For the Florida Gators, November was a month to remember.
The Gators, who were ranked No. 6 in the nation in both the AP and coaches' polls just a month ago, have vaulted into the No. 2 spot in the BCS and are now set to battle the Ohio State Buckeyes for the national championship on Jan. 8.
Everything went right for the Gators, who over the past month have watched the Michigan Wolverines fall to Ohio State, the Louisville Cardinals lose in a stunning upset at Rutgers, and the Texas Longhorns and Auburn Tigers each suffer embarrassing in-conference losses.
Ohio State locked up a spot in the Bowl Championship Series title game by going undefeated, and going into this weekend, it appeared that the USC Trojans, with a road win over the UCLA Bruins, would be on their way. No dispute necessary - the Buckeyes and Trojans had proven themselves worthy, and the BCS agreed.
But by Saturday night, everything had changed. The Trojans, who went into the UCLA game having scored 20-plus points in 63 straight games, choked at UCLA's Rose Bowl, mustering only nine points en route to a 13-9 loss that dashed their hopes for a third straight trip to the national title game.
For years, the Rose Bowl was USC's home away from home. But the last two times they've played there, including last year's bowl game against Vince Young and the Texas Longhorns, the field has become a house of horrors. Both games were close losses, and both cost USC national championships.
While the UCLA win determined USC's fate, there was still a bigger question yet to be answered. Two teams remained in the hunt for the chance to play Ohio State for the national championship: the Gators and the Wolverines.
While Michigan was idle, Florida held off the Arkansas Razorbacks, 38-28, for the Southeastern Conference championship in a high-scoring affair in Atlanta. But was the SEC title game a sufficient reason to put the Gators, and not the 11-1 Wolverines, into the national championship? Compelling arguments can be made for both teams.
Florida finished 12-1 in the SEC, which is arguably the toughest in the nation with five teams ranked in the top 25 and three in the top 10. Michigan went 11-1 in the Big Ten, but the Wolverines finished their regular season two weeks ago in a close loss at Ohio State, 42-39, missing out on a conference title.
With only a day to convince the voters following the shocking USC loss, both coaches quickly got into gear. Immediately after Florida's win, coach Urban Meyer began making his case for the Gators, stating that their run through the SEC and ultimately their conference championship should place them in the title game.
At the same time, Wolverines head coach Lloyd Carr pointed to his team's overall body of work, with the lone loss coming on the road against the nation's No. 1 team, as the reason the voters should send Michigan to Glendale for a rematch with Ohio State.
In the end, the Gators prevailed. As Ohio State coach Jim Tressel opted to abstain from the USA Today coaches' poll, the Gators were voted into the second spot yesterday afternoon, and their BCS No. 2 spot was announced soon after.
With the loss, Michigan slips to No. 3 nationally, which puts them in a showdown with the Trojans in the Rose Bowl on Jan.1, a rematch of the Trojans' 28-14 win from three years ago.
The Gators' SEC foe LSU, who finished the season at 10-2, are headed to the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 3, a bowl game they won three years ago over Oklahoma. This time around, the Tigers will face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who finished 10-2, with their only two losses coming to Michigan and USC.
In the Orange Bowl, a pair of surprises are headed to Miami. The Wake Forest Demon Deacons came out of nowhere to capture the ACC Championship in 2006, and they head to the Orange Bowl to take on Big East champion Louisville on Jan. 2.
The Oklahoma Sooners, who lost two of their first five games early in the season, have recovered in grand fashion, as they downed the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 21-7, Saturday, earning a spot in the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl. Their opponent will be the WAC's Boise State Broncos who cruised to a 12-0 record.
