Texas (13-0) struggled to beat Nebraska in the Big 12 championship game on Saturday night. That 13-12 victory left just a little doubt about whether the unbeaten Longhorns would indeed earn a trip to Pasadena, Calif., for the title game on Jan. 7.

Still, Texas moved into second-place in the Bowl Championship Series standings as expected and will play Alabama for the first time since the 1982 Cotton Bowl. The Longhorns are 7-0-1 against the Crimson Tide.

labama (13-0) cruised into the national title game, winning the SEC championship with a 32-13 victory against defending national champion Florida.

Arkansas will be the Southeastern Conference team playing two-time Conference USA champ East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl on Jan. 2. The Razorbacks (7-5) lost to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl in January 2008.

East Carolina wrapped up a second straight visit to Memphis by upsetting No. 18 Houston 38-32 in the C-USA championship on Saturday. The Pirates (9-4) are the first C-USA team to win consecutive league titles since the conference split into divisional play in 2005.

Missouri will face off against Navy in the Texas Bowl on Dec. 31 in Houston. The Texas Bowl had the final selection of teams from the Big 12 and, once the Insight Bowl passed over Missouri (8-4) for Iowa State (6-6), the faceoff with Navy (8-4) at Reliant Stadium was set.

The Insight Bowl selected Iowa State over Missouri despite the fact that the Tigers own a better record and defeated the Cyclones 34-24 on Nov. 21.

Missouri is 2-0 all-time against Navy, with the last meeting in 1961 at the Orange Bowl, where the Tigers defeated the Midshipmen 21-14 to cap off an 11-0 season.

The Texas Bowl kicks off at 2:30 CST and will be on ESPN.