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Which teams will make the BCS championship game?Mike Kern: Texas, USC can't afford to slip up on the road
Critical weekend for two teams with national title visions. Actually they're all critical, when you're dealing with what amounts to 12 or even 13 one-game seasons.
Texas goes to Oklahoma State, and Southern Cal is at Oregon.
"The toughest thing I ever did," said Texas coach Mack Brown, "was sitting home [last January] and watching a championship game we should have been in."
Utah was perhaps thinking the same thing. But we digress.
Since Florida or Alabama can't both finish unbeaten, Texas controls its fate, something the Boise States, Iowas, Cincinnatis, TCUs and even USCs can't claim.
If it were only that simple. Since 1983 the Longhorns have had one perfect regular season. That was 4 years ago, when they beat favored USC for the trophy.
Unless you're Oklahoma (or was that Ohio State?), the hardest part is getting there.
This could be the most difficult rodeo Texas has left. The Horns do close at Texas A & M, where they lost in 2007. But the Aggies have been inconsistent at best. And the Big 12 final hasn't produced an upset since 2003.
Oklahoma State hasn't beaten Texas since 1997. But the last two border scrums were decided by three and four points.
USC, on the other hand, lost the last time it played at Oregon. That was 2 years ago, by seven points, the only time since 2001 that the Trojans haven't been favored. Last season at home, they won by 34. They also won by 25 in '06 and 32 in '05.
But thanks to Oregon State, they haven't won in that state since '05.
Anyway, the Trojans need outside intervention, because once again they lost one (to Washington, up there, without their quarterback) they shouldn't have. This is their most hazardous remaining obstacle, although they have Stanford and Arizona.
The Ducks have kept looking better since that ugly opener at Boise.
At the very least, a Rose Bowl bid could be on the line, although USC wants another one of those like a 3-day pass to Space Mountain.
By the way, aren't these playoffs something?
Trivial pursuit
Tennessee is the first team since 2000 to play two No. 1s in a season. That year, there were two that did it. Name them. Hint: They're both from west of the Mississippi. See Answer man.
Historical
Penn will play its 1,300th game, at Brown. No other NCAA program at any level has reached that total. Yale, which has been playing four seasons longer, is next at 1,247.
The Quakers have won 795. with 42 ties. They lost their debut, on Nov. 1, 1876, to Princeton.
