Texas to face Michigan in 91st Rose Bowl Game, presented by Citi

Player reaction to Rose Bowl Berth
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The Texas Longhorns will make their first BCS bowl appearance at the 91st Rose Bowl Game, presented by Citi, on January 1, 2005, in Pasadena, Calif., at 3:30 p.m. CT. The Longhorns finished fourth in the BCS standings and will face the Michigan Wolverines, the Big Ten Champions. The Rose Bowl Game will be broadcast nationally on ABC and ESPN Radio and will mark Texas' first-ever appearance in the game.

Texas previously played in the Fiesta Bowl as the Big 12 Champion representative in the Bowl Alliance, the predecessor to the BCS, following the 1996 season. UT enters the contest riding a six-game winning streak and having posted 10 wins in four straight seasons for the first time in school history. UT is looking to tie its school record with 11 victories for the third time in four years. The Longhorns have posted nine (or more) victories in a school-best seven straight seasons. UT's 42-8 record the past four seasons is the fourth-most victories nationally during that span.

With its invitation to the Rose Bowl, Texas is headed to its seventh straight bowl game. That marks the Horns' longest streak since they went to nine straight bowls from 1977-85. It also is just the third time in Longhorn history they have earned spots in at least seven consecutive bowl games. Texas also earned berths in eight bowls in a row from 1968-75. This year's bid marks UT's 10th in the last 11 years and the 44th bowl bid overall (No. 3 on the NCAA all-time chart/first among Big 12 schools). Head coach Mack Brown has led his teams to a bowl game in each of his last 13 seasons. That's the second-longest active streak in the nation.

Texas enters the Rose Bowl having won two of its last three bowl games and has a 3-3 record in bowl contests under Mack Brown. He is the first Longhorn coach since Darrell Royal, who was 8-7-1 in bowl games, to post a .500 or better record in postseason contests. The back-to-back bowl victories in 2001-02 marked the first time the 'Horns had won consecutive bowl games since 1968-69. Texas won five straight bowl contests from 1963-69.