http://web.archive.org/web/19981201204505/www.abccfb.com/road/index.asp#polls
(10) TEXAS A&M 36,
(1) KANSAS ST 33 (2 OT)
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ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Texas A&M has turned the race for the
national championship into a free-for-all.
Branndon Stewart connected with running back Sirr Parker on a
32-yard touchdown pass in the second overtime to lift the
10th-ranked Aggies to a shocking 36-33 victory over
No. 1 Kansas
State in the Big 12 Conference championship game.
Kansas State blew the opening for a shot in the national
championship game created when, just hours before, UCLA fell at
Miami. The Wildcats (11-1) had been third in the Bowl
Championship Series (BCS) standings, and the top two teams in
those rankings play in the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona on January
4th.
Martin Gramatica connected on a 25-yard field to begin the
second overtime and give Kansas State a 33-30 lead. The Aggies
proceeded to lose two yards on their first play of the ensuing
possession and were faced with a 3rd-and-17 after a penalty.
But Stewart threw a screen pass to Parker, who shook off Luke
Butler, beat Lamar Chapman and raced to the right corner of the
end zone, barely crossing the goal line with the football for
the winning score.
Stewart also threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes for Texas
A&M (11-2), which rallied from a 15-point deficit in the final
9:20 of regulation. The Aggies, who won their first league
crown since claiming the old Southwest Conference title in 1993,
will play in either the Sugar Bowl on New Year's night or the
Orange Bowl the next evening as Big 12 champions.
Kansas State (11-1), which 10 years ago was 0-11, had its
19-game winning streak snapped and failed in its attempt for its
first conference title since claiming the Big Six championship
in 1934.
BCS RACE: WATCH OUT, TENNESSEE
By Stewart Mandel
ABC Sports Online
The BCS Standings have been coming out every Monday since late October, but for the teams at the top -- Tennessee, UCLA and Kansas State -- this week is what it's all about. The Volunteers stand a mere .04 ahead of UCLA, with K-State just over a point behind them, heading into the undefeated trio's final games on Saturday. The question on everyone's minds is: What happens if all three win?
It's exactly a situation like this for which the BCS formula was created: to objectively select the two best teams. Regardless, controversy is sure to stir if someone gets left out. For the better portion of the season, the Wildcats have been the undefeated team on the outside looking in, thanks to a weaker non-conference schedule compared with UCLA and Tennessee. However, K-State's BCS strength-of-schedule rating has jumped from 88th to 62nd since playing Nebraska and Missouri, and many -- including computer guru Jeff Sagarin -- think it could jump enough to pass the Bruins or Vols after Saturday's game with BCS No. 8-ranked Texas A&M. UCLA's remaining opponent, Miami, looks much less impressive on paper after its 66-13 thrashing at the hands of Syracuse last week, and Tennessee has landed unheralded Mississippi State rather than BCS No. 13 Arkansas.
Then again, teams could lose Saturday and shake-up everything. At least that's what one-loss contenders Florida State and Ohio State are hoping. Regardless, the entire bowl picture will be decided in less than a week.
Here are ABC Sports Online's projections for the four BCS bowls and 18 others, based on games played through Nov. 28 and the Nov. 30 BCS Standings. For the purposes of these projections, current first-place teams Kansas State (Big 12) and Tennessee (SEC) are considered as their conference's BCS participant. These projections are ONLY speculation at this point; official pairings will be announced on Dec. 6.
(*) - team has already accepted its bowl bid.
Tostitos Fiesta: Tennessee (BCS No. 1) vs. UCLA (BCS No. 2)
Rose presented by AT&T: Wisconsin (BCS Big Ten) vs. Arizona (BCS at-large)
Nokia Sugar: Kansas State (BCS Big 12) vs. Ohio State (BCS at-large)
FedEx Orange: Florida State (BCS ACC) vs. Syracuse (BCS Big East)
Southwestern Bell Cotton: Texas (Big 12 No. 2) vs. Arkansas (SEC Nos. 3-5)
CompUSA Florida Citrus: Florida (SEC No. 2) vs. Michigan (Big Ten No. 2)
Outback: Penn State (Big Ten No. 3) vs. Georgia (SEC Nos. 3-5)
Toyota Gator: Notre Dame (in place of Big East No. 2)* vs. Georgia Tech (ACC No. 2)*
Chick fil-A Peach: Virginia (ACC No. 3)* vs. Kentucky (SEC Nos. 3-5)
Culligan Holiday: Nebraska (Big 12 No. 3) vs. Oregon (Pac-10 No. 2)
Builders Square Alamo: Purdue (Big Ten No. 4) vs. Texas A&M (Big 12 No. 4)
Norwest Sun: USC (Pac-10 No. 3) vs. Miami, Fla. (in place of Big Ten No. 5)
Insight.com: Missouri (Big 12 No. 5) vs. West Virginia (Big East No. 2)*
Sanford Independence: Mississippi State (SEC Nos. 6-7) vs. Texas Tech (Big 12 No. 5)
Music City: Alabama (SEC Nos. 6-7) vs. Virginia Tech (at-large)
AXA/Equity Liberty: Tulane (C-USA champ)* vs. BYU (at-large)*
Micron PC: N.C. State (ACC No. 4)* vs. Central Florida (in place of Big Ten No. 6)
Jeep Aloha: Washington (Pac-10 No. 4)* vs. Colorado (at-large)*
Jeep Oahu: North Carolina (at-large) vs. Air Force (WAC at-large)*
Humanitarian: Southern Miss (C-USA No. 2)* vs. Idaho (Big West champ)*
Motor City: Marshall or Toledo (MAC Champ) vs. Louisville (at-large)*
Las Vegas: Mississippi (at-large) vs. San Diego State (WAC No. 3)* CONFERENCE STANDINGS: NORTH
CONFERENCE OVERALL
NAME W L T PF PA W L T PF PA
1. KANSAS ST 8 1 0 375 146 11 1 0
576 1602. NEBRASKA 5 3 0 210 139 9 3 0 383 183
3. MISSOURI 5 3 0 214 156 7 4 0 300 205
4. COLORADO 4 4 0 155 169 7 4 0 251 210
5. KANSAS 1 7 0 155 269 4 7 0 280 341
6. IOWA ST 1 7 0 135 288 3 8 0 221 328
CONFERENCE STANDINGS: SOUTH
CONFERENCE OVERALL
NAME W L T PF PA W L T PF PA
1. TEXAS A&M 8 1 0 227 145 11 2 0 321 190
2. TEXAS 6 2 0 243 220 8 3 0 399 326
3. TEXAS TECH 4 4 0 198 189 7 4 0 297 220
4. OKLAHOMA 3 5 0 125 198 5 6 0 184 229
5. OKLAHOMA ST 3 5 0 197 218 5 6 0 303 296
6. BAYLOR 1 7 0 142 239 2 9 0 195 323
