SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Ohio State Buckeyes are carrying the Big Ten's banner — what's left of it.

The Big Ten has lost five of its six bowl games this postseason, and most haven't been close. If the underdog 10th-ranked Buckeyes lose to No. 3 Texas in the Fiesta Bowl Monday night, the conference will have six bowl losses in the same postseason for the first time.

The Big Ten's bowl struggles haven't happened overnight. The league last posted a winning bowl record in 2002, when the Buckeyes stunned No. 1 Miami in the Fiesta Bowl to win the national title and cap a 5-2 postseason for the conference.

Since then, the Big Ten is 15-27 in bowls, including 3-7 in Bowl Championship Series contests. The league has lost its five BCS games by an average of 20 points.

The Big Ten's only victory in this postseason came in the Outback Bowl, where Iowa hammered South Carolina 31-10.

Later in the day, sixth-ranked Penn State fell to No. 3 Southern California 38-24 in the Rose Bowl — a respectable final score after the Trojans led 31-7 at halftime.

USC played Big Ten co-champs Penn State and Ohio State on the West Coast this year and beat them by a combined 73-27.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel dismissed suggestions that the Big Ten's bowl struggles bode ill for the Buckeyes (10-2) against the Longhorns (11-1), who came within a whisker of playing for the national title.

"I don't know what the other bowl games really have to do with it," Tressel said.