A 31-year coaching veteran, Chavis began his career on the sidelines as a graduate assistant at Tennessee in 1979. After a year he moved to Alabama A&M to serve as the defensive line coach from 1980-1983. Chavis then jumped to Alabama State for two years, serving as the defensive coordinator before going back to Alabama A&M from 1986-1988.

Chavis then returned to Tennessee in 1989 and served as the defensive line and linebackers coach.

After the Gamecocks lost, 31-10, to Iowa in the Outback Bowl, Norwood declared he would enter the 2009 NFL draft, according to numerous media reports. But he has reconsidered and will return for his senior year.

"I've been thinking it over and, after sitting down with my family, I have decided it would be best for me to return to South Carolina for another year," said Norwood.

The junior is coming off an outstanding performance in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, hauling in eight passes for a school-bowl record 217 yards with touchdown receptions of 73, 66 and 25 yards.

Nicks also set single-season Tar Heel records this season with 1,222 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. Nicks said in a release issued by the school that he met with head coach Butch Davis after the bowl game regarding the draft.

Ohio State comes into the contest sporting a 10-2 record and coach Jim Tressel's club recently won its fourth straight Big Ten title, this time sharing it with the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Buckeyes are making their fourth straight BCS bowl appearance, and have reached a BCS bowl game for the sixth time under Tressel and the seventh time in the 11-year history of the system. Ohio State is 4-2 in BCS bowl matchups.

OSU is making its 40th bowl appearance overall, the most of any Big Ten school, and the team is 18-21 all-time in the postseason. The Buckeyes are 4-1 in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Huskies (8-5) won for only the third time in their last eight games after opening the campaign with five wins.

Buffalo (8-6) was appearing in its first bowl game after capturing the Mid- American Conference title with a 42-24 victory over previously-unbeaten Ball State.

Once upon a time the Bulls were a laughing stock in the Mid-American Conference, but now the team is playing in its first postseason matchup and most of the credit should go to head coach Turner Gill. Gill came to Buffalo in 2006 and since then the team has made drastic improvements, which led to Gill's recent contract extension.

"On the day I came here to be the head coach I told my team that one day we would be successful here at the University at Buffalo," said Gill. "Now, more than ever, I have never been more proud to be the head coach of this program at this great academic institution. This program has proven it can win now and it is built to continue to win in the future." After claiming a share of the MAC East title in 2007,

Johnson completed 27-of-41 passes for the Utes (13-0), who notched their eighth consecutive bowl win. In that streak is another BCS bowl victory, a 35-7 pounding of Pittsburgh in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl.

Freddie Brown recorded 12 catches for 125 yards for Utah, which stormed Alabama with a 21-point first quarter and held on for the win to complete its third undefeated season -- one in which the Utes won the Mountain West Conference title and rose to sixth in the BCS standings.

Mike Hartline threw a touchdown pass and David Jones registered a Liberty Bowl-record 99-yard kickoff return for the Wildcats (7-6), who notched a school-best third consecutive postseason win. The program won the Music City Bowl the last two years, defeating Clemson and Florida State, respectively.

Darryl Freeney hauled in an 80-yard touchdown and Brandon Simmons added a 28- yard TD run for the Pirates (9-5), who topped Tulsa on December 6th to capture the Conference USA title.

Brandon Bolden and Dexter McCluster each ran for a TD while Gerald Harris caught a pair of scores. Mike Wallace also caught a TD for Ole Miss (9-4), which closed out the regular season with five consecutive victories, including a 45-0 romp over rival Mississippi State in the finale.

Head coach Huston Nutt garnered SEC Coach of the Year honors in his first year at the helm and led the Rebels to a 5-3 league mark and a signature win against Florida, dealing the national-champion hopeful Gators their lone loss this season. All four of the program's losses came by seven or fewer points.

The Utes, under the direction of Kyle Whittingham, who on Monday was signed to a five-year contract extension, are just the second team to enter the postseason with an unblemished record this year, the other being Boise State which bowed to TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl.

While it doesn't seem like such a big deal now, the Utes kicked off 2008 with a road win against Michigan in Ann Arbor and ran the table from there. There were a couple of close calls along the way, like a 31-28 victory over Oregon State in early October and a 13-10 triumph versus TCU in Mountain West Conference action the following month, but for the most part Utah handled all of the attention well. In fact the Utes,

Kentucky was fortunate to earn a postseason berth after splitting its 12 games during the regular season. The Wildcats are aiming for what would be a school- record third consecutive bowl victory. The program has won the Music City Bowl the last two years, defeating Clemson and Florida State. This will be the 13th bowl appearance for the Wildcats, who are 7-5 all-time in the postseason. They have won at least six games in three consecutive seasons for the first time since 1954-56. Rich Brooks, the head coach of Kentucky, has turned the program around, although he can't be happy about the fact that his squad lost its final three games of the regular season and finished 2-6 against SEC competition.

As for East Carolina, it earned national recognition and a spot in the Top-25 after beating Virginia Tech and West Virginia to open

These teams have split their previous four meetings overall and have met twice in bowl games. Ole Miss beat Texas Tech in both the 1986 and 1998 Independence Bowls. Speaking of the Rebels, they have exceeded expectations in the first season of the Houston Nutt era. Coach Nutt, who was recently named the SEC Coach of the Year, has led his squad to an 8-4 overall record and Ole Miss is the only team that has beaten the mighty Florida Gators this season. Three of the four losses by Ole Miss have come by seven or fewer points, and the team closed out the regular season with five consecutive victories, including a 45-0 romp over rival Mississippi State in the finale.

