Cavaliers survive
Reynolds' basket with 1.5 seconds to go lifts UVa to OT victory over Loyola Marymount
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
December 24, 2004

J.R. Reynolds says it is a shot he makes in practice all the time. The No. 25 Cavaliers were very fortunate this time he made it when it actually counted.

Reynolds hit a driving finger-roll layup with 1.5 seconds remaining in overtime to allow Virginia to escape with a 79-77 win over Loyola Marymount on Thursday night at University Hall.

“I just drove the lane and floated it. It’s a shot that I make in practice. I shoot it every day,” said Reynolds, who finished the game with seven points on 3-for-9 shooting and, on the previous possession, committed a turnover that allowed LMU to tie the game with 13 seconds remaining.

Elton Brown scored 25 points before fouling out in the extra period. Sean Singletary added 12, including a key 3-pointer in the overtime period. T.J. Bannister finished with 11 for the Cavaliers (8-1), who were playing their first game since Dec. 8 because of an exam break.

Matthew Knight led Loyola Marymount (7-3) with 27 points. Dustin Brown, whose three-quarter court heave at the overtime buzzer fell just short, added 15.

The Cavaliers, in the midst of a stretch in which they will just play one game in 25 days, turned in the exact kind of performance that Virginia coach Pete Gillen had worried about. Rarely did Virginia display any energy, enthusiasm or rhythm; looking very much like a team that hadn’t played in more than two weeks.

“We were very fortunate to win. I don’t know how we won. … Luckily, J.R. had the guts to make that drive and make a big shot,” Gillen said.

Adding to Virginia’s woes Thursday was the fact that it played without one starter and then lost another midway through the second half.

Forward Jason Clark, who stretched a ligament in his Achilles’ tendon during the layoff, was in street clothes and held out of the game. X-rays on the tendon were negative and his return for the contest against Wake Forest on Jan. 2 is possible, if not likely.

The status of the other injury is much more uncertain.

Devin Smith, the Cavaliers’ leading scorer entering the game at 18.1 points a contest, finished with 12 points but left the contest with 12:26 remaining in regulation after appearing to sprain his right ankle.

Gillen said the X-rays were negative but the ankle was badly sprained and Smith’s availability is certainly in question, though the Cavaliers will have

10 days off before the contest with the Demon Deacons.

“We had guys hurt and guys in foul trouble. We had different groups in there for most of the game but our guys just showed courage and got the victory,” Gillen said.

Loyola Marymount led 65-60 with 3:14 remaining but the Cavaliers rallied to tie the game at 67 and force the overtime. Brown and Singletary, also playing with a sore left shoulder and a protective harness, were the main cogs in even forcing the extended session. Singletary buried a trey and then Brown hit a jumper and then two free throws in the final minute to send the game to overtime.

“As my mama always says, it isn’t how you start but how you finish,” said Brown, who had a wretched first couple of minutes of the game. “I stepped up when we needed it.”

In overtime, Virginia led 74-72 after another Singletary trey and then 77-73 with 40 seconds remaining. It appeared that maybe, just maybe the Cavaliers finally had wrestled control of the game. The Lions, however, had other ideas.

First, Brown hit a jumper to make it 77-75 and then Wes Wardrop stole the ball from Reynolds and sped in for a layup to tie it with 13 seconds remaining.

That set up Reynolds’ dramatics in the waning moments.

Loyola Marymount twice led by as many as eight in the first half, including a 24-16 lead with 8:05 left before intermission. The Cavaliers, however, finished the half with an 18-4 run to gain the 34-28 lead at intermission. Virginia extended that halftime advantage to 10 early in the second half but couldn’t sustain the effort.

The Lions used a 13-3 run to tie the game and then gained the lead, which it held for nearly 10 minutes before the Cavaliers forced the overtime in the final minute.

“That was a great college basketball game and I’m proud of our team. I thought we played very hard in a very hostile environment and had a chance to win,” said LMU coach Steve Aggers, whose team nearly upset No. 12 Washington early this month.

