Harris Poll role won't halt my BCS criticism

The Harris Poll, part of the Bowl Championship Series matrix, begins on Sept. 25.

The BCS still should go away. It is not a better system than a playoff. Every NCAA sport can claim a champion on the court or the field, except football. And that onus is on the university presidents who govern the NCAA, who apparently do not have the backbone to stand up to TV money and traditional-bowl committees across the land.

So, until the BCS blows up, it is what it is. And today, this dragon is apparently the yardstick that will be used to determine the best college football programs in the land.

For this reason, combined with an opportunity to represent the region in these rankings, I accepted nomination as one of 114 voters in the Harris Interactive College Football Poll, part of the BCS formula. Deseret Morning News management agreed to let me participate.

Division I conferences and Notre Dame suggested names of 300 potential voters. Harris culled the list to the smaller number. There is no pay; it is voluntary and totally my responsibility. I did not ask for a nomination; I got it in the mail, followed by phone calls from Harris Interactive and Mountain West Conference Commissioner Craig Thompson.

The first time I heard about it was in July when I got a call from the Harris Poll people while I was golfing on No. 4 at Coral Canyon near St. George.

There are provisions to my participation. Some are self-imposed.

First and foremost, I have been an avid critic of the BCS from its inception, and I maintain the right and duty to criticize and try to change this monster created by Roy Kramer and his cronies. I insist on being part of the battle to forge a more legitimate test — an on-the-field playoff for college football.

Second, my vote will be transparent. Each week, the Morning News will publish my vote on how I rank the Top 25. While the Harris Poll people and the BCS require only the final vote of the season on Dec. 5 to be made public, we will publish all of my tallies and make them open to debate and criticism.

You might recall this past football season, a late change in the rankings by some voters on the Associated Press and USA Today coaches' poll ended up causing major controversy in December as No. 4 Cal was shut out of a BCS bowl and ended up losing to Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl. This late-season tip of voting cast a murky shadow on the validity of the BCS poll.