The Arizona Republic

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

TEMPE – There was good news for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl yesterday. The 35th Fiesta Bowl is only 365 days away.

It can’t be any worse than the 34th Fiesta Bowl – fifth-ranked Utah’s 35-7 rout of No. 19 Pittsburgh on Saturday night in Sun Devil Stadium – which will go down as one of the clunkers in the game’s illustrious history.

“Over time, these things even out,” Fiesta Bowl president and CEO John Junker said yesterday. “The law of averages paid us off 10 times with the Ohio State-Miami game.”

Ohio State’s double-overtime victory over the Hurricanes in the 2002 Bowl Championship Series title game has been hailed as one of the greatest games in college football history. But recently the Fiesta has produced its share of snoozers.

In the Fiesta’s first 18 years, only two contests were decided by 17 or more points, and Arizona State’s 28-7 victory over Pitt in 1973 was a 10-7 game heading into the fourth quarter.

By contrast, 10 of the past 16 Fiesta Bowls have been decided by at least 17 points.

It may be a coincidence that the games have often become less competitive even as they’ve grown in national importance. But this year’s matchup appeared doomed from the start, and there was nothing Fiesta officials could do about it.

The way the BCS selections worked out, the Fiesta found itself stuck with the Big East champion, which turned out to be 8-3 Pitt. The Fiesta’s only choice was whether to invite Mountain West Conference champion Utah, which became the first non-BCS school to earn a BCS berth, or Big 12 also-ran Texas, which had earned a guaranteed at-large berth.

As the Big 12′s anchor bowl, the Fiesta had the right to choose the Longhorns. But after considerable debate, Fiesta officials decided to take the upstart Utes, hoping that their presence would generate national interest.

That meant the Rose Bowl could pair Michigan and Texas for the first time in their histories.

Rose Bowl

No. 6 Texas 38, No. 13 Michigan 37: At Pasadena, Calif., Dusty Mangum kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired, and Texas, behind quarterback Vince Young, edged the Wolverines on Saturday in the first matchup of two of college football’s elite programs.

The Longhorns proved they did belong in the Rose Bowl. The Longhorns (11-1) earned their trip west when they leapfrogged fourth-ranked California in the final BCS standings, helped by coach Mack Brown’s public pleas.

Capital One Bowl

Iowa 30, LSU 25: At Orlando, Fla., just when it looked as though coach Nick Saban would go out a winner at LSU, the Iowa Hawkeyes came up with a miracle finish.

Drew Tate threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to Warren Holloway on the final play. The score capped a wild fourth quarter and spoiled a comeback by the Tigers, who overcame a 12-point deficit with 8 1/2 minutes left.

Gator Bowl

No. 17 Florida State 30, West Virginia 18: At Jacksonville, Fla., Florida State overcame mistake after mistake to avoid an unprecedented third straight bowl loss.

Coach Bobby Bowden, facing his former school for the first time since the 1982 Gator Bowl, moved within one bowl win of Joe Paterno’s NCAA record of 19 at Penn State.

Cotton Bowl

No. 15 Tennessee 38, No. 22 Texas A&M 7: At Dallas, Rick Clausen looked nothing like the third-string quarterback he was most of the season, leading Tennessee to five touchdowns in just 2 1/2 quarters.

Outback Bowl

No. 8 Georgia 24, No. 16 Wisconsin 21: At Tampa, Fla., David Greene, the winningest quarterback in NCAA history, got one more victory.

Greene threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns in his last game for the Bulldogs (10-2), continuing his assault on the Southeastern Conference record book and adding win No. 42 to his NCAA mark.

The Arizona Republic

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

TEMPE – As No. 19 Pittsburgh prepared to face fifth-ranked Utah in the Fiesta Bowl tonight, Panthers linebacker H.B. Blades was asked to give a scouting report on Utah’s offense.

“Utah’s offense? Wow,” Blades said. “It’s hard to explain.”

No one was able to put the brakes on the Utes as they rolled to an 11-0 record and became the first team from an unaffiliated conference to claim a Bowl Championship Series berth. But one team was able to slow Utah, if not stop it.

That team? Arizona.

The Wildcats lost to the Utes 23-6 Sept. 11 in Tucson. But Arizona limited Utah to season lows in points and total yards (326, or 177 below its average).

The key to the Wildcats’ plan: limiting Utah’s big plays. The Utes gained 30 or more yards only twice.

“They were very solid, very similar to how Pitt plays,” said Utah quarterbacks coach Dan Mullen, who will serve as offensive coordinator in the Fiesta Bowl. “(Arizona) didn’t give up any big plays. They made us work for everything we got.”

The Panthers will try to do the same thing to slow down the Utes.

