COLLEGE FOOTBALL-BOWLS
     Northern Illinois busts the BCS, going to Orange Bowl
                                                  MIAMI (AP) – Northern Illinois out of the Mid-American Conference has busted the BCS, and is heading to the Orange Bowl to play ACC champion Florida State.
     Northern Illinois actually finished ahead of two conference titlists, Big East winner Louisville and Big Ten champion Wisconsin, in the final BCS standings.
     Dave Doeren will not coach the Huskies in the Orange Bowl. He
was hired Saturday as the new coach at North Carolina State.
     In other big bowl matchups:
     –After missing out on the BCS, Big 12 co-champion Oklahoma will
instead take on Johnny Football, freshman sensation Johnny Manziel,
and former conference rival Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.
     – No. 4 Florida will meet No. 22 Louisville in the Sugar Bowl.
     — No. 6 Georgia will play Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl on
New Year’s Day.
     – Oregon will meet Kansas State in another marquee matchup at
the Fiesta Bowl.
     – Wisconsin believes its third straight trip to the Rose Bowl
could be the charm when it plays Stanford.
     — Georgia Tech is heading back to the Sun Bowl for the second
straight year and will face underachieving Southern California.
     The 17th-ranked UCLA Bruins and Baylor Bears will play each
other for the first time when they meet in the Holiday Bowl on Dec.
27 at Qualcomm Stadium.
     – Utah State and Toledo have accepted invitations to play in the
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
     – LSU will face Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
     – Conference USA champion Tulsa will get another shot at Iowa
State when the teams meet in the Liberty Bowl.
     – Vanderbilt will only have to travel a few miles from campus
for its bowl game, the Music City Bowl against N.C. State.
     – Michigan State and Texas Christian will meet in the Buffalo
Wild Wings Bowl.
     – Fresno State says it has accepted an invitation to play SMU in
the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu on Christmas Eve.
     – Central Florida’s loss in the Conference USA championship game
has the Knights staying close to home for the holidays against Ball
State in the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl.
     –Minnesota will face Texas Tech in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in
Houston on Dec. 28.
     –Oklahoma State and Purdue will finally play again – 15 years
later in the Heart of Dallas Bowl played at the historic Cotton
Bowl on New Year’s Day.
     — Texas will make a short postseason trip to face No. 15 Oregon
State in the Alamo Bowl.
     – Bowling Green has accepted an invitation to play San Jose
State in the Military Bowl in the Nation’s Capital.
     – Louisiana-Monroe, playing in its first bowl game, will meet
Ohio in the Independence Bowl.
     – The Duke Blue Devils will make their first bowl appearance
since 1994, taking on the Cincinnati Bearcats in the 11th annual
Belk Bowl Dec. 27 in Charlotte.
     – Rutgers and Virginia Tech will square off in the Russell
Athletic Bowl on Dec. 28.
     – No. 11 South Carolina is headed to the Outback Bowl to face
No. 19 Michigan.
     – Syracuse is headed back to the Pinstripe Bowl for the second
time in three years and will face former Big East foe West Virginia
on Dec. 29 in Yankee Stadium.
     – The Las Vegas Bowl will have a Northwest flavor with a matchup
featuring No. 20 Boise State and Washington.
     — It’s hometown favorite San Diego State against BYU in the
Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 20.
     – No. 25 Kent State will meet Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com
Bowl in the first bowl appearance in 40 years for the Golden
Flashes.
     – Pittsburgh is making its third straight trip to the BBVA
Compass Bowl, facing a resurgent Mississippi team.
     — The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will play in the Little
Caesars Pizza Bowl in Detroit on Dec. 26 against Central Michigan.
     –Nevada faces Arizona in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 15.
     — And Northwestern and Mississippi State tangle in the Gator
Bowl on New Year’s Day.