BCS gets its wish- No controversy for title tilt

~ Unbeatens USC and Texas will square off, while Bowden will face Paterno, and Notre Dame gets a game, too.

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.

"I certainly understand that there are teams that are not in these four games that have had a great seasons, as we have every year," BCS coordinator and Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said Sunday. "I must say that there's a lot of consensus that we have quality matchups among highly regarded teams in this year's BCS games."

Southern California and Texas, the only unbeatens left in Division I-A, will decide the national title in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4.

"They do have the No. 1 team in the country," Texas coach Mack Brown said of the two-time defending champion Trojans. "They've just blown out people out right and left, and that will be challenge for us. But that's fun.

"For Texas not to be in the national championship game for 36 years and to see where [USC coach] Pete [Carroll] has brought their program the last three years, that's where we want to be. That's where we want to go."

Major college football's two winningest coaches, Penn State's Joe Paterno and Florida State's Bobby Bowden, will meet in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 3.

The Fighting Irish are back in the BCS after a five-year absence. Charlie Weis' team faces Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2.

The relocated Sugar Bowl will be played in Atlanta on Jan. 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 (10-2), who won the SEC title by beating LSU in the Georgia Dome on Saturday, meet Big East champion West Virginia (10-1).

The BCS has been hammered in the past for putting the wrong teams in its championship games. Two years ago, USC got left out and college football ended up with a split title between the Trojans and LSU. Last season, the problem was too many unbeaten teams, and many felt Auburn -- instead of Oklahoma -- should have played USC for the championship.

In the pre-BCS days of college football, the two superpowers would be going separate ways for the postseason: The Pac-10 (USC) had a commitment to the Rose Bowl, and Big 12 champ (Texas) was off to the Orange Bowl.

"Anytime we have a matchup that is widely lauded as being a great matchup in the championship game, you can really see the benefit of a system like this in which through the bowls we're able to bring together the No. 1 and 2 ranked teams that otherwise wouldn't have come together through the [old] bowl system," Weiberg said.

Now the Trojans (12-0) and the Longhorns (12-0) can determine which team is best.

With Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush, USC has won 34 straight games and could make history with an unprecedented third consecutive national title.

"We're sitting here at 19 straight wins and there is a tremendous amount of pressure on kids and coaches to keep it going," Brown said. "And these guys have done it now for three straight years."

Texas won last season's Rose Bowl with quarterback Vince Young leading the way. As he accepted the MVP trophy he declared that the Longhorns would be back, and he came through on his promise with a brilliant season.

"The problem is [the Longhorns] have a lot of other players that play really well, too," Carroll said.

USC and Texas, two of the sport's most storied programs, have played four times but not since 1967. The Trojans are 4-0 against UT.

The other games

Bowden (359 victories) and Paterno (353) have combined for 712 career victories, ranking first and second in Division I-A. They've coached against each other seven times, but only once since Bowden has been at Florida State. The Seminoles beat the Nittany Lions 24-17 in the 1990 Blockbuster Bowl.

When Big Ten champion Penn State (10-1) and Atlantic Coast Conference champ Florida State (8-4) face off in the Orange Bowl, Paterno will be 79. Bowden will be 76.

"I hope it doesn't come down to where it's Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno because he can't run and I run slower," Paterno said.

In his rookie season as Notre Dame coach, Weis has the Fighting Irish (9-2) in the BCS for the first time since they lost the 2001 Fiesta Bowl 41-9 to Oregon State. They automatically qualified for a spot by finishing sixth in the BCS standings.

"I think it's a great tribute to our coaching staff and our players that they were able to turn it around that fast," Weis said.

While some complain Notre Dame has bulked up this season on a weak schedule and gets too much credit for a 34-31 loss to USC, the Fighting Irish are college football's top drawing card.

Ohio State (9-2) out of the Big Ten was assured of an at-large bid by finishing fourth in the final standings released Sunday.

That left no room for Oregon, which had a better record than both the Buckeyes and Irish and lost only to USC.

Last season, California was 10-1 but got bumped out of the Rose Bowl by Texas, a slight that caused an outcry from the Pac-10 and elsewhere.

The Ducks won't get as much sympathy this season.

And, for once, the BCS gets to gloat.