UCLA's Rose Bowl Stench

That stench the college football world is smelling these days is coming from Pasadena--where the Grandaddy of them All could be forced to put an undefeated Hawaii team that nobody thinks is any good against a 7-5 UCLA squad that lost to the Worst College Football Team Ever®, Notre Dame.

If UCLA beats USC and Arizona State falls to Arizona on Saturday, the five-loss Bruins will win a four-way tiebreaker and become the Pac Ten representative for the 2008 Rose Bowl Game, presented by Citi--and let the puns begin!

If Ohio State also gets picked up for the BCS Title Game, Tournament of Roses officials will have their choice of teams, but UCLA-Illinois just seems like a glorified Sun Bowl Matchup. Remember, a UCLA qualification for the Rose Bowl would open the door to the BCS for a number of other teams.* For the sake of staging a competitive bowl game, the Rose Bowl might turn next to Hawaii--though we understand Georgia has the inside track if the opponent is either USC or Arizona State.

So how did the Rose Bowl get into this mess?

Well, the Pac Ten still plays by the old-school Bowl rules where non-conference games are not factored in to the Rose Bowl selection, so UCLA could potentially match USC, Arizona State and the winner of Oregon-Oregon State with three conference losses, creating a four-way tie. Under Rose Bowl selection rules, "If that is not the case, a comparison of the tied teams' records against the other tied teams shall be made and the team having the best record against the other tied teams shall be the Rose Bowl representative. If two or more teams are still tied after this comparison, the appropriate two-team or multiple-team tie-breaking procedures shall be repeated among those teams still under consideration."

If it is Oregon in the mix, then USC and ASU would be eliminated first because they'd have two losses among the four teams, and UCLA would hold the advantage because they beat Oregon last week. If it is Oregon State, then the Beavers would be eliminated on account of losing to USC, ASU and UCLA, then the next rule goes into effect: "If more than two teams are still tied after the process above is completed, each remaining tied team's record against the team occupying the highest position in the final regular season standings shall be compared, with the procedure continuing down through the standings until one team gains an advantage. When arriving at another group of tied teams while comparing records, each team's collective record against the tied teams as a group shall be used."

The next group of teams in that scenario would be a pair of 5-4 teams like Oregon and Arizona--which would eliminate ASU since they lost to both and revert to the head-to head result between USC and UCLA.

If something seems wrong with this system to you, then you are not alone. The Pac Ten rewards losing to its bottom-feeders. Lose to the best teams in the conference and you lose the tiebreaker. Lose to bottom-feeders Washington or Arizona, or better yet both, and your team holds an advantage in a tie.

Luckily for the Holiday, Sun and other bowls with Pac-Ten tie-ins, they have their own free will.

We asked Pac Ten Commissioner Tom Hansen whether the Holiday Bowl would be forced to take UCLA in the event of a three-way tie for second place and he responded, "The Rose Bowl tiebreaker is used only for that game. Thereafter, each bowl may pick among tied teams." I am sure that will bring a sigh of relief to folks in San Diego, Los Angeles and Tempe--as I am certain the Holiday Bowl would pick either USC or Arizona State before taking a five-loss Bruin squad.

*See Brendan Loy's note in the comments for the equally mind-boggling BCS eligibility rules.