A Perfect Season

For NE, anyway, who had a record-breaking finale in the 38-35 win over the Giants. The game could not have been scripted better. What a treat.

A big thank you to Roger Goodell of the NFL Network. This game was on their schedule, meaning a lot of people would not have seen it without going to a sportsbar. Goodell decided that a game of this magnitude should be seen everywhere, and as a result, it was simulcast by CBS and NBC. Thanks to Goodell, some 34.5 million viewers watched this game.

Thanks also to Tom Coughlin, without whom this game would have been a bore (yes, Tony Dungy, I'm thinking about you and Peyton Manning). Neither team had any real stake in the game, except for the records that the Pats stood to break (and they keep reminding us they don't care about those). The Giants weren't even going to play their first string team, according to the pundits. But Coughlin didn't listen to the pundits, and the Giants played like it was the Super Bowl, not a game that didn't really matter for them. Eli Manning had the game of his life for three quarters. He played like a kid who just enjoys playing, not the machine he too often becomes, and he completed some really impressive passes, including four for touchdowns. As long as they threw the ball, they owned the Pats defense for the first half.

By the second half, the Pats defense was starting to click and had better control of the game. They had taken away the Giants running game in the first half, and in the second they started pressuring Manning. By the fourth quarter, it was easy to see that the Giants were out of surprises; the Pats were all over them. And I can't be the only person who just *knew* that Randy Moss was going to run that exact same pattern again and get his record 23rd touchdown catch on Brady's record setting 50th touchdown pass. I can't believe the Giants didn't see that one coming.

I noticed something that happens on the sidelines that may help account for the Pats success. When the Pats offense were off the field, they were watching the play of the Giants and Tom Brady has them huddling up to discuss things. Not with the coaches, just the guys who would be back on the field momentarily. They did this a lot, all season. I didn't see the Giants doing that. Eli Manning sat on the bench and rested, watched the game, but didn't engage his teammates. Brady is a leader, the other guys really want to play with him. I don't see that in Manning and the Giants. And he's running out of time, imo, to change his teammates' opinions.

Brady has had some year. In this game he went 32-42 passing for 356 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. For the season he had an NFL-record 50 touchdowns, eight interceptions, 4,805 yards (third all-time for one season), 68.9 percent completion rate and a 117.2 rating this season. Brady's previous high for touchdowns passes in a season was 28, which he eclipsed four hours before the Red Sox won the World Series. He's only the fourth quarterback to average 300 passing yards per game for a season.

The Patriots traded second-, fourth- and seventh-round picks (the 60th, 110th and 238th overall choices) in the draft last spring to Miami (60 and 238) and Oakland (110) for Wes Welker and Randy Moss, respectively. Between them, they got 210 receptions for 2,668 yards with an average of 12.7 ypc, and 31 touchdowns. That's some good trading.

There are those who say the Pats offense isn't playing as well now as they did at the beginning of the season. In the last five games of the year, three played with weather a factor, New England scored 27, 34, 20, 28 and 38. We'll take that kind of a slump any day.

I hope the Super Bowl is this good. I doubt it will be.

Everyone else in the NFL

From disarray and heartache to confidence and dominance, the Washington Redskins will enter the playoffs as the hottest team in the NFC after Sunday's 27-6 win over the Dallas Cowboys with a hot quarterback and maybe the hottest running back. And with a defense coming off a game in which it allowed exactly 1 yard rushing. And, perhaps most importantly, on a mission for the teammate who wore No. 21. It's been four weeks since the Redskins attended the funeral of their best defensive player, and they haven't lost since. "Win for Sean" was as strong Sunday as it was when the four-game winning streak began Dec. 6, reinforced by everything from the fiery speech given by kick returner Rock Cartwright on the field before the game to the white "21" on the front of the black baseball cap worn by coach Joe Gibbs at his postgame news conference. The Redskins (9-7) will travel to Seattle on Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. game, a rematch of a 2005 division playoff won 20-10 by the Seahawks. Washington will be riding the longest current winning streak in the NFC, including three straight victories by double digits. It's a remarkable renaissance for a team that stayed afloat with close, ugly games before losing four straight, the last defeat coming the day before Taylor's funeral.

