BCS finally gets it right with perfect title game

They also have a classic coaching matchup along with Notre Dame.
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A perfect championship game, a classic coaching matchup and Notre Dame.
The Bowl Championship Series couldn't have asked for more -- a glitzy lineup with little for critics to gripe over. Only Oregon has a case to complain, as the Pac-10 has a 10-1 team left out of the marquee bowls for a second straight season.
"I certainly understand that there are teams that are not in these four games that have had a great seasons, as we have every year," BCS coordinator and Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said Sunday. "I must say that there's a lot of consensus that we have quality matchups among highly regarded teams in this year's BCS games."
USC-Texas for title
Southern California and Texas, the only unbeatens left in Division I-A, will decide the national title in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 4.
"They do have the No. 1 team in the country," Texas coach Mack Brown said of the two-time defending champion Trojans. "They've just blown out people out right and left and that will be challenge for us. But that's fun.
"For Texas not to be in the national championship game for 36 years and to see where [USC coach] Pete [Carroll] has brought their program the last three years, that's where we want to be. That's where we want to go."
Relocated Sugar Bowl
The relocated Sugar Bowl will be played in Atlanta on Jan. 2 after being chased from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, making it a quick and familiar trip for Southeastern Conference champion Georgia and its fans to the Georgia Dome. The Bulldogs (10-2), who won the SEC title by beating LSU in the Georgia Dome on Saturday, meet Big East champion West Virginia (10-1).
The BCS has been hammered in the past for putting the wrong teams in its championship games. Two years ago, USC got left out and college football ended up with a split title. Last season, the problem was too many unbeaten teams, and many felt Auburn should have played USC for the championship instead of Oklahoma.
"Anytime we have a matchup that is widely lauded as being a great matchup in the championship game, you can really see the benefit of a system like this in which through the bowls we're able to bring together the No. 1 and 2 ranked teams that otherwise wouldn't have come together through the [old] bowl system," Weiberg said.
Now the Pac-10 champion Trojans (12-0) and Big 12 champion Longhorns (12-0) can determine which team is best in the Granddaddy of Them All.
USC streak on line
With Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush, USC has won 34 straight games and could make history with an unprecedented third consecutive national title.
"We're sitting here at 19 straight wins and there is a tremendous amount of pressure on kids and coaches to keep it going," Brown said. "And these guys have done it now for three straight years."
Many of the Trojans got together on campus to watch the bids become official Sunday. Their reaction: "Mello," defensive end Frostee Rucker said. "We've been here before."
Texas won last season's Rose Bowl with quarterback Vince Young leading the way. As he accepted the MVP trophy he declared that the Longhorns would be back, and he came through on his promise with a brilliant season.
"The problem is [the Longhorns] have a lot of other players that play really well, too," Carroll said.
Oregon had a better record than both the Buckeyes and Irish and lost only to USC.
Last season, California was 10-1 but got bumped out of the Rose Bowl by Texas, a slight that caused an outcry from the Pac-10 and elsewhere. The Ducks won't get as much sympathy this season.
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