UVa keeps on finding ways to win
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
December 24, 2004

Down four with less than two minutes to play in regulation, 25th-ranked Virginia was showing the rust of a 15-day layoff Thursday night against upset-minded Loyola Marymount.
No big deal.
So, what else is new for these Cavaliers, who pulled out Reaper Cheaters at Northwestern, against Auburn in Richmond, and nearly did the same at Iowa State. The trend started late last season when the Wahoos owned crunch time, knocking off nationally-ranked North Carolina, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech with a series of last-second, thriller-dillers.

A little tougher
This time it was different. This time, Coach Pete Gillen’s team was faced with a more challenging set of circumstances.
Not only was Loyola pretty good, but the Cavs lacked energy from a two-week break.
But that wasn’t the hard part.
Starting power forward Jason Clark didn’t suit up due to a strained Achilles. Starting point guard Sean Singletary had his shoulder pop out even though he wears a brace to protect the injury. Starting small forward Devin Smith went down in a heap with a badly sprained ankle with Virginia leading 47-45 with 12:26 remaining in the game.
Still, the Cavs found a way to win, 79-77 in overtime, on a gutty J.R. Reynolds’ finger-roll drive with 1.5 seconds showing on the sold-out University Hall clock.
Even overtime was a struggle when starting center Elton Brown fouled out with a team-high 25 points, atypically nine of them coming from the free throw stripe.
This was a game that Virginia could have easily lost, just like the Northwestern game, just like the Auburn game. Instead, this team has found a way to laugh in the face of adversity and win.
“I don’t know how we won, honestly,” Gillen said.

Ring my bell
The personable UVa coach is scheduled to ring the bell for the Salvation Army today near Barnes and Noble in the Barracks Road Shopping Center (11 a.m until 1 p.m.), which gave him an opportunity to find some humor in last night’s close call.
“If we had lost they probably wouldn’t have let me ring the bell,” Gillen deadpanned. “I don’t think anyone would have wanted to give me money under those circumstances.”
After pulling this one out, Virginia fans ought to fill Gillen’s pot with lucky dollars instead of lucky pennies. The Cavaliers are 8-1 heading into the New Year.
“We showed some character tonight,” Gillen said.
And how.
T.J. Bannister put up 11 points (7 of 9 at the line) in 36 minutes. Freshman Tunji Soroye, who is still trying to learn what basketball is all about, had played a collective 11 minutes in UVa’s first eight games this season, but came in and made two big free throws to keep the Cavs close with 6:29 to play.
Donte Minter stepped up
with four points, Adrian Joseph
with five. Singletary played hurt. Brown, admittedly not a good free throw shooter, made 9 of 11. Anything less probably would have spelled upset.
Smith was having a good night until the injury.
Then there was Reynolds. You already know his story. He turned the ball over at a key moment in the close loss at Iowa State, then agonized all the way home on that long plane ride, only to come back and spark UVa’s win against a pesky Furman team on Dec. 8, the Cavs’ last game until Thursday.
Reynolds turned it over late against Loyola last night, allowing the Lions to deadlock the game at 77-all with 17 seconds to play in overtime.
He had missed the last shot of regulation to boot, so it wasn’t like he was having a game to remember, at least not for the right reasons.
So, when Loyola trapped Singletary with a double-team in the waning seconds of overtime, the freshman wisely got the ball into Reynolds’ hands, giving him a chance to win the game.
Reynolds never hesitated. He drove the lane, put up the floating finger roll. Ball game.
“It ain’t nothing,” Reynolds said later. “I do it every day in practice. It’s my shot.”
Once Reynolds got the ball, he saw an open spot, looked up and saw three seconds on the clock and knew he could get to the rim. He accomplished that feat in 1.5 seconds with a lot of will power.
“A lot of guys run and hide,” Gillen said of similar game-ending situations. “J.R. had the courage to attack the basket.”
That’s something the coaching staff is encouraging Reynolds to do more often. His rep is the 3-pointer. But he can become much more dangerous if he develops into a player who can penetrate.
So, if you’re driving down the road today and hear a bell ringing resoundingly, forgive Gillen for turning up the volume. He’s earned the opportunity to make some noise. So has his basketball team.