Kerry Collins waited all season to prove his value in Tennessee. The Titans wouldn't have been celebrating Sunday night without him. Collins rescued his teammates in the most precarious circumstances, leading them to three straight second-half field goals in relief of injured Vince Young and helping Tennessee rally for a 16-10 win at Indianapolis that drew cheers from Nashville and moans from Cleveland. The final piece of the AFC playoff picture came down to the final game on the final weekend of the regular season. Tennessee had to win to make the postseason for the first time since 2003, while an Indy win would have sent the Browns to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Inside the RCA Dome, you could almost hear the groans coming from the shores of Lake Erie when Peyton Manning traded his helmet for a headset early in the second quarter. To the Browns' chagrin, that was how the Colts chose to play.

Three teams finished the season 11-3; Indianapolis, Dallas and Green Bay. I'm rooting for Green Bay to meet NE in the Super Bowl.

Wild Card Weekend	Game
Sat, 1/5, 4:30pm	Washington Redskins at Seattle Seahawks
Sat, 1/5, 8pm	Jacksonville Jaguars at Pittsburgh Steelers
Sunday, 1/6, 1pm	New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Sun, 1/6, 4:30pm	Tennessee Titans at San Diego Chargers
Divisional Playoffs	Game
Sat, 1/12, 4:30pm	Seahawks/Bucs/Giants at Green Bay Packers
Sat, 1/12, 8pm	Steelers/Jags/Titans at New England Patriots
Sun, 1/13, 1pm	Chargers/Steelers/Jags at Indianapolis Colts
Sun, 1/13, 4:30pm	Bucs/Giants/Redskins at Dallas Cowboys
Conf. Championships	Game
Sun, 1/20, TBA	AFC Championship Game
Sun, 1/20, TBA	NFC Championship Game
Super Bowl XLII	Game
Sun, 2/3, TBA	University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz.

Finally, farewell to Vinny Testaverde, who announced his retirement on Saturday after a 21-year NFL career. I was sad to see him leave NE, and Tom Brady said Testaverde was "one of the best teammates I've ever had". Testaverde was a class act who battled through a horrible first six years in Tampa Bay to have a good NFL career. Maybe he'll end up coaching quarterbacks somewhere.

NFL Football

A simple slant pattern to his favorite receiver gave Brett Favre yet another record in a milestone season. It's been a pretty big year for his team, too. The Green Bay Packers secured a first-round playoff bye for the first time since 1997. Favre threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns, eclipsing Dan Marino to become the NFL career leader in yards passing, in a 33-14 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. Greg Jennings and Donald Lee caught scoring passes and kicker Mason Crosby was 4-for-4 from 44, 50, 25 and 46 yards for Green Bay, which needed only to win for the first-round bye after the Seahawks lost 13-10 to the Panthers. Green Bay (12-2) also kept pace with the Cowboys for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and is one victory off the franchise record.

After Baltimore's Matt Stover missed a 44-yard field goal in the extra period, Miami's Greg Camarillo turned a short completion into a 64-yard touchdown, and the Dolphins beat the Baltimore Ravens 22-16. With the 1972 perfect-season Dolphins cheering them on, the woebegone 2007 team rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit and snapped a 16-game losing streak. Camarillo broke over the middle on third down and had two steps on the secondary when he caught a pass from Cleo Lemon near midfield. Finding himself in the clear, Camarillo sprinted to the end zone for his first NFL touchdown. The Miami bench quickly emptied as Holliday and his teammates ran after Camarillo and mobbed him in the corner of the stadium. With their first victory since Dec. 10, 2006, the Dolphins (1-13) avoided matching the worst start in NFL history. Cam Cameron finally earned his first victory as an NFL head coach, 11 months after taking the job.

The Patriots found another way to stay unbeaten - with a running game. Facing rain, wind and chilly gusts above 20 mph, New England relied on Laurence Maroney 's rushing instead of Tom Brady 's passing and beat the New York Jets 20-10 Sunday in the Spygate rematch to clinch home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. After the Patriots became the second team in NFL history to go 14-0, Bill Belichick broke into a broad grin at his sideline and kept it until he met Eric Mangini, his former protege and defensive coordinator. Mangini had angered Belichick when he left to become coach of the Jets last season. Most of their previous four midfield meetings were colder than Sunday's weather. Mangini had turned Belichick in for having a video assistant use a sideline videocamera in violation of NFL rules after the season opener in which the Patriots beat the Jets (3-11). The NFL fined Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000 and took away their first-round draft choice next year for the illegal taping. He said there was no extra meaning to Sunday's win because of that. Video helped the Patriots when they challenged a call of a 7-yard touchdown pass from Chad Pennington , who was in for the injured Kellen Clemens , to Justin McCareins with 2:32 left. Replay officials ruled he didn't get both feet in the back of the end zone. Then Mike Nugent missed a 35-yard field goal attempt.

