It turns out Michigan will play in a national title bowl after
all.

The Wolverines, who officially accepted a Rose Bowl bid
yesterday, will match up against Southern Cal. on Jan. 1, 2004. The
Trojans were left out of the Sugar Bowl, the Bowl Championship
Series title game, but coach Pete Carroll said that as far as he's
concerned, his team will be playing for the national championship
in Pasadena.

That's because his Trojans are ranked No. 1 in the country in
both the Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls. The
coaches are obliged to choose the BCS championship bowl winner as
the national champion, but the media is not. So if Southern Cal.
wins the Rose Bowl, it could be named national champion by the AP
and share the title with either Oklahoma or Louisiana State, who
will play in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4.

Carroll expressed no bitterness about his Trojans, ranked third
in the BCS, not making the Sugar Bowl. Southern Cal. has been on
the Sugar Bowl bubble since losing to California on Sept. 27, but
Carroll said his team didn't dwell on the BCS standings.

"We weren't going to be worried about it and concerned with it
because we had no control over it," Carroll said. "We want to get
to the Rose Bowl and win the Rose Bowl - that's what the goals of
this program are all about. So we want to take that opportunity in
hand and go for it.

"The fact that there's a little controversy with it just makes
it that much more interesting."

Southern Cal. won't go to New Orleans because Louisiana State,
now ranked No. 2 by the media and coaches, jumped the Trojans in
the BCS after winning the SEC championship this weekend. The Tigers
had been behind the Trojans in the BCS rankings, but Louisiana
State's win over Georgia boosted its strength of schedule and
helped move it ahead of Southern Cal. The Trojans won the Pac-10
Championship Saturday with a 52-28 victory over unranked Oregon
State.

Previously undefeated Oklahoma dropped to No. 3 in the voter
polls after getting trounced by Kansas State, 35-7, Saturday. But
the Sooners remained on top of the BCS because of their strong
schedule.

The BCS system takes into account the human polls and seven
computer rankings, as well as strength of schedule and records.

This year's bowl picture just added to the BCS's controversial
history. Under the system, which was implemented in the 1998
season, the No. 2 team in the human polls has twice been excluded
from the BCS championship game (Miami in 2000 and Oregon in 2001).
But this is the first time the consensus No. 1 team will not play
in the title bowl. Adding to the debate, Oklahoma will play for the
national title despite not winning its conference title.

"I have no real good sense of how this thing works, so I'm not a
very good one to criticize it," Carroll said. But he added that
"from a coach's perspective and from a competitive perspective,"
there's one good solution. "I don't know how to fix the system
other than to play it off."

The Rose Bowl features the first-ranked team versus the
fourth-ranked team, while Nos. 2 and 3 will clash in the Sugar Bowl
- a seemingly perfect precursor to a playoff.

"That's a wonderful setup and there's just one more game (to be
played)," Carroll said.

Michigan coach Lloyd Carr said he would also support a playoff
in the future, if the traditional bowls remained in place.

Controversy aside, both coaches, as well as Rose Bowl officials,
were happy that the bowl will return to the traditional matchup of
Big Ten Champion versus Pac-10 Champion.

Carr said his team wouldn't necessarily be motivated by the fact
that it could have a hand in determining the national champion.

"I think we're going to look at it as opportunity to play the
No. 1 team in the nation in the 'Granddaddy of Them All' and the
opportunity to go back to Pasadena," said Carr, calling the Rose
Bowl "the single greatest tradition in college football."

And as for whether or not the Wolverines should receive national
title consideration if they beat the top-ranked Trojans?

"That will be something for somebody else to decide," Carr
said.

If Michigan were to beat Southern Cal., the Wolverines would be
unlikely to be named National Champion because the Sugar Bowl
winner would have just one loss and be ranked ahead of Michigan in
the AP poll.