The Rebels are 19-12 all-time in bowl games, and they are making their fourth Cotton Bowl appearance. They beat Oklaho

21 Virginia Tech crushed 12th-ranked Cincinnati, 20-7, in the 75th edition of the Orange Bowl.

Virginia Tech, which is 8-14 in postseason play, was making its second straight appearance in the Orange Bowl, as Tech dropped a 24-21 decision to Kansas in last year's memorable event. The Hokies repeated as ACC Champion this season thanks to a 5-3 ledger in conference play.

Sanchez did most of his damage in the first half, when USC (12-1) posted 31 points against an overmatched Penn State secondary. He also ran for a score, while Damian Williams had one receiving TD and Ronald Johnson had two for the Trojans, who have won nine consecutive games against Big Ten competition.

USC made its final appearance under offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian, who will take over the head coaching position at Washington.

Ganz completed 19-of-36 passes and also threw one interception, while Quentin Castille ran 18 times for 125 yards for the Cornhuskers (9-4), who scored 20 points in the third quarter.

Todd Peterson had four catches for 96 yards, as Nebraska also got its first bowl win under first-year head coach Bo Pelini, and ended the season on a four-game winning streak.

Stafford completed 20-of-31 passes for 250 yards and threw an interception for Georgia (10-3), which came into the season as the top-ranked team in the country and dropped a heartbreaking 45-42 decision to rival Georgia Tech in the regular-season finale.

Junior running back Knowshon Moreno logged 125 total yards to go with a receiving touchdown in possibly his last game as a Bulldog, while Michael Moore caught six passes for 97 yards and a touchdown in the hard-fought win.

The consensus All-American running back amassed 121 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries in Iowa's 31-10 rout of South Carolina, as the Hawkeyes (9-4) recorded their first nine-win season since a 10-win campaign in 2004.

The 23-year-old, who missed the 2007 campaign due to academic issues, set numerous single-season Iowa records this year, including rushing yards (1,850) and touchdowns (20). The latter is the 12th-most in Big Ten history.

Greene, who had 29 carries and was awarded the game's MVP, announced after his heroics that he was forgoing his senior season and entering the NFL Draft.

Iowa's defense caused five turnovers and held the Gamecocks to 43 yards rushing, while Ricky Stanzi threw for 147 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions on 13-of-19 passing for the Hawkeyes (9-4), whose four losses this season came by a combined 12 points.

In seven years at Cal, Tedford's Bears have posted a 59-30 record with the last six seasons ending in bowl appearances.

Cal's 24-17 victory over Miami in the Emerald Bowl last Saturday completed a 9-4 campaign and moved Tedford's postseason record to 5-1.

Walker spent the past three seasons as UCLA's defensive coordinator and also served as defensive backs coach for Southern California 2001. He was also the secondary coach for the NFL's New England Patriots, New York Giants and Washington Redskins.

"This is a great opportunity for myself and my family," Walker said. "As long as I have coached you always want to see your vision and formula put to work and I'm thankful and grateful to New Mexico State University for giving me this opportunity to put together a good staff and begin to flip this program around." The 48-year-old Walker replaces Hal Mumme, who posted a record of just 11-38 in four years with the Aggies.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Graham has led the Golden Hurricane to a 20-7 record the past two seasons with back-to-back appearances at the GMAC Bowl, where they will meet 23rd-ranked Ball State on January 6.

USC, which was touted by many to be the class of the Pac-10 Conference heading into the 2008 season, had to fight its way to the top of the league standings following an early 27-21 loss to a surprising Oregon State team. The Trojans, under the guidance of eighth-year head coach Pete Carroll, rebounded by winning nine straight to close the campaign and as a result, claimed their seventh consecutive Pac-10 title.

USC is 11-1 on the year, marking the seventh straight season the team has won at least 11 games (a new NCAA record).

It took until his fourth season as head coach, but Steve Spurrier has finally guided his team to a New Year's Day bowl game. The Gamecocks did not go to a bowl last season, and they were beaten by Texas and Florida the two previous post seasons. USC seemed a solid contender in the SEC at one point this year, with six wins in a seven-game span. But the Gamecocks finished the season with a 50-point loss at Florida, followed by a 17-point loss at Clemson.

Iowa was no stranger to close games this season, as the team's four losses were by a combined 12 points. The Hawkeyes made a strong push down the stretch by winning five of their final six games, including a big win over third- ranked Penn State in early-November. However, the team has been idle for five weeks, following a 55-0 thrashing of Purdue on Nov

The Bearcats will be playing in their first January 1st bowl since 1951 and posted a remarkable 11-2 overall record, while capturing their first-ever Big East title and subsequent BCS Bowl bid. Brian Kelly was named the Big East Coach of the Year as a result.

The 2008 season was one to remember for Cincinnati, which closed the year with six consecutive wins, including big wins over Big East powerhouses West Virginia, Louisville and Pittsburgh in a three week span in November. The Bearcats, whose lone losses on the year came at Oklahoma (52-26) and at Connecticut (40-16), registered 11 victories for the first time in school history.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney took over for predecessor Tommy Bowden on October 13th after a 3-3 start, which prompted Bowden's resignation. Swinney had his interim tag removed by athletic director Terry Don Phillips after guiding the Tigers to a respectable finish with wins in four of their final five games. Highlighted during that stretch was the program's first win over Boston College since 1958, and also a 31-14 victory over the rival South Carolina Gamecocks in the regular-season finale. Clemson is 15-15 all-time in bowl games, and this marks the Tigers' fifth straight bowl appearance. They've lost each of their last two.

The Cornhuskers are also .500 in bowl games (22-22), though their last appearance was a narrow 17-14 loss to Auburn in the 2007 Cotton Bowl. Nebraska closed out the season