College Football Notebook | Canes storm Boise

Miami's going north for the bowl season — far north — and the consolation for the loser of the Big 12 championship game will be a Cotton Bowl bid.

The Hurricanes accepted an invitation Wednesday to the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho, where they'll meet Nevada (8-4) of the Western Athletic Conference on Dec. 31. It'll be the first meeting between the programs, plus Miami's first appearance in that bowl.

Boise State's Bronco Stadium is famed for its blue turf, something the Hurricanes have never seen, but their biggest shock on game night may be the climate. The average high in Boise on New Year's Eve is around 35, with a low of 22 — figures about 40 degrees less than the norms in South Florida on the same date.

"It really doesn't matter," center Anthony Wollschlager said. "What matters is we've got another game to play."

It also will be coach Larry Coker's 75th and final game at Miami; he was fired last week after a 6-6 regular season, one that dropped his six-year record with the Hurricanes to 59-15 with one national championship. The school retained him for the bowl game, while it conducts a search for his replacement.

"We have a lot of young players, and I think a bowl experience will be very good for them," said Coker, whose team will resume practice in mid-December after finals.

The loser of the Big 12 championship game between Oklahoma and Nebraska will play in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day, the conference announced.

The winner of the Big 12 title game gets a Bowl Championship Series bid to the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 1.

The Cotton Bowl will match the Big 12 runner-up against a team from the Southeastern Conference. Boise State is the likely opponent for the Big 12 champ in the Fiesta Bowl.

Texas A&M received an invitation to the Holiday Bowl to face California.

The Gator Bowl notified the Big 12 that it will wait until Sunday to choose either a Big East team or a Big 12 for its game. Texas and West Virginia appear to be the most likely options.

Ohio accepted a bid to play in the GMAC Bowl, its third bowl appearance and first in nearly four decades.

The Bobcats (9-3) will play the loser of Friday's Conference USA title game between Houston and Southern Mississippi on Jan. 7 in Mobile, Ala.

Nebraska meets

Oklahoma again

NORMAN, Okla. — With Barry Switzer on one side and Tom Osborne on the other, no rivalry was bigger than Oklahoma-Nebraska.

When the Sooners and Cornhuskers collided, the impact could be felt throughout all of college football. Between 1971 and 1988, the teams met 17 times when both were in the top 11, including 15 times with both in the top 10. Their 1971 meeting as No. 1 vs. No. 2 went down as "The Game of the Century."

Former Sooners quarterback Cale Gundy, now an assistant coach with Oklahoma, remembers watching some of those classic matchups. The suspense was unbearable.

"I'd run outside because I don't want to see the play on TV. I'd come back inside and figure it out or my mom sticks her head out and tells me what happened," Gundy said.

The rivalry has lost its luster in recent years, but on Saturday at the Big 12 title game in Kansas City, Mo., Oklahoma and Nebraska will be playing for a championship again — for the first time in 18 years.

"It's a big-time game regardless of who we're playing," Nebraska linebacker Stewart Bradley said. "But when you put Oklahoma and Nebraska in the game with all the tradition, it makes it that much bigger."

Notes

• A pair of assistants rumored to be on North Carolina State's coaching wish list said that they have not been contacted by the Wolfpack about replacing the fired Chuck Amato. Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Norm Chow and David Cutcliffe, University of Tennessee offensive coordinator, have been rumored as candidates.

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, a former N.C. State linebacker, has seen his name mentioned prominently in speculation. But Cowher said he has no interest.

"I've been getting a lot of contacts about it; I've heard about it," Cowher said. "But I've got a job here."

• Troy Smith of Ohio State and Brady Quinn of Notre Dame are among the five finalists for the Walter Camp Football Foundation player of the year award. Smith and Quinn are joined by West Virginia running back Steve Slaton, Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan and Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.

• Patrick Cowan, who has started UCLA's last six games at quarterback, will get the call Saturday against No. 2 USC at the Rose Bowl.

Coach Karl Dorrell made the announcement after practice — two days after saying Ben Olson would start against the Trojans if he showed he was "able and capable both mentally and physically."