The UCLA Bruins end the 1998 season ranked.......

#5    in the Bowl Championship Series Poll  

#8    in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll

#8  in the ESPN/USA Today College Football Coaches Top 25 Poll

#6  in the Anderson & Hester/ Seattle Times Computer Rankings

Click here for Pre-season Rankings

Click here for 1997 Season Team Standings and Rankings

The Bowl Championship Series

The Fiesta Bowl will serve as the championship game of the Bowl Championship Series for the 1998 season.  Using a specific formula, the two highest ranked teams in the Bowl Championship Series Standings will meet in the Fiesta Bowl to determine the 1998 national champion.  For the 1998 season, the Rose Bowl will feature the Pacific-10 Conference Champion versus the Big Ten Conference Champion unless either or both teams are ranked one or two in the BCS Standings. If either the Pac-10 or Big Ten Champion is so ranked, it will play in the Fiesta Bowl and another team as selected by the Tournament of Roses from the pool of existing teams in the BCS Standings will play in the Rose Bowl.  

The Waiting Game  (updated 11/27/98)

This is how the National Championship picture stands in MY view...... Remember, this is the first year the BCS computer rankings are being used, so a lot of us (including me!) are still not sure exactly what it's going to spit out every Monday. This is how it looks to me though.  UCLA has one game left: Dec. 5th vs. #20 Miami. The Bruins need to win this game of course, hopefully convincingly.

If all three teams at the top (Tennessee, Kansas State, and UCLA) remain undefeated, this is going to pose problems for College Football once again since one team will not be in Tempe on Jan. 4th. This once again shows the only way to resolve this is with some sort of playoff system so that PLAYERS not computers can decide who is #1.

Anyway, back to the facts...if all three teams are still undefeated after Dec. 5th, it will come down to the computer to decide if UCLA or Kansas St. is the second team to go to Tempe.

This is what Bruin fans should look for:

1. UCLA NEEDS to win against Miami

2. A Tennesse or Kansas St. loss would obviously be great.

3. A Tennesse or Kansas St. drop in the polls would be good (the best chance for that would be for Tennesse to gain ground on Kansas St. in the Coaches' Poll and take the #1 spot)...remember, we are basically fighting with Kansas St. for the #2 spot in the BCS....that #1 spot in the Coaches' Poll still gives them a lot of clout in the BCS.

4. Miami (#20 BCS) to win against Syracuse this weekend to keep their BCS luster going into our game with them.

5. Texas to beat #6 Texas A&M (#5 BCS) this weekend so that A&M will lose some BCS luster before playing against K-state (this could also possible help UCLA since we played Texas earlier in the year).  

6. U$C to beat Notre Dame (#9 BCS) this weekend (yeah, you heard that right). This will help our strength of schedule.

7. #7 Arizona to beat Arizona St. (Arizona is currently #7...great for our strength of schedule).

It all comes down to Dec. 5th and 6th....the fate of the Bruins will be decided in those two days. On Dec. 6th at 12:00p.m., the final BCS standings will be released.

If all three teams remain undefeated and at the same poll positions, this is what Bruin fans should look for in order for UCLA to get the most points for the BCS poll.  "Yes" column checks are the best, but still don't guarantee anything.  We still don't know the exact impact that these results will bring.    

	YES	NO
Texas A&M loss to Texas	X
Miami win over Syracuse		X
Arizona win over Arizona St.	X
U$C win over Notre Dame	X

The Scoop (updated 10/27/98 L.A. Times)

If Ohio State and UCLA are lost to the Fiesta Bowl, the Rose Bowl will get the top two remaining picks in the BCS pool.  If the Rose Bowl loses one team, it will get one pick.   The pick or picks could include an at-large Notre Dame, possibly Nebraska or Kansas State from the Big 12 or any qualifying runner-up from the Big Ten or Pac-10.  

There is, however, a potentially prickly scenario involving Wisconsin.   Because they do not play Ohio State this season, the Badgers could end up 11-0 and technically tie for the Big Ten title.

Under the conditions of the new BCS agreement, any Pac-10 or Big Ten champion not ranked No. 1 or No. 2 would still play in the Rose Bowl.   But could the Rose Bowl take Notre Dame instead of Wisconsin if it so chose? Or is the Rose Bowl contractually obligated to take Wisconsin as the Big Ten co-champions?   "I had to ask the same question, because it is something we have not discussed prior to this time," Rose Bowl CEO Jack French said Monday.   Roy Kramer, SEC commissioner who heads the BCS, has told French that the Big Ten has only one guaranteed spot in the BCS, meaning the Rose Bowl would not be required to take an 11-0 Wisconsin team.  

But there may be a moral obligation.

1998 Pre-Season Rankings for UCLA

Bruins picked #1 in the Pac-10 Pre-Season Media Poll

Street & Smith's - Top 25                              

1.  Ohio State

2.  Florida State

3.  Florida

4.  UCLA

5.  LSU

6.  Nebraska

7.  Arizona State

8.  Colorado State

9.  Kansas State

10.  Michigan

11.  Virginia

12.  Tennessee

13.  North Carolina

14.  Penn State

15.  Texas

16.  Auburn

17.  Arizona

18.  Texas A&M

19.  West Virginia

20.  Notre Dame

21.  Southern Miss.

22.  Missouri

23.  Georgia Tech

24.  Syracuse

25.  Washington

Athlon Sports - Top 25

1.  Ohio State

2.  Kansas State

3.  Florida

4.  Florida State

5.  West Virginia

6.  Michigan

7.  LSU

8.  Arizona State

9.  Nebraska

10.  UCLA

11.  Tennessee

12.  Virginia

13.  Colorado State

14.  Texas A&M

15.  Wisconsin

16.  Arizona

17.  Georgia

18.  Washington

19.  North Carolina

20.  Michigan State

21.  Notre Dame

22.  Syracuse

23.  Ole Miss

24.  Southern Miss

25.  Oklahoma State

Bob Griese's Top 25    

1.  Ohio State

2.  Florida State

3.  Nebraska

4.  Florida

5.  Kansas State

6.  Michigan

7.  Arizona State

8.  LSU

9.  Penn State

10.  Tennessee

11. UCLA

12.  West Virginia

13.  Colorado St.

14.  Wisconsin

15.  Georgia Tech

16.  Syracuse

17.  Georgia

18.  Washington

19.  N. Carolina

20.  Texas

21.  Purdue

22.  Michigan St.

23.  Virginia

24.  Notre Dame

25.  Texas A&M