Top 10

(1) USC 29, UCLA 24—Running back Reggie Bush rushed 15 times for 204 yards and caught six passes for 73 yards as the Trojans punched their tickets to Miami. USC quarterback Matt Leinart was 24-for-34 for 242 yards.

(2) Oklahoma 42, Colorado 3—Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jason White was 22-for-29 for 254 yards and three touchdowns as the Sooners cruised past the Buffaloes in the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game. Freshman running back Adrian Peterson made a big statement for this year’s Heisman Trophy as he rushed 28 times for 172 yards and three touchdowns, passing the 100-yard mark for the 11th time this season.

(3) Auburn 38, (15) Tennessee 28—The Tigers beat the Volunteers for the second time this season, winning the SEC Championship for the first time since 1987. Quarterback Jason Campbell was 27-for-35 for 374 yards and three touchdowns as Auburn finished the regular season 12-0 but was the odd-man out for the national championship game.

(4) California 26, Southern Mississippi 16—Running back J.J. Arrington rushed 31 times for 261 yards, setting a school record 11th straight game with more than 100 yards, as the Golden Bears beat the Golden Eagles.

(8) Louisville 55, Tulane 7—The Cardinals posted 55 points for the fifth straight game en route to a blowout victory. Quarterback Stefan LeFors, the nation’s top-rated passer, was 19-for-27 for 247 yards for Louisville.

(11) Virginia Tech 16, (9) Miami 10—Eddie Royal caught a 39-yard pass from Bryan Randall with 11:38 remaining and the Hokies held off the Hurricanes for the win and the ACC title in their first year in the league. Running back Cedric Humes ran 27 times for 110 yards for Virginia Tech.

Going Bowlin’

(10) Louisville vs. (9) Boise St.—AutoZone Liberty Bowl—This battle of mid-major conference champs is a definite must-see. The 10-1 Cardinals and 11-0 Broncos both had cases for a BCS at-large bid but Utah beat them to the coveted number six rank in the BCS.

(23) Florida vs. (14) Miami—Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl—This battle of Sunshine State teams should be a good one. Defensive coordinator Charlie Strong will coach the game for the Gators after former Head Coach Ron Zook accepted the coaching job at Illinois.

West Virginia vs. (16) Florida State—Toyota Gator Bowl—Both the Mountaineers and Seminoles had preseason conference championship and BCS hopes but things were not to be. This game should be a good one but a probable pro-Florida State crowd could be the difference.

(22) Texas Tech vs. (5) California—Pacific Life Holiday Bowl—Feel sorry for the Red Raiders, who will be going against an angry bunch of Bears. California, who is ranked number four in both the ESPN/USA Today and The Associate Press poll, was left out of the BCS and the Rose Bowl when they were leap-frogged by Texas in the final BCS rankings due to a weaker computer ranking than the Longhorns.

BCS Bowlin’

(8) Virginia Tech vs. (3) Auburn—Nokia Sugar Bowl—The Hokies, in the BCS for the first time since their national title game run in 1999, face an undefeated and very enraged Tigers squad, who feel it should have been them in the Orange Bowl. Look for Auburn to come out hard and use its defense to secure the win.

(2) Oklahoma vs. (1) USC—FedEx Orange Bowl—Despite complaints from Auburn and the SEC, the Pac-10 champ Trojans and Big 12 champ Sooners have been ranked 1-2 since the preseason polls and deserve to be in this game. The game pits arguably the best two quarterbacks—Matt Leinart and Jason White—and the best two running backs—Reggie Bush and Adrian Peterson—in the nation against each other. Look for this game to go down as an instant classic.

(13) Michigan vs. (4) Texas—Rose Bowl—A traditional Big-10-Pac-10 Rose Bowl was not to be as USC is undefeated and heading to the national championship game and the Longhorns—due to the fact that they gained a net of 23 points in The Associated Press poll and 42 points in the ESPN/USA Today poll—were able to vault over Pac-10 runner-up Cal for the number four rank in the BCS. The Big-10 champ Wolverines will be looking to end the season on a good note, after losing their regular season finale to heated rival, The Ohio State University.

(21) Pittsburgh vs. (6) Utah—Tostitos Fiesta Bowl—The Big East champ Panthers will be looking to squash the doubters, who think the Big East is not a major conference anymore with the subtraction of Miami and Virginia Tech, when they take on the undefeated Utes. Utah, on the other hand, will try to win one last game for Head Coach Urban Meyer, who is leaving the Utes to take the vacant job at Florida.