Oregon and South Florida were among the seven schools to be ranked No. 2 in the country one week and lose the next. Three-game losing streaks ended the BCS hopes of both the Ducks and Bulls.

Sure, both teams would rather be meeting with a national title at stake. But all things considered, the Ducks (8-4) and Bulls (9-3) are thrilled to tour the border, nibble enchiladas and knock helmets come Monday.

"We were overjoyed," South Florida coach Jim Leavitt said Sunday, recalling his team's reaction when the Sun Bowl called. "We do feel pretty good. It's very hard to win all your games. Not many can do it."

Said Oregon's Mike Bellotti: "This is a tremendous bowl game."

South Florida is in its 11th season, a national success story for Leavitt's work-from-scratch approach. Only a few ago, the coaching offices were in trailers and now the program is one game from its first 10-win season.

The Bulls were 6-0 and ranked No. 2 when they lost 30-27 at Rutgers on Oct. 18, the first setback in a three-game losing streak.

"When we were rolling along, I wasn't talking too much about the next day," Leavitt said. "We were 6-0. You just stay focused. When we lost those games, you're just trying to bring your team back, to keep playing hard and stay focused."

Oregon skidded, too, losing three straight after Heisman Trophy hopeful Dennis Dixon saw his season end when he aggravated a knee injury in a 34-24 loss at Arizona on Nov. 15.

Going into that one, the Ducks held the No. 2 spot. The other teams that reached No. 2 in the rankings and immediately lost included USC, California, Boston College, Kansas and West Virginia.

Bellotti noted there were several No. 1 teams that lost, too. He attributed the rash of high-ranking defeats to parity, saying scholarship limits and wider television exposure are moving talent around.

He also cited spread offenses for helping undermanned teams compete.

"There's great coaches and great athletes out there," Bellotti said. "There's a tremendous proliferation of information out there, information sharing. You see ideas and all of a sudden everybody's doing it."

Because of injuries, Oregon has peeled the roster to find a Sun Bowl quarterback. South Florida's swarming defense will face a redshirt freshman, though Bellotti won't say if he'll start Cody Kempt or Justin Roper.

Both were at the bottom of the depth chart back in fall camp. Kempt took over when Dixon's replacement, Brady Leaf, was hurt against UCLA, then Kempt was knocked out of the Oregon State game the next week.

Roper took over in that one, throwing a 31-yard TD strike on his first throw.

"We've had four weeks now to groom our quarterbacks," Bellotti said. "Both of them have been able to get so many more reps and so much more experience. The hard thing is simulating game speed."

That might leave it to Oregon tailback Jonathan Stewart, who led the Pac-10 with an average 122.4 yards rushing per game.

"Stewart is such a good running back, a guy who's going to be real focused," Leavitt said.

South Florida's defense is led by end George Selvie, the Big East defensive player of the year who led the nation with 31½ tackles for losses and needs one more to set an NCAA single-season record.

"They always say, 'Be the most relentless team on the field,'" Selvie said. "That's what we're going to try to do."

The Bulls' offense is led by quarterback Matt Grothe, a dual threat who completed 60 percent of his passes this season while rushing for 832 yards. He put up 23 TDs, including 13 through the air.

Bellotti compared Grothe to Heisman winner Tim Tebow of Florida or Washington standout Jake Locker.