European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 1, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday january 1,1989 the stars and stripes Page 25 most coaches Don t want playoff by Herschel Nissenson a football writer even if notre Dame beats West Virginia in the fiesta bowl and is voted the no. 1 College football team coach Lou Holtz would t mind having to play some More games to make it an official National championship. However most of his fellow bowl coaches Don t feel that Way. The associated press polled 26 coaches of bowl teams and Only nine including Holtz favored a play off with is opposed and two undecided. I be always been in favor of having a two team or maximum four team playoff at the completion of the bowls Holtz said. But i be always said i Don t want to do anything that disrupted the bowl system As we know it. Sometimes we lose sight of the millions of dollars generated by the bowl system. But there Are times when you have one or two teams and both claim they should be the National Champion. That s when i d like to see a two team or four team playoff after the completion of the  although a playoff proposal was overwhelmingly Defeated at last january s Mcaa convention Deloss Dodds athletic director at the University of Texas and chairman of a special subcommittee that recommended the rejection said a playoff was inevitable somewhere Down the Road. Some coaches in favor of a playoff also had reservations about it while some of those opposed indicated they could be swayed under the right conditions. No one was in favor of doing away with the bowls which Are United in their opposition to any sort of playoff. Holtz is not Only in favor of a playoff he even has a formula to decide the participants. It goes Back to 1977 when he was the coach at a Kansas and the Razorbacks finished third in the a poll although the top five teams notre Dame Ala Bama Arkansas Texas and Penn state All had 11-1 records. Notre Dame jumped from fifth to first by defeat ing no. 1 Texas 38-10 in the Cotton bowl and we went from sixth to third Arkansas beat no. 2 Oklahoma 31-6 in the Orange bowl Holtz recalled. I Felt two things at that time i knew we had As Good a football team As anybody in the country the last half of the year and i Felt that should have been decided on the Field. Who was to say somebody s better than we were until somebody proved it i also believed that College football had sort of fallen into a Little bit of stagnation and i thought a playoff would be the greatest thing in the world for National interest and National  Holtz s plan would give team a 100 Points for each Victory 50 Points for every Victory by a team that team a Defeated 25 Points for every Victory by a team that a team a victim Defeated and 10 Points for every win the victim s victim won. Only victories Over division i a teams would count. If you do that at the end of the bowl games the bowl games included you total up those Points and take the top two teams i think you d be taking the teams that played the Best schedule week in and week out and were the Best football teams Over the course of the year Holtz said. If you do it by a popular vote or the win loss re Cord that s totally unfair. But this fiesta bowl s got great attention and unbelievable exposure and that s exactly what you d have each and every  West Virginia s Don Nehlen does t want the season to drag on for three or four weeks beyond the bowls but in t opposed to a one game playoff. I think All coaches Down deep would be fir it but i m not sure How you d do it Nehlen said. The bowls have been so Good for so Many  notre Dame coach Lou Holtz. Favors 2 or 4-team playoff the third coach in this year s National championship race Miami s Jimmy Johnson is against any kind of playoff. If you have a two team playoff a team might pick an easier opponent in its bowl game he said. After a while you d go to a four team playoff. It also would take away the festive atmosphere of a bowl  Vince Dooley who is stepping Down after 25 years As Georgia s coach is very much in favor of a one game playoff but not to the extent that it would in any Way interfere with the  they be been too important to College football and to the communities they serve he said to would be a great thing for the game and the fans want it. I m against a 12th regular season game but this is a Way to address the financial problems. Economically it would be such a Bonanza that the Money could be divided among the schools. It would be one of the great events. It would rank with the super bowl and the final  two other Veteran coaches Florida state s Bobby Bowden and Michigan s to Schembechler Are against a playoff. To me the bowls Are the playoffs Bowden said. After the smoke clears there should be a Clear Cut National Champion yet i can see where there would be some doubt. If there were a suitable Way of doing it before Jan. 1, i d be for it but i can t Ever see the bowls conform ing to that. The closest thing i d Ever vote for would be to take the no. 1 and no. 2 teams after the Schembechler thinks a Post bowl playoff