Another Fiesta for the Buckeyes

Ohio State is returning to the Fiesta Bowl, site of last season’s dramatic double-overtime national championship victory over Miami, to face surprising Big 12 champion Kansas State.

The Jan. 2 game will be the first meeting of the two schools.

On Sunday, Fiesta Bowl officials exercised a provision in bowl championship series rules that gave them an “economic priority” pick ahead of the Orange Bowl and selected Ohio State over Florida State.

“It was our opportunity to have the next-to-last selection, essentially, and the Orange Bowl was left with the final selection,” Fiesta Bowl Executive Director John Junker said.

The Fiesta’s insistence on Ohio State left the Jan. 1 Orange Bowl with a Miami-Florida State matchup -- a rematch of a game played in October and won by Miami, and a preview of the 2004 season opener for the in-state rivals.

The Fiesta Bowl gives an automatic berth to the Big 12 champion unless that team is playing in the national-title game. If Oklahoma had won the Big 12 title and gone to the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta would have had two at-large picks.

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The Holiday Bowl gained from the chaos atop the bowl championship series standings, inviting No. 5 Texas to face No. 15 Washington State on Dec. 30 at Qualcomm Stadium. The Longhorns (10-2) will play in the Holiday Bowl for the third time in four years.

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Junior tailback Donny Heck rushed for touchdowns of seven, eight, two and 13 yards to lead No. 18 Boise State to a 45-28 victory over Hawaii on Saturday night in Honolulu. The Broncos (12-1) play No. 19 TCU in the Fort Worth Bowl on Dec. 23. Hawaii (8-5) finishes the season on Christmas Day against Houston of Conference USA in the Hawaii Bowl.... Bridgewater (Va.) defeated Lycoming, 13-9, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III playoffs at Williamsport, Pa.