NFL scores

PGA Golf

"Doesn’t help us, does it?" Colin Montgomerie said. "If he took a bloody year off, it would help. Never mind 10 weeks."

He's talking about Tiger Woods, of course, who won the Target World Challenge with a seven-shot victory, receiving a $1.35 million check that goes to his Tiger Woods Learning Center. Woods has had quite a year in 2007. He became a father for the first time. After winning, he walked over to his 6-month-old daughter, dressed in a red fleece top, for a kiss on the cheek and a pat on the head. Then came the presentation on the 18th green at Sherwood Country Club, where Woods collected his eighth trophy of the year.

Jim Furyk cut a six-shot lead down to two at the turn and was poised to get even closer on the 10th hole. Woods holed a 12-foot birdie putt up the slope, and Furyk three-putted for bogey from 4 feet above the hole. It was a stunning two-shot swing, and Woods soon restored his margin and coasted to victory.

He closed with a 4-under 68 to tie the tournament record at 22-under 266, making him the first player to win consecutive titles at this year-end tournament for an elite, 16-man field.

Masters champion Zach Johnson won the B-flight and a load of Christmas cash. Johnson birdied the last hole for a 68 to finish second, worth $840,000. Furyk, who hit another tee shot in the water for double bogey on the 15th, shot a 71 to finish third and won $570,000.

The margin of victory was the largest at this tournament in its nine-year history, and it was the third time this year that Woods won a tournament by seven shots or more. And this after taking a 10-week break.

MLBaseball

The Mitchell Report names names, including Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte. Pettitte admits using HGH twice in 2002 while recovering from an injury. Clemens has not commented.

Ok, show of hands...who thinks this will be a turning point in MLB?

The NY Times has a good breakdown, name by name, of the players in the report. They also have a couple interesting articles, including one that tracks two players to see how many of their teammates were also in the report.

NFL Football

Motivated to the extreme by the garden-variety guarantee of victory issued by second-year Steelers safety Anthony Smith at mid-week, the Patriots made beating the Steelers seem like the most urgent, most desperate task ever put before them. Guarantees, though, had a rough day Sunday when the New England Patriots stayed unbeaten with a 34-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes, Randy Moss caught two and Steelers safety Smith, who guaranteed his team would win, was burned on two long scoring throws. The lopsided victory followed a two-game struggle in which the Patriots (13-0) needed late comebacks to beat teams with losing records, Philadelphia and Baltimore. They had a short week to prepare for the Steelers (9-4) after beating the Ravens on Monday night on a touchdown catch by Gaffney with 44 seconds left.

Tony Romo and Jason Witten put mistakes behind them well enough to connect on a game-winning touchdown that gave the Dallas Cowboys the NFC East title. Romo threw a 16-yard pass to Witten with 18 seconds left, lifting Dallas to a 28-27 win over deflated Detroit on Sunday. The quarterback fumbled near midfield on the drive and the bouncing football was recovered by a teammate after going through a linebacker's hands. The tight end lost the football on the previous possession, less than 1 yard from a go-ahead score. Dallas (12-1) clinched the NFC East for the first time since 1998 and moved a step closer to earning home-field advantage in the conference playoffs.

The Green Bay Packers are going back to the playoffs. And maybe they're bringing a running game with them. Green Bay didn't need Brett Favre to throw the ball all over the field to clinch the NFC North on Sunday, relying on the rushing of Ryan Grant and a pair of special teams touchdowns from Will Blackmon in a 38-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders. The Packers (11-2) assured an end to their two-year absence from the postseason with three games left.

Matt Hasselbeck threw four touchdown passes - the most of his soaring season - and Seattle clinched its fourth consecutive NFC West title with an emphatic 42-21 victory over Arizona on Sunday, ending the Cardinals' quest for their first division title since 1975. The Seahawks (9-4) stormed to a 24-0 lead midway through the second quarter, intercepted Kurt Warner five times and sacked him five times while cruising to their fifth consecutive victory. It's their longest streak since a team-record 11-game run two seasons ago that helped them reach their first Super Bowl. This current streak has come since coach Mike Holmgren declared he was ditching most of a stalled running game and relying on Hasselbeck's passing.