Tostitos

FIESTA BOWL

No. 6 Utah (11-0) vs. No. 20

Pittsburgh (8-3)

• Where: Tempe

• When: Today, 6:30 p.m.

• TV: ABC

• Radio: 1490-AM

• Line: Utah by 16

The Arizona Republic

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

TEMPE – Every bowl game needs a story angle. The Fiesta Bowl has had dandies.

Remember the Penn State-Miami showdown after the 1986 season? That was good vs. evil.

When Notre Dame met West Virginia after the 1988 season, the poor Mountaineers were mere props in a shake-down-the-thunder tale spun by a leprechaun named Lou Holtz, who led the Fighting Irish to their first national title in 11 years.

This year, the Fiesta has been handed a script out of the Twilight Zone.

One of college football’s long-respected programs – Pittsburgh, with three previous Fiesta Bowl appearances – has been cast as an upstart with suspect credentials.

Utah, noted for its skiing and women’s gymnastics, has suddenly assumed the role of big man on campus, favored to win a Jan. 1 bowl by 16 points.

There’s a reason Pitt and Utah have never met on the gridiron: It never occurred to anyone.

The Panthers are here because they won the Big East title, which is a little like being declared the world’s tallest midget.

Utah is here because the BCS, bowing to congressional pressure, agreed to give an automatic berth to unaffiliated schools that finished in the top six of the final standings.

“In a way, this is a game of two teams that a lot of people questioned whether they belong here,” Pitt nose tackle Vince Crochunis said.

The schools’ head coaches were among those questioning whether they belong.

Both celebrated their Fiesta invitations by accepting better jobs.

Utah’s Urban Meyer is going to Florida and Pitt’s Walt Harris to Stanford.

The Fiesta Bowl used to be a destination. This year, it’s become a placement agency.

Please don’t mention that to Meyer, who has been busy trying to persuade high school stars that it’s great to be a Flo-ri-da Gaaaa-tor, as fans in The Swamp chant.

“This is not about coaches,” Meyer said.

Well, then, what is it about?

It’s about two conferences, one clinging to its Bowl Championship Series status, another hoping to become a vested member of the exclusive club.

Each Fiesta bid is worth $14.5 million.

As the Big East slogged through the autumn, critics asked whether it deserved an automatic BCS berth after Miami and Virginia Tech fled to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Out West, some asked whether that berth should go to the Mountain West Conference.

That argument, so central to the BCS, raises the stakes of this otherwise undistinguished matchup.

If Utah batters Pitt, it will provide ammunition for nonaffiliated conferences.

“We need to make sure that when teams have a year like we had that they’re given an opportunity to compete at the highest level,” Utah athletic director Chris Hill said. “This is how every other sport works.”

Don’t tell the Panthers the Big East is a nice hoops conference.

Next year, Big East football figures to take a big step up with the addition of Louisville, ranked 10th in this year’s BCS.

And please don’t ask the Utes who else is in the Mountain West. They will tell you that Wyoming defeated UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl last week.

The Ute football program, while respectable, has labored for years in the imposing shadow of Brigham Young University.

Now in its 111th football season, Utah has won six bowl games and produced two consensus All-Americans in 2002.

Pitt has a far grander football tradition, with two AP poll championships and seven other mythical national titles, a Heisman Trophy and 49 consensus All-Americans, more than all but six Division I-A schools.

The Arizona Republic

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

As a Big East bowl partner for the last seven years, the Insight Bowl has always held out hope that it could land Notre Dame, which has access to Big East bowls despite refusing to join the conference as a football member.

The dream came true yesterday when the Insight’s bid was accepted by the Fighting Irish, who finished a 6-5 season with a 41-10 loss to top-ranked Southern California on Saturday.

The Irish will face a Pac-10 opponent, probably UCLA, on Dec. 28 in Bank One Ballpark. If the Bruins upset USC on Saturday, it could shuffle the Pac-10′s postseason deck. Oregon State and Arizona State are other possibilities. The Insight pays $750,000 per school.

“We’ve been waiting a long time for this opportunity,” Insight Bowl president and CEO John Junker said. “Now that it’s here, we’re very excited.”

There was a time when the Insight’s very existence was questioned. No longer.

“This really is a final validation that it’s going to continue growing,” Junker said.

The Insight has drawn more than 40,000 each of the last four years at Bank One Ballpark, which seats 43,080 for football. With Notre Dame in the game, a sellout seems a certainty.

Notre Dame is every bowl promoter’s fantasy. The storied Fighting Irish can no longer claim to be among the elite – they are 10-12 in their last 22 games under head coach Tyrone Willingham – but they still command a fanatical following.

The Irish were inconsistent this year, defeating Big Ten champion Michigan and Southeastern Conference Eastern Division champion Tennessee. But they also lost to Brigham Young, Boston College and Pitt.

