College Report

Bowl Race Disgrace

Not that he was expecting to land Miami or Florida State , but Independence Bowl official Brant Goyne, whose game ranks near the bottom of the postseason pecking order, is angry about how a number of other bowls cut their usual early, under-the-table deals with teams. Bowls jumped the gun even though they had made a supposedly ironclad agreement to wait until Nov. 17 before committing to any teams. "There will be a number of complaints filed after this is over," said Goyne.

Well, Brant, lots of luck on that. Although the Football Bowl Association did a lot of blustering, saying that bowls that committed to teams prematurely could be fined as much as $250,000, the feeling now is that so many bowls broke the agreement, the FBA would make itself even more of a joke—if that's possible—by launching an investigation. In fact, nobody was really surprised at the bowl committees' duplicity. "I was dubious whether [the bowl] people would stick to [their agreement]," said Penn State coach Joe Paterno last Saturday, after his team's 35-13 thrashing of Notre Dame, which nonetheless got the Sugar Bowl bid that the Nittany Lions had coveted.

Although the media had reported all week that Notre Dame had agreed to play in the Sugar Bowl , Mickey Holmes, executive director of the Sugar Bowl , told SI early on Sunday, the deadline day, "We do not have an informal or formal agreement with Notre Dame." Holmes said that on Monday, Nov. 11, Sugar Bowl representatives had talked to the schools (Notre Dame, Penn State and Cal) that were the top candidates to face the SEC champion, which turned out to be Florida , but only to "tell them what our parameters were and answer any questions, and that's all." Whatever those parameters were, Penn State didn't meet them despite a 22-point win over the Irish.

"It's a slap in the face when Notre Dame cuts a deal like that," said Penn State linebacker Keith Goganious, whose team will play Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl . "Why bend the rules for one school?" Because Notre Dame, even with three losses, is still the game's biggest draw—that's why.

The Irish's humiliation at Penn State came a week after they had blown a 31-7 lead to Tennessee , which prevailed 35-34. Had Notre Dame been interested in doing the sporting and honorable thing, it would have stepped aside—no matter what its understanding with the Sugar Bowl might have been—and let a more deserving team have the bid. For years, remember, Notre Dame was so holier-than-thou that it refused to go to any bowl on the grounds that postseason play amounted to overemphasis on football at the expense of academics. That notion seems quaint now, doesn't it?

In announcing his team's acceptance of the Sugar Bowl invitation, Irish coach Lou Holtz sounded belligerent. "We're not coming with hat in hand," said Holtz . "Until six quarters ago, people were saying we deserved to play for the national title. Darned right we belong. I make no apologies for our football team."

Which, of course, is another example of how things have changed at Notre Dame. Can anybody imagine Knute Rockne or Frank Leahy taking a team with three defeats to a bowl? Any bowl?

This year's bowl shenanigans did an injustice not only to Penn State but also to Cal, which is 9-1 but settled for the Citrus Bowl after being similarly aced out of the Sugar Bowl by Notre Dame. Also cheated were the fans, who once again will not get the best possible lineup of games.

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