DALLAS -- The Bowl Championship Series failed again. With Florida passing on Pasadena and Texas ready to trip on its trip, sadly the BCS could not account for the hottest team in the land.

Colorado's Big 12 title celebration helps ease the thought it is getting ripped off in the BCS.(AP)

After Saturday, it is clear Colorado should be playing in the Rose Bowl. It won't, of course, but after the Buffaloes' 39-37 victory over Texas in the Big 12 Championship, which team can claim these accomplishments?

Consecutive victories over the No. 2 and 3-ranked teams -- Nebraska and Texas.

A combined margin of victory of 28 points against those powerhouses.

Eight hundred eighty-seven total yards against the nation's No. 2 scoring defense (Nebraska) and No. 2 total defense (Texas).

The result wasn't an upset. It was an injustice.

"I don't know if we're the best team right now," Colorado coach Gary Barnett said. " ... I certainly think that no one is playing with more heart than we are right now."

Heart bigger than -- Texas? It certainly seemed that way in front of a hostile Texas Stadium crowd that hasn't been this excited since the men of Troy (Aikman) were winning regularly. But the No. 9 Buffaloes (10-2) impressively joined the ranks of Tennessee, Oklahoma State and Ohio State in the last eight days in reshaping this crazy BCS.

The Pure Prairie League (Big 12) was reminded its title game has never been all about championships. For the third time in the six-year history of the game, the favorite went into the tank. It was particularly embarrassing this time with No. 3 Texas (10-2) basically playing a home game.

"There is no telling what would have happened had we won the game," Texas cornerback Quentin Jammer said. "This loss is hard. We were expecting so many things after getting a win."

If Nebraska would have known it would score 36 points and Texas 37 before their games with Colorado, the two giants would have been thinking victory. But the Colorado defense came up big enough in this eight-day stretch. It forced a goal line fumble by Nebraska's Dahrran Diedrick on Nov. 23. Texas' Chris Simms cooperated Saturday with four turnovers in less than a half.

Moreover, Colorado's running game cannot be stopped. For the second consecutive game, backup running back Chris Brown torched a quality defense. After 198 yards and six touchdowns against Nebraska, the sophomore slacked off a bit, going for 183 yards and three touchdowns against the Longhorns.

"Another day, another game," said Colorado quarterback Bobby Pesavento, whose team lost to Texas 41-7 Oct. 20. "Another piece of adversity we had to overcome."

The shame of it is Colorado won't be able to prove it is national championship material. It has taken out two prime Big 12 and national contenders while leaving itself short of the national championship. Barnett refused to think about an opening-day, two-point loss to Fresno State that could have been the difference.

A field goal would have won that game. Near the goal line, quarterback Craig Ochs threw an interception when a run into the line, a throwaway or even sack would have gotten the job done -- and probably put the Buffs in the Rose Bowl picture considering Saturday's result.

"We don't think about Fresno State," Barnett said. "We just play our game and leave it up to others to decide who we're going to play."

Meanwhile, in yet another weird twist of the BCS, Colorado's victory let those Buff-beaten Cornhuskers back in the Rose Bowl door. It seems as if the other berth next to Miami in Pasadena will come down between Nebraska and Tennessee.

"There's a lot of satisfaction (in reshaping the title picture)," said Colorado safety Medford Moorer, who returned a Simms interception 64 yards for a touchdown. "You would love to play in a national championship. That's every little boy's dream."

It was troubling Simms picked this particular night to throw three interceptions and cough up a fumble against the opportunistic Buffaloes. The four turnovers led to three Colorado touchdowns and more questions about Simms' performance in big games.

"I blew a big opportunity for us," Simms said. "I am stunned with how it turned out. We had a chance to maybe go to the Rose Bowl today, and I let a lot of people down."

It was eerily convenient Simms dislocated a finger on his (left) throwing hand one play after throwing his third interception. Simms left the field to chants of "May-jor, May-jor." Fan favorite Major Applewhite came in and two plays later whipped a 79-yard scoring pass to B.J. Johnson.

"I was a coward in '99 against Nebraska," said Applewhite, who started in a 22-6 conference title game loss to the Huskers. "I told myself if I had a chance to get in this ballgame, there would be no excuses. I was going to look myself in the mirror. We fought our guts out to get back in the ballgame."

The quick strike gave Texas optimism, trailing 29-17 at halftime. But even Barnett couldn't hand the game to the 'Horns. An inexplicable fake punt pass at midfield was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Texas' Roderick Babers with 9:10 left. That cut the lead to 36-30.

But after running more than seven minutes off the clock on the next possession, Barnett came to his senses. Jeremy Flores was allowed to kick what turned out to be the game-winning field goal.

The sighs of Texas were almost audible after the loss. It's now 31 years and counting since the 'Horns last won a national championship. A chance at breaking that streak was within reach minutes before kickoff when Tennessee completed its upset of Florida. The Rose Bowl was more than a dream for the 'Horns at that point -- it was four quarters and a charter flight away.

For the 17th consecutive year as a head coach, Mack Brown was denied his first conference title.

"With so much at stake, do you take this harder?" Brown said rhetorically. "I've taken a lot of them hard. What you got to do as a coach is throw up. I've got a bunch of sick kids, who are struggling so much and hurting."

And not care a lick the BCS failed again for all the wrong reasons.