Apparently one of the greatest games in the greatest rivalry in college football wasn’t great enough to try it again on a bigger stage. Michigan, which lost 42-39 at top-ranked Ohio State on Nov. 18, won’t get a chance at revenge as voters showed Sunday they would rather see Florida take the next shot at the Buckeyes.
The Gators, fresh off Saturday night’s Southeastern Conference championship victory, leapfrogged Michigan from fourth place into second in the Harris and USA Today polls. The seismic shift, along with Florida tying Michigan in the computers, put Florida second in the Bowl Championship Series standings and into the BCS title game Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz.
Florida went from 86 points behind Michigan in the Harris poll last week to 38 points ahead and from 40 points behind in the USA Today poll to 26 points ahead. With No. 2 Southern California losing Saturday to unranked UCLA, it’s clear the voters did not want a Michigan-Ohio State rematch for the national title.
It was also clear Michigan coach Lloyd Carr wasn’t happy about it.
“We have a system, and I’ve said all along that system would speak,” Carr said in a nationwide conference call. “And it has spoken.”
Carr had a beef with pollsters who voted for the matchup rather than the two best teams.
“I don’t know exactly what the voters were thinking,” Carr said. “You’d have to ask them. No question had USC won their game against UCLA, we would’ve remained No. 3. No way there would’ve been a change in that vote. I think obviously there’s some validity to what you’re saying.”
One voter Carr would like to ask what he was thinking is Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. He votes in the USA Today poll but abstained on his final vote. He essentially would be voting on which team he would play for the national title and was not comfortable with his role in the process.
“I thought it wasn’t appropriate for us to cast a ballot with the circumstances as they were,” Tressel said. “I thought the University of Florida was a very deserving team, as was the University of Michigan. We felt as a department, my athletic director Gene Smith, my coaching staff, we didn’t think it was appropriate to cast a ballot. We felt it was somewhat of a conflict of interest.”
However, the abstention opened another Pandora’s Box of BCS issues such as the validity of the coaches poll. It also created even more hostility between Michigan and Ohio State. Florida’s .945 BCS score topped Michigan’s .934. If Tressel had voted his Big Ten Conference partner No. 2 instead of Florida, it wouldn’t have been enough to alter the overall standings but not voting didn’t help, either.
“I thought it was real slick,” Carr said. “You’ll have to ask Coach Tressel. That’s something he can answer.”
Tressel may have to stand in line. Carr also has a beef with Florida coach Urban Meyer, whom he felt campaigned voters to avoid a rematch in the title game. Meyer wouldn’t deny a rematch wouldn’t be popular.
“If you sit back is it fair to Ohio State?” Meyer said. “I did think that when I saw that game. Those were two great teams. Then they go back and do it again? I made a decision a year ago when asked to vote not to vote because of this reason. I can understand why Jim decided not to vote. It’s an imperfect system.”
So despite being giddy over lifting Florida to one game from a national title in only his second year, Meyer won’t back down from earlier statements on needing a playoff.
“Because it’s common sense,” Meyer said. “If you want a national championship, you’ve got to have the teams play.”
Guess who seconded that motion? Lloyd Carr.
“The system as I understand it is designed to put the two best teams in the national championship game,” he said. “I think there are some flaws. There’s no question about that.”
Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com.
