by John Rohde, jrohde@opubco.com , The Oklahoman

"The (coaches' poll) panel would then vote No. 2 through 25, so there actually is no vote for No. 1," said Mel Pulliam, the AFCA's director of marketing and development. "In other words, the coaches should not list a No. 1 on their final ballot.

"Occasionally, a coach will stray from what the agreement was. USA Today's policy has been to accept that ballot. We talk about that every year, and we make sure coaches understand our relationship with the BCS. I'm sure it will be discussed in our Division I-A head coaches meetings coming up in Nashville (next week)."

The last time coaches strayed from the agreement was the 2003 season after LSU beat Oklahoma in the BCS title game and three coaches voted USC at No. 1.

After his team's last-second victory over Ohio State in Monday night's Fiesta Bowl, Brown said he would vote his team No. 1 on his final ballot, no matter what the outcome of Thursday night's BCS national title game between No. 1 OU and No. 2 Florida at Dolphin Stadium.

"I wasn't sure before, but Friday morning I'm going to vote Texas No. 1 because I think this is the best team in the country," Brown said.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel and Brown are both members of the AFCA's board of trustees.

"They know the drill," Pulliam said.

Tressel said he would abide by the AFCA-BCS agreement in his final ballot.

"I have always been one that believes you go with the system because you agreed upon it on the way in the door," Tressel said after losing to Texas. "Now, did Utah have an extraordinary year? Absolutely. Man, they're good. They will be ranked very high on my ballot. But for me to say they should be ranked No. 1, I don't think so because we have a system."

Another agreed-upon first-place vote is expected to stray from Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, whose unbeaten team defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

"It's understandable, especially to those coaches who coach those teams that are in the mix," Pulliam said. "They have strong feelings."

THUMBS UP & THUMBS DOWN

THUMBS UP

To the Utah Utes, this year's lone unbeaten in Division I-A. You Utes beat everybody you played. You beat three in-state teams (BYU, Utah State and Weber State). You beat everyone in the Mountain West. You beat the Big Ten (Michigan). You beat the Pac-10 (Oregon State). You beat the SEC (Alabama in the Sugar Bowl). Good thing you didn't play the Big 12.

THUMBS DOWN

To Texas coach Mack Brown, for complaining about the rules. There was an agreed-upon system that put Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game, and there is an agreement between the AFCA and the BCS to vote the national championship game winner at No. 1 in the final poll. You can hold your breath all you want to, Mack. You're still not getting your way.

Copyright 2009 The Oklahoman, All Rights Reserved
	Terms & Conditions     Privacy Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.