DENVER -- Passed over for the Rose Bowl, a bitterly disappointed Gary Barnett shifted to Plan B: Beat Oregon in the Fiesta and earn a share of the national championship.

"Let's go play Oregon and win it another way," the Colorado coach said Sunday. "That's how we'll do it. Sort of the way we've done it anyway."

Although Colorado (10-2) finished ahead of Nebraska (11-1) in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN coaches polls and routed the Cornhuskers 62-36 three weeks ago, it wasn't enough.

Nebraska barely edged Colorado for the No. 2 spot in the final Bowl Championship Series standings. Miami was first with 2.62 points, Nebraska second with 7.23 points, Colorado third at 7.28 and Oregon fourth with 8.67.

The Huskers will play No. 1 Miami in the Rose, with the winner be crowned national champion by the coaches. The AP champion will be picked after the Rose, with every team eligible.

"It's hard to be gracious at this moment," Barnett said, "but we will obviously accept and be excited about playing Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl."

The final BCS ratings were announced during Colorado's annual Senior Banquet, creating an instant sense of emptiness in players, school officials, fans and families.

"It's disappointing because we feel we are a better team than Nebraska," running back Bobby Purify said. "We feel we are better than most teams right now.

"They say the computer is right. We're just going to have to go out and play well against Oregon and prove to the nation how good we really are."

Colorado athletic director Dick Tharp said college football is "moving toward a better system. We're tweaking it yearly. We just can't change it this year, and five-hundredths of a point makes no sense to a 22-year-old senior."

Barnett, whose team lost to Fresno State and Texas, came back after Thanksgiving with resounding wins over Nebraska and Texas. He noted that Colorado beat five ranked opponents while the Huskers had two.

"I think I put a lot of trust in the system working, and it did work," Barnett said. "It just didn't work in our favor. I probably should have lobbied a little bit for it. This sort of takes a little luster off my support for the BCS."

Barnett insisted he still does not favor a playoff system in college football.

"I am just for a little more, maybe, integrity in the system we have now."

When it was noted his team still had a shot at a co-national championship, Barnett said, "Yeah. And that is what we are going to shoot for. That's how we'll play this thing out with our team."

Barnett called Oregon "a great team. I am not concerned about our motivation for playing them in that game."

Fan reaction mirrored what the coach and players said.

Benji Daniel, 25, a Colorado business school graduate, said, "Nebraska always finds a way to beat the Buffs in the long run, even when we whoop 'em.

"I'm a little sick to my stomach. I have to go to Tempe, and I'd much rather go to L.A."