November 5, 2009

Olin Buchanan
Rivals.com College Football Senior Writer

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Obviously, they're not good. "Little Sisters of the Poor" never show up in the BCS standings. But if they were in the Big 12 North this season, the sisters might show up in the conference championship game.

Yep, it's that bad. This may be the North's worst season since the league formed in 1996.

If everything fell just right (or just wrong in this case), Kansas State - which is 5-4 overall and leads the division race - could win the North with a 6-6 record and not be bowl eligible. Two of Wildcats' wins are over FCS teams (Massachusetts and Tennessee Tech); only one victory over an FCS opponent per season counts toward bowl eligibility.

In that case, Kansas State would need to win the Big 12 championship to gain eligibility, meaning it would be BCS bowl or bust for the Wildcats.

"Nothing really surprises me very much, having been around the game for as long as I have," venerable Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. "I can't tell you that was projected. Nor was the way the Big 12 North is perceived at this point.

"But anything can happen. I'm not sure where we are now and what reality is."

The reality is that North teams are 3-9 vs. their brethren in the Big 12 South, and two of those wins were over Baylor, which lost star quarterback Robert Griffin to injury before conference play started. Furthermore, North teams were just 2-4 in non-conference games against opponents from Big Six conferences. The wins were Kansas over Duke and Missouri over Illinois.

The North has posted 21 victories against non-divisional opponents. More than half of those wins have come over FCS opponents (five), Sun Belt Conference opponents (four) and MAC opponents (two).

But all that mediocrity at least has produced an interesting race. Five teams have five victories and each of the six division teams still is alive for the title.

Kansas was a strong contender to win the division until losing three in a row.

"We're not running the ball well," Kansas coach Mark Mangino said. "We're not protecting well, and we're dropping the ball all over the place."

It could be worse. The Jayhawks could be Colorado, which lost 54-38 to Toledo, the fourth-place team in the MAC West.

But Colorado beat Kansas.

Nebraska, which has beaten three Sun Belt Conference opponents, might have appeared the team to beat in the North after it used a fourth-quarter rally to beat Missouri. But the Huskers followed that with a loss to Texas Tech and an eight-turnover loss to Iowa State. The Huskers play Oklahoma this week.

Missouri opened conference play with three consecutive losses, yet still has a realistic chance of winning the North.

"You take a quick look at your goals at the beginning of the season and look at what's available now," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "But you understand there's no margin for error."

The North could have the last laugh. In 2001, the South appeared far superior - until Colorado upset Texas in the conference championship game. And in '03, Oklahoma was being hailed among the best teams ever until Darren Sproles led Kansas State to a 35-7 rout in the title game.

If the North can't pull off a similar upset this season, well, there's always "Little Sisters of the Poor."

KEY MATCHUP: Nebraska vs. Oklahoma. Forget any individual or unit matchups - few things are better than a Nebraska-Oklahoma game. The Huskers and Sooners were involved in one of the nation's greatest rivalries for decades. But when the Big 12 was formed in 1996, no steps were taken to ensure the rivalry would remain an annual event. Now, it's played for two years, then shelved for two years. A victory would give Nebraska a huge boost in the North Division race. A win would keep alive Oklahoma's faint hopes at winning the South.

PLAYERS ON THE SPOT: Kansas State's secondary. The unit has been vulnerable all season and now faces Kansas, which is seventh in the nation in passing offense. The Wildcats have allowed 20 touchdown passes. Kansas QB Todd Reesing has thrown 16 touchdown passes this season, and he may be playing with a chip on his shoulder after enduring his worst performance of the season in last week's loss Texas Tech.

NUMBERS GAME: Kansas has allowed 14 sacks for 116 yards in losses in its past three games. Not surprisingly, the Jayhawks lost all three games. The Jayhawks had allowed just seven sacks in their first five games combined - all wins.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING:

"They are not going to hear that from me. My message is that we need to get ourselves better. We've got to improve fundamentally and assignments." - Kansas coach Mark Mangino, on whether he's stressing the importance of this week's game against Kansas State

"Lubbock has pretty good altitude. There's a lot of hot air up there, too." - Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman, responding to questions about the elevation at Colorado and taking a shot at Texas Tech coach Mike Leach in the process

"Zac knows we've got his back. You can't always be perfect out there. Things happen, and they just happened to him." - Oklahoma State G Lane Taylor, on QB Zac Robinson, who threw four interceptions in last week's loss to Texas

ETC.: Iowa State C Reggie Stephens could be back in the lineup Saturday. His string of 36 consecutive starts (at three positions) was snapped last week after he had an emergency appendectomy Oct. 27. ... Texas is tied for second nationally with 26 forced turnovers and is second in the nation with 16 interceptions. Texas forced just 16 turnovers last season. Plus, the Longhorns' opponents are converting third downs at just a 23.7 percent rate (27-of-114), which is the best in the country. Comparatively, Texas' offense is converting 44.2 percent (53-of-120) on third down. ... Kansas WR Kerry Meier needs just 10 receiving yards to reach 2,000 for his career. He will become only the fourth player in school history to notch 2,000 career receiving yards. ... In each of the past two games, Kansas has started four freshmen on defense. ... Kansas State is 4-0 at home this season and has two home games remaining. K-State has allowed an average of just 11 points in its four home games. ... Last week's 20-10 loss to Nebraska marked the first time under coach Art Briles that Baylor was defeated when holding the opposition to 21 or fewer points. ... Texas A&M is well aware of the problems that Colorado QB Tyler Hansen poses. Last season, he rushed for 216 yards against the Aggies. ... Missouri would clinch bowl eligibility with a win Saturday. That would mean a school-record five consecutive bowl appearances. ... In its five victories Missouri has outscored opponents 109-26 in the first half. ... Nebraska is allowing just 76.6 rushing yards in Big 12 play. For the season the Huskers are allowing just 96.2 rushing yards overall to rank 10th in the nation. ... Oklahoma has not allowed a point in the first quarter all season. ... Oklahoma State is seeking its seventh victory of the season on Saturday against Iowa State. That would mark the fourth consecutive year Oklahoma State would have posted at least seven victories. The Cowboys have never managed that before. ... Texas Tech's next victory would be the 83rd of coach Mike Leach's career and would make him the most successful coach in school history. He's currently tied with Spike Dykes for most career wins.

Olin Buchanan is the senior college football writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at olin@rivals.com.