Other bowl bids

NEW ORLEANS: Sun Belt Conference champion North Texas (7-4) will face Southern Mississippi (6-4) in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 14.

MUSIC CITY: Minnesota (6-5) will play in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 31 in Nashville, Tenn., the Golden Gophers’ third straight postseason appearance. They will face a Southeastern Conference foe still to be determined.

HAWAII: Alabama-Birmingham (7-4) accepted an invitation to play in the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu, the team’s first trip to a postseason bowl. Its opponent has not been named.

GMAC: Memphis (8-3) has accept an invitation to play in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Dec. 22. Its opponent, a representative of the Mid-America Conference, will be announced this week.

- The Associated Press

The Arizona Republic

By PAOLA BOIVIN and ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

TEMPE – Even Neil Rackers was surprised.

When the Arizona Cardinals kicker was told in the second quarter of yesterday’s game at Sun Devil Stadium that the team wanted him to attempt a 55-yard field goal, he thought, “Really?”

The kick was good.

So was the 55-yarder exactly two minutes later.

Oh, and the 50-yarder in the third quarter? That was good, too.

It was a memorable day for the second-year Cardinal, who tied Morten Andersen’s NFL record for most field goals of at least 50 yards.

“I was actually surprised (about being asked to kick the first time),” Rackers said after the Cardinals’ 25-17 victory over Seattle. “I was sitting there, kind of like I am right now, and they said, ‘field goal,’ so I got ready to go.

“Coach has confidence in us enough to make us kick, so he’s going to put us out there.”

The 55-yarders were the longest the University of Illinois product has kicked in the NFL. He already has kicked 51- and 52-yard field goals this season, and his only miss of the year was a 58-yard attempt.

Rackers’ success inspired the Cardinals to bring him into the media interview room afterward. As he walked in, he pretended to spit on his fingers and slick back his hair so he would be pleasing to the cameras.

Had he ever been in the interview room before?

“Just once,” he said. “To stretch.”

Big pick

Anyone who has watched the Cardinals this season knows that no lead is secure.

That’s why, with Arizona leading 18-17 and the Seahawks with the ball, the fans appeared nervous.

Enter Duane Starks. The Cardinals cornerback stepped in front of a Matt Hasselbeck pass intended for Darrell Jackson at the Seattle 29 and came up with a key interception.

The Cardinals gave the ball to Emmitt Smith three straight times, and on the third carry, he rushed 23 yards for the victory-securing touchdown.

“We just wanted to be aggressive defensively,” Starks said, “and we were.”

Veterans’ summit

Seattle receiver Jerry Rice and Smith, the NFL’s leading all-time receiver and rusher, respectively, shared an embrace at midfield after the game.

They also posed, arms around each other’s shoulder pads, for a brace of photographers.

Rice began the season with Oakland but wanted out because he thought he should get the ball more.

“Jerry is going to play, and when we put him in the game today, he made some catches, and he helped us,” Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said.

Actually, Rice caught one pass for 10 yards. According to the official play-by-play, Seattle threw six passes in Rice’s direction.

The Arizona Republic

Its second straight victory ends the club’s record 11-loss streak.

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX – If the Arizona Diamondbacks had played like this all year, Bob Brenly wouldn’t have to listen to daily speculation about his future.

Arizona’s 7-5 victory over the National League West-contending, pennant-chasing San Diego Padres last night at Bank One Ballpark probably won’t affect the club’s decision on whether to retain Brenly as manager.

But for one night, at least, the Diamondbacks played like the contenders many expected them to be this season. So what if they nearly frittered away a four-run lead in the ninth?

“Another beautiful win,” Brenly said.

Don’t look now, but the Diamondbacks have won back-to-back games after losing a club-record 11 straight. No one in the NL West is hotter.

“We broke up that long losing streak and there was a good vibe in the clubhouse (before the game),” said starting pitcher Casey Fossum (2-6), who went six innings and wasn’t awful.

Robbie Alomar’s fourth-inning grand slam off loser Ismael Valdez (6-5) put the Diamondbacks ahead 6-3. That turned out to be plenty of cushion for Fossum, who allowed three runs on a couple of homers.

TODAY’S GAME

Minnesota (Lohse 2-6) at Arizona (Sparks 3-4), 7:05 p.m.

• TV: Fox Sports Arizona

• Radio: KFFN-AM (1490)

The Arizona Republic

Its second straight victory ends the club’s record 11-loss streak.

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX – If the Arizona Diamondbacks had played like this all year, Bob Brenly wouldn’t have to listen to daily speculation about his future.

Arizona’s 7-5 victory over the National League West-contending, pennant-chasing San Diego Padres last night at Bank One Ballpark probably won’t affect the club’s decision on whether to retain Brenly as manager.