Cavaliers, Bulldogs look very similiar
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
December 24, 2004

When the Virginia football team looks in the mirror this week they are likely to see Fresno State staring right back at them.
The teams, who square off Monday in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho, are practically identical in schemes, statistics, play calling and overall results.
Fresno State is 8-3. Virginia is 8-3. Each program went 5-3 in conference play, Virginia in the ACC and Fresno State in the WAC.
Both teams like to run the ball, and run it they will. The Cavaliers are averaging 241 yards per game on the ground, just 13 yards more than the Bulldogs.
Passing the ball is not the first option, but has proven effective for Virginia and Fresno. The Cavaliers average 182 yards through the air while the Bulldogs sport an average of 172 yards per contest.
Defensively, both rank among the top 26 teams in the country in scoring defense and pass defense.
The turnover margin is practically the same for both teams and in a good way. UVa is 22nd in the nation and Fresno State is 18th in turnover margin.
Virginia offensive lineman Elton Brown summed it up best.
“In a way they look like the Virginia Cavaliers,” Brown said.
Fresno State opened the season just like Virginia did, with three victories.
And then came a speed bump.
The Bulldogs lost at Lousiana Tech (28-21), at home against UTEP (24-21) and against Boise State (33-16) in Bronco Stadium, the site of Monday’s bowl game.
With a 3-3 record, Fresno State coach Pat Hill knew his team had no margin for error if they were to solidify a bowl date against a top-caliber team.
Hill’s squad responded and in resounding fashion. The Bulldogs finished the regular season with five straight victories by a combined score of 280-80.
During its current five-game winning streak, Fresno State has outscored its opponents 186-31 in the first half. The Bulldogs have scored on
29 of its 34 first half possessions during that span, including 26 touchdowns.
When asked about Fresno State’s scoring spree, Virginia coach Al Groh said it could be attributed to a number of things.
“The most obvious answer to that question would have to do with their offensive play, but actually they’ve been very disruptive on defense, in terms of turning the ball over in good field position,” Groh said. “They’ve really been clicking [offensively] in all aspects. On first and second down they’ve run the ball effectively and thrown good play action.”
The Bulldogs have also prospered on third down. During the five-game winning streak, Fresno State has converted 34 of its 51 third downs.
“They have done a real good job with their third-down pass package to stay on the field or create big plays,” Groh said. “And they have been very good in the red zone.”
Fresno State’s special teams’ units have also turned heads. Punter Mike Lingua was forced to kick 11 times over the past three games, but only five of those were returned, totaling just 22 yards.
“Their special teams have been the foundation of everything they’ve done,” Groh said. “They have five blocked kicks this year, a number of returns [and] very good field position gained by their team that has put their offense in very good scoring position.”
When asked who this year’s Fresno State team reminds him of, Groh pointed to a pair of schools Virginia beat in ACC play.
“I see a lot of similarties between, maybe not exactly all the same ones,” Groh said, “but we see a lot of similarities in their team to Maryland and Georgia Tech.
“They are a good aggressive, physical team. We’ve had a season worth of that.”

Notes.

Bowling for beef. MPC Computers Bowl executives had to scramble Thursday to pull off what was expected to be the first joint outing between Fresno State and Virginia players.
Fresno State’s flight to Boise, Idaho was delayed due to heavy fog, pushing the Bulldogs’ arrival back until late Thursday evening.
Virginia’s team still took part in the bowling event, Brawley Bowl for Beef, an event that served to benefit two local charities.
The Cavaliers’ offense outbowled the defense, 310 pins to 198. One pound of beef per pin was donated to the two local charities.
The offense bowled for Life’s Kitchen and the defense
rolled for a Boise chapter of the WCA (Women’s Christian Association).

A long drive. Virginia freshman quarterback Scott Deke, who is redshirting this season, is the lone player on the Cavaliers’ roster from the West Coast.
Deke is from Pacific Palisades, Calif. That would leave friends and family members of Deke with a mere 15-hour drive to reach Boise.
The furthest player from home for the holidays, at least in driving time, is UVa junior defensive end Matt Stone, a native of Boca Raton, Fla. A drive from Boca Raton to Boise would cover almost 2,800 miles.

Extra tidbits. Fresno State will hold its first practice in Boise this morning at 8 a.m. local time (10 a.m. EST). Virginia will hold its third practice, since it arrived on Tuesday, at
12:30 p.m. local time. Practices are held at Bronco Stadium on the campus of Boise State University and last for two-and-half hours. … Virginia remains a five-point favorite over the Bulldogs. … Virginia cornerback Philip Brown accompanied the team to Boise. Brown, who did not make the trip to Virginia Tech, practiced well on Wednesday, according to Groh.

