Sunday night's Sugar Bowl between Oklahoma and LSU is, in the eyes of ABC and the BCS, for the national championship. But consider how many questions concerning that game's matchup were asked on an ABC/BCS conference call Monday:
None.
That's right, none.
Instead, Sugar Bowl announcers Brent Musburger and Gary Danielson were asked about ... the Rose Bowl.
And more important, who the national champion really will be after the result of Sunday night's season finale.
By winning Thursday night, Southern Cal, depending on how you want to look at it, either heightened the tension for Sunday's game or rendered it moot.
It's easy to think that the two-day buildup to Sunday's game will help push its ratings past those of the Rose Bowl.
But most fans seem to have their opinions on the BCS mess, and the majority of those were: If the Trojans win the Rose Bowl, they are the deserving national champions because of their No. 1 ranking in the coaches' and media's Top 25.
The Sugar Bowl is unlikely to change that, particularly if it's a close game, especially if LSU wins. So do the USC believers, whose minds won't be changed, tune in with the fervor one would think a national championship game breeds?
Musburger thinks his game still is a big one. He grants USC probably will get at least half of the title but said the other half goes to the winner of his game.
"History says the Associated Press will give them (Trojans) their share of the national title," he said. "On the other hand, we have the BCS national championship game in front of us and we have teams No. 1 and 2."
The Trojans' win does create a predicament for Musburger and Danielson. How much can they talk about USC without downgrading their game? It's a balancing act Musburger says ABC will tackle head-on.
For a while at least.
"Once the game starts, we're not doing the Rose Bowl," he said. "But we won't duck the reality of the situation."
The reality, Danielson said, is that a playoff may be in college football's future. But Musburger doesn't think it will happen in his lifetime.
As for Loren Matthews, ABC Sports senior vice president of programming, he said there will be no changes until the current contract expires after the final bowl game in 2006, but the network would be open to discussion.
One potential change Musburger suggests could happen before 2006 is a stipulation that a team must win its conference championship to win the national title.
"That would have taken care of a couple of controversies we've had along the way," he said.
Matthews said such a scenario has been discussed, though it should be noted the Big Ten and Pac-10 don't play a conference championship, so would they add one or would the conferences that have been burned in recent years - namely the Big 12 - drop theirs?
Starting Monday, let the debate begin anew, with likely split champions stirring the pot.
