THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 12, 1996 TAG: 9608120123
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
LENGTH: 62 lines
Though we constantly hear about parity in college football, the usual suspects keep showing up at the top of the polls.
Nebraska, Tennessee, Florida State, Florida and Colorado are the first five choices in The Associated Press preseason rankings released over the weekend.
The second five are: Notre Dame, Southern Cal, Texas, Ohio State and Syracuse.
Stop me when you come across an unfamiliar franchise.
You won't, of course.
With the exception of one or two schools, and after a subtle shuffling of the pack, the 1996 preseason Top 10 could be the Top 10 from 1956, '66, '76, or '86.
The beat goes on. The next five favorites in the AP beauty contest are Penn State, Miami, Texas A&M, Michigan and Alabama. This is the football equivalent of AT&T, IBM, Disney, Microsoft and General Motors.
Nothing is more secure in sports than the balance of power in big-time college football.
Occasionally, a longtime bottom feeder sneaks into the prime-time picture and everyone rejoices.
When that happens, when a Northwestern goes to the Rose Bowl, we are invited to consider the possibilities available to every school.
Northwestern was the feel-good story of the last football season. It was to college football in 1995 what the Macarena is to dance trends today.
Five years earlier, the Virginia football craze briefly swept the nation as the Cavaliers spent some time at No. 1. Another season, Brigham Young was voted national champion.
These stories please. But they also tease. They are the exceptions that prove the rule.
You could put football fans on a NASA probe to Mars. When they returned sometime in the 21st century, they could accurately guess, working on their memory of football tradition, eight of the top 10-ranked teams for the season. At its highest levels, college football is that predictable.
But as the polls roll along - delighting, infuriating, confusing - some of us are still trying to sort out the latest college bowl system.
While the Olympics were carrying on, the Rose Bowl threw its petals into the bowl alliance. Now, with the six heavyweight conferences and Notre Dame forming some sort of ``super alliance,'' fans are promised a better chance in finding a clear-cut national champion.
Or maybe not.
The season could still end with one or two teams rightfully claiming that they were denied a shot at the national title.
The only defense against such a controversy is a multi-team football tournament. And as inevitable as this is, a playoff has yet to arrive - not necessarily a bad thing.
For now, fans, coaches and the media should stop talking about a playoff and remember that college football provides its audience with something most other sports do not: a meaningful regular season.
There is, in truth, nothing regular about college games played in the late summer and fall. For 16th-ranked Virginia Tech, trips to Syracuse and Miami hold postseason implications. When 25th-ranked Clemson visits 23rd-ranked U.Va., the players are expected to treat the game as if it were everything.
In college football, the regular season becomes a tournament. Best of all, it is a tournament open to more than the usual suspects. by CNB