As expected, No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Texas will officially play for the national championship in Pasadena on Jan. 7 as the BcS announced its final rankings this evening.
Both the Tide and the Longhorns have been ranked in the Top Five in the country since the very first preseason poll, so this was a match-up that’s been kinda, sorta anticipated for the better part of three months.
As for the other teams who have earned the right to not play for a national title -- despite being unbeaten -- there was not much of a surprise as to how the pairings shook out.
Not much, we say, because there was a mild shock when it came to the two non-automatic qualifiers.
As first reported by CBS Sports.com’s Dennis Dodd, the WAC’s Boise State and the Mountain West’s TCU will play in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4. Yes, it’s the first time in BcS history that two non-AQs have made it into the system in the same year, but we’re assuming that no one from that entity will stand up and apologize for disrespecting the No. 3 and No. 6 teams in the country by not giving either a shot at a “real” team from a “real” conference.
As for the Sugar Bowl, Big East champion Cincinnati will play SEC runner-up Florida Jan. 1 in a game that will feature two ridiculously talented offenses.
Big Ten runner-up Iowa was tapped to take on ACC champ Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl on Feb. 5.
Finally, Oregon and Ohio State will face off in the Rose Bowl New Year’s Day, a match-up that was finalized following the Ducks’ Civil War win over Oregon State last Thursday.
All in all, some intriguing match-ups all the way around, although I still can’t get over the fact that the two non-AQs will face each other for the right to... ummm... do exactly what?