Cavs need OT to top Lions
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia wanted the ball In J.R. Reynolds' hands Thursday night and Reynolds delivered, if only 20 seconds later than originally intended.

Reynolds, whose turnover had led to the tying basket, converted a finger roll with 1.5 seconds remaining in overtime to lift 25th-ranked Virginia past Loyola Marymount 79-77 at University Hall. Reynolds, from Roanoke, has been wearing a splint on his left (non-shooting) thumb in practice and was only 2-for-8 before his game-winner.

"He's a gutty player," UVa coach Pete Gillen said. "He made some mistakes, but, whether he made the shot or not, he had the courage to take it. A lot of guys run and hide in that situation."

Reynolds said he wasn't sure what happened on the next-to-last possession, but "this game is about getting in a rhythm," he said. "After a long layoff, I wasn't in a rhythm."

It was the Cavaliers' first game in 15 days following an exam break and UVa (8-1) will have a 10-day break before returning to action Jan 2. in its ACC opener against visiting Wake Forest. Virginia will need every day it can get.

"I don't know how we won, to be honest with you," UVa coach Pete Gillen said.

The Cavaliers were without power forward Jason Clark, in street clothes as the result of a stretched Achilles tendon, and lost leading scorer Devin Smith for the final 12:26 of regulation and the overtime. Gillen said Smith had a badly sprained ankle but X-rays showed no break.

Moreover, freshman point guard Sean Singletary left the floor twice with a recurrence of a left (non-shooting) shoulder injury that flared up before exams, but he played a major role in UVa's comeback from a 65-60 deficit in the last three minutes of regulation.

Before hitting a 3-pointer with 2:55 left to make it 65-62, Singletary had scored three points all night. He finished with 11, including a second 3-pointer and two free throws in overtime, all with his left arm in a harness.

Senior post man Elton Brown finished with 25 points, including two free throws that enabled UVa to pull into a 67-67 tie with 50.6 seconds remaining in regulation, but he fouled out with 1:46 left in overtime.

"Losing their big men may have been a blessing in disguise," said Loyola Marymount coach Steve Aggers, whose Lions were 15 1/2 -point underdogs. "They really stepped up their defense with the four quick guys in the game."

Sophomore point guard T.J. Bannister, often playing in tandem with Singletary, finished with a season-high 11 points in 33 minutes. UVa got 22 points from its bench on a night when Gary Forbes, normally the Cavaliers' sixth man, started in Clark's place.

"In the locker room, I told the guys on the bench, "We lose by 10 points tonight without you,' " Brown said. "They won the game for us."

Sophomore center Matt Knight, a member of the Australian team that won the Under-20 world championship, had 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Lions (7-3). Loyola Marymount shot 59.3 percent in the second half and outrebounded UVa 44-34 in a performance that could have made Christmas miserable for Gillen and his troops.

"Don't you think I know it," Gillen said.

One-voice policy adds to coaching intrigue
Guidelines get stricter over time
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

At the height of the furor over the possible departure of Virginia defensive coordinator Al Golden, a thought suddenly struck me.

I’ve never spoken to Al Golden.

I take that back. As he rushed through the press box en route to the coaching box once or maybe twice, I believe coach Golden and I made eye contact and maybe even said hello to each other. I certainly know who he is and I think he knows who I am, but I can’t say that we’ve ever had a conversation.

I was beginning to feel a little sheepish about that until I was talking to media gadfly Jeff White, UVa beat reporter for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and he said he’d never had a conversation with Golden either.

Here it is, the end of the fourth year of head coach Al Groh’s tenure, and two of the principal beat reporters for two of the state's largest newspapers have never spoken to the defensive coordinator.

It probably doesn’t bother Golden, or else he might have jumped at a chance to become the defensive coordinator under new Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis. Weis already has said that he will make his assistants available to the media for one day a week -- a break from the practice employed by the Bill Parcells “tribe,” including past Parcells assistants Bill Belichick and Groh.

At this point, let me say that I have not hesitated to call several of Groh’s other assistants, most notably Mike London and Danny Rocco, when I’ve been confused and felt they could set me straight. I don’t think that bothers Groh, as long as they’re not going to be quoted and I’m not jeopardizing his one-voice policy.

