Five things to watch
1. Texas ranks fifth in the nation in scoring at 43.9 points per game, while Ohio State is allowing 13.1 per outing for seventh in the country.
2. The Longhorns have four straight bowl wins; the Buckeyes have two dropped two in a row.
3. Texas quarterback Colt McCoy is hitting on 78 percent of his passes; OSU signal caller Terrelle Pryor 63 percent.
4. The Longhorns topped three top-15 teams, including No. 1 Oklahoma. OSU’s signature wins have come against No. 18 Wisconsin 20-17 and No. 20 Michigan State 45-7. The Buckeyes lost their two meetings against top-five squads.
5. The motivation for Texas after the Longhorns feel they were slighted after not making the Big-12 Championship game. The motivation for OSU after two bad losses in the last two BCS National Championship games.
Texas wins 31-21 (at least it won’t be to an SEC team)

By the time The Ohio State University plays in the Fiesta Bowl Monday it will be 45 days since the Buckeyes will have played an actual game.
Like the past two seasons, OSU has had a long wait until its bowl game, but the Buckeyes are still glad to be playing in their seventh BCS game.
OSU takes on No. 3 Texas in what should be an interesting bowl game. These are two with big-time history, each more than 800 wins in history.
McCoy, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, holds school marks for passing yards at 9,318, passing touchdowns 83, total offense 10,556, TDs responsible for 99, completion percentage 70.2, passing efficiency 159.1, completions 784 and attempts 1,117.
That’s impressive. He is the different Colt McCoy than the Buckeyes saw in 2006 when as a red-shirt freshman he was 19-of-32 for 154 yards and one touchdown and interception. The OSU did an effective job of harassing McCoy that night.
McCoy’s main targets are Jordan Shipley with 79 grabs and 11 TDs and Quan Crosby 78 catches and eight scores.
The main man on defense for Texas is senior defensive end Brian Orakpo, who won this year’s Nagurski Award as the nation’s best defensive player. He’s compiled 10 1/2 sacks, 18 tackles-for-loss and forced four fumbles this season.
Even though this is not a BCS Championship Game for OSU, the game is still very significant, even though the buzz doesn’t seem to be as much as in the past.
The Buckeyes entered 2008 with high expectations, picked as high as second, but the situation turned sour real quick with a disastrous 35-3 loss to Southern California in the third game.
OSU struggled with a new quarterback (Pyror) and the absence of running back Chris Wells (who missed three games). With Pryor getting more snaps and a healthy Wells, the Buckeyes performed better late in the season and put up 30 or more points in their last three outings.
OSU knows the perceived respect around the country with this team, especially after the last two bowl games, plus the Trojans and Penn State losses.
This is their chance to get back on track, beat a team that could very well be playing for the BCS National Championship, send an excellent class of 28 seniors out with 44 wins in their career, which would be a school record and like all schools, hopefully use that momentum heading into 2009.
Can the Buckeyes, who are ranked 10th, pull off the upset? Absolutely.
They have the Arizona thing going with a 5-2 mark in the state of Arizona. They have won four straight Fiesta Bowls.
While OSU won’t see an offense as prolific as Texas, the Longhorns won’t see a defense as good as the Buckeyes.
The consensus is that OSU will rely heavily on Wells and that’s a good thing. He’s a good back.
But the Buckeyes aren’t going to have to throw the ball.
Pryor has been inconsistent with the passing game (OSU ranked 10th in the Big Ten in passing). Texas is ranked 108th nationally against the pass, allowing 3,196 yards.
Pryor has shown good qualities of leading and his athletic ability is as good as anyone’s.
Still, I look for the Longhorns to have too much firepower and prevail.