It's official: Auburn vs. Oregon for title
EUGENE, Ore. - A season spent talking about BCS busters will end with another clash of the big boys - just not the ones we've gotten used to seeing in the title game. Alabama and Texas? Florida and Oklahoma? Ohio State? Southern California? Not this year.
BCS title game first-timers Auburn and Oregon will bring perfect records and potent offenses to Glendale, Ariz., for their Jan. 10 matchup.
The Bowl Championship Series matchups were made official last night, a formality after the top-ranked Tigers and No. 2 Ducks completed unbeaten seasons Saturday. "There was no surprise to anybody that we were going to be one or two," Oregon defensive tackle Brandon Bair said. "I think you'd have had a great response if you'd seen us down there four or five."
Those outsiders from TCU were closer than ever before to playing for college football's biggest prize. But the No. 3 Horned Frogs, the nation's only other undefeated team, couldn't overcome playing in the lightly regarded Mountain West Conference and will have to settle for a trip to the Rose Bowl against No. 5 Wisconsin (11-1).
Boise State, which lost Nov. 26 to drop from No. 3 to No. 11, ended up out of the BCS and will play in the Maaco Bowl in Las Vegas on Dec. 22 against No. 19 Utah (10-2).
The other BCS matchups announced last night were: No. 8 Arkansas and No. 6 Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl; Big 12 champion and No. 7 Oklahoma taking on Big East co-champ, unranked Connecticut in the Fiesta Bowl; and No. 5 Stanford playing ACC champ No. 13 Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
Among the lower-tier bowls with regional interest, Syracuse (7-5) will play Kansas State (7-5) in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on Dec. 30 at 3:30 p.m. Army (6-5) will play the same day against SMU (7-5) in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas, at noon. Notre Dame (7-5) will take on Miami, Fla., (7-5) in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas, at 2 p.m. on Dec. 31.
The highest-ranked team to miss out on a BCS bid was Big Ten tri-champion No. 9 Michigan State (11-1), which will take on No. 16 Alabama (9-3) in the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla., on New Year's Day.
No. 10 LSU (10-2) ended up in the Cotton Bowl versus No. 17 Texas A & M (9-3) on Jan. 7 in Arlington, Texas.
