There were five undefeated teams and only two spots in the title game.

Alabama and Texas came out winners in that bit of BCS math, while TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State were left with nice consolation prizes.

The imperfect method of choosing a national champion paired top-ranked Alabama against No. 2 Texas in the BCS title game _ a Jan. 7 meeting that will bring together Heisman Trophy hopefuls Colt McCoy of the Longhorns and Mark Ingram of the Crimson Tide.

And, of course, Sunday's bowl bids also produced plenty of fodder for second-guessing.

No. 3 TCU, No. 4 Cincinnati and No. 6 Boise State also finished undefeated. All three were included in the BCS, but none will play for the championship _ a predictable result that will renew the annual debate about college football's way of determining the best team in the land.

"We absolutely recognize that there were five undefeated teams that had very good seasons, and the fact is, only two could play in the game," BCS executive director Bill Hancock said.

Seeking its first national title since 1992, Alabama opens as a 3-point favorite for the game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. That's the place where Vince Young almost single-handedly led Texas to a victory over Southern California in 2006 to claim the national title.

The other BCS matchups: Oregon against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl; Iowa against Georgia Tech in the Orange; Florida against Cincinnati in the Sugar and TCU against Boise State in the Fiesta.

The TCU-Boise State game also will pit a pair of undefeateds against each other, two teams from small conferences that don't always get automatic spots in the BCS. This is the first time in BCS history that two of the small schools have been selected. Both should be expected to use the title-game snub as motivation.

"We're here to prove a point," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "I voted for us No. 2 in polls today when we voted. We believe we have a great football team and we're out to show we could be the No. 1 team in the nation."

The Longhorns (13-0) have been on both sides of the BCS debate.

Just last year, their chances for a national title were squashed when they lost a three-way tiebreaker for the Big 12 South title.

This time, Texas defeated Nebraska 13-12 in the Big 12 title game to secure its spot in the national championship, though the less-than-dominating performance certainly left things open for debate.

Still, there was a big gap between Texas and TCU in the BCS rankings, the coaches' poll and The Associated Press poll, which is not included in the BCS formula. The AP awards its own national championship.