You could say Jones' weren't the same as Collie's because they were made in general rather than about a specific play, but what he said two weeks earlier was worse.

After beating Nevada with a late field goal, Jones told the Nevada Gazette-Journal, "The good Lord blessed these kids. I think it was divine intervention."

For those who felt I was singling out a BYU player last week, let me say I'm as uncomfortable with Jones' comments as I was with Collie's and others such as Tony Dungy at last season's Super Bowl.

It's fine for coaches and athletes to acknowledge and praise God, but they need to be careful how they say it when other teams and athletes are involved.

It's been an unbelievable year for upsets in college football, starting off with Appalachian State beating Michigan and continuing through Saturday night when No. 2 West Virginia was knocked off at home by a mediocre Pitt team.

It would have been nice to see some new blood in the national championship game. But instead of Missouri-West Virginia, we're getting LSU-Ohio State. Unfortunately that won't help change the present messy system, because the BCS folks will undoubtedly say, "See, it works, because we got the best two teams after all."

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E-mail: sor@desnews.com