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 yesterday. "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."
USC and Texas, the only unbeatens left in Division I-A, will decide the national title in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4.
Major college football's two winningest coaches, septuagenarians Joe Paterno of Penn State and Bobby Bowden of Florida State, 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 after being chased from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. Georgia (10-2), which won the SEC title by beating LSU in the Georgia Dome, returns there to meet Big East champion West Virginia (10-1) on Jan. 2.
The BCS has been hammered in the past for putting the wrong teams in its championship games.
The other common complaint is the BCS doesn't create compelling matchups beyond the title game. Well, it all worked out this season. Even before a bowl is played, the BCS can declare victory.
Kansas State hires Prince
Kansas State has hired Virginia offensive coordinator Ron Prince to replace Bill Snyder as head coach, Athletic Director Tim Weiser said.
The 36-year-old Prince, raised about 20 miles from Manhattan in Junction City, will become only the fourth black head football coach in Division I-A.
Prince spent five seasons at Virginia, the last three as offensive coordinator.
Barnett wants to come back
Coming off a second straight humiliating loss, Colorado coach Gary Barnett said he still wants a contract extension and plans on leading the Buffs in the Champs Sports Bowl later this month.
Barnett, who has one year left on his deal, said he talked with Athletic Director Mike Bohn about the bowl game against Clemson, and said there were no indications he wouldn't be coaching in Orlando, Fla.
After Saturday's 70-3 loss to Texas in the Big 12 title game, Bohn told the Boulder Daily Camera, "We all have to look at everything and see what it's going to take to get things going in the right direction."
USC, Texas finish where they started
For the second straight year, the two teams that started at the top of The Associated Press poll held those spots for the entire regular season.
USC was No. 1 and Texas No. 2 in the Top 25, just like they were in the preseason.
