team. Utah excellent Season I hope your attorney general is successful in their suit.
rob, BROKEN ARROW - Jan 7, 2009 at 8:11 pm
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What a loser! If he didn't like the rules he should have manned up before the season.
steve, nicholasville - Jan 7, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Dana -- with your comments about Mack and about going back to the old days, you rule. Barry -- you think you have it rough as a UT fan in Oklahoma; perhaps it compares with the idiocy I put up with in Austin from insane Horn people. My sympathies to you. Of course, what allows me to put up with the UT people right now is how mad they are at "the system". It gets no better than listening to chapped off Horns! Except beating Gators. BOOMER SOONER!
David, Austin - Jan 7, 2009 at 7:51 pm
I never thought or said Mack Brown could manipulate the BCS process. The computers are the wildcard that coaches have no influence over. I was referring back to how the AP poll voted after Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State. That poll flip-flopped on its voting and they moved Texas ahead of Oklahoma. Oklahoma convincingly beat both Texas Tech and Okie State in back to back games. Texas just got by both of those teams. What I am saying is the voting polls are not a fair method of determining an overall champion. They have always left teams out that deserve to be considered. Even the BCS is flawed in that it rewards teams who lose a game early in the season as opposed to the teams that lose a game late in the season. Mack Brown's stated action is a by-product of the continuing existence of these polls.
jerry, Hephzibah - Jan 7, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Scott - u shouldn't talk about pathetic, mobilehoma got punked in their last 4 bowl games, including a humiliating loss to USC (55-19), then Texas had to beat the USC bully that punked ou. geesh... u even got punked by WV and Boise State.... bummer loosers
James, , - Jan 7, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Scott - u shouldn't talk about pathetic, mobilehoma got punked in their last 4 bowl games, including a humiliating loss to USC (55-19), then Texas had to beat the USC bully that punked ou. geesh... u even got punked by WV and Boise State.... bummer loosers
James, , - Jan 7, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Scott - u shouldn't talk about pathetic, mobilehoma got punked in their last 4 bowl games, including a humiliating loss to USC (55-19), then Texas had to beat the USC bully that punked ou. geesh... u even got punked by WV and Boise State.... bummer loosers
James, , - Jan 7, 2009 at 7:25 pm
colt mccoy should be issued a blue jersey. the refs sure do protect him, not only in the OU-texas game, but that one ruffing penalty cost OSU the game.
James , Poteau - Jan 7, 2009 at 5:47 pm
The voting system is ruining College football.

Get rid of it.
Michael, Oklahoma City - Jan 7, 2009 at 5:45 pm
USC are you serious you cant lose to an unranked that lost to Stanford. And expect to be taken seriously. If you take away the voting system(biased) USC would be ranked 7 and Florida would be ranked 3.How about that little dose of reality.
Michael, Oklahoma City - Jan 7, 2009 at 5:44 pm
The only other two teams besides OU and Florida that deserve to be voted number one are USC and Utah. USC lost early in the season and played lights out the rest of the year, and Utah, who cares what there schedule is, they went undefeated including a win over Alabama, who according to the media plays in the toughest conference, the SEC. Come on NCAA put in a playoff so the true best team wins the National Championship
john, prague - Jan 7, 2009 at 5:32 pm
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Mack Brown's an idiot ... did he watch their pathetic Fiesta Bowl game? If that's his logic, then Ohio State better be No. 2 in his poll. Hopefully recruits see how senile this old man is and run right out of the state of Texas and into Norman ...
Scott, Springfield - Jan 7, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Jerry, to think that Mack Brown can "manipulate" either the BCS or the AP voters seems a little absurd. And for the record, Mack Brown has publicly stated his displeasure with the current system and has stated his preference for a playoff since 2000.
Michael, Houston - Jan 7, 2009 at 4:58 pm
Billy, the tie-breaking rules were instituted upon inception of the Big XII, not prior to the season, which was before both Mack and Bob were hired at their respective schools. I doubt a scenario of what happened this year ever played out in the minds of those who thought up the tie-breaking rules way back then. Of note should be the fact that Texas would have owned the tie-breaker in every other BCS conference, so changing it following the end of the season wouldn't be to please the UT big-wigs, but to conform to the rest of the nation.
Michael, Houston - Jan 7, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Billy, the tie-breaking rules were instituted upon inception of the Big XII, not prior to the season, which was before both Mack and Bob were hired at their respective schools. I doubt a scenario of what happened this year ever played out in the minds of those who thought up the tie-breaking rules way back then. Of note should be the fact that Texas would have owned the tie-breaker in every other BCS conference, so changing it following the end of the season wouldn't be to please the UT big-wigs, but to conform to the rest of the nation.
Michael, Houston - Jan 7, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Mark, I remember 1984 well, it was the year my own hometown team, Washington, won the Orange Bowl (against OU no less) and got passed over in favor of BYU. But it was a heck of a lot funner to argue about it in that format than the BCS is today.
Dana, Tacoma - Jan 7, 2009 at 4:30 pm
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Sick sick sick of Mack Brown. Trying hard not to be a hater, but he sure is making it hard. At least Colt McCoy seems to be more of a man than Chrissy Simms. Bet this whining from his coach is hard to stomach.
Billie, Choctaw - Jan 7, 2009 at 4:30 pm

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