Both No. 1-ranked Missouri and No. 2-ranked West Virginia had to go and lose in the final weekend of this year’s college football regular season, causing the Allstate National Championship Game BCS became a game of dice in which No. 3-ranked Ohio won state and No. 5-ranked LSU.

If Missouri had beaten Oklahoma for the Big 12 championship, and if West Virginia had beaten Pittsburgh, they would be playing in the BCS National Championship Game. Instead, it will be Ohio State (11-1) and LSU (11-2) for all marbles. LSU will be the first two-loss team to play for the national title since the BCS’ inception in 1998.

No. 9-ranked Oklahoma (11-2), which beat Missouri 41-31 earlier in the season, again humbled Missouri with 3 touchdowns, 38-17, to end the Tigers’ national title hopes. By winning again, the Sooners earned the Big 12 championship and a berth in the BCS bowl game. They will face West Virginia (10-2) in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

West Virginia lost to Pittsburgh (5-7) 13-9 at home in a defensive battle. It was a sad end to the Mountaineers’ regular season. The Mountaineers continue to rage that they have won more games than any team in major college football without winning a national title.

Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt, a Pitt graduate who played tackle for the Panthers, was a defensive coordinator for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and also a head coach for the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins. He has made Pitt a tough opponent despite a 16-19 record since he took over in 2005.

LSU greatly helped in his case by pulling back Tennessee 21-14 and winning the SEC championship. Staying the course, the Tigers find themselves playing for their second national championship in 5 years. LSU won the title in 2003 by beating Oklahoma 21-14.

The LSU Tigers also benefited from losing their only two losses to Louisville and Arkansas in triple overtime. They could just as easily have been 12-0 as Hawaii.

Ohio State, which was inactive this weekend after beating Michigan 14-3 for the Big 10 title a week earlier, just sat patiently and watched as Missouri and West Virginia blew their chances.

Virginia Tech (11-2), ranked No. 6, defeated Boston College 30-16 to win the Atlantic Coast championship and a spot in the BCS bowl game in the FedEx Orange Bowl against Kansas (11-1).

No. 8-ranked Southern California (10-2) beat UCLA 24-7 to win an unprecedented sixth straight Pac 10 championship. The Trojans were ranked No. 1 at the start of the season, but suffered a stunning 24-23 loss to Stanford, who was a 41-point underdog, and then were beaten by Oregon 24-17 to knock them out of contention for the national title.

Don’t feel too bad for Southern Cal, though, as the win earns them an appearance in the BCS Rose Bowl bowl game against Illinois (9-3). It also marks the Trojans’ sixth consecutive BCS bowl appearance and 32nd appearance in the Rose Bowl, commonly referred to as the “grandfather of all bowl games.”

No. 11-ranked Hawaii finished their season with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to edge Washington 35-28 and finished as the only undefeated Division 1A team in the country at 12-0.

By winning, Hawaii, the overall champions of the Western Athletic Conference, earned a spot in the BCS bowl game in the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Georgia (10-2).

Washington took a quick 21-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game with 3 Hawaii turnovers, but the Warriors proved their worth by coming from behind with the strong and accurate arm of senior Colt Brennan who went 42 of 50 passes for 442 yards, 5 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Brennan, who should be playing on Sundays in the NFL, posted a school record 20 consecutive completions against the pathetic Husky secondary who ranks 99th out of 119 Division 1A schools in both Pass Defense and Pass Efficiency Defense . Brennan has thrown for 4,174 yards and 38 touchdowns this season.

Here’s some well-deserved love for Hawaii: The Warriors may have played a weak schedule (ranked 137th out of 119 Division 1A teams), and the Washington Huskies may have played the toughest schedule in the nation (ranked No. 1 nationally), but Hawaii beat Washington. directly up 35-28 and is the better team. Period, that’s all.

And more Hawaiian love: Like it or not, the Warriors have won a national-best 13 games in a row, and 22 of their last 23 games. They have a chance to go 14 straight and continue the streak by beating Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl.

Two teams that were passed over for BCS bowl games were Missouri (11-2) and Arizona State (10-2), each of which could have received an offer.

The real winner of that elusive last place among the 5 BCS bowl games went to Illinois (9-3), who lost to Missouri, Iowa and Michigan during the regular season. Illinois’ choice shouldn’t be a mystery when you know Illinois was 2-10 last year and 9-3 this year. Give Head Coach Ron Zook credit for the incredible turnaround Fighting Illini experienced.

Perhaps even more important to advertisers, Illinois is in the nation’s third-largest metro market (9 million people) and its opponent, Southern Cal, is in the nation’s second-largest metro market (12.3 million people). ). These markets dwarf the largest market in Arizona (13th with 4 million) and the largest market in Missouri (18th with 2.7 million). It’s about people and money and where they are for advertisers.