NFL scores

NHL Hockey

Rick DiPietro kept the Islanders in the game, and Mike Sillinger made sure it resulted in a win. Sillinger scored a power-play goal with 27.7 seconds left in overtime to help the New York Islanders snap a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night. Sillinger scored from the left circle during New York's second power play in overtime. DiPietro made 32 saves, and captain Bill Guerin snapped his 16-game goal drought for the Islanders. Andy Hilbert had the other New York goal.

Jordin Tootoo did it all, despite being on the ice for less than 4 minutes. Tootoo recorded a "Gordie Howe hat trick" with a goal, assist and a fight in the Nashville Predators' 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night. The Predators snapped a two-game losing streak and ended Anaheim's two-game winning run. Tootoo broke a scoreless tie at 5:52 of the first period with his sixth goal of the season. Vernon Fiddler won a faceoff back to Tootoo, who was stationed above the right circle. Tootoo quickly snapped a wrist shot that beat goalie Jonas Hiller high to the glove side.

Alex Auld's new Boston Bruins teammates barely know him, but they cheered loudly when, with sweat dripping off his brow, he made his way into the dressing room. Auld won his first start for the Bruins, 2-1 over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night, two days after they acquired him from Phoenix to fill in for the injured Tim Thomas. Auld finished with 25 saves, allowing only Jason Blake's goal. Chuck Kobasew and Dennis Wideman scored goals for the Bruins. Vesa Toskala played well for the Maple Leafs, making 18 saves in the loss. The checking was so tight that each team recorded only one shot during the first 10 minutes.

NHL scores

NBA Basketball

Ray Allen was shaky, Kevin Garnett was quiet, and Paul Pierce flat out struggled. Trouble for the Boston Celtics? No. On a night when the three superstars were less than super, Rajon Rondo matched a season-high with 18 points, and the Celtics continued their torrid pace by holding off the Chicago Bulls 92-81 on Saturday night. Sure, Allen scored 21 points, but Rondo was the difference. Boston was leading 86-70 after James Posey threw a behind-the-back pass to Allen with 5:23 remaining, but instead of cruising to a win, the Celtics had to hang on. The Bulls scored the next 11 points, culminating with a three-point play by Andres Nocioni that made it 86-81 with just under a minute left. Garnett then hit a fadeaway jumper, and the Celtics won their sixth straight. At 17-2, they own the league's best record.

Maybe the Phoenix Suns were a little tired after scoring all those points on this road trip. Maybe on the second game of a back-to-back, and the finale of a five-game trip, the NBA's offensive juggernaut took the league's worst team a little too lightly. Or maybe the frigid Minnesota winter chilled Steve Nash and the red-hot Suns on a day when temperatures dipped well below zero. Whatever the reason, the success-starved Timberwolves will take any win they can get, any way they can get it. The magnificent Suns' offense fell flat in the second half and Al Jefferson tied a career-high with 32 points to go with 20 rebounds to carry the Timberwolves to a 100-93 victory on Saturday night.

LeBron James consistently hit jumpers. He looked good on drives to the basket and wowed the crowd with a couple of dunks. Too bad for the Cleveland Cavaliers that was before the game. When James shed his basketball gear for street clothes just before tipoff, he could only watch helplessly Saturday night as the reigning Eastern Conference champions extended their slide. Gerald Wallace scored 22 points and Raymond Felton went 8-for-8 from the foul line in the final 16 seconds as the Charlotte Bobcats snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 96-93 win over the slumping Cavaliers. As James missed his fifth straight game with a sprained left index finger, the Cavaliers couldn't hold onto a three-point lead early in the fourth quarter, then missed several chances down the stretch in their sixth straight loss.

NBA scores

Heisman Trophy

Florida quarterback Tim Tebow made history Saturday night by becoming the first sophomore ever to win the 73-year-old Heisman Trophy. Even before Tebow pledged his services to the Gators, as a high school senior, the bar had been set exceedingly high not only by the notoriously rabid Gator Nation but by his future coach. Urban Meyer, college football's most relentless text-messager (before the NCAA banned them), reportedly wrote the following in one of his near-daily texts to Tebow that year: "TT: ... National Championship, Heisman, it's all waiting for you." Two years later, just as Meyer predicted, Tebow has both his national championship and his Heisman -- and he's still got two more seasons to add to the trophy collection.

