The No. 4-seeded Oregon Ducks (11-1) will take on the No. 5 Kansas State Wildcats (11-1) in what'll arguably be considered the best postseason matchup excluding the BCS championship. Quarterback Colin Klein and the Wildcats will attempt to keep the offensively stacked Ducks at bay in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Thursday night.

Four minutes after time ran out on Kansas State's flawless season via 52-24 upset to Baylor on Nov. 17, Oregon also lost in its effort against Stanford by a margin of 17-14 in overtime.

Each of the programs' lone defeats would get them drastically pushed back in the BCS standings. However, the powerhouse Alabama, who also suffered one defeat, went on to claim the No. 2 spot behind the No. 1-ranked Notre Dame.

"If you lose a game, you leave it up to chance. The only thing you can do is not lose a game. Two years ago we did not lose a game, we got an opportunity to play in the (BCS title) game. This year we did and we have nobody to blame but ourselves," Ducks coach Chip Kelly told ESPN.

Interesting enough, the Fiesta Bowl is the only postseason game besides the national championship in which both of the programs are ranked within the top ten or have less than two losses.

"The goal all along was to lead this team to a conference championship and a BCS bowl game, and with the unity we showed throughout the season, we were able to accomplish that. Oregon is certainly going to be a tough matchup," said Klein, who finished third in the running for the Heisman Trophy.

CLICK HERE to watch the Oregon Ducks face off against Kansas State Wildcats via live stream. Coverage of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl game is set to begin on Thursday, Jan. 3 at 5:30 PM PST.

Tags
NCAA Football, Television