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This is an interesting year, where the BCS #3 team, USC, was #1 in the AP poll.  So in the era of 1 vs 2, we had a split MNC.  Fun.

So semifinals would be:
#1 OU vs #4 Michigan
#2 LSU vs #3 USC

Who would the champ be?  Let's look deeper:
The Teams:
#1 Oklahoma, 12-1
3rd in scoring offense
5th in scoring defense
32nd strength of schedule
The Sooners were the top team from day one through the entire regular season.  They destroyed three ranked opponents #11 Texas (65-13), #24 Mzzou (34-13) and #14 OK State (52-9) on their way to a 12-0 record.  But in the Big 12 CG, #13 KSU blew them out 35-7.  The humbled Sooner remained #1 in the BCS rankings at season's end.
Interestingly, Oklahoma featured a big-scoring offense.  Their yardage wasn't overwhelming, but they put the ball in the endzone, scoring 50+ points seven times during the season.  Heisman-winner QB White threw 40 TD passes.  His top target was WR Clayton, with 1400 yds and 15 TD.  The running game was mostly used as a change-of-pace, with no RBs having strong yards per carry numbers. 
The OU defense was strong as well, with an especially impressive pass D, considering the conference they're in.  146 yards allowed through the air in the Big XII was incredible, but the Sooners weren't soft vs the run, either.  22 INTs helped a lot, too.  The Sooners had All-American talents at all three tiers of the defense, preventing 8 opponents from reaching 14 points in their contests.
OU had strong special teams, with mediocre KR, decent punting, and a good FG success rate (86%, K Dicarlo).  But the PR game was all-time special, with PR Perkins running 4 kicks back on the year.
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#2 LSU, 12-1, SEC Champions
19th in scoring offense
1st in scoring defense
41st strength of schedule
The Bayou Bengals won their conference by beating a top-10 Georgia team twice.  They also beat #17 Auburn in a blowout and a close win at #15 Ole Miss.  The Tigers' only blemish was a home game vs unranked Florida.
LSU got by on a decent offense.  QB Mauck did a good job distributing the ball, and RB Vincent gained 1,001 yards at 6.5 per rush.  However, the offense turned the ball over a lot, which didn't help things.  The Tigers had a 1,000 yard receiver to match their 1,000 yard rusher in WR Clayton.  WRs Henderson and Green were strong complements in the passing game as well.
LSU had a special season thanks to its defense.  No one could run on the Tigers (67 ypg allowed).  11 of their 13 games ended with opponents scoring 14 or fewer points.  Besides 21 INTs, the Tigers' defense scored seven TDs of their own.  Elite DBs and an elite DL helped LSU to the best scoring defense in the country. 
KR was good, punting was good, PR Green had 2 TD returns and a fantastic average (18.5), but the FG kicking was a problem.  Two kickers combined to hit just 60% of FG tries. 
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#3 USC, 11-1, Pac-10 Champions
5th in scoring offense
17th in scoring defense
36th strength of schedule
The men of Troy began the year at #6 Auburn, and shut them out.  The only other ranked foe, #6 Washington State, were blown out by the Trojans.  But an early-season loss at unranked Cal by 3 was the low point for USC.  They did win their last 8 games to make it into the playoff.
USC sported a pass-happy offense, with a big year from QB Leinart.  He threw 38 TDs his first year as starter and had great numbers across the board.  His top 2 targets both went over 1,000 yards for the season (WR Williams and Colbert) and combined for 25 TD catches.  The Trojans relied on a RB committee, which was above average by the numbers (RBs White, Dennis, Bush).
Defensively, the Trojans focused on the run and shut it down, allowing just 60 ypg.  Amazing!  However, that focus allowed teams to pass for 275+ yards per game.  22 INTs helped, as did 8 total defense TDs.  But for elite teams, that pass defense was a sieve.
RB Bush was a great KR and Malone the punter was great.  But the K Kileen hit 79% of his FGs (good) and the PR didn't do much.
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#4 Michigan, 10-2, Big Ten Champions
13th in scoring offense
11th in scoring defense
34th strength of schedule
One of many 2-loss helmet teams outside the top 3, the Wolverines won the last six games to get in the playoff.  An early-season 38-0 thumping of #15 ND had expectations high for only moments, as UM lost 2 of its next 3, at #22 Oregon and at #23 Iowa.  Both were one-score contests.  Michigan won the next week at #17 Minnesota and eventually faced three top-10 teams down the stretch, beating #10 Purdue big, at #9 MSU close, and comfortably vs #4 OSU.
The offense was very good, with QB Navarre tossing 24 TDs, 14 of which went to top target WR Edwards.  His 1100+ yds receiving paced the Wolverines, but WRs Avant and Breaston contributed much as well.
RB Perry was steady and had a nose for the goalline (1600 yds at 5.0 per carry, 18 TDs).  They basically fed him the ball.
A good defense overall, it wasn't special.  UM was good vs the pass and run, but not dominant vs either.  It failed to cause many turnovers, but played good, solid defense.
PR Breaston was great at returning punts, not as great returning kickoffs.  K Rivas improved the FG kicking as he took over for P Finley. 




