No worries for No. 3 Texas over BCS position

Nov 9, 2009 - 10:51 PM By JIM VERTUNO AP Sports Writer

AUSTIN, Texas(AP) -- Texas must be feeling pretty good about where the Longhorns stand in the BCS standings when coach Mack Brown can crack jokes about it - even when they dropped a spot.

Texas (9-0) stayed at No. 2 in The Associated Press rankings, but fell to No. 3 in the Bowl Championship Series standings Sunday after beating unranked Central Florida 35-3.

Alabama jumped the Longhorns to No. 2 after beating No. 9 LSU 24-15.

Texas doesn't have any ranked opponents left in the regular season, but Brown knows if the Longhorns can win their last three games and the Big 12 championship game, Texas should coast into Pasadena, Calif., for the BCS title game on Jan. 7.

"Everybody has told me if we do what we need to do, we'll play in the last game," Brown said Monday.

Brown was asked if the computer elements to the BCS standings don't like his team as much as the human polls.

"I've called the computers. They haven't called me back," Brown said. "I've invited them to our games. I don't think any of them have shown up."

There have been years when Brown had to lobby for a BCS berth. This year has closely mirrored the Longhorns' national title season of 2005, when they stayed at No. 2 all season before beating No. 1 USC in the title game.

"That team finished right," Brown said. "What we need to do is win."

Senior quarterback Colt McCoy, who was a redshirt freshman on the 2005 championship team, said the seniors remember the lessons of how to finish the stretch run.

"That was a foundation for us," McCoy said.

The Longhorns play at Baylor (4-5) on Saturday before their final home game of the season against Kansas (5-4) on Nov. 14, a game that could clinch the Big 12 South.

Texas plays at Texas A&M (5-4) on Thanksgiving. The Big 12 title game is Dec. 5 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

"We want to win the Big 12 South and the Big 12," Brown said. "Our dream would be to win a national championship. We've got to keep our eyes and our minds on our goals."