I even wrote a feature story on assistant Ron Prince shortly after his ascension to offensive coordinator in the summer of 2003, during the one-month window when Groh allowed his assistants to talk to the media prior to his first three seasons. That policy ended this year, after Groh became upset at newspaper and TV coverage of off-season, off-field events involving his players.

I’ve never heard a UVa assistant complain about Groh’s policy, but if any of these assistants aspire to be head coaches, eventually they will have to deal with the media. At 35, Golden makes an attractive candidate and has been mentioned -- by people who might not be “in the know” -- as future head-coaching material at his alma mater, Penn State.

It has been debated whether Golden could go from the UVa defensive coordinator’s to the head-coaching job at Penn State. That’s highly unlikely. Could he have gotten the Penn State head job from the Notre Dame defensive coordinator’s job? Possibly, if not probably.

Iowa coach and Pennsylvania native Kirk Ferentz frequently gets mentioned as a successor to Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who turned 78 this week, one day before he took an oral commitment from the nation’s No. 1-rated prospect, Derrick Williams. Ferentz’s credentials obviously surpass Golden’s at this point and, among other things, he has experience at dealing with the media.

Groh admits that he is a control freak. Several years ago, in the midst of a conversation with Groh, White and I confided that we had been referring to him as “the chairman.” Groh immediately rejected that appellation because “you know what a chairman does,” he said.

He was right. A chairman conducts meetings at which his associates tell him what’s happening with the company. Groh never wants to reach the point where he is oblivious to the daily goings-on of his program. He is the embodiment of the description “hands-on.”

Frankly, Groh does a disservice to his assistants by not letting them talk to the media. This week, I’m working on a story on Dennis Haley, a fifth-year linebacker from Salem who has emerged as a front-line player despite considerable outside skepticism. Who better to talk about Haley than his position coach of four seasons, Rocco? It didn’t happen.

Few coaches schedule as many media opportunities as Groh, even though it can be aggravating on occasions like Sundays, when Groh did not join a teleconference scheduled for 12:30, then was unavailable for a restart at 1:15. Plus, when he’s doing most of the talking for a program in which some marquee players are seldom available, it comes of as “all Al, all the time.”

I can only imagine how testy Groh might have been if he had lost Golden, whose departure might have had a domino effect with other UVa assistants, draft-eligible underclassmen and recruits. On the other hand, the possibility exists that it was a non-story, that either Weis had other plans or that he kept his distance from Golden as a favor to Groh, a colleague at four different stops.

If Golden could -- or would -- talk, it might be fascinating.

Cavaliers sport nation's best TE
Johnna Espinoza
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 12-23-2004
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The nation's best tight end is not playing in the Orange Bowl, Fiesta Bowl or Rose Bowl.

The University of Virginia's Heath Miller is playing in the MPC Computers Bowl on Monday at Bronco Stadium. The 18th-ranked Cavaliers (8-3) face Fresno State (8-3). Kickoff is at 12:04 p.m.

Miller, a 6-foot-5, 255-pound junior, is the 2004 Mackey Award winner, given to the nation's best tight end. He was the first player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to win the award. The honor was the first major award for the program since 1941.

Miller is an Associated Press first-team All-American and All-ACC first-teamer.

The Cavaliers' NFL prospect and record-setting tight end is loaded with talent, awards and gaudy career numbers. But Miller certainly isn't flashy off the field.

"Of the elite or high-echelon type of players I have ever been associated with, I don't think I have ever been around one who was a more humble player than this," said Virginia head coach Al Groh, who has 30 years coaching experience in the college and pro ranks.

Miller is a small-town guy. His hometown of Swords Creek, Va., has no stop lights, he says. Miller was a quarterback in high school, in the state's second-smallest division.

He credits his humble approach to his parents.

"When I had success growing up, they never really praised me too much. They always encouraged me to keep working hard," Miller said.

Miller's parents, Earl and Denise, didn't pressure their son to excel in sports and it helped him stay grounded, he said.

He played basketball and baseball at Honaker High, along with football. He was ranked as the No. 15 player in the football-rich state by SuperPrep as a senior.

