Everyone has been eyeing a USC-Texas matchup since last January, when both programs won Bowl Championship Series games. After a grueling season in which both went undefeated, college football fans get their wish as the two meet for this season’s national championship.
No. 1 USC (12-0, 8-0 Pac-10) vs. No. 2 Texas (12-0, 9-0 Big 12)
This matchup was finalized Saturday when both USC and Texas ended the regular season without being upset to remain unbeaten and on pace for a Jan. 4 meeting at the Rose Bowl.
The headlining players in this game need no introduction; three of them are frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy. Quarterback Vince Young and the Longhorns have the weapons on offense to keep the score close if they can answer the Trojans’ blitzkrieg offense. USC’s Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush should make a track meet of this game which will hopefully have all the suspense that last year’s title game lacked.
No. 3 Penn State (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) vs. No. 22 Florida State (8-4, 6-3 ACC)
Florida State was fortunate enough this year to need only five conference wins to win its division and earn a spot in Saturday’s inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in Jacksonville, Fla. It was there that the Seminoles upset heavily favored and fifth-ranked Virginia Tech 27-22 to steal the conference’s automatic bid to the Orange Bowl.
The Seminoles square off against co-Big Ten Conference champion Penn State in Miami Jan. 3. The players take a back-seat in the spotlight of this game which shines squarely on legendary coaches Joe Paterno of Penn State and Florida State’s Bobby Bowden. As the two winningest coaches in Division I history, they both enter this game in the hopes of bringing success back to their respective programs.
No. 8 Georgia (10-2, 7-2 SEC) vs. No. 11 West Virginia (10-1, 7-0 Big East)
Playing Jan. 2 in the Sugar Bowl are conference champions Georgia from the Southeastern Conference and West Virginia from the Big East Conference. Hurricane Katrina forced the bowl to be moved to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Quarterback D.J. Shockley led the Bulldogs to a 34-14 upset win over then-No. 3 LSU in Saturday’s SEC title game. Shockley’s two touchdown passes helped him win MVP honors and Georgia an automatic bid. Just like the Bulldogs, the Mountaineers have sought to prove their legitimacy this season. The Big East has been ridiculed by many for being a weaker conference, but West Virginia proved their worthiness for playing in a BCS bowl with a 10-win season.
No. 4 Ohio State (9-2, 7-1 Big Ten) vs. No. 5 Notre Dame (9-2)
In the first Bowl Championship Series ever to not feature an at-large team, Ohio State and Notre Dame found their way into the Fiesta Bowl via automatic bids in light of Saturday’s upsets.
All of the pieces came together for the Fighting Irish, whose nine wins helped them climb into the top six in the BCS rankings. This qualified them for an invite to Tempe, Ariz., where they will face the co-Big Ten champion Ohio State Jan. 2. The two have played a combined seven times in the 35-year history of the Fiesta Bowl. This is the final year it will be played at Sun Devil Stadium.

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