Longhorns

Texas has an identity problem. The state that contributed Friday Night Lights to the culture is sending its namesake university to the Rose Bowl, where it will play Southern California for the national championship in college football. It won't be the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 meeting of the school year for the Longhorns. The Texas basketball team takes on top-ranked Duke tomorrow at Continental Airlines Arena, aka The Meadowlands. The biggest state in the lower 48 has three of the NBA's most vibrant franchises and a prep pipeline that has turned out, among others, Shaquille O'Neal and reigning Rookie of the Year Emeka Okafor.

SAN ANTONIO - Order was restored to the NCAA tournament yesterday at the Alamodome, where Texas upheld the honor of college basketball's No. 1 seeds. The Longhorns attempted 30 free throws in the second half and subdued Michigan State, 85-76, in the South Regional final. With top-seeded Arizona, Kentucky and Oklahoma losing regional finals, Texas and coach Rick Barnes will go to New Orleans and the Superdome as the favorites in an offbeat Final Four. Had the Longhorns lost, the Final Four would have been without a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1980.

A day before the Texas Longhorns disposed of his team in the South Regional championship game, Michigan State guard Alan Anderson sized up possibly college basketball's most compelling force - pound for diminutive pound. "Whenever you see him on film, he's lightning fast. But he has so many different gears," said Anderson, referring to Texas sophomore point guard T.J. Ford. "You have to throw different people at him and try to get him tired, because he never seems to get tired. He might jog up the floor, then hit another gear real fast.

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The blueprint for an upset was simple enough. The Southern California players and coaches figured if they played tough defense and stayed close against favored Texas for the first 10 minutes, they could make a game of it. The Trojans did better than that. They broke to an early lead against the Longhorns - and their super-freshman Kevin Durant - and never looked back, rolling to an 87-68 victory in an East Regional second-round game at Spokane Arena. "The first 10 minutes were critical," USC coach Tim Floyd said.

Heisman stock Rising: Okla. QB Jason White: 19-for-35, 292 yards, 5 TDs Rising: Texas RB Cedric Ben son: 24 carries, 141 yards, 5 TDs Top performers Jerome Harrison, Wash. State: 247 yards rushing, 3 TDs Kay-Jay Harris, W.Va.: 2 rushing TDs, 2 receiving TDs Game of the day No. 6 Texas 56, No. 19 Okla homa State 35: The Longhorns trailed 35-7 but scored the last 49 points.

Villanova @Georgetown 7 P.M. [ESPN] Mr. Flip knows his college hoops, so he's telling you there's no way Villanova, with guys like Pinckney and Jensen, can beat the mighty Hoyas of Ewing and Williams. Kansas @Texas 9 P.M. [ESPN] The Jayhawks are No. 4, the Longhorns No. 12. Texas has beaten Kansas in the past two games played in Austin, but those games were played in 2004 and 2006.

Maryland has agreed to a home-and-home football series with Texas, the school announced today. The Terps will travel to Austin on Sept. 2, 2017, while the Longhorns will head to College Park for a Sept. 1, 2018 date. Both games will be season openers. Texas holds a 3-0 series advantage over the Terps. The last meeting between the programs was in the 1978 Sun Bowl.

AUSTIN, Texas -- University of Texas freshman pitcher Reid Ryan appreciated the fatherly advice he received before he took the mound against the Texas Rangers last night."

Star power With the last two Heisman Trophy winners, tailback Reggie Bush and quarterback Matt Leinart, lining up for the Trojans, and this year's Heisman runner-up, quarterback Vince Young, playing for the Longhorns, it's fitting that this game is being held near Hollywood. It marks the first time that two Heisman-winning teammates will play in the same championship game. USC certainly has more marquee names - the Trojans also boast All-Americans in wide-out Dwayne Jarrett and tailback LenDale White - but that could just give the mostly no-name Longhorns more motivation.

PASADENA, Calif.-- --Maybe Reggie Bush was the best player in college football this season, but Texas quarterback Vince Young made a pretty convincing argument last night that the Heisman Trophy went to the wrong guy. There was no question that on this glittering night at the Rose Bowl, Young was the man and - by the simple force of his will - the Longhorns were the best college football team in the nation. He had 467 all-purpose yards. Bush had 281. Young scored three touchdowns, including the decisive score with 19 seconds left to play to win his second Rose Bowl Most Valuable Player trophy in a row. Bush scored one touchdown and made a momentum-shifting mental error in the first half that probably was the turning point in the game.