In a contest between the top two U.S. college football teams, the Ohio State Buckeyes have defeated archrival Michigan, 42-39, to finish the regular season undefeated and in line to repeat as national champions.
Number one Ohio State scored 21 points in the second quarter Saturday to take a 28-14 halftime lead. Michigan pulled to within four points early in the fourth quarter, but an Ohio State touchdown with about five minutes left gave the Buckeyes the lead to stay.
Ohio State's next game will be January eighth in the national championship game - the Fiesta Bow in Arizona.
Fourth ranked Southern California scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to beat California 23-9. USC has a chance to play for the national title for the third straight year, but still has tough games against Notre Dame and cross-town Los Angeles rival UCLA in the coming weeks.
The only top-10 upset Saturday saw number seven Rutgers drop a 30-11 decision to Cincinnati.
In other action featuring top-10 teams, number three Florida crushed outmanned Western Carolina, 62-0. Fifth-ranked Arkansas beat Mississippi State, 28-14. Number six Notre Dame eased past Army, 41-9. Louisiana State, ranked ninth, needed overtime to get by Mississippi, 23-20. And number 10 Louisville thumped South Florida, 31-8.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
