Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr complained even before his team got left out of the BCS title game.

Florida's Urban Meyer griped even after his team got the news it wanted.

Even Ohio State coach Jim Tressel got swept into the controversy after he decided not to cast a vote in the USA Today poll.

"We felt it was somewhat of a conflict of interest," he said.

You think? Had Tressel voted Florida No. 2, he would have dissed the Big Ten and given his top rival's fans fresh ammunition. Had he voted Michigan No. 2, it would have gone beyond bulletin-board material. He would have supplied new wallpaper for the Gators' locker room.

The remaining 62 coaches gave an emphatic endorsement to Florida for the No. 2 spot, with 44 apparently voting the Gators ahead of the previously No. 2 Wolverines.

It helped Florida finish second in the final Bowl Championship Series ratings to earn a berth in the college football's national championship game against top-ranked and undefeated Ohio State on Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz.

The Harris Poll, made up of 114 former players, coaches, administrators and media members, also gave a solid edge to Florida. One of them, former Washington State and Iowa State coach Jim Walden, actually voted the Gators No. 1.

Perhaps Carr ran up the score on one of Walden's teams. Or, perhaps like many other voters, he simply did not want to see an Ohio State-Michigan rematch.

"The voters have the freedom to vote for any reason that they deem appropriate," said Bowl Championship Series coordinator Mike Slive, who also is commissioner of the Southeastern Conference. "Some of them we may like, and some of them we may not like. But that's the system that's in place."

Carr's complaints were pointed more toward Meyer than the system.

During yesterday's taping of his TV show, Carr was asked if he thought this season's BCS quagmire would lead to a playoff.

"I think it's going to be a great controversy (no matter who is) selected," he said, "because I just think that based on some of the comments the Florida coach has made in the last two weeks—campaigning strenuously for a berth in the championship game—and making some statements about Michigan that I think were inappropriate."

Which comment got under Carr's skin?

Meyer asked that very question yesterday during a conference call.

Then he was told it had to be his comment about a potential Ohio State-Michigan rematch. Meyer said on Nov. 19 that a rematch "would be unfair to Ohio State, and I think it'd be unfair to the country. You're going to tell Ohio State they have to go beat the same team twice?

"If that does happen, all the (university) presidents need to get together immediately and put together a playoff system. I mean like now, January or whenever, to get that done."

Meyer seemed taken aback by Carr's criticism.

"That was a discussion of the system and how they select who plays for the national championship," he said. "That's all that was. You can spin that however you like. That was directed at the system. I think the system is imperfect, and it will be imperfect next season."

Meyer spent much of the last few weeks decrying the voters' use of "style points" to weigh the merits of one-loss teams.

The Gators showed little style in November, beating Vanderbilt by six, sneaking past South Carolina by one thanks to a blocked field goal and extra point, routing Division I-AA Western Carolina by 62 and easing past Florida State by seven.

BOISE STATE

BRONCOS GET THEIR SHOT

Boise State coach Chris Petersen knows his Broncos have a lot to prove when they face Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1 in Glendale, Ariz.

"We know we've got to go out and compete well and show well, or people will be saying, 'Yeah, they shouldn't have been there anyways,' " said Petersen, the Broncos' rookie coach. "It's a great challenge."

As unbeaten champions of the Western Athletic Conference, Boise State (12-0) is only the second non-BCS school to earn an invitation to college football's lucrative postseason party. The first was the Mountain West Conference's Utah, which capped a perfect season by routing Big East champion Pittsburgh 35-7 in the Fiesta two years ago.

That game shows why Oklahoma would be foolish to take the Broncos lightly.

"It will not be hard for us to focus in on this," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. "I look at people's track records. I look at what people have done over a great period of time, and Boise State has been excellent."

The Sooners, who earned the Fiesta bid by beating Nebraska in the Big 12 title game Saturday, showed remarkable grit throughout the year. They withstood the loss of star tailback Adrian Peterson, who broke his collarbone Oct. 14 against Iowa State. Stoops said he expects Peterson to play against the Broncos.

This is Oklahoma's fifth BCS appearance. Only Florida State, with six, has more.

RUTGERS

MIAMI SEEKS SCHIANO

University of Miami athletic director Paul Dee contacted Rutgers athletic director Robert E. Mulcahy III yesterday for permission to speak to Rutgers football coach Greg Schiano today about the head-coaching vacancy, a person close to the situation at Rutgers said.

Schiano will talk to Dee as a courtesy because of their previous relationship, his friend said. Schiano was the UM defensive coordinator in 1999 and 2000.

For now, the contact said, as Schiano has reiterated for weeks, the Rutgers coach is happy and has not altered his thinking. He has said Rutgers is his school and he plans to continue coaching there.