But for one night, at least, the Diamondbacks played like the contenders many expected them to be this season. So what if they nearly frittered away a four-run lead in the ninth?

“Another beautiful win,” Brenly said.

Don’t look now, but the Diamondbacks have won back-to-back games after losing a club-record 11 straight. No one in the NL West is hotter.

“We broke up that long losing streak and there was a good vibe in the clubhouse (before the game),” said starting pitcher Casey Fossum (2-6), who went six innings and wasn’t awful.

Robbie Alomar’s fourth-inning grand slam off loser Ismael Valdez (6-5) put the Diamondbacks ahead 6-3. That turned out to be plenty of cushion for Fossum, who allowed three runs on a couple of homers.

TODAY’S GAME

Minnesota (Lohse 2-6) at Arizona (Sparks 3-4), 7:05 p.m.

• TV: Fox Sports Arizona

• Radio: KFFN-AM (1490)

The Arizona Republic

Fiesta Bowl to play role in newfangled BCS

Five games will be played at the current four sites, starting in the 2006 season, with the bowl that hosts the national championship game also holding an earlier postseason game.

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

TEMPE – The way folks were smiling at Fiesta Bowl headquarters yesterday, one might have assumed they had just been granted the exclusive selection rights to Notre Dame, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State.

In reality, they were granted something much better: a starring role in college football’s new postseason landscape. After months of uncertainty, Fiesta officials learned that the bowl is virtually guaranteed to be part of an expanded Bowl Championship Series and that they will have the opportunity to host two elite-level bowls – one of them for the national title – every fourth year.

The Fiesta’s slot is contingent on negotiations that are widely seen as a formality after the BCS fashions a deal with ABC or another television partner. The Fiesta’s place seemed secure after the BCS announced yesterday that its Presidential Oversight Committee had unanimously approved a plan to retain the existing, four-bowl structure and, after the 2006 regular season, add a fifth title game that would rotate among the Fiesta, Sugar, Orange and Rose bowls one week after the regular BCS games.

The plan is designed to improve access for non-BCS leagues, but it also will generate more revenue for college football’s six dominant conferences: the Pac-10, Big Ten, Big 12, Southeastern, Atlantic Coast and Big East.

“I think there’s some degree of relief now that we know what the structure is going to look like,” Fiesta Bowl Chairman Armando Flores said. “We’re delighted that we’re going to be part of the existing structure.”

The BCS had been considering a number of options, including adding a fifth bowl. That would have diluted the Fiesta by giving it a national title game once every fifth year.

A number of questions have yet to be answered. For starters, the new championship game doesn’t have a name. The BCS may look for a title sponsor, but it is leery of diminishing the value of deals with longtime sponsors such as Tostitos, which Junker estimated has contributed some $150 million to college football in its 10-year association with the Fiesta.

The title game will not bear the name of the host bowl, to “make sure that under this model the national championship game is presented in a very common way across the four bowls,” said BCS coordinator Kevin Weiberg, the Big 12 commissioner.

The rotation also hasn’t been determined. The Fiesta probably can’t host the game after the 2007 season because the Glendale stadium is the site of the Super Bowl that year. If the BCS extended the rotation in place now, the Fiesta would play host to the first title game in January 2007.

Another unanswered, and potentially thorny, question regards the Rose Bowl’s commitment to inviting non-BCS schools. The other three bowls have privately expressed concern that they will be responsible for accommodating non-BCS schools, which tend to have smaller fan and television followings.

Weiberg said the BCS had “reached an understanding” that “the Rose Bowl is indeed open to other teams that might be able to access the system” when the Big Ten or Pac-10 champ is playing in the title game.

The Arizona Republic

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX – Randy Johnson made one tiny mistake last night. Tom Glavine didn’t make any.

And that is pretty much all you need to know about the Arizona Diamondbacks’ 1-0 loss to the New York Mets in front of 27,750 at Bank One Ballpark.

After two nights of beer-league softball games, the Diamondbacks and Mets turned back the clock to the era of pre-expansion, pre-steroids baseball.

The game evoked memories of the mid-1960s, before the mound was lowered and ERAs got higher.

“If you’re a purist of the game, this is the kind of game we all miss,” Glavine said. “It was fun. Every pitch matters and defensive plays were remembered. It wasn’t just about who hit home runs and how many.”

Well, it was partly about who hit home runs.

The Mets’ Kazuo Matsui hit the only one. He lined the second pitch of the game into the left-field bleachers. Too bad for anyone who hadn’t found a seat.

“He went down and got good wood on it,” Diamondbacks catcher Robby Hammock said.

Johnson left without talking to reporters. Hammock said the pitch was a two-seam fastball, down.

