With Four Stellar Bowls on Tap, BCS Breathes a Sigh of Relief
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
LOS ANGELES – A perfect championship game,a classic coaching matchup, and Notre Dame. The Bowl Championship Series couldn’t have asked for more – a glitzy lineup with little for critics to gripe over. Only Oregon has a case to complain, as the Pac-10 has a 10-1 team left out of the marquee bowls for a second straight season. (The Ducks will play Oklahoma (7-4) in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl on December 29.)
USC and Texas, the only unbeatens left in Division I-A, will decide the national title in the Rose Bowl on January 4. Major college football’s two winningest coaches, septuagenarians Penn State’s Joe Paterno (age 79) and Florida State’s Bobby Bowden (76), will meet in the Orange Bowl on January 3.
The Fighting Irish are back in the BCS after a five-year absence. Charlie Weis’s team faces Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on January 2.
The relocated Sugar Bowl will be played in Atlanta on January 2 after being chased from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, making it a quick and familiar trip for Southeastern Conference champion Georgia and its fans to the Georgia Dome. The Bulldogs, who won the SEC title by beating LSU in the Georgia Dome on Saturday, meet Big East champion West Virginia.
The BCS has been hammered in the past for putting the wrong teams in its championship games. Two years ago, USC was left out and college football ended up with a split title,just what the BCS was created to avoid. Last season, the problem was too many unbeaten teams, and many felt Auburn should have played USC for the championship instead of Oklahoma.
The other common complaint is the BCS doesn’t create compelling matchups beyond the title game. Well, even before a bowl game is played, the BCS can declare victory.
In other notable matchups, Michigan (7-4) will face Nebraska (7-4) in the MasterCard Alamo Bowl on December 28; Miami (9-2) will meet LSU (10-2) in the Chic-fil-A Peach Bowl on December 30; Texas Tech (9-2) will play Alabama (9-2) in the AT&T Cotton Bowl on January 2; Iowa (7-4) will face Florida (8-3) in the Outback Bowl on January 2; and Wisconsin (9-3) will play Auburn (9-2) in the Capitol One Bowl on January 2.
