A Nebraska victory might mean split national champions

PASADENA, Calif. -- The promos are out there, pumping the Rose Bowl as the game that will "crown the king of the hill" in college football.

Don't believe everything you hear, though, because the Fiesta Bowl could deliver a national champion, too.

If Nebraska beats Miami in Pasadena on Jan. 3, the winner of the game between Oregon and Colorado in Tempe, Ariz., two days earlier will probably be the champion in The Associated Press media poll.

The USA Today/ESPN coaches poll will automatically declare the Rose Bowl winner its national champion under an arrangement between the Bowl Championship Series and the American Football Coaches Association. The sports writers and broadcasters in the AP poll vote independently.

"Would we take a share of the national championship? Yeah," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti says. "I think that probably all four of the coaches involved in these games, if they felt they could win a share of the national championship, would probably be very happy.

"Miami may not be, because they want the whole thing."

Indeed. If the Hurricanes (11-0) defeat the Huskers (11-1) there will not be a split championship, which has happened three times since 1990. Miami would finish with the only perfect record among major colleges and capture its fifth national crown, all since 1983.

"All we care about is beating Nebraska," linebacker Jonathan Vilma said. "If we win, we're the champs in all the polls."

While the BCS was created in 1998 to try to produce an undisputed national champion, this will be the second straight year a split is possible.

Here's why: The BCS standings, which use the two polls, eight computer rankings, strength-of-schedule and number of losses to determine who plays in its title game, had Miami first and Nebraska second. In the two polls, Miami, Oregon (10-1), Colorado (10-2) and Nebraska were ranked 1-2-3-4.

Should Nebraska and Oregon win, for example, the Huskers would jump over the Ducks and Buffaloes to claim a piece of the national title. Then, they'd have to wait a few hours to see if the AP voters also select them national champs.

Nebraska won AP titles in 1970-71 and 1994-95. The Huskers claimed coaches crowns in '71, 94-95 and '97.

Voter survey

A casual survey of 55 of the 72 AP poll voters revealed most (44) would vote for or seriously consider the Fiesta winner as national champs if the Huskers win the Rose Bowl.

Nebraska, nine-point underdogs, enters the Rose Bowl as a controversial choice because it lost 62-36 to Colorado on Nov. 23. The loss prevented the Huskers from even playing for the Big 12 title, eventually won by the Buffaloes.

Coach Frank Solich says any uproar is directed at the BCS, not his Cornhuskers.

"I know we deserve to go, our coaches know we deserve to go and our players know we deserve to be in the game," Solich says. "We're anxious to play. It's a national championship game and we've earned the right to be in it."

Nebraska edged Colorado for second in the final BCS standings, with Oregon fourth.

Last year, Miami finished third behind Oklahoma and Florida State in the final BCS standings, even though the Hurricanes beat the Seminoles during the season. In the polls, Oklahoma, Miami and Florida State were 1-2-3. The Sooners beat the Seminoles in the Orange Bowl and ended Miami's chance to grab a share of the title.

"It's pretty simple for us, and that's nice for a change," Vilma said. "We wanted to make sure we didn't give the computers a chance to keep us out of the 'ship again. We knew we had to win them all. That's the only way to guarantee your spot in the big game."