It turns out Matsui, a Japanese star in his first year in the major leagues, was looking fastball all the way. He’d apparently heard about the Big Unit over there.

The blast was enough to make a winner of Glavine (5-2), who outpitched Johnson in a dream matchup of future Hall of Famers.

“It did come as advertised: Two of the best left-handers of their generation went out there and pitched like it,” Arizona manager Bob Brenly said.

It was the seventh time Johnson and Glavine faced each other. They split the first six.

None was bigger than Game 5 of the 2001 National League Championship Series, when Johnson beat Glavine 3-2 to lift the Diamondbacks into the World Series.

TODAY

N.Y. Mets (Seo 1-3) at Arizona (Webb 2-2), 6:35 p.m.

• Radio: KFFN-AM (1490)

NOTES

D’Backs bump Dessens to bullpen

By PAUL CORO

The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX – Having never received enough innings from Elmer Dessens, the Arizona Diamondbacks have seen enough of a starter who didn’t get to the end of a sixth inning this season.

Dessens is bullpen bound and will be replaced in the rotation by Casey Fossum, who will make his Arizona debut tomorrow when he is activated before the Montreal home game.

Fossum, a left-hander acquired from Boston in the Curt Schilling trade, was scheduled to start tomorrow for Tucson but stayed in Phoenix.

He made three starts in Tucson, posting a 0.60 ERA while giving up 11 hits in 15 innings. Fossum, known for his command and breaking balls, was 6-5 with a 5.47 ERA in Boston last year before October shoulder surgery.

“I think I’ve got enough work in,” said Fossum, who threw 95 pitches in his last outing. “I’m definitely ready. I’ve worked hard and everybody with the Diamondbacks has really helped me and, finally, I get a chance for results.”

Dessens, with a 7.27 ERA in seven starts, gave up 15 earned runs in 18 innings in his last four starts.

“His history over the past couple years has been two or three innings of tremendous baseball and an inning that usually ends up making us go to the bullpen,” manager Bob Brenly said. “If he continues to pitch the way he has as a starter in this role, it will help the ballclub tremendously.”

Dessens will work on mechanical issues that have caused loss of control and flat sinkers and sliders. He will not be available in relief until at least tomorrow, Brenly said.

Andrew Good looks like a strong candidate to be sent to the Tucson Sidewinders with Dessens filling a long relief role. Casey Daigle will start Saturday. Steve Sparks will start Sunday.

Not so fast

Brenly may be as anxious as Richie Sexson for the first baseman to return from the disabled list, but Brenly is not as optimistic it will happen on the first possible activation day, tomorrow.

“He hasn’t picked up a bat since the (shoulder) injury so I think that’s probably unrealistic to expect him to play this homestand,” Brenly said.

The Arizona Republic

The Crimson Tide hoops team feels little pressure as it faces UConn today in Phoenix.

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX – When eighth-seeded Alabama, in its first Elite Eight appearance, takes the floor today at the Phoenix Regional final, it will have nothing to lose.

The pressure is squarely on Connecticut, a No. 2 seed that would rather have faced conference rival Syracuse than a relatively unknown quantity.

Yet with all of Alabama’s momentum, its basketball program suffers an identity crisis.

A Crimson Tide victory today would make the customers at Dreamland barbecue in Tuscaloosa, Ala., happy, but they won’t be tear-off-their-clothes-and-run-through-the-streets happy. That only happens when the Tide rolls to the mythical national title in college football, which it has done 12 times by its own count.

Mark Gottfried knows this. He played basketball at Alabama and, in case ‘Bama football fans don’t know it, has coached his alma mater to its first Elite Eight appearance.

“If you let that kind of stuff bother you, it can,” Gottfried said yesterday during a break from practice at America West Arena. “If you’re into that every day – ‘What page of the newspaper are we on compared to football?’ – it could really bother you. It’s not something that I allow to bother me at all.

“There are advantages to being at a place where basketball maybe isn’t in the limelight,” Gottfried said.

Jim Calhoun would agree. Connecticut’s head coach can’t go to the bathroom without making headlines, as he learned when he had to leave the Huskies’ second-round game with an upset stomach.

He laughs when he hears the team’s notoriously demanding followers refer to the “ups and downs” of a 30-6 season.

“It’s a birthright now to make sure we win 25 or 30 games,” Calhoun said.

“Our bandwagon needs new springs with people getting on and off.”

‘

The Arizona Republic

NCAA selection panel tips cap to Cinderellas

As is often the case, fans debate their teams’ seeds; snubbed schools vent their anger.

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

After Saint Joseph’s was blown out by Xavier in the first round of the Atlantic 10 tournament last week, Hawks coach Phil Martelli ordered his players not to talk about whether the embarrassing defeat would cost them a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“I told our team I didn’t want to hear any discussion about the seed,” Martelli said yesterday. “It would be what it would be.”

