Texas vs. Florida. A No. 1 vs. No. 2 in national rankings. Two defending state champions loaded with major college prospects. Both with new coaches. Live national TV coverage. It has its own website: www.clashofchampions.com.

SLC receiver and Oregon commit Blake Cantu faces Miami Northwestern in national showdown.

All the ingredients add up to Southlake Carroll vs. Miami Northwestern at 6 p.m. (ESPNU) at SMU's Ford Stadium. According to USA Today, it's the third time in the paper's national Super 25's 25-year history that No. 1 has met No. 2 but the first time it's been between teams from different states. For the record, Concord (Calif.) De La Salle and Long Beach Poly met as No. 1 and 2 in 2001 and '02 with De La Salle winning both.

Southlake Carroll has established itself as one of the best programs in Texas history with four state titles in the last five years. Northwestern has won three Florida state titles in the last decade and has blossomed into one of the nation's premier college player pipelines.

"Northwestern may have more talent than any high school team in history," said Larry Bluestein, the national talent evaluator for Varsity Sports Media. "All 22 starters for Northwestern will probably play in college."

Southlake Carroll has become something of a regular TV show. Northwestern will be its fourth-consecutive national televised game in the last four years. Last year, Southlake walloped Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian, 43-16. Five other Carroll games have been televised live regionally since 2002.

"It'll be a big game that a lot of people talk about it," Southlake Carroll quarterback Riley Dodge said. "I'm glad we've had big games before so we'll know what to expect."

ESPN has started setting up national high school games _ a trend escalated during the NHL strike two years ago when the sports programming network was looking for alternative fall broadcasting opportunities.

There is an ebb-and-flow in talent year-by-year even in the best programs. But lightning has been caught in a bottle with SLC vs. Miami Northwestern.

The teams are coming off state championships and both have plenty of talent returning. Northwestern has five players already committed to the University of Miami.
Southlake Carroll has a record-setting offense with Dodge, running back Tre Newton, a great receiving corps and a talented an experienced line.

The Dragons, though, do have a very inexperienced defense to go against a power-packed Northwestern offense with speed to burn any mistake.

Both programs generate great community interest. Northwestern regularly has crowds of 8,000 to 10,000 at Miami's Traz-Powell Stadium. They will get larger crowds with games moved to Dolphin Stadium or the Orange Bowl.

"I get e-mails every season from (Northwestern) alumni around the country about how the Bulls will do this season," Miami Herald reporter Andre Fernandez said. "And, of course, there is even more interest this year."

The Herald will send at least a pair of reporters to cover the game, with one arriving several days before the game to report on the buildup. In last year's state playoffs, Carroll's second-round playoff game with local power Euless Trinity (see Gatorade commercial with Bill Parcells), drew almost 50,000 fans at Texas Stadium.

First-year Carroll coach Hal Wasson is back after being an assistant for Carroll's state championship in 2002. Wasson has been head coach at Keller (Tex.) Fossil Ridge just a few miles from Southlake and has never been far from the Dragons' program.

"These kids have always responded and played well in the big game," Wasson said. "There's no reason to think they won't do it this year."