 "Photo: Peter Franklin, Daily Texan Staff")
Though they are two of the most storied programs in college football, Ohio State and Texas hadn’t met on the field before 2005.
Now they’ll be going for their third game in four seasons.
Sunday night’s BCS announcements pitted the No. 10 Buckeyes and No. 3 Longhorns in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. The two teams will play the game on Jan. 5 in Glendale, Ariz.
Texas and Ohio State played a home-and-home matchup early in the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Both winners went on to play in national championships, with Texas beating USC in 2005 and Ohio State losing to Florida in 2006.
“When the season starts, your first goal is to win your conference and your second goal is a BCS bowl and we did that, being co-champions and making it to the Fiesta Bowl,” Texas coach Mack Brown said in a teleconference late Sunday night. “I admire and respect and like [Ohio State coach] Jim Tressel so it will be a fun week for all of us to get together and have great competition between two great programs and a fantastic bowl.”
Texas got shut out of a potential national championship when the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners beat Missouri 62-21 Saturday night in Kansas City, Mo. The Sooners, co-champions in the Big 12 South, went to the championship because they were ranked higher than Texas in the BCS rankings last Sunday.
Throughout last week, Texas fans still clung to hope for a bid to the BCS National Championship. After Florida’s 31-20 win over Alabama Saturday, the Longhorns had an outside shot at the No. 2 ranking to set up a rematch against Oklahoma.
The Sooners were ranked No. 1 in the BCS poll and will play No. 2 Florida in the BCS Championship on Jan. 9 in Miami.
“Even though we’re disappointed we’re not playing in the National Championship Game, it’s a great way to finish our season and show what kind of team we really are,” defensive tackle Roy Miller said. “The Fiesta Bowl is one that nobody on this team has gotten to go to, so it will be a new experience, and from everything I’ve heard, the Fiesta Bowl is one of the best experiences.”
There was also the possibility, floated by a Fox executive last week, that the Longhorns could have faced Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Instead, the Crimson Tide will play against Utah on Jan. 2 in New Orleans.
With a win, the Longhorns still have the possibility of earning a split national title. Although it is unlikely, if Oklahoma wins the BCS title game and Texas beats Ohio State, Associated Press voters could put Texas at No. 1. The AP awards a national championship to the team that finishes No. 1 in its final media poll.
That’s what irks most fans and coaches who have been clamoring for a playoff system for years.
Jim Tressel coached in playoff games for Division I-AA Youngstown State from 1986-2000 before joining the Buckeyes in 2001.
“I’ve been part of a playoff system for 15 years and that’s all we had and it was wonderful and it was a great thing,” Tressel said. “But if we shifted gears in our level now and all of our history went by the wayside, I don’t know if it would be that easy.”
Brown said there wouldn’t be any problem motivating his team to play against the Buckeyes after the recent BCS snub.
“I don’t think that the BCS will matter. I don’t think that the rankings will matter,” Brown said.
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