The Hawks need not have worried. On a day when the NCAA tourney selection committee seemed to tip its cap to Cinderellas across the country, the Hawks received their first No. 1 seed, joining Stanford, Duke and Kentucky.

Kentucky is the overall No. 1 seed in the 65-team tourney, which tips off tomorrow night with Lehigh meeting Florida A&M in a play-in game for the right to face Kentucky.

In a change from previous seasons, the NCAA did away with regional designations and will use the name of the cities hosting the regionals.

Thus, the Cardinal are the top seed in the “Phoenix” instead of the “West” region because the final two rounds will be contested at America West Arena on March 25 and 27.

The name change allowed the committee to seed the tourney so the four regional champs would meet in the correct order at the Final Four in San Antonio (Kentucky is the overall No. 1, Duke No. 2, Stanford No. 3 and Saint Joseph’s No. 4).

Saint Joseph’s selection came on a banner day for the “midmajor” conferences that have long taken a back seat to the six mightiest conferences. Those six, which also comprise football’s Bowl Championship Series, received only 22 of 34 at-large invitations, down from 27 two years ago and 24 last spring.

Consider that Gonzaga, pride of the cloutless West Coast Conference, was given a No. 2 seed, its highest ever, while Pittsburgh, which lost a tight Big East tourney final to Connecticut Saturday night, was relegated to a No. 3.

Consider that the Atlantic 10 landed four berths – more than the Pac-10 and the Big Ten, which grabbed only three apiece.

And consider that the committee gave a berth to Air Force, which won the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship but played a weak nonconference schedule, while snubbing the Falcons’ Colorado neighbor, Big 12′s Colorado.

Bob Bowlsby, chairman of the Division I men’s basketball committee, said the panel didn’t go out of its way to help the little guys. It simply worked out that way, starting with Saint Joseph’s as a No. 1 seed.

“Saint Joe’s played the No. 1 nonconference schedule in the country,” Bowlsby said. “They didn’t just play a good schedule. They played the best schedule based upon our RPI system, and I think that’s worth something.”

As is usually the case, the most widely anticipated day on the college sports calendar produced plenty of controversy as coaches and fans debated their teams’ seeds and the snubbed schools vented their anger.

The 65-team field was released by the NCAA Division I men’s basketball committee, which spent four days crunching numbers in an Indianapolis hotel suite.

This year’s selections created two notable stirs.

First, Bowlsby admitted that the panel did not account for the result of either the Big Ten or Big 12 championship games, which ended shortly before the field was revealed live on CBS. That likely cost Oklahoma State, which drilled Texas in the Big 12 final, a No. 1 seed.

And Maryland, considered a bubble team two weeks ago, jumped to No. 4 after defeating Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference final, which ended early yesterday afternoon.

Bowlsby, who also serves as athletic director at Iowa, said this is the price the Big Ten and Big 12 pay for accepting big TV payouts for playing their title games later in the day.

“I wasn’t in the game today, so I probably like the money more than I like the flexibility,” he said.

Yesterday’s second controversy arose in a sharp verbal joust between Martelli and CBS analyst Billy Packer, who told a national TV audience the Hawks didn’t deserve a No.1 seed.

“Is Billy Packer playing?” Martelli cracked in a CBS interview. “We’d like to play that team. If all the doubters would line up and play, I guarantee we’d be in San Antonio right now, because none of those doubters can play.”

Packer responded by reminding Martelli that he had indeed played in the NCAA Tournament – for Wake Forest against Saint Joseph’s in 1961 and 1962.

“He needs to learn a little bit about the history of the school he coaches,” Packer said on CBS.

The Arizona Republic

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

If Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams wasn’t feared a month ago, he is now.

“I like to hit,” Williams says.

With one crushing blow on Oct. 5, Williams fractured Arizona Cardinals running back Emmitt Smith’s scapula and confirmed Williams’ place in a select fraternity: the NFL’s most-feared players.

Membership is based on reputation and reality. And it depends upon the definition of feared. Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis is feared. He can put an opponent in intensive care. So is Kansas City kick returner Dante Hall, all 180 pounds of him.

The most feared can change a game in a heartbeat. Some do it with force, others with finesse.

Coaches are most apt to fear a player who forces them to change their game plan – quarterback Michael Vick or receiver Randy Moss. And then there are those who are just plain nasty to play against, such as Oakland linebacker Bill Romanowski.

Players often seem hesitant to acknowledge fear.

“I don’t know too many guys in the NFL that are physically afraid of anybody,” St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger says.

Dallas tight end Dan Campbell says, “I don’t know if fear is the right word, for me anyway. How about ‘most-respected players’? That would be a better term, I would think.”

