Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, left, and Texas coach Mack Brown pose for a picture after a news... 
(AP)After absorbing lopsided losses to Florida and LSU in the last two BCS title games, the Buckeyes have grown tired of hearing that they are a product of a soft conference and don't belong among the national elite.
"It would be nice to win that big game," linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "We will be remembered about how this game comes out. It is just a real fact."
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel brushed aside suggestions that the Buckeyes might be bored by another trip to Arizona.
"It wasn't real hard for our guys to be excited when they were named to come to the Fiesta Bowl," he said. "And then they get to know it will be against Texas, who could be the best team in the country. They wanted to go to work."
Questions about motivation aside, the Fiesta Bowl presents an interesting clash of conference styles. It pits the freewheeling Big 12, where tackling often seems optional, against the staid, conservative Big Ten.
With Heisman Trophy runner-up Colt McCoy directing the attack, the Longhorns average 43.9 points per game. That was fifth in the nation — but only third in the loony Big 12 South, where Oklahoma scores a national-best 54 points per game and Texas Tech averages 44.5 points, fourth in the country.
McCoy has completed 77.6 percent of his passes for 3,445 yards and 32 touchdowns, and he has thrown seven interceptions. McCoy, a junior who plans to return for his senior year, has also rushed for 576 yards and 10 more scores.
"McCoy is extremely good," Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Heacock said. "He's accurate. The ball is on target. Plus, he has a great chemistry between him and his receivers."
The Buckeyes allow 13 points per game, seventh in the nation. But last year they brought the nation's top-rated defense — conceding 10.7 points per game — into the BCS title game and watched LSU romp to a 38-24 victory.
The year before that, in another BCS title game, Florida hung 41 points on the Buckeyes on the same field where Ohio State will face Texas on Monday night.
