DALLAS (FWAA) With their 30-11 win over Rutgers, the Cincinnati Bearcats (6-5) are the
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week, as selected by the pollsters of the FWAA's Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll for games of the weekend of Nov. 18.
Senior quarterback Nick Davila completed 11-of-15 passes for 277 yards and a touchdown in his first career start and DeAngelo Smith returned an interception 84 yards for another score to spark the upset.
Rutgers, last week's national team of the week, lost for the first time this season after a 9-0 start. While the win for Cincinnati makes the Bearcats bowl eligible, it also drops Rutgers into a virtual first-place tie in the Big East with Louisville and West Virginia. Rutgers, ranked No. 7 in the AP poll, is also the highest-ranked team to be beaten by Cincinnati.
"It was a tremendous atmosphere," said Cincinnati head coach Mark Dantonio after the game. "Our students came out. Bearcat people came out. It was a great environment."
Other Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week nominees for the weekend of Nov. 18 included:
Ohio State (12-0): The Buckeyes completed an unbeaten regular season, won the Big Ten title and virtually assured themselves of a berth in the BCS Championship game with a 42-39 win over Michigan.
The FWAA has named a national team of the week since the 2002 season. This is the second season that the award has been sponsored by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
The 16 pollsters of the Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll decide the weekly honor. Each Monday during the 2006 college football season, the FWAA will name the Tostitos Bowl National Team of the Week through Nov. 27.
The Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll, released each Tuesday, has resumed this season. The top-ranked team in the final poll will be awarded the Grantland Rice Trophy as the FWAA's national champion. The FWAA has awarded the trophy each season since 1954. Texas is the defending FWAA national champion and Ohio State is ranked No. 1 in the most current 2006 poll.
Since 1971, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl has hosted five games that have decided the college football national championship, including two Bowl Championship Series title games. The 2007 game will be played on Jan. 1. The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, along with the new Tostitos BCS Championship Game, moves to the new Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., and will be played on Jan. 8.
For more information on the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week, go to
www.footballwriters.com or www.fiestabowl.org.