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Orange Bowl Keeps Its National Title Hopes Alive Nebraska Pitted Against Tennessee As Alliance Matchups Fall Into Place

Richard Rosenblatt Associated Press

When the bowl alliance spoke on Sunday, its voice was barely above a whisper.

Without No. 1 Michigan in its lineup, the alliance settled for second and third best, matching No. 2 Nebraska (12-0) against No. 3 Tennessee (11-1) in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2 in Miami.

It marked the first time in the last four years the top alliance game will not feature the No. 1 team. Instead, the Orange Bowl will be root, root, rooting for No. 8 Washington State (10-1) to upset the Wolverines (11-0) in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1.

“Most definitely,” Keith Tribble, the Orange Bowl’s executive director said Sunday. “But we still think we have a shot (at a title game) and our plans are going that way. We’ve got the two next highest ranked teams and they will battle it out in prime time.”

The matchup should be a good one, pitting the Cornhuskers’ ferocious defense against Heisman Trophy hopeful Peyton Manning, who threw for 373 yards and four touchdowns in the Vols’ 30-29 win over Auburn in Saturday night’s SEC title game.

Nebraska returns to Miami for the 11th time since Tom Osborne became coach in 1973, while Tennessee will play in its first Orange Bowl since 1968, when the Vols lost to Oklahoma 26-24.

The other alliance matchups turned out as expected:

In the Sugar, it’s No. 4 Florida State (10-1) vs. No. 9 Ohio State (10-2) in just the third meeting between the teams and first since 1982.

In the Fiesta, it’s No. 10 Kansas State (10-1) vs. No. 14 Syracuse (9-3).

Also, Notre Dame (7-5) will play LSU (8-3) in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 28 - a rematch of an earlier game won by the Irish 24-6 at Baton Rouge.

Conspicuous by their absence from the alliance lineup were No. 5 UCLA (9-2) and No. 7 North Carolina (10-1). Neither school has a huge fan following - in football, anyway - and that fact played a large role in the decisions to go with Ohio State and Kansas State as the at-large teams.

“We did indeed struggle between UCLA and Ohio State,” Paul Hoolahan, the Sugar Bowl’s executive director, said, adding a rematch between the Seminoles and Tar Heels eliminated North Carolina from contention. “If your asking me point blank if (ticket sales) was part of the consideration, to some degree, yes. Our concern related to ticket sales and travel with UCLA.”

Kansas State’s Wildcats are expected to bring at least 35,000 fans to Tempe, Ariz., for the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 31.

Once Nebraska completed its perfect regular-season with a 54-15 rout of Texas A&M in the Big 12 title game Saturday, the Orange Bowl had an easy time with its selections.

“We had an undefeated and No. 2 Nebraska,” Tribble said, “and we needed to get the No. 3 team and that was Tennessee.”

But FSU could have been the choice if the Vols had lost.

“It was an outside chance we had anyway,” Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. “But we’re just happy to be playing Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.”

Four conference champions - Florida State (ACC), Syracuse (Big East), Nebraska (Big 12) and Tennessee (SEC) - received automatic alliance bids. It was the at-large choices that created problems for some.

“The alliance never intended to totally intervene in the selection process of the bowls,” Roy Kramer, the bowl alliance coordinator and SEC commissioner, said. “It was put together to possibly match up No. 1 and No. 2 and then slow down the selection process so the bowl, along with its TV partner, can make the best selection it could after all the games are played.”

Next season, the Rose Bowl and the Big Ten and Pac-10 become part of the alliance. If that had been the case this season, a national title game would have matched No. 1 Michigan against No. 2 Nebraska.

Last year, Ohio State beat No. 2 Arizona State 20-17 in the Rose Bowl and spoiled ASU’s title hopes. The result turned the Jan. 2 Sugar Bowl into a title game when No. 3 Florida beat No. 1 Florida State 52-20.

xxxx MARQUEE BOWL GAMES Orange Bowl, Jan. 2 Nebraska (12-0) vs. Tennessee (11-1) Rose Bowl, Jan. 1 Michigan (11-0) vs. Washington State (10-1) Cotton Bowl, Jan. 1 Texas A&M (9-3) vs. UCLA (9-2) Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1 Florida State (10-1) vs. Ohio State (10-2)