The Sugar Bowl got the best game and the Cotton Bowl created the most controversy.
When the new bowl coalition announced its matchups Sunday, the Sugar picked the plum - top-ranked Miami (11-0) vs. No. 2 Alabama (12-0) for the national championship.The Cotton got a good game - No. 4 Texas A&M (12-0) vs. No. 5 Notre Dame (9-1-1) - and some bad publicity.
The Cotton's decision to take Notre Dame instead of No. 3 Florida State angered the Seminoles, Texas A&M and others who felt the Dallas bowl violated the coalition's goal of getting the best possible matchups.
Florida State and Texas A&M thought they were going to play each other in the Cotton Bowl, but Cotton officials nixed the plan by taking Notre Dame. That sent Florida State (10-1) to the Orange Bowl against No. 11 Nebraska (9-2).
The Cotton passed up a No. 3 vs. No. 4 contest because it didn't want a rematch of last year's Florida State-Texas A&M game and because it preferred the glamour and television power of Notre Dame.
"If we could not get 1 vs. 2, then 3 vs. 4 was not that important to us," Cotton Bowl president Bob Smith said at a news conference where the pairings were announced.
However, it was important to Texas A&M and Florida State. While officials from both schools publicly expressed support for the coalition and said they were happy with their bowl opponents, they privately criticized the Cotton Bowl's decision.
If A&M had beaten Florida State in the Cotton and Miami had tied Alabama in the Sugar, the Aggies could have made a strong case for the national championship. A&M coach R.C. Slocum feels the Aggies still have a shot at the title if theybeat Notre Dame, but he realizes that their chances would have been better with a victory over Florida State.
"We wanted to play the highest-ranked team, so from that standpoint we're disappointed," Slocum said. "But we hope voters keep an open mind until all the games are played on Jan. 1."
Florida State also is unhappy with the Cotton Bowl, but for a different reason. School officials said Cotton representatives told them early in the week to expect an invitation, then changed their mind and took Notre Dame.
"We're happy to go to the Orange Bowl, but vibes I received from the Cotton Bowl were `Make yourself available,"' Florida State athletic director Bob Goin said.
The Cotton controversy raised questions about the future of the coalition, which was formed a year ago to improve the bowl selection process.
"It's not a perfect system, but it's better than the way we used to do it," said Steve Hatchell, executive director of the Orange Bowl. "We ended up with a 1 vs. 2 game, and that's what everybody wanted."
Happiest of all was the Sugar Bowl, which landed two of the most successful programs in college football.
Miami will be seeking its second straight national title and fifth in 10 years. Alabama has won five Associated Press national championships and is the last school to win back-to-back titles (1978-79).
The teams last met in the 1990 Sugar Bowl, where Miami's 33-25 victory gave the Hurricanes their third national championship.
The other bowl matchups are Washington-Michigan (Rose), Colorado-Syracuse (Fiesta), Florida-North Carolina State (Gator), Penn State-Stanford (Blockbuster), Arizona-Baylor (Hancock), Ohio State-Georgia (Citrus), Boston College-Tennessee (Hall of Fame), Brigham Young-Kansas (Aloha), North Carolina-Mississippi State (Peach), Southern Cal-Fresno State (Freedom), Air Force-Mississippi (Liberty), Illinois-Hawaii (Holiday), Wake Forest-Oregon (Independence), Washington State-Utah (Copper), and Bowling Green-Nevada (Las Vegas).