After a month of wild upsets in college football, after all the voters cast their ballots and the computers finished computing, the Bowl Championship Series produced a touch of nostalgia to go with the usual controversy.
The final BCS standings had Florida leaping over Michigan for the No. 2 spot on Sunday, sending the Gators to face top-ranked Ohio State in the title game on Jan. 8.
As a consolation prize, Michigan gets USC in the Rose Bowl, giving Pasadena a traditional Big Ten vs. Pacific 10 matchup.
That means the bowl lineup is set, even if the debate over whether the BCS got it right has only begun.
Florida entered the weekend with one loss and was No. 4 in the BCS standings, behind Ohio State, No. 2 USC and No. 3 Michigan. But the Trojans' upset loss to UCLA on Saturday scrambled the picture.
Florida Coach Urban Meyer had openly campaigned for his team, which finished the regular season by defeating Arkansas for the Southeastern Conference championship on Saturday night.
The score of that game was 38-28, but the truly important numbers did not emerge until nearly 24 hours later.
In Sunday's BCS tally, Florida edged Michigan by .01, .944 to .934. The Gators jumped over the Wolverines in the two "human" polls -- the USA Today coaches' survey and the Harris Interactive poll -- and the teams finished tied in the third component of the BCS formula, the computer rankings.
"It's well-deserved, and I'm proud of it," Meyer said of the Gators' selection.
Michigan, which had occupied the No. 2 spot for much of the season, also has one loss. But that defeat came against Ohio State last month.
It was a close game -- 42-39 -- and was played at Ohio State, so the Wolverines thought they deserved an invitation to the title game in Glendale, Ariz.
However, the Wolverines' grasp on No. 2 slipped last week when, sitting idle, they were passed by USC.
Then came the Trojans' stunning loss to UCLA on Saturday. There was renewed hope in Ann Arbor, Mich., but once again the BCS standings appeared to confirm that voters did not want to see an Ohio State-Michigan rematch.
"I don't think [Florida] would have moved ahead of us if USC would have won the game," Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr said Sunday.
On the other hand, as Florida receiver Percy Harvin said this weekend: "Michigan already had its chance."
The comparative schedules also favored the Gators.