Coaches at the University of Virginia moved Miller from a quarterback to a tight end early in his college career. He says he was happy to make the switch because it meant getting on the field.

Miller started every game in 2002, and had a breakout year in 2003.

He was the leading receiver in the nation among tight ends last season with 70 catches for 835 yards. The jaw-dropping numbers set ACC records for a tight end. Miller is second in school history with 139 receptions.

He holds every tight end receiving record in school history, and needs four receptions and 16 yards to set ACC records for a tight end for career receiving.

Miller is Virginia's leading receiving this season with 36 catches for 475 yards and five touchdowns.

"He has made some catches I can't believe ... long deep balls and he can catch the fade. He has gotten one-handed catches all over the field and to top it off he makes incredible blocks for our running backs," defensive end Brennan Schmidt said.

Schmidt has listened to replays of Virginia games on television to hear broadcasters praise Miller's abilities.

"The way I have described it, is the ball just sticks on his hands," Groh said.

"He will be a very, good player in the NFL. He has a very, very high-talent level. And he has a tremendous resolve about him.''

Miller's parents, Earl and Denise, didn't pressure their son to excel in sports and it helped him stay grounded, he said.

He played basketball and baseball at Honaker High, along with football. He was ranked as the No. 15 player in the football-rich state by SuperPrep as a senior.

Coaches at the University of Virginia moved Miller from a quarterback to a tight end early in his college career.

He says he was happy to make the switch because it meant getting playing time on the field.

Miller started every game in 2002, and had a breakout year in 2003.

He was the leading receiver in the nation among tight ends last season with 70 catches for 835 yards. The jaw-dropping numbers set ACC records for a tight end. Miller is second in school history with 139 receptions.

He holds every tight end receiving record in school history, and needs four receptions and 16 yards to set ACC records for a tight end for career receiving.

Miller is Virginia's leading receiver this season with 36 catches for 475 yards and five touchdowns.

"He has made some catches I can't believe ... long deep balls and he can catch the fade. He has gotten one-handed catches all over the field and to top it off he makes incredible blocks for our running backs," defensive end Brennan Schmidt said.

Schmidt has listened to replays of Virginia games on television to hear broadcasters praise Miller's abilities.

"The way I have described it, is the ball just sticks on his hands," Groh said.

The coach says his star tight end is headed toward an NFL career.

"He will be a very good player in the NFL. He has a very, very high talent level. And he has a tremendous resolve about him.''
 

BCS to Create New Formula Without AP Poll
By RALPH D. RUSSO : AP Sports Writer
Dec 23, 2004 : 8:52 am ET

NEW YORK -- The Bowl Championship Series is ready to move on without The Associated Press college football poll.

"I wasn't surprised by the AP's decision," Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said. "I don't think it's a negative issue. We're just going to have to put our heads together and come up with an alternative way of picking the teams for the 1-2 game."

The Associated Press told the BCS on Tuesday to stop using its poll to determine which teams play for a national title.

BCS coordinator and Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg has said the BCS hopes to have a new formula ready by April.

"We're not heading toward a playoff," Tranghese said Wednesday.

So for the second straight season and the fifth time since the system was implemented in 1998, the BCS will change the way it computes its standings.

This season, the BCS streamlined its formula and put heavy emphasis on the AP and ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. The goal was to make it more likely that Nos. 1 and 2 in the polls played in the national title game, unlike last season when Southern California was a consensus No. 1 but left out of the BCS championship.

Without the AP poll, the BCS's current formula is left with the coaches poll and six computer rankings.

The BCS could just stick with those two and change the weighting system. Or it could add more computers. Or maybe it could even revive the strength of schedule component, which was eliminated because it was deemed redundant.

"We certainly have other options on how to select and rank the teams," Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen said.

The BCS already was looking at the possibility of a selection committee picking the teams for the championship game, taking a page from the NCAA basketball tournaments.

But a committee probably wouldn't be the best way to fill the two at-large spots.

And starting with the 2006 season, the number of at-large teams is destined to go up as the BCS expands to five games to allow greater access to teams from outside the six conferences that now have automatic entry.

"Adding the fifth game is going to give us less pressure," Hansen said. "One of the problems has been good teams being left out. With one more game, that's less likely to happen."

The original BCS formula was comprised of an average of the two human polls, an average of three computer rankings, total losses and strength of schedule.

