Ohio State, Rose Bowl Gain With Poll Vault

Pacific 10 athletic directors will meet this week in Los Angeles to discuss, among other things, how the conference’s affiliation with the Big Ten Conference in the Rose Bowl might deny one of its members a national championship for the second consecutive season.

But will it?

Sunday’s shake-up in the Associated Press college football poll suddenly put the Rose Bowl back in the national championship picture as undefeated Ohio State vaulted two places into the No. 2 position behind Nebraska.

“The Rose Bowl, if played tomorrow, would certainly have national championship implications,” Mark Rudner, assistant Big Ten Conference commissioner, said Sunday.

Ohio State (9-0) passed Florida and Florida State in the AP poll and now could claim the mythical national crown if it wins the rest of its games and Nebraska loses or ties.

USC (7-1-1), ranked 12th, needs only to defeat Oregon State (1-8) Saturday to become the Pac-10 representative in the Rose Bowl.

The likely scenario is that Nebraska will advance undefeated to the Fiesta Bowl, which holds the right in the new bowl alliance to pit the top two teams against each other for the “national title.”

The Fiesta Bowl was feeling confident it could make that game until then-No. 2 ranked Florida State lost to Virginia on Thursday.

Until the Seminoles’ loss, it was presumed the winner of the Florida-Florida State game on Nov. 25 would play Nebraska for the title in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2.

Nebraska, which led Florida State by only three points in last week’s poll, opened a commanding 60-point lead in the media poll after its 73-14 victory over Iowa State on Saturday.

The Cornhuskers (9-0) received 45 first-place votes and 1,530 overall.

The poll loser for the moment is Florida (8-0), which was overtaken by Ohio State and remained No. 3 after beating Northern Illinois, 58-20.

Northwestern, America’s Cinderella at 8-1, moved up to No. 5 after defeating Penn State.

The national title picture remains muddled, to say the least.

Nebraska is the only team that controls its fate. If the Cornhuskers beat No. 10 Kansas, Oklahoma and their Fiesta Bowl opponent, they will win their second consecutive national title.

Even if Ohio State completes a perfect season, the Buckeyes could possibly lose out to Florida if the Gators finish 13-0.

Florida’s best chance is a victory over Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl and an Ohio State loss.

And yes, it is very possible Ohio State and Nebraska will finish undefeated and not be matched against each other. This was the case last year, when Nebraska claimed the national title as Penn State was wrapping up an undefeated season with a Rose Bowl victory against Oregon.

Facing that possibility again with Ohio State has prompted officials from the Pac-10 and Big Ten conferences to re-examine their tie-in to the Rose Bowl.

A Pac-10 spokesman downplayed the significance of this week’s meeting, a regularly scheduled event, calling the Rose Bowl issue one of 22 items on the agenda.

Last year, the Rose Bowl elected not to join the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls in an alliance that offered the chance to match the nation’s top two teams on a rotating basis. The Fiesta Bowl won the first bid.

Pac-10 officials are expected to discuss the options, which may include provisional changes that might allow their top-ranked teams a chance to move into the national title mix.

Interestingly, one option reportedly being weighed might allow a Big 10 or Pac-10 team to play in the alliance bowl if it is ranked No. 2 in the country.

If the season ended today, that would be the case with Ohio State.

The Big Ten is exploring any or all options.

“I think the Big Ten is on record saying we’re looking at the Rose Bowl’s future,” Rudner said.

Rudner said it is too early to speculate how the bowl picture will play out.