In the championship game, Oklahoma was crushed by USC, 55–19. Meanwhile, Auburn defeated ACC Champion No. 9 Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl 16–13, and No. 6 Utah demolished Big East champion No. 21 Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl, 35–7. This left 3 undefeated teams at the end of the season, with Auburn finishing at No. 2 and Utah at No. 4, and once again leaving many voters wondering who the real champion was. Another controversy occurred this season when voters jumped Texas over California in the final regular-season poll. Texas coach Mack Brown publicly lobbied voters to give Texas the final at-large bid. Although the Bears, as Pac-10 runner-up, normally would have had first crack at a Rose Bowl berth, Brown lobbied for and got that berth. Several Associated Press voters were besieged by fan emails and phone calls attempting to sway their votes, apparently spurred from Brown's pleas to rank Texas ahead of other "less deserving teams." California's cause was hurt when it was less than impressive in a 26–16 victory over 24-point underdog Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Mississippi the night before bowl bids were extended. Nine of the 65 AP voters moved Texas ahead of Cal, and three of them were from Texas. In the Coaches Poll, four voters moved Cal down to No. 7 and two to No. 8, when the week before none had them lower than No. 6. Meanwhile, two coaches moved Texas up to No. 3, even though they did not play that week. The "Los Angeles Times" wrote that accusations were raised about manipulated voting, but the individual votes were not released to prove or disprove the allegations. In the end, Texas gained 23 points on Cal in the AP Poll, and 43 points in the Coaches Poll. This allowed Texas to earn a BCS berth, finishing .0129 points ahead of Cal in the BCS standings after being .0013 points behind. In the Rose Bowl, Texas rallied to defeat Big Ten champion Michigan in a thriller, 38-37. Following the game, Brown was heavily criticized for his lobbying of votes, while Cal coach Jeff Tedford called for all votes to be released to the public. The Golden Bears lost to Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl, 45-31, hurting their cause. Cal played without two of the highest performing receivers in the NCAA, however, their loss was attributed in many press reports to the Bears' disappointment over being denied their first Rose Bowl appearance in 45 years. As a result of two straight years of controversy, the Associated Press removed its poll from the BCS formula, instead choosing to give out its own national championship trophy.