USC coach Carroll rips BCS system

Nov 5, 2008 - 4:38 PM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Southern California coach Pete Carroll is no fan of the Bowl Championship Series, and he made that point quite clear.

After watching his team fall two spots in the BCS standings despite a 56-0 victory over Washington last week, Carroll ripped the BCS system during his weekly news conference Tuesday.

"I think it stinks," said Carroll, who has frequently called for a playoff to decide the national champion. "I don't think it's the way it should be. But all we can do is keep talking about it."

The win over the Huskies was the third shutout in four games for the Trojans, who are averaging 40 points per game while allowing only 7.1 - the best mark in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

But USC (7-1) fell from fifth to seventh in the BCS standings, damaging its national championship hopes and leaving Carroll confused.

"I don't understand how the thing works," he said. "I don't really know. Maybe you (media) guys will answer for it one of these days. Maybe you know and I don't. I'm sure you do."

The Pac-10 Conference is down this season with only two teams ranked in the top 25 of the coaches' poll - No. 7 USC and No. 21 California.

Carroll may feel the Trojans are being punished for beating bad teams. USC defeated Washington and Washington State - arguably the two worst teams in the six BCS conferences - by a combined margin of 125-0.

USC is behind three one-loss teams in the BCS rankings - No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Florida and No. 6 Oklahoma.

"What is the criteria in the process?" Carroll added. "Is it to pick the team that has the best season, that has the season that you like the most and feel best about voting for? Or is it the best team at the end of the year, the team that would win a playoff system if you have it?"

As much as Carroll complains, however, the Trojans did have a bad 27-21 defeat September 25 at Oregon State, which has lost three games this season.

That setback may turn out to be too much for USC to overcome in terms of getting into the national championship game. The Trojans need a lot of help.

However, Florida, which is now being touted by many as the best team in the country, had a loss that could be considered worse than the Trojans'. The Gators fell at home, 31-30, to Mississippi (5-4) on September 27.