Since then the computers rankings have changed in number and name and other elements have come and gone. The polls have been a constant.

The coaches poll is not likely to follow the AP's path.

"We'll be a part of it if we are asked to be a part of it." said Grant Teaff, the president of the American Football Coaches Association, which oversees the poll.

The AP said in a statement that the BCS's unauthorized use of its poll has "harmed AP's reputation and interfered with AP's agreements with AP poll voters."

So losing the AP poll doesn't spell doom for the BCS and is not a step toward creating the playoff system the fans and a growing number of coaches want.

The university presidents have made it clear they won't sign off on a playoff system.

ABC, unhappy with the BCS's idea of adding another game with no championship ramifications, tried to push the BCS toward a playoff during contract negotiations for broadcast rights earlier this year. But the BCS simply found another suitor, happy to buy what it was selling.

The BCS signed a four-year deal worth $320 million with Fox last month for the broadcast rights to the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls from 2007-10 and the national title game from 2007-09.

"The BCS is here and it's going to continue," Tranghese said. "But the BCS is a target for all the playoff proponents. When something like this happens they jump on it. They look at something like this as a crack. They don't understand the strong position of our presidents."

Ferguson lives up to his promise
Junior continues his growth, says he'll return to U.Va. for final year
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Dec 24, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE He had a good sophomore season, but not an exceptional one, which is why D'Brickashaw Ferguson's coach at the University of Virginia didn't nominate him for the all-ACC football team in 2003.

Make no mistake, though: Al Groh never doubted that Ferguson, a starter at left offensive tackle from the day he arrived at U.Va., had the potential to be all-ACC.

"That's his challenge," Groh said last December. "But if he's not, then probably he's fallen below what he can be. I'm confident that he will be."

Groh didn't hesitate to nominate Ferguson this season, and Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association voters took note. The 6-5, 295-pound junior was one of four Cavaliers to make the all-ACC first team.

"It was a surprise to me, honestly," Ferguson said. "All I really focus on is just my assignment in the game, and if I can just do that well, that's really what matters to me.

"I think that's a selfish player who looks for the accolades all the time. I just want to be a team player and do the things necessary for the team to win."

Ferguson, who turned 21 this month, isn't an All-American, but he could well earn that distinction in 2005. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr., among others, says Ferguson would be a first-round pick in the coming NFL draft, but the academically-minded Freeport, N.Y., resident has his own timetable for turning pro.

"I'm definitely coming back," he said last weekend.

Of Kiper's report, Ferguson said, "I really can't get caught up that. I've just got to keep my focus on the game" - U.Va.'s date with Fresno State on Monday at the MPC Computers Bowl at Boise, Idaho.

This is not your average college football player; maybe not even your average college student. Ferguson takes his responsibilities, whether athletic or academic, seriously.

"If I said he's a very shaped-up kid, I'm sure everybody who has dealt with him probably will get a sense of what I'm trying to explain," Groh said. "He is very shaped-up. He is very accountable, both to himself and what he is responsible for. And he expects a lot of himself.

"You don't ever see Brick when he is sloppy, whether he has got his football uniform on or his street clothes. He plays a clean game. He is not a sloppy player."

The 18th-ranked Cavs lead the ACC in total offense and have allowed only 15 sacks, the fewest of any team in the conference. His profile isn't as high as that of teammate Elton Brown, a first-team All-American at offensive guard, but Ferguson has become a pillar up front for U.Va.

He's started 38 games, tying Brown and junior defensive end Brennan Schmidt for the team lead.

Asked about Ferguson's development, Groh said, "I think maybe a good way to answer that question is just to cite his weight, as we have before. He played parts of his first year under 250 pounds. He played this whole season over 290 pounds. The degree in improvement in his performance has paralleled those numbers."

Ferguson played remarkably well as a true freshman but occasionally found himself fighting battles he couldn't win. Case in point: Virginia's game at Penn State that season. Senior defensive end Jimmy Haynes manhandled Ferguson in the Nittany Lions' 35-14 romp.

Afterward, Groh told reporters that the day would come when Ferguson would be experienced enough and strong enough and savvy enough to handle premier defenders such as Haynes. Ferguson felt the same way.

"Definitely," he recalled. "It was just a matter of when."

