Yes, the team that was shut out in Dallas by Oklahoma. If life were fair, the team that maximized its talent would have gotten the spot, instead of the team whose coach politicked for BCS inclusion on national TV. This just in: Life isn't fair. The Checkers speech got Mack Brown to Pasadena.
(Since Cal's mortal sin was beating bowl-bound Southern Mississippi by only 10 in Hattiesburg, perhaps we should compare that with what Texas did in its last road game. The Longhorns beat a 4-7 Kansas team by the hair on Bevo's chin, requiring a questionable interference call on the Jayhawks and a last-minute touchdown to pull it out.)
A little left coast bias from this sports writer maybe. If we compare losses, Cal lost to the undefeated USC while Texas lost to the undefeated OU. USC is "ranked" ahead of OU only because the poll voters ranked them that way in the pre-season based on their guilt over USC being shut out of the championship game last year. The Big 12 south is by far the toughest conference in the country -- much stronger than the PAC-10 and OU went undefeated and UT had only one loss. As for Cal's final unimpressive victory over "bowl-bound 6-5 Southern Miss, this is the same Southern Miss team that was soundly beaten like a red-headed stepchild by the 5-6 TCU team that lost to the likes of Tulane and South Florida this year.
Yes, the system sucks. But it is what we are stuck with.
Am I mistaken, or wasn't Southern Miss also beaten by Div I-AA Maine?
For me, it comes down to 2 key points:
1) Cal's only hiccup in a pefect season was almost knocking off the defending national champion on the road.
2) Texas got smoked by Oklahoma and narrowly beat a god-awful Kansas team on a phantom pass interfernce call.
Southern Miss may seem unimpressive to you, but winning at Lawrence has always been a lot easier than winning at Hattiesburg.
I just think Cal was the more deserving BCS choice and more sentimental Rose Bowl pick.
p.s. Did I mention that Texas got completely smoked by Oklahoma?