SAN ANTONIO — Mack Brown didn’t want to go out like this, and No. 10 Oregon didn’t want its season to end here.

That makes the Alamo Bowl on Monday night a finale for two programs making the best of disappointment: Texas (8-4) wanting a fond farewell for Brown after the tension surrounding his resignation, and the Ducks (10-2) denied a BCS bowl for the first time in five years.

“The expectation for both of these programs is to be playing in the last game at the end of the year, and neither one of us are doing that,” Brown said Sunday.

Speaking publicly for just the second time since announcing this month that he would leave Texas after 16 seasons, Brown sidestep questions about the circumstances surrounding his exit and whether he will coach again. He said the only thing he would’ve done differently this season was win all the games and enjoy the “happy moms and dads and happy media and happy fans” that come with it.

“We’ve done that, and it’s a lot more fun,” Brown said.

The Ducks’ chances of playing for a national title after four consecutive BCS bowl appearances were dashed in November after losing to Stanford. Two weeks later, Oregon was pummeled by Arizona.

First-year Oregon coach Mark Helfrich said the disappointment of the Stanford loss created some “stragglers.” He said he could’ve done a better job to manage that.

“There was absolutely some disappointment, kind of punched-in-the-gut type of feeling for a few guys that just needed to grow up and realize that there was a lot of ball left to be played,” Helfrich said. “And as it played out, we could have played ourselves into a better situation — quote, unquote — but we didn’t earn that.”

Oregon QB Marcus Mariota’s announcement this month that he’ll return for his junior season all but assures he’ll shatter every school passing record before he finally does leave. He’s got a chance to start the 2014 Heisman Trophy buzz now if he can put up another showcase game against Texas to cap a season in which he put up nearly 4,000 yards of total oColt McCoy left Texas in 2009 with a then-NCAA record for quarterback victories (45) and a BCS title game appearance.