[UPDATED: HBowl makes it official]

via www.holidaybowl.com

Please use this thread to discuss the BCS Selection show and other assorted TV tonight, but word has just come down from something called Sign On San Diego confirming what many, many, many hoped:

San Diego's other bowl game, the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl on Dec. 28, will be a matchup between a pair of 7-5 teams, Cal and Texas. It will be the third appearance for the Bears (2004, 2006) and the fifth for Texas (2000, 2001, 2003, 2007). Both teams have split their previous games here.

Though the Bears and Longhorns bring the same record to San Diego, they have been traveling in opposite directions. Cal started 3-0 but fell to 4-4 before winning three of its final four (losing only to No. 4 Stanford). Texas was 4-0 and 6-2 before dropping three of its final four, and there have been reports that coach Mack Brown could be forced out.

Discuss this HUGE news and the BCS Selection Show in this thread.

Christmas is still three weeks away. But tonight, college football fans get to open their first present of the holiday season.

Allstate BCS Selection Show: 5:15 pm PT, ESPN

College Football Bowl Selection Special: 6:00 PM PT, ESPN

The worldwide leader is giving us two selection shows tonight. First, the final Bowl Championship Series standings will be revealed at 5:15 pm PT. We will find out which teams get the ten coveted slots in the BCS National Championship Game and the Sugar, Orange, Rose, and Fiesta Bowls.

There are certain things we know for sure -- LSU has locked up its spot in the BCSNCG; Oregon and Wisconsin are headed for the Rose Bowl; and Big 12 champion Oklahoma State and ACC champion Clemson each will be headed to one of the BCS bowls. It also seems fairly likely that Stanford will nab a Fiesta Bowl berth. But as for how the rest of the BCS picture shakes out, we'll find out at 5:15. Alabama held onto its spot as the # 2 ranked team in the AP and coaches' polls today, but the Tide's margin over Oklahoma State shrunk a little bit in both polls. Will the computers be kind enough to Oklahoma State and the Big 12 to boost OSU above Alabama for the right to play LSU for the BCS title?

As for our California Golden Bears, the 6:00 PT special on ESPN will definitively let us know where the Bears will make their eighth bowl appearance under Coach Jeff Tedford.

As a reminder, here are your Pac-12 bowl partners, in their selection order following the Rose Bowl--

• Valero Alamo Bowl (vs. Big 12, December 29 in San Antonio)
• Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl (vs. Big 12, December 28 in San Diego)
• Hyundai Sun Bowl (vs. ACC, December 31 in El Paso)
• MAAACO Las Vegas Bowl (vs. Mountain West, December 22 in Las Vegas)
• Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (vs. at-large team, December 31 in San Francisco)
• Gildan New Mexico Bowl (vs. Mountain West, December 17 in Albuquerque)

As Avinash posted earlier today, Cal appears to be earmarked for the Holiday Bowl against either Texas, Missouri, or Iowa State. John Breech tweeted today that Cal to the Holiday Bowl is "a done deal."

But enough anticipation and speculation. Let's unwrap the bowl gifts tonight. And discuss all of it right here.

Happy Bowling!