Colleges

Bulls draw another ex-No. 2 in Ducks

By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published December 3, 2007

TAMPA - No more waiting, Bulls fans: The Sun Bowl has picked Oregon to face USF in El Paso, Texas, on Dec. 31, in a game featuring teams that were ranked as high as No. 2 this season.

The Holiday Bowl picked Arizona State, which just missed an at-large berth to a BCS game. The Sun Bowl gets the No. 3 team in the Pac-10 standings. But the bowl passed on Oregon State, which finished third in the conference, because it played in last year's game. With that, the Sun Bowl turned to Oregon, which lost to Oregon State in double overtime Saturday.

"It was a hard decision we had to make, but we had Oregon State last year, and our history shows that it doesn't work well to bring someone back like that," said John Folmer, president of the Sun Bowl selection committee. "Both teams have been ranked No. 2 this season, and it's going to be a great matchup for us."

Oregon (8-4) has dropped three straight games since losing senior quarterback Dennis Dixon (torn left ACL), once a top candidate for the Heisman Trophy.

"They have a lot of talent, are very well coached and will present a tremendous challenge in one of the most prestigious bowls around," USF coach Jim Leavitt said. "We have our work cut out for us over the next few weeks, but it will be a great spotlight for our team against an established Pac-10 power and in front of a national television audience."

USF (9-3) remained No. 21 in the BCS standings released Sunday, moving up to 14th in the aggregate computer ratings used in calculating the BCS. The Bulls moved up to No. 23 in the Associated Press media poll, up one spot to No. 24 in the Harris Poll and re-entered the coaches poll at No. 25.

[Last modified December 2, 2007, 23:45:32]