Michigan had a helping hand in Texas' 1969 national championship.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Jimmy Burch

LOS ANGELES _ Texas has not played Michigan in a college football game, an omission that will end with Saturday's historic matchup in the Rose Bowl. But the Longhorns and Wolverines have teamed up, indirectly, to settle a national championship.

Darrell Royal remembers.

The schools' paths crossed in a magical manner, from a Texas perspective, on Nov. 22, 1969. Royal, then the Longhorns' coach, was in Waco that afternoon to watch an SMU-Baylor game because Texas had an open date.

Shortly after the Mustangs put the finishing touches on a 12-6 victory, reporters in the press box learned of a result from another venue that would have a much greater impact on Royal and his second-ranked Longhorns. No. 12 Michigan, under first-year coach Bo Schembechler, had just posted a 24-12 upset of top-ranked Ohio State, the defending national champion, to seal a berth in the Rose Bowl.

"The writers descended on me after the game and asked, `How does it feel being No. 1?,' " Royal recalled. "I said, `I don't know. I haven't been at it long enough."

Within 48 hours, Texas was atop both polls. Arkansas, which had been No. 3, climbed to No. 2 to set up the Big Shootout on Dec. 6 in Fayetteville, Ark. Texas won that one, 15-14, then beat Notre Dame, 21-17, in the Cotton Bowl to seal the school's second national title. But it took an assist from Michigan, a team coached by one of Royal's friends, to set the stage for that to happen.