GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The wait is almost over. The Fiesta Bowl is only hours away.
It's the showdown the Ohio State Buckeyes and Buckeye Nation have waiting for. The football Buckeyes and Texas Longhorns will go head to head Monday night at 8 p.m.
NBC 4's Paul Stelzer reported from Ohio Stadium on the pregame excitement and what the Buckeyes said about tonight's matchup.
For the fifth time in seven years, the Buckeyes will play their post-season bowl game in Arizona.
It's all business tonight for the Bucks and their fans.
There was some time for fun in the Arizona sun Sunday, though.
Several hundred Ohio State fans attended The Buckeye Bash at Tempe Beach Park Sunday.
Head Coach Jim Tressel and the team captains were there. The OSU marching band and cheerleaders were there, too.
"Because our guys have prepared," Tressel said. "So I think they're confident in that. They certainly have been acting as if they understand the plan. The coaches -- I think they've done an extraordinary job of setting the plan. And I think we have every understanding of the difficulty of the task. "
"You're a new quarterback in the system. It's going to take a while for the guys to kind of rally around and truly believe in him. He's got the respect of not only his teammates but really the whole country," Buckeye linebacker James Laurinaitis said.
Two well-known Buckeyes are ready for some bowl action, too.
"It just shows that the university is such a spirited part of people's lives. That's what this bowl game is about. It's about us being able to celebrate … our students our bands," OSU President Gordon Gee said.
"They just are tremendous. And even though with the economic times being what they are, they still come out and support it. And that's a great feeling, especially from my standpoint as president and CEO of the alumni association," Archie Griffin said about the Buckeye Nation fans.
FIESTA BOWL FAST FACTS:
- The Bucks will be wearing their white jerseys.
- Monday night's game will be the tiebreaker. The all-time series between Ohio State and Texas is tied at one a piece.
- Ohio State is 4 and 2 in BCS bowl games while Texas is 2 and 0.
- Coach Jim Tressel is 4 and 0 in the Fiesta Bowl.
- He was an assistant at OSU when they beat Pitt in '84.
- The Bucks' only loss in the Fiesta Bowl was to Penn State in 1980.
Stay with NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com for the latest information in this developing story.
To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail stories@nbc4i.com.
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