T1B

Florida vaults to No. 2 in BCS, will play Ohio State for national title
USC likely to face Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
By Chris Dufresne, Times Staff Writer

There isn't going to be a rematch.

No. 1 Ohio State will play No. 2 Florida, not Michigan, for the Bowl Championship Series national title on Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz.

According to a BCS source, Florida moved ahead of Michigan today in the final BCS standings.

An official announcement will come this evening in a televised unveiling on Fox.

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The news means that USC will play Michigan, not Louisiana State, in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

LSU had pre-sold more than 42,000 tickets in advance of making its first-ever Rose Bowl appearance, but UCLA's upset win over previously No. 2 USC on Saturday, coupled with Florida's win over Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference championship game, changed the final pairings.

The BCS bowl lineup is now expected to be:

Rose: USC vs. Michigan.

Sugar: Notre Dame vs. LSU.

Orange: Louisville vs. Wake Forest.

Fiesta: Oklahoma vs. Boise State.

Florida's jump over No. 3 Michigan, which was idle Saturday and has not played since a three-point loss to No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 18, likely will cause more uproar in BCS circles.

This will mark the fifth time in the nine-year history of the BCS that there has been controversy involving the title-game participants.

In the end, enough voters in the Harris Interactive and USA Today coaches' polls moved Florida to No. 2, ahead of Michigan, on their final ballots.

Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel released a statement today saying he did not vote in the final coaches' poll to avoid the perception of a conflict of interest.

"After consultation with my director of athletics, Gene Smith, and based on our unique position in the BCS standings, I believe it is only fair that we not participate (in) the final poll," Tressel said in a statement.

Michigan and Florida each finished the regular season with one loss, on the road. Michigan was 11-1 with its defeat at Ohio State, while 12-1 Florida lost at Auburn.

Florida picked up 66 points on Michigan in the coaches' poll and finished with a 26-point advantage.

Kind of stupid that the Rose Bowl even gave the commitment to LSU in the first place if this could've happened and screwed everything up.

When you look at things reasonably and take away any bias, Florida is deserving of being in Glendale over Michigan...I can live with that. I wish there was a way "play off" instead of letting polls decide who's #2...but since this is what system is being used, I think the right teams will be playing for the glass football. If Michigan beat Ohio State, I would think Florida should be playing Michigan for the national title and not Ohio State.

Fucking bullshit. The Gators don't deserve to go to Glendale. I watched almost every one of their games and they had to have trick plays and every break in the book to win at least 3 of them. Michigan-tOSU would be a much better game.

You didn't think all the $$$ would go to the Big Ten Conference did you?

Michigan-OSU probably would make for the better game but Florida still deserved the nod...

Anyway...

Sugar: Notre Dame vs. LSU.

...that truly sucks for LSU. Man, what a let down after thinking they had either Michigan or USC in the Rose. LSU, in the Rose, against USC??

Jsc probably would've quit hs practice to see that one. My LSU buddy was seriously considering selling his Marshall half stack in order to afford a trip to Pasadena for LSU's one Rose Bowl trip in his lifetime. Had it been LSU vs USC, hell yeah, come hell or high water he was gong to find a way to get out there.

Yeah sucks that the 3rd place SEC team didn't make it to the Granddaddy. Gimme a break.

Wolverine, emotionally, after briefly experiencing such a high? Yeah, it does.

Then again I doubt Michigan Fan is all that fruit punch pleased with their bowl game assignment either.

Pretty much, I think we'll only have six BCS bowl teams this season who will be truly happy to be there: Ohio St, Florida, Louisville, Wake Forest, OU and Boise St.

Michigan, USC, LSU, and ND have all gotta feel like they came up short this year and/or got fucked and even OU has to feel that while they got the right bowl game and they're happy with that they sure did get stuck with a blue pooch of an opponent. I still can't get over the notion of Boomer Sooner rising from the ashes and beating Nebraska to win the Big XII CCG, only to have CF say to them, "Hey, great job, Sooners! In recognition of all your hard work and your steadfast perseverance in the face of adversity we're going to reward you and your glorious achievement with...Boise St!"

Lotta feelings of suckage to be spread around this bowl season.

88 wrote:If, you are going to vault Florida above Michigan (and that issue can be debated forever), the bowl pairings should be as follows:

MNC: Ohio State vs. Florida
Rose: USC vs. LSU
Sugar: Michigan vs. Oklahoma
Orange: Louisville vs. Wake Forest
Fiesta: Notre Dame vs. Boise State

But Michigan would have a shit spasm if they didn't get the Rose as the backup to the MNC, and Notre Dame would shit the bed if Boise State was allowed to be the team that woodshed's them in a bowl game this year. So it looks like LSU and Oklahoma get shit sandwiches this year. I hate the BCS. Please announce a playoff.

88, why would you say that Michigan should be in the Sugar rather than the Rose? They'd rather be in the Rose and they earned the right to at least be in the Rose and the Rose would rather have Michigan-USC than any other possible match up available to them so I don't get your meaning there.

WolverineSteve wrote:Yeah sucks that the 3rd place SEC team didn't make it to the Granddaddy. Gimme a break.

Actually after last night they finish #2 in the final SEC standings because they beat arky and at the end of the season they are considered the #2 SEC school by the bowls.

#2 in the hardest conference is a better than #2 in the second or third toughest confrenece.

Van wrote:Michigan, USC, LSU, and ND have all gotta feel like they came up short this year and/or got fucked and even OU has to feel that while they got the right bowl game and they're happy with that they sure did get stuck with a blue pooch of an opponent. I still can't get over the notion of Boomer Sooner rising from the ashes and beating Nebraska to win the Big XII CCG, only to have CF say to them, "Hey, great job, Sooners! In recognition of all your hard work and your steadfast perseverance in the face of adversity we're going to reward you and your glorious achievement with...Boise St!"

Couldn't have said it better.

If LSU couldn't win their half of the conference and get to the CCG, they are in reality (don't care about the rules) no better than third in the conf. No way they should benefit from not making it to the CCG.

88 wrote:If, you are going to vault Florida above Michigan (and that issue can be debated forever), the bowl pairings should be as follows:

MNC: Ohio State vs. Florida
Rose: USC vs. LSU
Sugar: Michigan vs. Oklahoma
Orange: Louisville vs. Wake Forest
Fiesta: Notre Dame vs. Boise State

But Michigan would have a shit spasm if they didn't get the Rose as the backup to the MNC, and Notre Dame would shit the bed if Boise State was allowed to be the team that woodshed's them in a bowl game this year. So it looks like LSU and Oklahoma get shit sandwiches this year. I hate the BCS. Please announce a playoff.

RACK

Van wrote:

Sugar: Notre Dame vs. LSU.

...that truly sucks for LSU.

What really sux for LSU is that they have to go to a city and play when half of that city is now living in Baton Rouge.

Easy, comfortable game for LSU, yeah, MN, but hardly all that thrilling of a reward. Local game, against ND?

Meh.

Kinda like USC shitting their pants and getting to play in their own backyard huh?

WolverineSteve wrote:Kinda like USC shitting their pants and getting to play in their own backyard huh?

No, nothing at all like that. USC won their conference and with it an automatic Rose Bowl bid. LSU lost their conference. A traditional USC-Michigan is a helluva lot more attractive match up to the Rose Bowl committee than either USC-LSU or Michigan-LSU, not that such a match up could've possibly occured once USC lost to UCLA.

Also, USC will be the underdog against Michigan. That's a good "reward" game for USC. LSU will be highly favored over ND. ND's not a great reward for them.