 Because the Rose Bowl was hosting the BCS Championship game, as part of the agreement begun in the 1998 season, the Tournament of Roses committee would get the number one and number two ranked teams in the Bowl Championship Series system.However, this was actually the third Rose Bowl number one versus two pairing, with the first two in the 1963 and 1969 games.Nebraska became the first team from outside the Southern United States to play in a BCS title game, as the previous three title games were all-Southern affairs.