According to "USA Today", the match-up between the Longhorns and the Ohio State Buckeyes (OSU) was one of the most-anticipated games of the 2005 season. Teams have become increasingly conservative in scheduling highly ranked non-conference opponents, so a meeting of the number 2 and number 4 teams in the country was unusual this early in the season. Because of the significance of the game in the national championship race, ESPN College GameDay chose the game as the site of its weekly broadcast. The American Football Coaches Association brought the national championship trophy to the game and displayed it on the field near Bevo, the UT mascot (photo below).