PASADENA, Calif. The Texas Longhorns (13-0) are the Football
Writers Association of America's 2005 national champion after their dramatic
41-38 win over USC in the Rose Bowl. Texas coach Mack Brown was presented
with the Grantland Rice Trophy by FWAA president Dennis Dodd at a
news conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Texas finished atop the final Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll, receiving
all 16 first-place votes from the FWAA pollsters. The Longhorns were No.
2 in the poll heading into the Rose Bowl.
The Longhorns, now winners of 20 straight games, snapped USC's 34-game
winning streak to claim their first FWAA national title since 1969 and their
third overall (1963). USC had won each of the last two Grantland Rice Trophies
and has won six overall FWAA national titles, most of any school. No team
has ever won three straight FWAA national titles. The Trojans were the top-ranked
team in each of the regular-season 2005 regular-season Super 16 polls.
"One thing about the young guys who wore burnt orange last night,
they'll be champions for the rest of their lives," Texas head coach Mark
Brown told an overflow crowd at the news conference. "So few people even
get in the ballgame as coaches or players and even fewer obviously win
it. So for these guys, we're really, really excited because it is about
the players."
While Texas was the lone Big 12 school to finish in the final Super
16, the SEC boasted five schools among the final ranked teams as Florida
moved into the poll. The Big Ten and Pac-10 each had three teams in the
poll. No other conference had more than one.
The complete final 2005 poll is as follows:
The FWAA has presented the Grantland Rice Trophy, named in honor of the
legendary sportswriter, to college football's national champion each year
since 1954. When introduced, it was the first national championship trophy
to be awarded after college football's postseason. This is the fourth season
that a season-long poll has been concurrent with the award.
For more information on the Grantland Rice Trophy and the FWAA's Grantland
Rice Super 16 Poll, go to www.grantlandrice.com.