Two American football standouts from Australia will be on opposite sides in the 2012 BCS National Championship game in the rematch between Alabama and LSU at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on January 9.  

More than 50 athletes from countries including American Samoa, Australia, Brazil, Estonia, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden are playing college football in the United States this season. Each week the International Federation of American Football (IFAF) will highlight the top performances of international players on www.IFAF.org and www.Facebook.com/IFAF.org.

Alabama will face LSU in the 2012 BCS National Championship on January 9 in New Orleans with former IFAF World Team lineman JESSE WILLIAMS, who began his football career in his native Australia, among the Crimson Tide starters.  Williams started each game at defensive end in 2011, finishing the season with 22 tackles including four for a loss of yards.

LSU also features an Australian in punter BRAD WING, who helped the Tigers to their 11th league title, defeating Georgia 42-10 in the SEC championship game.  Wing punted for 403 yards on eight punts including a 67-yarder.

BJOERN WERNER, who was a teammate of Williams on the 2010 IFAF World Team, was named Defensive Most Valuable Player for the Florida State Seminoles who finished the regular season 8-4.  On the season, the German collected a total 35 tackles including 10 for a loss of yards and also claimed an interception.  Werner began playing American football with his local club team the Berlin Adler, before progressing through the ranks to the German junior national team and then the Salisbury School in Connecticut as a member of the USA Football International Student Program.

Boise State shut out New Mexico 45-0 to finish the 2011 season 11-1 and earned a spot in the MAACO Bowl in Las Vegas where they will face Arizona State on December 22.  In the season finale, the three players from the Netherlands contributed as wide receiver GERALDO BOLDEWIJN had three catches for 21 yards and defensively CEDRIC FEBIS led the team in tackles with eight and RICK TJONG-A-TJOE registered four tackles including one for a loss of four yards.

West Virginia finished the 2011 regular season on a high note defeating South Florida 30-27 with a 28-yard field goal in the final seconds of the game.  German native and former USA Football International Student Program member CURTIS FEIGT played on the offensive line for the Mountaineers this season.  The win earned WVU a spot in the 2012 Discover Orange Bowl where they will take on ACC champion Clemson on January 4 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens.  The appearance is West Virginia's third bowl appearance since 2006 and its first since 2008.

For the Bulls, Brazilian MAIKON BONANI connected on two field goals from 32-yards and 20-yards. Bonani also went 3-3 on extra points.

Wyoming claimed a 22-19 come-from-behind win over Colorado State to win the Bronze Boot trophy for a third straight year in the annual event.  Former German Junior National player MARK NZEOCHA recorded one tackle for the Cowboys.  Fellow Germans linebackers ALEX BORGS and OLIVER SCHOBER also played for Wyoming this season.

The University of Hawai'i fell in the season finale 41-20 to Brigham Young.  The Warriors held a 13-10 lead at the interval but the Cougars scored 34 unanswered points in the second half.  With the loss, the Warriors failed to reach the seven wins necessary to qualify for the hometown Sheraton Hawai'i bowl.  Australian punter ALEX DUNNACHIE had 313 yards on eight punts.

German native MARKUS KUHN helped NC State earn a spot in the Belk Bowl where they will face Louisville on December 27 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

SMU has accepted a bowl bid to face Pittsburgh in the 2012 BBVA Compass Bowl. T he sixth-annual bowl will be played on January 7 in Birmingham, Alabama, and will be televised on ESPN. The game will mark SMU's third bowl game in three years, tying the school record for consecutive bowls, and its 14th bowl appearance overall.  SMU finished the 2011 regular season 7-5 with the help of Estonian defensive end MARGUS HUNT who holds the NCAA record of blocked kicks with eight.

SEUNG HOON CHOI played offensive tackle for Nebraska this season as the Huskers finished the 2011 season 9-3 earning a spot in the Capital One Bowl where they will face South Carolina on January 2 at the Florida Citrus Bowl Stadium.  The Gamecocks enter the game 10-2 and it will be the fourth meeting all-time between the two schools.  Choi, a native of Seoul, South Korea, played high school football at Lincoln Christian High School where he earned honorable-mention all-state honors in Class C-1 his senior year.

Iowa State was invited to the 2011 New Era Pinstripe Bowl where they will play Rutgers on December 30 in Yankee Stadium.  The Bowl will be televised nationally by ESPN as Dutch native STEPHEN RUEMPOLHAMER lines up for Iowa State having registered 29 tackles this season. 

Sam Houston defeated Stony Brook 34-27 in an NCAA Division I Football second round game. Australian punter MATT FOSTER finished the game with 238 yards on five punts. The Bearkats will now face Montana State on December 10.