Brown not concerned Texas picked 4th in Big 12

Published Jul. 23, 2013 11:16 a.m. ET

foxsports

DALLAS -- Expectations are always high at Texas, but after several disappointing seasons without winning a championship, not many are expecting much from the Longhorns this season.

Coach Mack Brown isn't concerned about his team being picked to finish fourth in the Big 12 conference's preseason media poll. He believes Texas' struggles are a result of the rise of its competition.

"Everybody else can beat anybody else in the league on a given day, and that's not happening across the country," Brown said at Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday. "Our league is very challenging. At one point, there were two or three teams that were better than everybody else, and that's not the case anymore."

When asked about being picked fourth in the country by one preseason magazine despite being picked fourth in the conference:

"I really like the first guy better," Brown said. "I don't know about his merit, but I like it better."

Oklahoma State was picked to win the Big 12 in the poll, but Brown says the voting shows there is no clear-cut favorite.

"When you look at us being voted fourth, I thought what we saw is the numbers are all really, really close, and people are confused on who they think may win this conference championship, and that's a compliment to our league."