GLENDALE, Ariz. — Texas coach Mack Brown has a theory about bowl games.

"If the teams are fairly even, the team that wants to be there the most and has the edge and is more motivated usually wins," Brown said.

If third-ranked Texas had a choice, it would be in Miami preparing to face Florida for the BCS title. But the Longhorns still have plenty of motivation against No. 10 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl today.

Snubbed in their bid for a slot in the Bowl Championship Series title game, the Longhorns (11-1) will try to take their frustrations out on the Buckeyes (10-2), who have made their fifth bowl trip to Arizona since 2002.

"Really, what's going through our minds is, 'Let's just put on a show, basically,' " Texas defensive end Brian Orakpo said.

The Longhorns finished in a three-way tie atop the rugged Big 12 South and thought their 10-point victory over Oklahoma should have put them in the Big 12 title game. But Oklahoma was declared the division winner on a BCS standings tiebreaker, and the Sooners ripped Missouri in the Big 12 playoff to earn a trip to the national title game.

The Longhorns still have a shot at a national title, but it's slender.

Either Oklahoma or Florida will claim the BCS national title. But the 65 pollsters who vote in The Associated Press Top 25 are free to select the Longhorns No. 1.

Six AP voters have the Longhorns atop their ballots, and that number could swell if the top-ranked Gators lose and their 50 first-place votes go up for grabs. Some voters might choose Texas because it beat Oklahoma.

It's a long shot, but it's the only shot Texas has. The Longhorns will have no shot if they don't take care of the Buckeyes.

"I don't know what needs to happen," Texas tailback Chris Ogbonnaya said. "Right now, our focus is Ohio State and really that is all that matters. We can't talk about being in the national championship picture without having a victory against them."

The Buckeyes haven't been in the national title discussion since a 35-3 walloping at USC on Sept. 13. But the Big Ten co-champs say they have plenty of motivation, and, like Texas, it springs from a bad experience in the BCS.

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 tonight.

BCS CHAMPIONSHIP

SOONER CB SAYS TEBOW 4TH-BEST QB IN COUNTRY

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Florida Gators may have some bulletin-board material, a little extra motivation heading into the Bowl Championship Series title game.

Oklahoma cornerback Dominique Franks, a sophomore from Tulsa, Okla., called Florida's Tim Tebow the fourth-best quarterback in the country yesterday.

Franks said Tebow, who is already miffed he finished third in Heisman voting last month, ranks behind Sooners teammate and Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, Texas' Colt McCoy and Texas Tech's Graham Harrell. Franks added that preparing for McCoy and Harrell was tougher than getting ready to face the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Tebow.

"If you look at the three best quarterbacks in the country, (they) came from the Big 12," Franks said.

"The three best receivers in the country came from the Big 12. The three best tight ends came from the Big 12. So we've faced some great offenses, and a lot of people don't understand that other conferences don't have what we face."

Franks then acknowledged that Tebow would be fourth on his QB list.

"Yup. I think our quarterbacks are better," Franks said. "Just the way they conduct themselves and how they play on the field. I just think, playing against those guys, it's a lot harder to prepare for those guys than it is for Tebow."

ALL-STAR GAME

QB BARKLEY GUIDES WHITE TEAM TO VICTORY

ORLANDO, Fla. — Prep quarterback Matt Barkley, who has verbally committed to Southern California, threw for two early touchdown passes to lead his White Team to a 27-16 victory over the Black Team last night at the Under Armour All-America High School Football Game.

Barkley, from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., hit Marlon Brown of Memphis for a 71-yard score on the game's first possession, then followed with a 35-yard TD pass to Jamal Reid, who is headed to the University of Miami.

Three Hawai'i players were part of the game. Punahou's Manti Te'o (linebacker) and Robbie Toma (receiver) and Kapolei High's Stan Hasiak (offensive lineman) were on the White Team. Toma and Hasiak have committed to UCLA, while Te'o has yet to announce his decision.

Russell Shepard of Houston, who is going to LSU, threw a 92-yard touchdown pass and ran for a 15-yard score for the Black Team.

Some players in the game used the ESPN telecast as a forum to announce where they will play college football. Nothing becomes official until Feb. 4, national signing day.

Touted safety Ray Ray Armstrong and defensive end Dyron Dye, both from the state championship team at Seminole High School in Sanford, Fla., picked the University of Miami. Wide receiver Andre Debose, also from Sanford, chose Florida.

John Martinez, an offensive guard from Salt Lake City, verbally committed to USC, where he will join Barkley.