When coaches think of fear, they think in terms of strategy. An offensive coordinator will try to avoid throwing near Washington cornerback Champ Bailey and will make sure New York Giants defensive end and sack specialist Michael Strahan doesn’t go unblocked.

“There are certain guys you have to have respect for, guys who can make plays in your scheme of things,” St. Louis coach Mike Martz says. “There are a few players that you really have to do something different with to try and contain them.”

Cardinals center Pete Kendall conceded that physical fear can affect players.

“You might see instances where, if a quarterback throws the ball over the middle, the receiver’s hands don’t go up,” Kendall says. “I guess then that truly represents that physical fear – that fear of getting your damn ribs broken.”

Lewis is feared for another reason as well: his ability to make plays.

“Guys know when they catch the ball, when they’re running the ball … they’re not looking for anybody else on the field except for No. 52,” says his teammate, running back Jamal Lewis, who is not related.

PHOTO CAPTION: The Associated Press

Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams tackles Cardinals running back Emmitt Smith last Sunday. Smith left the game after the play because of an injured shoulder. Dallas won 24-7.

The Arizona Republic

Ex-UA star draws a 15-yard taunting penalty by backpedaling on a TD.

By ANDREW BAGNATO and KENT SOMERS

The Arizona Republic

TEMPE – As Baltimore coach Brian Billick left the interview tent yesterday, he bumped into former cornerback Chris McAlister.

The ex-Arizona Wildcat star was asked to address the media because his two interceptions, including an 83-yard return for a touchdown, helped lift the Ravens to a 26-18 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

But McAlister had to explain why he waved the football at pursuers and backpedaled the final 10 yards into the end zone, drawing a 15-yard taunting penalty that forced Baltimore to kick off from its 15-yard line.

“I want to hear this,” Billick said with a grin.

“You know, I was just a little too excited, coach,” said McAlister, who helped lead UA to its last postseason game in 1998, a Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska.

Who said this is the No Fun League?

Billick and McAlister could afford to chuckle because the Ravens had survived a trip to the NFL’s twilight zone.

With a crowd of just 24,193 watching on a 96-degree afternoon, the Ravens won despite failing to score an offensive touchdown.

“This was awkward to see,” said Baltimore tight end and former Arizona State star Todd Heap.

He remembered a far livelier atmosphere during ASU games in Sun Devil Stadium.

“I’ve never seen this stadium like this,” Heap said.

It was the second-smallest crowd ever to watch the Ravens, who generally play before 80,000 fans in Baltimore.

“I had to watch my mouth because everybody could hear what I said,” Billick said.

McAlister’s first interception set up the second of Matt Stover’s four field goals, and the Ravens (3-2) also scored on a blocked punt to stay in first place in the AFC North.

The second interception by McAlister came with the Cardinals (1-5) trailing 16-10, after Arizona drove to the Baltimore 22 with its first possession of the third quarter.

On third down, Arizona quarterback Jeff Blake threw to the sideline, a little behind receiver Anquan Boldin.

McAlister picked off the pass and ran untouched into the end zone to make it 23-10 with 4:03 left in the quarter.

McAlister’s taunting did not please Billick at the time.

“At some point, he’s got to learn,” the coach said. “I’m sure he’s going to hear about it. He just has to understand that you leave your team vulnerable when you let your emotions go. It wasn’t meant to be disrespectful. He’s having fun with the game. He knows it’s a penalty and he’s got to control himself.”

The Cardinals, who are idle this week, are not having much fun. Their 1-5 start is the worst since 1997.

“I don’t think we need to get away from football,” Arizona coach Dave McGinnis said of the bye this week. “We need to stop murdering ourselves playing football.”

Unlike some of their previous games, the Cardinals were competent for significant stretches.

The Cards scored on their first possession and the defense was stingy in the red zone, forcing the Ravens’ four field goals.

But those moments were usually interrupted by mistakes.

“It’s like we play in spurts, but this isn’t basketball,” said defensive tackle Marcus Bell. “Basketball is a game of runs. Football is 60 minutes of playing.”

After committing three turnovers yesterday and forcing none, the Cardinals are minus 14 in turnover margin, by far the worst in the NFL.

“We’re 2-14 in our last 16 games, and that’s flat-out bad,” said offensive tackle L.J. Shelton. “I just have a hard time believing that teams are that much better than us.”

The Cardinals trailed 9-7 late in the first half when they were forced to punt.

Baltimore safety Ed Reed, a second-year pro with two blocks to his credit, beat linebacker Levar Fisher with an inside move.

Reed blocked Scott Player’s punt, then returned it 22 yards for the touchdown to give Baltimore a 16-7 lead with 1:47 remaining in the half.