Arizona State beat state rival Arizona 20-17, but the win wasn’t impressive, not that it mattered. The Sun Devils could have beaten them by 4 touchdowns and the result probably would have been the same: there is no BCS spot for the state of Arizona. Both the state of Arizona and Missouri will play in bowl games, but not in the top 5 of BCS with big payouts.

Here’s a complete list of this year’s bowl lineup; all game times are listed in EST.

2007–08 college football bowling schedule

December 20 – Thursday

Utah (8-4) vs. Navy (8-4) at the Poinsettia Bowl — ESPN, 9 p.m.

December 21 – Friday

Atlantic Florida (7-5) vs. Memphis (7-5) at the New Orleans Bowl – ESPN2, 8 p.m.

December 22 – Saturday

Cincinnati (9-3) vs. Southern Mississippi at the Papajohns.com Bowl – ESPN2, 1 p.m.

New Mexico (8-4) vs. Nevada (6-6) at the New Mexico Bowl – ESPN, 4:30 p.m.

Brigham Young (10-2) vs. UCLA (6-6) at the Las Vegas Bowl – ESPN, 8 p.m.

December 23 – Sunday

East Carolina (7-5) vs. Boise State (10-2) at the Hawaii Bowl – ESPN, 8 p.m.

December 26 – Wednesday

Purdue (7-5) vs. Central Michigan (8-5) at the Motor City Bowl – ESPN, 7:30 p.m.

December 27 – Thursday

Texas (9-3) vs. Arizona State (10-2) at the Holiday Bowl – ESPN, 8 p.m.

December 28 – Friday

Michigan State (7-5) vs. Boston College (10-3) at the Champs Sports Bowl – ESPN, 5 p.m.

Houston (8-4) vs. TCU (7-5) at the Texas Bowl – NFL Network, 8 p.m.

Oregon State (8-4) vs. Maryland (6-6) at the Emerald Bowl – ESPN, 8:30 p.m.

December 29 – Saturday

Wake Forest (8-4) vs. Connecticut (9-3) at the Meineke Car Care Bowl – ESPN, 1 p.m.

Central Florida (10-3) vs. Mississippi State (7-5) at the Liberty Bowl – ESPN, 4:30 p.m.

Texas A&M (7-5) vs. Penn State (8-4) at the Alamo Bowl – ESPN, 8 p.m.

December 30 – Sunday

Alabama (6-6) vs. Colorado (6-6) at the Independence Bowl – ESPN, 8 p.m.

December 31 – Monday – New Year’s Eve

Air Force (9-3) vs. California (6-6) at the Armed Forces Bowl – ESPN, 12:30 p.m.

Oregon (8-4) vs. South Florida (9-3) at the Sun Bowl – CBS, 2 p.m.

Georgia Tech (7-5) vs. Fresno State (8-4) at the Humanitarian Bowl – ESPN, 2 p.m.

Kentucky (7-5) vs. Florida State (7-5) at the Music City Bowl – ESPN, 4 p.m.

Indiana (7-5) vs. Oklahoma State (6-6) at the Insight Bowl – NFL Network, 5:30 p.m.

Auburn (8-4) vs. Clemson (9-3) at the Chick-fil-A Bowl – ESPN, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 1 – Tuesday – New Year’s Day

Wisconsin (9-3) vs. Tennessee (9-4) in the Outback Bowl – ESPN, 11 a.m.

Missouri (11-2) vs. Arkansas (8-4) at the Cotton Bowl – Fox, 11:30 a.m.

Virginia (9-3) vs. Texas Tech (8-4) at the Gator Bowl — CBS, 1 p.m.

Michigan (8-4) vs. Florida (9-3) at the Capital One Bowl – ABC, 1 p.m.

Illinois (9-3) vs. Southern California (10-2) at the Rose Bowl (a BCS Bowl game) – ABC, 5 p.m.

Hawaii (12-0) vs. Georgia (10-2) at the Sugar Bowl (a BCS Bowl game) – Fox, 8:30 p.m.

Jan. 2 – Wednesday

Oklahoma (11-2) vs. West Virginia (10-2) at the Fiesta Bowl (a BCS Bowl game) – Fox, 8 p.m.

Jan. 3 – Thursday

Virginia Tech (11-2) vs. Kansas (11-1) at the Orange Bowl (a BCS Bowl game) – Fox, 8 p.m.

Jan. 5 – Saturday

Rutgers (7-5) vs. Ball State (7-5) at the International Bowl in Toronto, Canada – ESPN, noon.

Jan. 6 – Sunday

Tulsa (9-4) vs. Bowling Green (8-4) at the GMAC Bowl – ESPN, 8 p.m.

Jan. 7 – Monday

Ohio State (11-1) vs. LSU (11-2) at the Allstate BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans – Fox, 8 p.m.

Note: ESPN dominates the broadcast of bowling games. ESPN will broadcast 21 of the 32 bowl games, Fox 5 and ABC, CBS and NFL Network 2 each.

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley