BCS `Solution' a Mystery

This could be close.

College football is set for a dramatic finish next weekend, when three games will determine which two teams play in the Fiesta Bowl with the national title on the line.

And if each of the top three teams--No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Kansas State and No. 3 UCLA--win on Saturday, the Bowl Championship Series and its computer chips decide which team gets left out.

"It's been a tight race throughout the season and if all three win on Saturday, it would have been a tight race to the finish," Roy Kramer, chairman of the BCS and commissioner of the Souteast Conference, said yesterday. "We feel confident in our system and look forward to next week when we designate teams for each BCS bowl."

The new BCS standings, based on the AP media poll and the coaches' poll, three computer rankings, strength-of-schedule and number of losses, will be released today. The final standings come out next Sunday.

Tennessee (11-0) is expected to remain in first place this week after its 41-0 rout of Vanderbilt on Saturday. UCLA (10-0) had a comfortable lead over third-place Kansas State (11-0), but the Wildcats are still hopeful of overtaking the Bruins after Saturday's games.

Saturday's glamour games include a makeup, a potential mismatch and a Midwest showdown for the Big 12 title.

UCLA travels cross country for its rescheduled game with Miami (7-3). The game was originally set for Sept. 26, but postponed due to Hurricane Georges.

Miami was clobbered 66-13 by No. 18 Syracuse on Saturday, giving the Orangemen (8-3) the Big East title a berth in either the Sugar or Orange Bowl.

At Atlanta, Tennessee should be a big favorite to win its second straight SEC title when they play No. 23 Mississippi State (8-3). The Bulldogs topped Mississippi 28-6 on Saturday to get a shot at the Vols.

At St. Louis, K-State takes on No. 10 Texas A&M (10-2) for the Big 12 title. The Aggies enter the game wounded after a last-minute 26-24 loss to Texas that ended their 10-game wining streak.

The stakes are huge for the Wildcats. Even a win doesn't guarantee them a spot in the Fiesta, but they'll do no worse than the Sugar. A loss, though, could drop them to the Alamo Bowl, with the Aggies ending up in New Orleans.

Notre Dame (9-2) fell out of the BCS picture after its 10-0 loss to Southern California (8-4) on Saturday night. It looks like the Irish will play in the Gator Bowl against Georgia Tech (9-2), a 21-19 winner over Georgia (8-3) on Saturday.