Sens. Hutchison, Shelby wager on college football title

Republican Sens. Richard Shelby (Ala.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas) have a friendly wager on college football's national championship game, the Rose Bowl this Thursday, being fought between their respective alma maters, the University of Alabama and the University of Texas.

At stake is an American classic: smoked turkey: Shelby reportedly wagered a whole smoked turkey from Bates Turkey Farm in Fort Deposit, Ala. on a Crimson Tide victory, while Hutchison anted up a smoked turkey from the Greenberg farm in Tyler, Texas on the Longhorns.

Culinary wagers between members of Congress are are a long-standing tradition on Capitol Hill: baseball's 2009 World Series  between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies prompted both senators and House members from New York and Pennsylvania to bet cheesecakes and cheesesteaks over the outcome.

When the Yankees won, the New York delegation received their fair share of Philly cheesesteaks.

The BCS Championship game begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.