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Volume 68, Issue 162,
Monday, August 4, 2003
Sports Sooners deemed best in preseason coaches' poll Star Buckeye Clarett's
off-field issues don't deter coaches from picking Ohio State No. 2
Preseason NCAA Football Ed De La Garza The Ohio State Buckeyes can go 14-0 in the regular season, feature the most talented freshman running back in the nation, finally beat Michigan when it matters and win the National Championship. But to the nation's college football coaches, Oklahoma is the team to beat. In the preseason coaches' poll released Thursday, the Sooners received one more first-place vote than the defending champs. Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops returns nine starters on defense. It's a good thing, considering OU still doesn't have an offense to speak of and will have to hope quarterback Jason White can stay healthy for an entire season. Even without Quentin Griffin, the Sooners should be in the thick of it toward the end of the season. They just have to avoid losing to Oklahoma State. The Buckeyes may cry about not getting any respect, but they're only 20 votes shy of the No. 1 ranking. And that's with the uncertainty surrounding Maurice Clarett. The sophomore is not practicing with the team while the NCAA conducts an investigation into allegations the star back lied about the value of items that were stolen from a car in April. When a police report was filed, Clarett stated the items were worth $10,000. While Clarett admits to borrowing the car, he also stated some of those items were not his. The NCAA is investigating whether or not he accepted some of those items as gifts from non-family members -- a definite no-no. Add allegations that Clarett may have been helped along with at least one of his classes, and it hasn't been a dull offseason for the Buckeyes. The real story of the preseason poll is the Miami RedHawks. That 7-5 2002 season didn't go unnoticed. Less than 16,500 students attend the tiny college in Oxford, Ohio, but that hasn't stopped the RedHawks from catapulting themselves right into the national title picture. They've rebounded since losing last season's Fiesta Bowl on a phantom pass interference call. You have to hand it to Miami head coach Terry Hoeppner. Way to go Terry, way to go. Go RedHawks. Bunch of BCS While mid-major conferences like Conference USA and the Mountain West find it nearly impossible to catch a whiff of the Bowl Championship Series, who's ever bothered to watch out for the super-conferences? Who's watching out for the Big 12, Southeastern Conference and the Pac-10? Beginning in July 2004, it may be Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg. Weiberg will become BCS coordinator. He promised to listen to the concerns of non-BCS affiliated schools. One of the chief knocks on the BCS is that only a handful of teams -- in conferences with guaranteed bowl spots -- have a chance of raking in the big bucks that come with landing a berth in a BCS game. Schools from C-USA would have to schedule some serious non-conference competition before being considered for the BCS. The perfect system would involve using the BCS bowls in some sort of playoff system -- one that wouldn't add that many games to the current system. With many leagues already playing championship games, there's already the beginning of a playoff format in place. It could even mean more revenue for schools. But university presidents are hesitant to mess with a system that already brings their schools millions of dollars. Mock trial Junior Texas quarterback Chance Mock will begin the season as the Longhorns starter. But if he struggles and the Sips get knocked out of the top 10, how long is it going to take Mack Brown to replace him with Vincent Young? Chris Simms is gone, but the Longhorns have 15 returning starters (including wide receiver Roy Williams and running back Cedric Benson), hence their early No. 4 ranking. But the must-win game of the season isn't Texas A&M. Until the 'Horns finally beat the Sooners, they'll always be overrated. Texas plays OU on Oct. 11. Boomer Sooner. Gamecock/Beaver update The South Carolina Gamecocks are biding their time. They're unranked, but head coach Lou Holtz knows how to work his Gamecocks into a frenzy. Part of the fun of any Gamecock season is seeing just how excited the team can get as it inches closer and closer to an SEC Championship. Sometimes the Gamecocks peak too early; other times they regain their strength just in time to pull it off in the end. Go Gamecocks. Meanwhile in the Pacific Northwest, the Oregon State Beavers are ready for a wide-open attack this year. Head coach Mike Riley finally has the Beavers where he wants them. Though the rest of the Pacific 10 Conference is sure to be tough, the Beavers just may surprise the Trojans on Dec. 6. Go Beavers. The DC Baker's Dozen The Baker's Dozen: it's like whining and Texas Longhorns fans -- you can't escape it. Don't bother trying to figure out how The Daily Cougar arrives at this in-house poll. A combination of staff writers, schedules, results, statistics, chimps, height and weight go into amassing this monster. And it's worth every inch of space. As usual, feel free to submit your own poll to the Cougar via dcsports@mail.uh.edu. Just don't expect us to read it. 1.) Ohio State 2.) Oklahoma 3.) Miami 4.) Houston (tie) 4.) Kansas State (tie) 6.) Auburn 7.) Michigan 8.) Southern California 9.) Georgia 10.) Virginia Tech 11.) Pittsburgh 12.) Maryland 13.) Florida State
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