The Award Winners involved:
QB Jason White, Oklahoma - Heisman, AP POY, O'Brien, All-American (AA)
CB Derrick Strait, Oklahoma - Nagurski, Thorpe, AA
LB Teddy Lehman, Oklahoma - Bednarik, Butkus, AA
RB Chris Perry, Michigan - Walker, AA
DT Tommie Harris, Oklahoma - Lombardi, AA
HC Pete Carroll, USC - AFCA, Home Depot COY
HC Nick Saban, LSU - AP, Robinson, Bryant COY
HC Bob Stoops, Oklahoma - Camp COY
WR Mike Williams, USC - AA
OL Jacob Rogers, USC - AA
KR Antonio Perkins, Oklahoma - AA
DT Chad Lavalais, LSU - AA
DE Kenechi Udeze, USC - AA



Who ya got?

It wouldn't have been Michigan

The kind of year where a different team would win it if they played this out 12 times. 

Yeah, I was thinking about Stoops here.  I don't know what happened to his team in 2003, but they should have won it all.  I know he gets flack for getting drilled vs USC in 2004, but this was a really bad missed opportunity. 
Looking back at the Sugar Bowl/BCSNCG last night, and you're going to hate to hear this, but that talented OU team couldn't handle the LSU talent/speed from its big guys.  That SEC defensive lineman thing truly set several SEC schools apart from everyone else, during that run.  DE Marcus Spears had a pick-6. 
Having special talent on the DL is a huge deal.  You can get pressure on the QB without blitzing.  You can shut down the run.  DT Chad Lavalais looked like a golden god out there...and was only a 5th-round pick.  But thanks to depth, he was running sideline-to-sideline.  That depth lets your 1st team go full tilt, because there's another guy behind him ready to play, who's a little too big for his 40 time...or maybe he's a little too fast for his size, I can't remember.
Anyway, OU, on paper, should have won.  But like Tyson said, "everybody's got a plan until they get hit in the face."

Men of Troy. I hate him, but I believe in Pete Carroll and his teams in the mid-aughts.

My assessment of the OU-LSU Sugar Bowl was/is that LSU was better prepared.  Jason White had gotten injured in the K-State game and was not close to 100%, LSU's man-press coverage was better than anything OU had seen all year.  Also, there was an incident during bowl prep with some LSU coaches coming into the Superdome while OU was still practicing and spying out a trick play (out of punt formation, IIRC) that OU had installed just for this game.  (LSU was obviously prepared for the trick play.)  Then White threw the pick 6.

After all that OU dominated the 4th quarter, getting the running game going well, and had a 1st down at about the 15 with plenty of time to score a tying TD and send it to overtime.  But OC Chuck Long abandoned the run and White threw 6 consecutive incomplete passes (there was a DPI penalty in there) and the Sooners did not score.  Held LSU, got the ball back midfield-ish, and White threw another four consecutive incompletions, and that was the ball game.  LSU 21, OU 14.

I think OU would have won 6 out of 10 against that LSU team, but LSU was definitely better prepared that night in New Orleans.

It wouldn't have been Michigan

So much this.