Kansas State and Nebraska meet on Saturday in Lincoln. The two teams accounted for the first five representatives from the Big 12 North in the conference title game, and between them have won three of the division’s four conference championships.
Since those halcyon days of the late ’90s, though, only K-State’s dramatic 2003 upset of Oklahoma has given the North anything at all to brag about.
This is no doubt due to a couple of obvious factors. First, Bill Snyder retired after that 2003 season and K-State immediately fell back to mediocrity. Tom Osborne also retired at Nebraska, and even though Frank Solich won regularly, Nebraska ceased being Nebraska. Perhaps even more importantly, Bob Stoops and Mack Brown arrived on the scene and quickly returned Oklahoma and Texas to powerhouse status. The rest of the league has patiently labored and suffered in the shadows of these two squads ever since.
This week, though, we get something of a return to those hotly contested North battles for divisional supremacy. The winner gets to face Texas for the title. The loser goes home to hide in shame. And if that loser turns out to be K-State, the shame will be at least double, as the Wildcats won’t even be bowl eligible, as two of their wins came against Division II opponents. Win, though, and K-State wins the North and Bill Snyder wins Big 12 Coach of the Year. It’s that simple.
The Nebraska-KSU game is certainly the league’s marquee matchup this week, but another interesting game will be played in Lubbock, where Texas Tech will host OU. Tech has won the last two meetings in Lubbock, and this year could easily see the Red Raiders claim a third straight home win over the Crimson and Cream Machine, which did look a bit robotic in a dismantling of Texas A&M this past Saturday. Coolly efficient, a Bob Stoops trademark. Stoops also followed form in running up the score on the hapless Aggies, continuing to let Landry Jones throw the ball rather than put in a sub and run out the clock.
1) Texas: Horns quietly wait to clinch the South Division. Hats off to Colt McCoy for tying the all-time wins mark for a college quarterback. Something says the Colt will take the record Saturday against Kansas.
2) Oklahoma State: Mike Gundy is the Big 12 Coach of the Year. The Bill Snyder story is nice, but if KSU fails to go bowling, there’s no way the wily vet can claim the award. Gundy, meanwhile, has led his team through a myriad of distractions, injuries, suspensions, and simple bad luck, never once cracking under pressure and yelling anything about being a man, a coach, or anything else. We’re watching a young coach mature before our eyes, and if the Cowboys can win out, OSU will get very strong consideration for the program’s first-ever BCS bowl.
3) Texas Tech: The Red Raiders have lost a few heartbreakers this season, being a play or two away from a much better record. One has to wonder how in the world A&M beat these guys. Should be a very interesting game this weekend in Lubbock against the Sooners.
4) Oklahoma: The Bob Stoops rumors are flying again, with the latest being that Big Game Bob is about to bolt for Notre Dame, if and when the Fighting Irish finally lower the boom on Charlie Weis. Would Stoops really leave? The guess here is yes … but not for Notre Dame. Notre Dame circa 2009 isn’t even Notre Dame circa 1999, much less 1989. The Fighting Irish are now just another run-of-the-mill Rust Belt team with the glory days long behind them. College football has evolved. Notre Dame has not.
5) Nebraska: The Huskers would finish fifth in the Big 12 South, even with that nice defense.
6) Missouri: Disappointing season for Mizzou, seeing as how the Tigers really are loaded with more talent than most people thought at the beginning of the year. Mizzou should be the preseason favorite in the North next season.
7) Kansas State: The crushing loss to Missouri dropped the Wildcats back down to earth.
8) Texas A&M: After Tech, the Aggies have to be the most puzzling team in the entire league. They look great one minute, and the next an epic disaster has somehow befallen them.
9) Iowa State: Going bowling. If Gundy and Snyder hadn’t been working their magic this season, Paul Rhoads would be in the discussion for Coach of the Year.
10) Baylor: Still fighting for bowl eligibility, though the mountain the Bears must climb is pretty steep. Baylor needs wins against A&M and Tech.
11) Kansas: The Jayhawks are enduring what is probably the most unimaginable implosion in Big 12 history. Little over a month ago, KU was undefeated and ranked 16th. Since then, its been about as bad as it can get for the Jayhawks, and Mark Mangino‘s time in Lawrence just might be coming to an end. KU fans certainly feel far removed from the 11-1 Orange Bowl-winning team of a few years back.
12) Colorado: Ah, it seems like only yesterday – or at least just last week – that the Buffaloes, as bad as they’ve played, were somehow in second place in their division. Now they are back where they probably belong, the conference cellar. The Thursday night game in Stillwater has the potential for mass carnage.
This article appears in November 13 • 2009.