Column: Dream match for college football fans
Published 9:49 am Wednesday, December 14, 2005
By Staff
The Bowl Championship Series was bound to get it right eventually.
The law of averages said that they would eventually team up the best two squads in the country for the National Championship game.
So here we have it.
The No. 1 ranked Southern California Trojans against the Texas Longhorns.
This is a dream match up for college football fans.
The Trojans, the two-time defending champions, have been ranked No. 1 all season long.
Their winning streak is 34 games and counting.
The Longhorns have been ranked No. 2 all season.
Texas earned that ranking last year in the Rose Bowl, where it returns on Jan, 4, 2006 to take on the Trojans, after being Michigan.
So the Trojans will be trying to become the first team to ever win three consecutive national titles.
Southern California will also be the first team in college football history to play a game with two Heisman Trophy winners on its roster.
Matt Leinart, who won the award in 2004, will be playing his final collegiate football game.
Reggie Bush, who captured the award last Saturday night, will be beginning his drive to win the 2006 Heisman Trophy when he steps on the field in Pasadena, Calif.
Texas, which won the Big 12 championship, will be led by junior quarterback Vince Young, who finished second to Bush in the Heisman balloting.
Besides the Rose Bowl game, there are some nice match-ups in the other bowl games.
Several schools who usually don't play each other will meet this bowl season.
Teams like Michigan and Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl and Notre Dame and Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.
It is hard for me to believe that some of the nation's premier program never face each other.
But that is the way it is.
The other nice thing about the bowl games is the fact that you get to see schools that are normally not on television.
There are some pretty good college football teams in this country, ones that don't play in the Big 10, the Big 12, the ACC or the Big East.
The other interesting match up is in the Orange Bowl where Florida State coached by Bobby Bowden will face Penn State's Joe Paterno. These two are at the top of the wins list, but have rarely met on the field.
So, beginning next week we can sit back, get out your favorite chips and dip get ready to watch some serious college football.
There is nothing like bowl season. Let the games begin!