The coaches' college football poll has lost so much credibility that it should be omitted from the Bowl Championship Series formula unless the voters are willing to operate in daylight.

Like The Associated Press media poll, the USA Today/ESPN rankings are a weekly fixture in college football. But there's a major difference in how the two polls operate. The AP voters are willing to reveal their choices; the coaches are not.

That secrecy has only magnified suspicions regarding how Texas mysteriously shot past California in the final BCS standings this year and landed a berth in the Rose Bowl. Cal had to settle for the Holiday Bowl.

None of the coaches had Cal lower than sixth in the next-to-last poll. Texas had already finished at 10-1, and Cal had one game left. The Golden Bears won at Southern Mississippi, 26-16.

Yet, in the final poll, Cal was voted No. 7 by four coaches and No. 8 by two. One coach ranked Texas No. 2, and three voted the Longhorns No. 3.

None of the AP voters had Texas in the top three.

In both the media and coaches' polls, Cal still finished ahead of Texas at No. 4. But the Longhorns picked up enough points -- the teams were five apart in the coaches' poll -- and did well enough in the computer rankings to pass the Bears in the final BCS standings.

Which coaches voted Cal lower after its final win? The public probably never will know. The American Football Coaches Association's agreement with USA Today and ESPN strictly forbids the disclosure of individual votes.

"It's a stipulation the coaches have always insisted on having," said Jim Welch, deputy managing editor of USA Today. "Our preference has always been for more openness, which we'll continue to pursue."

Some progress apparently has been made. Grant Teaff, director of the coaches association, said 29 of the 61 voters agreed before the season to release their final votes.

"But 32 coaches didn't," Teaff said. "That was a majority, so we didn't change our policy this year. Next year, it could be different."

A decision on that will be made next month at the coaches' convention, and Teaff favors disclosure.

"We'll see how it goes," he said. "But the momentum is moving in that direction. I wouldn't be surprised to see it go through this time, but it's not for me to decide."

For the good of the sport, the policy has to change. Voters in both polls have to be free to vote their conscience. But with that freedom comes accountability. With so much money at stake in the BCS games, voters should have an obligation to explain any given vote. That would at least discourage the appearance of impropriety.

The voting that helped to send Texas to the Rose Bowl and California to the Holiday Bowl shifted millions of dollars. The big winner was Texas' Big 12 Conference. The big loser was California's Pacific-10. Among the coaches who vote are seven from the Big 12 and five from the Pac-10.

Because all of the major conferences have revenue-sharing plans, there's an obvious financial incentive for the coaches to favor teams from their own league.

Certainly, a willingness to reveal their votes hasn't eliminated bias by the media. (The N&O, incidentally, didn't participate in the AP poll this year.) But at least the reporters might have to answer for their votes.

The coaches don't.

A month before the first game of the season, members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association urged the coaches association to end its secrecy. The response was a polite but firm "no."

The coaches are gambling with the integrity of their sport. College football lacks a playoff system. Any team that doesn't belong to one of the six BCS conferences has virtually no hope of playing for the national title. In essence, it's a closed society.

By keeping their votes private, the coaches are only making the system more suspect.

To put it another way -- one the coaches surely can understand -- they're putting their golden goose in jeopardy. These men earn millions of dollars from coaching football teams. A clean image for their sport should be their first priority.

But if the coaches can't see that, the presidents and athletics directors who run the BCS must. If the coaches object, their poll should be dropped from the BCS formula.

Get $150+ in coupons in every Sunday N&O. Click here for convenient home delivery.