Five of the nation's best major conference teams won titles in college football's 14th week to earn coveted spots in BCS bowl games. The best of the best included Alabama, Texas, Cincinnati, Oregon and Georgia Tech.
In the nation's most important game prior to the bowl season, the Crimson Tide of Alabama (13-0) avenged their loss last year to the Florida Gators (12-1) by easily handling Florida, 32-13, winning the SEC Championship and the right to compete for the National Championship.
The Gators, who won last year's national title, had to have been embarrassed since they came into the showdown leading the nation in scoring defense (9.83 ppg) and total defense (233.08 ypg). Alabama, which had the nation's 2nd best scoring defense (10.83 ppg) and 3rd best total defense (233.92 ypg), proved superior.
Florida simply could not handle the Tide's star running back Mark Ingram, who rushed for 113 yards and 3 touchdowns. Alabama's Greg McElroy threw for 239 yards and a touchdown to earn the Most Valuable Player Award.
Alabama last won a national championship in 1992. Florida won national titles in 2006 and 2008 and was trying to win 3 titles in 4 years.
Texas (13-0) needed a 46-yard field goal from Hunter Lawrence as time expired to turn back a monster defensive effort by Nebraska (9-4) and win the Big 12 Championship, 13-12, and the right to play Alabama for the national title on Jan. 7.
The Cornhuskers' stout defense came up big in almost pulling off a huge upset. Few fans realized just how good the Husker defense was. Nebraska was 3rd in the nation in scoring defense (11.08 ppg) and 11th in total defense (291.42 ypg), and believe you me, Texas found out why.
Longhorn QB Colt McCoy darn near lost the game for Texas by rolling out for a pass in the final moments and holding the ball too long before throwing it away. Officials determined that the ball hit the ground out-of-bounds with 1 second left on the clock, allowing Lawrence to pull off his dramatic, game-winning field goal. Nebraska's defense sacked McCoy 9 times, which does not say a lot for the Longhorns' offensive line protection.
Texas was denied a shot at the national title game last year by Oklahoma, even though the Longhorns beat the Sooners in regular season play. Many fans thought Texas should have played Florida for the title last year; now they will.
The Cincinnati Bearcats (12-0), down 21 points, needed Tony Pike's 29-yard scoring pass to Armon Binns with 33 seconds left to complete their narrow 45-44 victory over Pittsburgh (9-3) to win the Big East Championship, and the right to face Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
Pittsburgh's Dion Lewis rushed for 194 yards and 3 touchdowns, and the Panthers led Cincinnati 31-10 earlier in the game, but it was not enough to stop the nation's 5th best scoring offense. Cincinnati averaged 39+ points a game going into the contest, and coach Brian Kelly's quick-strike spread offense exposed Pittsburgh's lack of defense.
Kelly, who went 10-3 at Cincinnati his first year, went 11-3 last year and now is 12-0 heading into the Sugar Bowl. He was just hired away by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who canned Charlie Weis after 5 years and a 35-27 record.
In the biggest game in the history of Oregon football, Oregon (10-2) beat Oregon State (8-4), 37-33, when Duck running back LaMichael James ran 52 yards to give Oregon a 34-33 lead with 1:20 left in the 3rd quarter. James would finish with 166 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns.
The stakes were immense since this year's Civil War was a winner-take-all battle with the Pac-10 Championship and right to face Ohio State (10-2) in the Rose Bowl. Ohio State had won the Big Ten Championship earlier by beating Iowa.
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (11-2) needed Jonathan Dwyer's 15-yard scoring run with 1:20 remaining to turn back Clemson (8-5), 39-34, to win the Atlantic Coast Championship, and a spot in the Orange Bowl against Iowa (10-2).
Houston's luck ran out against East Carolina (9-4) as the Pirates beat the Cougars 38-32 to capture the mid-major Conference USA title. East Carolina's title was its second straight, and proved once again that defense, not offense, most often wins championships.
Houston has the nation's top scoring offense (44+ ppg) but its pig-slop defense is ranked 110th among 120 major college teams. East Carolina's scoring defense is ranked 31st (21+ ppg) and its total defense is ranked 68th; at least the Panthers had a defense, and used it to win another C-USA title.
The 5th BCS game—the Fiesta Bowl—will feature two unbeaten mid-major teams—Texas Christian (12-0), the Mountain West Conference Champion, and Boise State (13-0), the Western Athletic Conference Champion. The match-up marks the first time that two teams without automatic bids from the 6 major conferences have faced off in a coveted BCS game.
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