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✦ OPPONENTS OVERVIEW BY STEVE DOWNEY TEMPLE (2-10) The Owls closed the season Nov. 30 on a high note by crushing Memphis 41-21 … Freshman signal-caller P.J. Walker completed 20 of 32 passes for 328 yards with four touchdowns, and added 59 rushing yards on 11 carries … Sophomore linebacker Tyler Matakevich contributed eight tackles (two for loss) and a forced fumble … Walker set the school record for freshmen with 20 scoring passes … Matakevich led the nation in solo tackles (99) and paced the American Athletic Conference in total stops (137) en route to first-team All-AAC honors. MICHIGAN (7-5) The Wolverines lost a 42-41 heartbreaker to No. 7 Ohio State to conclude the regular season Nov. 30 … Redshirt junior quarterback Devin Gardner was 32-of-45 passing for 451 yards with four touchdowns and added a rushing score, but a failed two-point conversion attempt with 32 seconds remaining resulted in U-M's fifth defeat in seven games … Fifth-year senior tackle Taylor Lewan was named the Big Ten's top offensive lineman, while sophomore Devin Funchess was tabbed as the league's best tight end … Lewan was also named a first-team All-American by Sporting News … U-M will take on Kansas State in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl Dec. 28 in Tempe, Ariz. school-record streak of 100-yard games to eight … MSU's nine-game win streak is its longest since 1978-79 (last seven of '78 and first three of '79) and its 12 victories are a school record (11 in 2010 and '11) … Michigan State will battle No. 5 Stanford in the Rose Bowl Jan. 1 at Pasadena, Calif. OKLAHOMA (10-2) The No. 11 Sooners knocked off archrival and No. 13 Oklahoma State 33-24 in their regular-season finale Dec. 7 … Redshirt junior quarterback Blake Bell threw a sevenyard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jalen Saunders with 19 seconds remaining, and then sophomore linebacker Eric Striker returned a fumble three yards for a score as time expired to shock the Cowboys … Saunders also returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown … OU is one of only four teams from a BCS conference that has reached 10 or more wins each of the past four years, has 12 10-win campaigns since 2000 and is the all-time leader with 35 seasons with at least 10 victories … Oklahoma will face No. 3 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl Jan. 2 in New Orleans. ARIZONA STATE (10-3) The No. 16 Sun Devils finished the regular season with a 58-21 beatdown of Arizona Nov. 30, but were drubbed 38-14 by No. 5 Stanford in the Pac-12 championship game Dec. 7 in Tempe, Ariz. … Sophomore running back D.J. Foster led the team with 142 total yards (80 receiving and 62 rushing) and scored a pair of touchdowns versus the Cardinal … ASU had a school-record-tying 17 All-Pac-12 honorees … Fifth-year senior defensive tackle Will Sutton became the second player in conference history to earn Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year accolades twice, and also was named an Associated Press first-team AllAmerican for the second consecutive season … Arizona State will square off with Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl Dec. 30 in San Diego. PURDUE (1-11) The Boilermakers capped a miserable campaign Nov. 30 with a 56-36 defeat at Indiana … True freshman quarterback Danny Etling threw for 485 yards and four touchdowns, while senior linebacker Will Lucas recorded a teamhigh 12 tackles … Purdue lost its final 10 games — the second-longest losing streak in program history (it lost 11 straight from 1906-08) — en route to a last-place finish in the Big Ten … It marked the Boilermakers' first one-win season and first winless Big Ten campaign since 1993. MICHIGAN STATE (12-1) The No. 4 Spartans bludgeoned Minnesota 14-3 in the regular-season finale Nov. 30, notching just the third unbeaten Big Ten regular season in program history (1965 and '66) … MSU went on to stun then-No. 2 and previously unbeaten Ohio State 34-24 in the Big Ten championship game Dec. 7 in Indianapolis to earn its first outright league crown and Rose Bowl berth since the 1987 season … Redshirt junior running back Jeremy Langford rushed for 134 yards versus the Gophers and 128 against the Buckeyes to extend his Senior wide receiver Jalen Saunders and Oklahoma earned a date with Alabama in the Sugar Bowl Jan. 2 in New Orleans. ✦ PAGE 12 PHOTO COURTESY OKLAHOMA