NFL Football

Peyton Manning is adjusting to being without Marvin Harrison. Tony Dungy is finally adjusting to instant replay. So the Indianapolis Colts are on the verge of their fifth straight AFC South title. Manning, hampered by a lack of receivers for the past six weeks, threw four touchdown passes, two after the Colts won replay challenges, to beat Jacksonville 28-25 Sunday and take a two-game lead with four games to go. It was the second victory by the Colts (10-2) over Jacksonville (8-4) this season, essentially giving them a three-game lead with four games left in a division they've controlled since Tennessee won it the first year of the current configuration.

JaMarcus Russell made his NFL debut for the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, entering the game in the second quarter against the Denver Broncos. Russell, the No. 1 overall draft pick in April, had been brought along slowly after missing all of training camp and the exhibition season in a contract dispute. He signed a deal that guaranteed him at least $29 million three days after the season opener. Russell has been working mostly with the scout team and in extra practice sessions designed to help him catch up. Russell got some work with the first team this week because of a quadriceps injury to starter Daunte Culpepper. Coach Lane Kiffin said recently that he wanted to use Russell for a few series at a time at first, to keep him out of difficult situations like the two-minute drill. By making him the second-string quarterback this week, Kiffin was able to make that happen this week. Russell entered to a standing ovation with 13:48 remaining in the second quarter and completed a 16-yard pass to Jerry Porter on his first play. By NFL rules, if the No. 3 quarterback plays before the fourth quarter, the first two quarterbacks aren't allowed back into the game. Andrew Walter was the third quarterback.

A few thousand spectators remained when the Miami Dolphins called timeout with 10 seconds left, triggering the most emphatic boos of a miserable afternoon. For Miami fans, this is not a season to be prolonged. Sunday's game was touted as the Dolphins' best remaining chance to avoid the first 0-16 season in NFL history. Instead, they sustained their most lopsided defeat of the year. Rookie quarterback John Beck threw three interceptions and lost two fumbles, and Miami fell to 0-12 by falling to the New York Jets 40-13. The loss represented a big step - or stumble - toward a winless season. Despite the Dolphins' woeful record, they were favored by 1 1/2 points. Miami extended a franchise-record losing streak to 15 games, and Cam Cameron remained winless as an NFL coach. Beck's turnovers were the biggest problem. They led to a touchdown and three field goals for the Jets.

NFL scores

NHL Hockey

It came down to a showdown between a gifted scorer and a likely Hall of Fame-bound goalie. Martin Brodeur made a glove save on Ilya Kovalchuk in the shootout and the New Jersey Devils beat the Atlanta Thrashers 3-2 on Sunday for their seventh straight victory. Brian Gionta , second up for the Devils, had the only goal in the shootout. After Gionta beat Johan Hedberg with a backhander, Kovalchuk squared off against Brodeur with the win hanging in the balance. Brodeur, who had 23 saves in regulation, snared the puck after Kovalchuk tried to maneuver him out of position.

Roberto Luongo saw his 3 1/2-game shutout streak end, but it wasn't his fault as the Vancouver Canucks lost 2-1 to the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. Aaron Voros and Eric Belanger scored for Minnesota, which won its fourth straight and moved into sole possession of first place in the Northwest Division. Mike Brown scored for Vancouver, which lost in regulation for just the second time in 13 outings to fall two points behind the Wild. The Canucks managed just 20 shots on goal - four with Luongo pulled for an extra attacker in the final minute.

It was certainly not flashy, but Dustin Penner gave the Anaheim Ducks a reminder of what they lost when they let him go in the offseason. While the Ducks continued to struggle to find their scoring touch, Penner set up in the crease and scored a first period goal when the puck deflected off his mouth, as Edmonton completed a sweep of a home-and-home series against Anaheim with a 4-0 victory Sunday. Raffi Torres, Joni Pitkanen and Tom Gilbert also scored for the Oilers who have won four of their last five games.

NHL scores

NBA Basketball

LeBron James watched from the bench in street clothes. The show he saw wasn't very pretty. Boston plodded to an 80-70 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. But the NBA's leading scorer was sidelined with a sprained finger, the NBA's best team had little energy, and the crowd that showed up for the rare 12:30 p.m. start was subdued. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce each scored under 10 points. Garnett had only nine in 26 minutes two games after his streak of 435 games, including playoffs, of scoring in double figures ended when he had eight points in 23 minutes of a 104-59 win over the New York Knicks. Boston improved to an NBA best 14-2 and was led by Ray Allen with 20 points and Rajon Rondo with 12. Cleveland was led by Zydrunas Ilgauskas with 12 points and 13 rebounds and Sasha Pavlovic with 11 points. Gooden had a double-double at halftime and finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Orlando Magic are playing so well that they even found a way to beat the Lakers in Los Angeles. Hedo Turkoglu sparked a pivotal 9-0 run with a 3-pointer that put Orlando ahead to stay, then added a layup with 55 seconds left to lead the Magic to a 104-97 victory Sunday night. The victory was Orlando's first on the road against the Lakers after 10 straight losses, including their last two visits to the Forum. They have won only three of the last 18 meetings overall and nine of 30 since joining the NBA in 1990.

