Top-ranked USC's preparations for 11th-ranked UCLA got off to a precarious start on Sunday when running back LenDale White suffered an apparent shoulder injury, putting his status for Saturday's game at the Coliseum in doubt. Coach Pete Carroll said White would undergo tests today.
-- Los Angeles Times

Barring any major upsets, the BCS picture is pretty clear. If everything goes as it figures to, USC would face Texas for the national title in the Rose Bowl. The Southeastern Conference champion--LSU or Georgia--would play Big East champion West Virginia in the Sugar Bowl. The Fiesta Bowl, whose top three officials attended Notre Dame's squeaker over Stanford, would take the Irish. Notre Dame's spot would be assured by the crowd and cachet it would bring. Then the Orange Bowl likely would grab Big Ten champion Penn State, leaving Fiesta Bowl officials with this decision: Ohio State or Oregon?
-- Chicago Tribune

Colorado still is working out all the tactical details about how and why its football game against No. 2 Texas will be different the second time around this season. "They're beatable," cornerback Lorenzo Sims said of the South champion Longhorns, who are 11-0. "I think every team is beatable."
-- Denver Post

Michigan fans might want to make plans to go to Tampa, Fla. The Wolverines' most likely bowl destination appears to be the Jan. 2 Outback Bowl.
-- Detroit Free Press

The seven Buckeye seniors who played as freshmen during the national championship season of 2002 and will end their football careers with Ohio State's bowl game have a chance to finish with as many wins as any four-year class ever to come through Columbus.
-- Cleveland Plain Dealer

Florida's win against FSU to end the season spelled relief for first-year UF coach Urban Meyer. What makes Meyer's first season so sour is that his team did compete in November -- especially when it seemed the Gators had a clear road to the title game in Atlanta. All they had to do was beat a far less-talented South Carolina team in Columbia, and they would have been playing LSU in Atlanta. To add insult to injury, Steve Spurrier's team might bump Florida from the Outback Bowl, and if the Peach Bowl doesn't save the Gators, they will be on their way to Shreveport, La. for the Independence Bowl.
-- Miami Herald

The Hurricanes will find out Sunday if they will meet Louisville in the Gator Bowl, or be bumped to a lower-tiered bowl. Should Miami be bypassed by Virginia Tech, the Hurricanes likely would play in the Dec. 30 Peach Bowl against a Southeastern Conference foe.
-- Miami Herald

Conversations with bowl officials on Sunday confirmed what Georgia Tech athletics director Dave Braine said Saturday night, that the Music City Bowl in Nashville Dec. 30 remains the Yellow Jackets' most likely destination.
-- Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With a week until Northwestern knows its bowl destiny, the likelihood has increased that the Wildcats will end up at the Dec. 30 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. The Wildcats' path to the Sun Bowl will be more direct if Ohio State receives the second at-large berth in the BCS. Wisconsin, Michigan and Iowa would go to the Capital One, Outback and Alamo, respectively. That leaves the Wildcats available for the Sun.
-- Chicago Tribune

Rutgers will receive its official invitation to play in the Dec. 27 Insight Bowl today. The Scarlet Knights will play Arizona State, the same team they played in the 1978 Garden State Bowl, the only other time the school has played in the postseason.
-- Philadelphia Inquirer

Kansas standout Charles Gordon is questionable for the Jayhawks' bowl game because of an undisclosed injury he suffered in Saturday's 24-21 victory over Iowa State. Gordon appeared to injure his left shoulder while trying to make a tackle in the second half of Saturday's win. Gordon left the game immediately, holding his arm at his side. As Gordon trotted off the field after the final horn, he grimaced in pain when a fan patted him on the shoulder.
-- Kansas City Star

Although the Fort Worth Bowl still appears to be KU's likely destination, coach Mark Mangino said he isn't ruling anything out. Playing a postseason game in Texas  whether it be the Fort Worth Bowl or the Houston Bowl  could be advantageous to KU when it comes to recruiting.
-- Kansas City Star

The South Florida Bulls' 15-10 loss at Connecticut has put their bowl prospects in jeopardy, which could make Saturday a tense day of scoreboard-watching. The Bulls can all but lock up a spot in the Meineke Car Care Bowl if they can upset No. 12 West Virginia or if Connecticut loses to No. 16 Louisville.
-- St. Petersburg Times

Kansas State reportedly has two leading candidates for its vacant coaching job: USF Coach Jim Leavitt, a former Wildcats assistant, and Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables, another former Wildcats assistant.
-- Orlando Sentinel

Ole Miss coach Ed Orgeron said he still was not prepared to discuss reports that offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone has been fired , although an announcement could come as early as today during his final weekly press conference.
-- Memphis Commercial Appeal