would make the season too Long. Twelve games is plenty he  s Mike Archer is very much for a playoff be cause of what s happening in the bowls right now and the Way we be been  and Auburn tied for the Southeastern Confer ence Crown but Auburn was invited to the sugar bowl because of a better Overall record and higher ranking even though leu won their head to head meeting. Archer said the sugar bowl told him it would wait until three Days after the Auburn Alabama game to make its Choice. Instead Auburn was selected the Day it beat  have no problem with Auburn going Archer said. But because the sugar bowl lied to us the Hall of Fame bowl did t Send anyone Here that Day to officially invite  in favor of a playoff include Iowa s Hayden Fry from a personal standpoint i d love to know who s no. 1. I d be crazy if i did t want to know who was no. 1. But being a member of heard there would be so much Money that you be got to pay attention. It s got to come some  Auburn s Pat Dye i really think it would enhance the bowl games. I d be for a four team playoff after the bowls. Ten teams would have a Chance to get in a  the opponents include army s Jim Young financially the bowls Are very important to a lot of teams. A playoff would prob ably be limited to a few  Clemson s Danny Ford it does nothing to help the players financially. Give them something and i la be for  Oklahoma s Barry Switzer is it really a True Champion it takes too much time. I just like what we be got  Arkansas Ken Hatfield i m a bowl advocate. I be had too Many Good experiences. You go for six Days and see kids doing things they normally Don t do in their lifetime. The pros have one Winner and every body else is a loser. People think of Denver As a loser even though they went to the super bowl two years in a  Nebraska s Tom Osborne basically i m against it but my position is weakening a Little bit. I still think the overriding Issue is the length of the season and the difficulty in coming up with a formula that s fair to  Indiana s Bill Mallory i like the bowls i like the Way it is i can live with whoever they decide is the National  Brigham Young s la veil Edwards the pressures involved would just be opening one More can of Worms for the players and  Houston s Jack Pardee there would have to be some equitable Way to select teams for a playoff before i would be in favor of it and i Don t know what that system could possibly  Washington state s Dennis Erickson one vote against a playoff because of the physical aspect first and because of the academic  Holtz has some answers for the doubters. Notre Dame did t miss More than four half Day classes the entire year and most schools Are not in session in Early january anyway. It s wrong to say the players Don t want an extra game. The players just Dpn t want to practice. I had one player who said he did t want a playoff because he was tired. Then he played in three All Star  notre Dame s Ryan is out Tempe Ariz. A offensive guard Tim Ryan will miss the fiesta bowl with a severe Groin pull and senior Darrell Flash Gordon has earned a Start at defensive end notre Dame coach Lou Holtz said Friday. Holtz also was surprised to learn that quarterback Tony Rice was suffering from a sinus problem. Rice did not show up for a scheduled news conference and John Heisler notre Dame s sports information director said the quarterback was not feeling Well. He said he was having a problem with his  i did not know that Tony Rice had a problem Holtz said. Ryan who started nine of the 11 regu Lar season games will be replaced by either senior Mike Brennan who started two games at guard but played mostly at tackle or Sophomore Winston Sandri who started the season opener before Ryan took Over and also started once at the other guard position. Tim Ryan has not been Able to prac Tice and after Friday most of our practices will be done Holtz said. Tim Ryan s getting Hurt really hurts us because not Only have we had to re build the offensive line we be had to re build that sucker about three times. We be had to move personnel from tackle to tight end to Center. Mike Bren Nan started out As a tight end then he ended up As an offensive tackle and he s going to maybe Start the football game As an offensive  new year s sports an television pro football acc playoffs hous ton at Buffalo 6 30 . Sunday pfc playoffs Minnesota at san Francisco,10 . Sunday. College football Cotton bowl a Kansas is. Urcla at Dallas 7 30 . Monday fiesta bowl notre Dame  Virginia at Tempe Ariz., 11 . Monday Orange bowl Miami is. Nebraska at Miami fla., 2 . Tuesday Rose bowl Michigan is. Us at Pas Adena calif., 9 . Tuesday taped. College basketball Kentucky a Louisville 2 10 . Sunday. A i pro football acc playoffs hous ton at Buffalo 6 30 . Sunday pfc playoffs Minnesota at san Francisco,10 . Sunday. College football saturday Gator bowl Georgia is. Michigan state at Jacksonville fla., 2 . Monday Citrus bowl Clemson is. Oklahoma at Orlando fla., 7 30 . Monday Rose bowl Michigan is. Us at Pas Adena calif., 11 . Monday sugar bowl Auburn is. Florida state at new Orleans 2 30 . Tuesday