Oklahoma, Florida to meet in BCS championship game

Dec 8, 2008 - 3:11 AM MORRISTOWN, New Jersey (Ticker) -- Oklahoma and Florida, two of college football's most successful programs in recent years, will meet for the first time next month - with a national championship on the line.

The Sooners and Gators finished first and second, respectively, in Sunday's final Bowl Championship Series standings and will square off for the national title.

Oklahoma (12-1) climbed to No. 1 in the rankings following Saturday's 62-21 thrashing of Missouri in the Big 12 Conference championship game.

It was the third consecutive Big 12 title for the Sooners, who set an NCAA record by scoring at least 60 points in five consecutive games.

Florida (12-1) vaulted two spots to second by virtue of Saturday's 31-20 victory over then-No. 1 Alabama in the SEC title game.

The Gators, who rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit against the previously undefeated Crimson Tide, will play in the BCS championship game for the second time in three years.

"We have not faced a team quite like Oklahoma this year," Florida head coach Urban Meyer said. "We have great respect for Oklahoma, but the Gators are pretty good, too."

To say that the Sooners and the Gators have been "pretty good" over the last two decades would be a drastic understatement.

Oklahoma has won a national championship and six conference titles since Bob Stoops, a former Florida assistant, arrived in Norman 10 years ago. The Gators also have been a national powerhouse, winning two national titles and eight SEC crowns since 1991.

But these two programs have never played each other - a coincidental occurrence that will end on January 8 when they face off in Miami's Dolphin Stadium.

In typical fashion, the BCS title matchup did not come without a bit of controversy.

Oklahoma earned a berth in the Big 12 title game by virtue of its superior rankings in last week's BCS standings, which allowed the Sooners to win a three-way tiebreaker with Texas and Texas Tech for the conference's South Division crown.

BCS bashers bemoaned the Sooners' No. 2 ranking in last week's standings, pointing to Oklahoma's 45-35 loss against Texas on a neutral field earlier this season.

But Stoops argued that the hottest team in the country right now is Oklahoma, which broke a Football Bowl Subdivision record by piling up 702 overall points this season.

"The last couple of weeks, we've won big games," said Stoops, whose team has blown out Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Missouri - all ranked opponents - in the last three weeks.

Stoops also downplayed the importance of Oklahoma's loss to Texas, arguing that head-to-head records became insignificant when the Longhorns were upset by Texas Tech on November 1.

"Some people in the media want you to believe that head-to-head is all that matters," Stoops said. "But in the end, head-to-head didn't matter because Texas lost to Texas Tech."

Several of the sport's other prominent figures, however, have disagreed with Stoops.

"Texas has a legitimate gripe," former Ohio State coach John Cooper said in a recent interview with the Sporting News. "If I had lost out on the championship game to a team I had beaten head-to-head, and we both only had one loss, I would be very upset."

"I think Texas has a valid complaint," Kansas State coach Bill Snyder told the magazine. "Oklahoma has played lights-out of late, which gave them a lot of late-season publicity that overshadowed Texas' 10-point win over Oklahoma."

Since their loss to the Longhorns in the Red River Rivalry game, the Sooners been dominant thanks to the outstanding play of quarterback Sam Bradford, who passed for a school-record 4,635 yards and 48 touchdowns.

Despite playing with torn thumb ligaments in his non-throwing hand, Bradford passed for 384 yards and two TDs against Missouri, punctuating a phenomenal season that could earn the redshirt sophomore the Heisman Trophy.

The Gators also have been led by an outstanding quarterback in Tim Tebow, the reigning Heisman winner. The junior threw three scoring passes Saturday to cap a season in which he has passed for 28 TDs against only two interceptions.

Texas, which has openly campaigned to pollsters in recent weeks, finished with a BCS score of .9298 and placed barely behind Florida (.9479) for the coveted No. 2 spot. The Longhorns finished ahead of the Gators in the computer rankings, but Florida outranked Texas in both the coaches' and Harris Interactive polls.

"You never know (where you will finish in the BCS) when it's out of your control," Meyer said. "But when you beat the No. 1 team in one of the greatest SEC championship games of all time, we felt pretty confident."

Texas (11-1) will have to settle for a matchup with No. 10 Ohio State (10-2) in the Fiesta Bowl on January 5.

It marks the fourth straight BCS bowl appearance and seventh overall for the Buckeyes, who finished second in the Big Ten behind Penn State. Ohio State won eight of its last nine games and could be a dangerous opponent with freshman sensation Terrelle Pryor at quarterback.

Alabama (12-1), which fell three spots to fourth, will have to settle for a berth in the Sugar Bowl against undefeated Utah (12-0), which earned its second BCS bowl berth in the last four years.

The Utes, who will meet the Crimson Tide in New Orleans' Louisiana Superdome on January 2, will look to complete the fifth perfect season in school history. Their last undefeated campaign came in 2005, when Meyer guided them to a 12-0 record.

This year's Rose Bowl will feature a pair of storied programs in fifth-ranked Southern California (11-1), the Pac-10 Conference champion, and eighth-ranked Penn State (11-1), which will make its first trip to Pasadena since the 1994 season.

USC clinched its seventh consecutive Pac-10 title Saturday with a 28-7 victory over rival UCLA.

The Trojans, who owned the No. 1 ranking earlier this season, will take the field on New Year's Day against a Nittany Lions squad that will make its second Rose Bowl appearance under legendary coach Joe Paterno.

"Playing in the Rose Bowl will be a wonderful experience for our team," said the 81-year-old Paterno, who completed his 43rd season in Happy Valley. "They have worked hard all season and have been a great group.

"It will be a terrific challenge to play Southern Cal, who I think is one of the three best teams in the nation."

Big East champion Cincinnati, which finished at No. 12, will play in the first BCS bowl game in school history when it takes on ACC winner Virginia Tech (9-4) in the Orange Bowl.

The Bearcats won 10 of their last 11 games en route to the first Big East title in school history.

Their next opponent will be the 19th-ranked Hokies, who lost last year's Orange Bowl to upstart Kansas. Virginia Tech clinched the ACC crown Saturday with a 30-12 victory over Boston College in the league championship game.