Happy and healthy, Grant Hill delivered a reminder that he can still be an elite NBA player. Down the hall, there was nothing but more misery for the New York Knicks, with the loss compounded by news that Stephon Marbury's father died during the game. Hill scored a season-high 28 points, nine during a fourth-quarter flurry that broke open a close game, and the Phoenix Suns pulled away to beat the Knicks 115-104 on Sunday night. Amare Stoudemire added 28 points and 12 rebounds to help the Suns win for the 10th time in 12 games. Phoenix, opening a five-game road trip, also got 15 points from Shawn Marion and Leandro Barbosa, and nine points and 15 assists from Steve Nash. Hill shot 13-of-17 in his highest-scoring game in nearly two years. He went to the bench for good midway through the fourth quarter, possibly all that prevented him from his first 30-point game since he scored 34 for Orlando against Miami on Feb. 27, 2005, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

NBA scores

NCAA Football

No. 10 Hawaii was rewarded for being the nation's only unbeaten team with an at-large bid to the Sugar Bowl to face No. 4 Georgia. The roar from the chanting, green-clad crowd at Stan Sheriff Center was deafening. The Aloha State has been in a football frenzy for the past two weeks, starting with Hawaii's win over last year's BCS buster Boise State to win its first outright Western Athletic Conference title. On Saturday night, the Warriors (12-0) completed their perfect season with a dramatic come-from-behind 35-28 victory over Washington.

LSU has a ticket to the title game. Everyone else has a pretty good gripe. The latest chapter in this crazy, unpredictable college football season was written Sunday when LSU won the sport's version of the lottery, being picked to play Ohio State for the championship and leaving about a half-dozen other candidates with plenty to complain about. The Tigers (11-2), ranked second in the latest Associated Press poll, will be the first team to play in the BCS title game with two losses. No. 1 Ohio State goes into the game, Jan. 7 at the Superdome in New Orleans, at 11-1.

Organizers decided to stick with their historical Pac-10-Big Ten matchup Sunday, picking 13th-ranked Illinois to play Southern California on New Year's Day after Ohio State got upgraded to the national championship game. It is the first trip to Pasadena for the Illini (9-3) since 1983, and their first bowl game since the 2001 season. For the sixth-ranked Trojans (10-2), the Rose Bowl is getting to be like their own New Year's tradition. This is their third straight trip, fourth in the past five seasons and 32nd overall.

The Fiesta Bowl will pair the 11th-ranked Mountaineers against the third-rated Sooners in a match-up of teams that had their national title hopes dashed in the last three weeks. The Mountaineers (11-2) were still stinging from a 13-9 loss to arch rival Pittsburgh on Saturday night -- a defeat that knocked them out of the Bowl Championship Series title game. The Fiesta has played host to two representatives of non-BCS conferences -- Utah and Boise State -- but decided it would rather have Big East champion West Virginia instead of Hawaii, pride and champ of the Western Athletic Conference. Oklahoma and West Virginia will meet for the fourth time, and the first in the postseason. Oklahoma leads the series 2-1.

A week later than it wanted, Kansas beat Missouri. An Orange Bowl bid is the surprising Jayhawks' reward. The eighth-ranked Jayhawks (11-1) got their first Bowl Championship Series berth Sunday and will meet No. 5 Virginia Tech (11-2) in Miami on Jan. 3. The Hokies got their Orange Bowl spot by beating Boston College for the Atlantic Coast Conference title. Kansas, which set a school record for wins, was an at-large pick and benefited greatly from Missouri's 38-17 loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship. "A two-loss team compared to a one-loss team was probably the most pressing thing that we looked at," Orange Bowl CEO Eric Poms said. Never mind that both of Missouri's losses were to Oklahoma, that the Tigers were two slots ahead of Kansas in the final BCS standings and beat the Jayhawks head-to-head on Nov. 24 to doom Kansas' national-title hopes. The Orange Bowl simply didn't like what it saw Saturday night, and Kansas reaped the benefits.

NCAA Football