Pasadena, Calif. ? First came Texas. Then a week of rain.

It’s almost as if the Longhorns’ first trip to the Rose Bowl upset the balance of New Year’s Day college football in sunny Southern California.

But after a week of answering questions about why his No. 6 Longhorns (10-1) deserved to be playing Big Ten co-champion No. 13 Michigan (9-2) in Pasadena, Texas coach Mack Brown says it’s time to put that to rest.

“The system put us here and we’re a really good football team,” Brown said Friday. “Now, let’s play.”

The Longhorns earned their trip West when they leapfrogged fourth-ranked California in the final Bowl Championship Series standings.

Brown and the Longhorns traveled to Pasadena under a barrage of criticism after the coach’s public pleas to get his team into the BCS helped Texas get in over a higher-ranked team.

By bumping Cal, Texas also crashed the Rose Bowl’s long-standing tradition that the “Granddaddy” of bowl games pits a Pac-10 team against the Big Ten champ.

While Cal’s claim to the Rose Bowl took a huge hit with a 45-31 Holiday Bowl loss to Texas Tech, Longhorns players say only a victory today will silence their critics.

“We’ve got to prove we deserve to be here,” safety Phillip Geiggar said. “If we don’t win, people will say it should have been somebody else.”

Gator Bowl

Golden Gophers run over Crimson Tide, 20-16 (01-01-05) Longhorns say, ‘Let’s play’ (01-01-05) Miami peachy, 27-10 (01-01-05)

Jacksonville, Fla. — Florida State’s Chris Rix and West Virginia’s Rasheed Marshall would rather be at a more prestigious postseason game, frankly. But their teams couldn’t secure Bowl Championship Series berths.

So the two quarterbacks hope to ease the hurt by ending recent postseason futility today in the Gator Bowl.

“When you first hear what bowl you’re going to, and it’s not a BCS game, sure, guys are letting down,” Rix said. “But after having a week of practice, our guys have a perspective: ‘Hey, if we’re going to play this game, we’re going to give it our all and make sure we win.”‘

Capital One Bowl

Orlando, Fla. — Next week Nick Saban can start worrying about how to beat the New England Patriots. His immediate concern is the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Louisiana State coach has tried mightily to concentrate on the job he’s leaving rather than the one he’ll start Monday in the NFL.

“This game is a great reward for having a great season, and nothing else that has happened around that should tarnish that,” Saban said.

Fiesta Bowl

Tempe, Ariz. — Utah used an unstoppable offense to break through the walls surrounding college football’s big bowls. Now the unbeaten Utes are expected to do more than merely win the Fiesta Bowl. They are supposed to win big over Big East champion Pittsburgh tonight.

“This has been pretty dreamlike,” quarterback Alex Smith said.

Outback Bowl

Tampa, Fla. — Forget the stereotypes, say Mark Richt and Barry Alvarez. Southeastern Conference football is more than a test of speed, and the Big Ten is about more than pure power.

In today’s Outback Bowl, the coaches say the speed vs. power billing is too simplistic.

“It’s not just the fast guys against the slow guys,” Wisconsin’s Alvarez said Friday.

Cotton Bowl

Dallas — The folks at Texas A&M could care less that the Cotton Bowl is an aging stadium, that the New Year’s Day game played there starts early and that the weather is often cold, wet or both.

To the Aggies, the tradition and nearby location of the Cotton Bowl makes it a dream destination — especially this season.

The only thing better than rebounding from 4-8 to 7-4 is getting to cap it with not only their first bowl trip since 2001, but a return to their favorite game after seven years away.