PHOTO CAPTION: The Arizona Republic

Ex-UA star Chris McAlister (left) intercepts a pass to Cardinals Anquan Boldin and runs it back for a TD for the Ravens.

The Arizona Republic

Clawing way onto roster

Ex-Wildcat Wade finds niche in Bears’ den as punt returner

By ANDREW BAGNATO

The Arizona Republic

TEMPE – As Bobby Wade prepared to come home with the Chicago Bears this week, he had a message for his friends.

They’ve probably heard that the pride of the University of Arizona and Phoenix Desert Vista High School is going to make the team.

But Wade won’t know for sure until next week. And even then he doesn’t plan to celebrate.

“Tell them it’s just the beginning,” Wade said yesterday from the Bears’ den in Lake Forest, Ill. “I’m only getting started.”

Wade said he will leave about 30 passes for family and friends when “Da Bears” face the Cardinals in an exhibition game tomorrow night in Sun Devil Stadium. They all expected him to make it. Few others did.

Wade wasn’t selected until the fifth round of the NFL draft, 139th overall.

And the Bears looked loaded at wide receiver, with Pro Bowler Marty Booker, Dez White and David Terrell.

But Chicago needed a punt returner, and that’s where Wade, 22, has found his niche. He’s averaged a team-high 12 yards on three returns this preseason, displaying the fearlessness that endeared him to UA fans.

A clutch fourth-down reception on the game-winning drive in a 20-18 preseason victory over Indianapolis on Aug. 9 also impressed Bear coaches, and helped atone for a dropped pass on the previous play.

“I think I’m only average right now,” Wade said. “I’m still completely raw with my playing skills. At the same time, I’m showing I can compete.”

The draft-day snub helped motivate Wade.

“When I got to minicamp, I told coach (Dick Jauron) I’d have a chip on my shoulder,” Wade said. “It’s a personal thing with me because I felt like I was as good as a lot of guys (drafted) ahead of me.”

Among those drafted ahead of him was former UA teammate Lance Briggs, a linebacker selected in the third round. Briggs led the Bears with 10 tackles, nine of them solo, against Denver last weekend.

One draft analyst, ESPN.com’s Len Pasquarelli, said Wade “can’t run out of sight in a week,” but he also called Wade a “minibargain.” At 5 feet 10 and 193 pounds in a downpour, “mini” is the right word to describe Wade. His 4.6-second 40-yard dash time leaves scouts shaking their stopwatches, not their heads.

“Bobby doesn’t pass the eye test,” said Jim Rattay, who coached Wade at Desert Vista. “He doesn’t look like he’s a superstar guy. But it doesn’t take long to realize that he’s special.”

Rattay, who now coaches at Phoenix Christian, said Wade reminds him of his son, Tim. Despite a brilliant college record, Tim Rattay wasn’t drafted until the seventh round because he was supposedly too short at 6 feet. Three years later, he’s still 6 feet. He’s also the second-string quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers.

“The NFL, they’re generated by PR,” Jim Rattay said. “If you don’t measure real well, it’s going to be hard to sell (to fans and media). Bobby will pass by a lot of the kids who were listed ahead of him because intangibles are still a big part of football. There are no tape measures on the field.

“Bobby’s always been very mature – not physically, but mentally and emotionally.”

Wade had to grow up fast in a poor, violence-plagued neighborhood south of downtown Phoenix. Sports was his way out.

Wade was a star football player at Desert Vista, earning The Republic’s Big School Player of the Year his senior year. At UA, he finished his career as the school’s all-time leading receiver with 230 catches for 3,351 yards and 23 touchdowns. Last year he set a single-season school record with 93 receptions on his way to the All-Pac-10 first team.

Now Wade will return to the site of some of his finer games. He was the MVP when Desert Vista won the 1998 Class 5A state championship in Sun Devil Stadium, and he returned to torment Arizona State on the same field.

Tomorrow’s game doesn’t count in the standings, but it means a lot to Wade.

“It probably won’t hit me until it’s over, when I can see my family,” Wade said. “I did make it (to the NFL). I’m here now. But I don’t want it to seem like I made it and it’s a dream come true. I want to be a great player in this league.”

Linebacker Briggs makes impact, too

The Bears are happy with another former UA player, Lance Briggs. Preseason stats for Briggs and Bobby Wade after games against Indianapolis and Denver:

- Wade: three catches for 24 yards (long 12); three punt returns for 36 yards (long 13)

- Briggs: 13 tackles, one sack

Tomorrow: Chicago at Arizona, 7:30 p.m., Sun Devil Stadium. No TV. Tickets: 321-1000

PHOTO CAPTION: Citizen file photo

One draft pundit called the 5-foot-10, 194-pound Bobby Wade (trying to elude defenders in last year’s ASU game) a “minibargain.”