After a decade and a half of controversy and debate, the BCS Era will end with a national championship match-up that will spark little outrage.
When the final BCS standings were released on Sunday night, the expected was confirmed, as No. 1 Florida State (13-0) will face No. 2 Auburn (12-1) in the BCS National Championship game on Jan. 6 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Though the undefeated Seminoles’ spot in the title game was assured, after Jameis Winston led the team to a brutal beat-down of Duke in the ACC title game, the Tigers, who knocked off Missouri in the SEC Championship, only jumped in the standings after some help from Michigan State, which ended Ohio State’s 24-game winning streak in the Big Ten Championship on Saturday.
Auburn was one of multiple teams from power conferences to finish with only one loss, along with Baylor, Michigan State and Ohio State, but the Tigers’ strength of schedule in the SEC, which finished with four teams in the Top 10 and seven teams in the Top 25, put them comfortably in second. Despite their one loss — at LSU — Auburn actually finished as the top-ranked team in two of the six computer ratings systems.
With Auburn vaulting past Ohio State, which dropped to seventh, the Tigers will have a chance to extend the SEC’s streak of seven straight national titles, which appeared in jeopardy before the Buckeyes loss. An Auburn win would also keep the national championship in Alabama for the fifth straight season.
The Crimson Tide (11-1), the winner of the past two national titles and the victim of Auburn’s miraculous 109-yard field goal return just over a week ago, finished the season ranked third and will face No. 11 Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl.
Incredibly, if Florida State had fallen to Duke, it would have set up a rematch of the instant classic Iron Bowl.
Florida State, which appeared in the first three BCS National Championship games, will be making its first appearance in the final game since losing to Oklahoma in 2000 and will be the favorite to win its first national title in 14 years.
Auburn will be returning to the title game just three seasons after Cam Newton led the Tigers to a national championship and only one season after Auburn finished with a 3-9 record, leading to the hiring of coach Gus Malzahn.
In the Fiesta Bowl, No. 6 Baylor and its high-flying offense will face 15th-ranked UCF, an automatic BCS qualifier from the American Athletic Conference, while No. 5 Stanford will battle No. 4 Michigan State, making its first Rose Bowl appearance since 1988.
The Buckeyes will face No. 12 Clemson in the Orange Bowl, marking the first time the teams will meet in a bowl game since 1978’s infamous Gator Bowl, when Woody Hayes punched Clemson linebacker Charlie Bauman, ultimately ending the legendary Ohio State coach’s career.