Ferguson played at about 270 pounds as a sophomore. The extra muscle gave him more power than he'd had in 2002 but he knew it wasn't enough. By the time training camp opened last summer, strength coach Evan Marcus had Ferguson up to 295.

Ferguson hasn't always been a big eater. After bulking up during the offseason, however, he didn't want the pounds to melt away over the course of the season.

"Unlike years prior, I just made sure that I was more little disciplined in a daily [eating] regimen, and it worked out pretty well," he said.

His brother, Edwin Jr., graduated from U.Va. in 2001 and plans to attend law school. Ferguson may follow that same path eventually, though an NFL career figures to precede graduate school. To those who say he should pass up his senior season at U.Va., however, Ferguson has an emphatic response.

"I don't allow other people to set my agenda," he said.

No. 25 Cavaliers Edge Lions in Overtime
Reynolds's Shot With 1.5 Seconds Left Lifts Virginia's Record to 8-1 : Virginia 79, Loyola Marymount 77
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, December 24, 2004; Page D07

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Dec. 23 -- Starting forward Jason Clark was on the sideline in sweatpants. Starting guard Sean Singletary, it quickly became apparent, was still playing with a shoulder injury. When Devin Smith crumpled to the floor in pain as the game reached a crucial stretch, the Virginia Cavaliers might have wondered what else could go wrong.

Well, there was still the small matter of beating the Lions of Loyola Marymount, cross-country visitors gunning for an upset victory after narrowly missing one 11 days earlier. It took overtime, but the 25th-ranked Cavaliers pulled out a 79-77 win when J.R. Reynolds hit a runner with 1.5 seconds left, delighting University Hall's first sellout crowd of the season.

Brandon Worthy of Loyola Marymount attempts to block a first-half shot by Virginia's Devin Smith (12 points, seven rebounds) at University Hall. (Brady Wolfe -- Charlottesville Daily Progress Via AP)

Reynolds, whose turnover a moment earlier had enabled Loyola (7-3) to tie the game, caught a pass from Singletary at the three-point arc and drove into the lane before flipping a shot over Lions forward Matthew Knight.

"I do it every day. That's my shot," Reynolds said, his normally straight face breaking into a broad grin.

For much of the second half, the Cavaliers (8-1) had little reason to smile. Loyola, which lost by only seven points to then-No. 16 Washington on Dec. 12, stormed back each time Virginia seemed ready to put the game away. A jumper by Knight (27 points, 10 rebounds) gave the visitors a 65-60 lead with 3 minutes 17 seconds left in regulation.

But the Cavaliers came back -- without two of their three senior captains. Clark, the toughest player on the team, sat out with an Achilles' tendon strain, while the multi-faceted Smith left for X-rays after badly spraining his ankle with 12 1/2 minutes left.

"We're very fortunate to win," Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said. "I don't know how we won, to be honest with you."

Singletary was a major reason. He hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to start the rally from five points down. Moments later, Elton Brown (25 points, eight rebounds) scored four straight points to tie the score at 67 with 50 seconds left.

On Loyola's final possession of regulation, Gary Forbes knocked the ball from Loyola guard Charles Brown on the perimeter and earned a jump ball that gave the Cavaliers possession with 21 seconds left. Reynolds's attempt to win it in regulation was blocked out of bounds as time expired.

In overtime, Virginia jumped ahead by four points before the Lions got within 77-75 on Dustin Brown's quick jumper with 33 seconds left. The Cavaliers tried to stall, but Reynolds was hit by a double team at mid-court and lost the ball to Wes Wardrop, who tied the game with a leaner with 17 seconds left.

The Lions figured to give the Cavaliers a good game. Led by Knight, they stayed close to Washington and then came back with wins over San Diego State and Colgate in the past week. This squad, Gillen told reporters Tuesday, was better than the Loyola Marymount team that scared Virginia last season in Los Angeles before losing, 76-68.

True to form, the Lions survived until the very end, when Dustin Brown's mid-court heave fell just short as the final horn sounded.

"It was very close," Loyola Coach Steve Aggers said.

Cavaliers Notes: The team hopes Clark, who had his left foot in a boot, can return "in the not-too-distant future," Gillen said. X-rays on Smith's right ankle showed no fracture.