FanHouse Big 12

STILLWATER, Okla. -- It almost seems uncanny, the parallels between tonight's Texas-Oklahoma State Halloween showdown and last season's matchup between the Longhorns and Texas Tech.

A hostile road environment that will be filled with rowdy fans. Night game. National TV audience. The fourth game of an unforgiving four-game stretch that includes Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri before this one.

A bid for the Big 12 South title and a shot at the BCS national championship game also hang in the balance.

There are some people who just see the world different and therefore have an unorthodox way of expressing their views.

Then there is Texas Tech coach Mike Leach.

He is, without any close challengers, the Big 12's best-rehearsed resident oddball.

When Leach has been at this best over the years, he's filled up reporters' notebooks with gems like his fascination with pirates, tips on dating, his ability to predict the weather better than the local meteorologists, his views on world piece and his wacky approach to offensive football.

There is nothing new about Bob Stoops matching coaching wits with old mentor and boss Bill Snyder. They've done plenty of that over the years in Big 12 cross-divisional play.

But that doesn't mean Stoops isn't a little surprised to see Snyder, 70, back on the Wildcats sideline. The longtime Kansas State coach retired four years ago to pursue opportunities outside coaching, but was lured out of retirement last winter.

Stoops, whose 22nd-ranked Sooners host the Wildcats on Saturday, admits it's a little unexpected to be going up against his old boss again, but he was stunned when Snyder was no longer there, too.

It seemed a little harsh Monday when Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy told reporters "I think everybody has given up," when asked about the chances of All-American receiver Dez Bryant coming off indefinite suspension.

As it turned out, Gundy was more prophetic than pessimistic.

The NCAA officially ended the junior wide receiver's season Tuesday night, refusing to reinstate his eligibility until Sept. 2010 after Bryant misled investigators his interaction with former NFL star Deion Sanders.

Oklahoma State is appealing the decision.

In so many real ways Texas has been the hump the Oklahoma State Cowboys have needed to clear but for any number of reasons just haven't.

In recent years they've come oh-so-close only to fail to come away with the coveted win. A turnover here, a missed tackle there and a failed opportunity somewhere else have been all that's prevented the Cowboys from success.

"There is no question it's been frustrating to be in a situation we've been in with them and just not been able to finish the deal," OSU quarterback Zac Robinson said Monday. "We know we've been really close the past few years and just haven't been able to finish it off."

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It looks like Kansas State is the surprise of the Big 12 North. For some, it's no coincidence the Wildcats' resurrection is coming under the return of the man who built the program from virtually nothing.

The Wildcats put the hammer down on Colorado, 20-6, Saturday to strengthen their stand as the leader of the eroding North Division. K-State has now won two straight and three of its first four in the Big 12 for its best start in league play since 2000. To think, this was to be a rebuilding year with Bill Snyder coming out of retirement to resuscitate his once proud program.

So much for Todd Reesing and the whole Heisman Trophy conversation. The same can be said for the 25th-ranked Kansas Jayhawks and their once-promising season.

On an afternoon when the Jayhawks had a chance to make a major statement against a respectable Oklahoma team, they simply showed they aren't ready for the big time in a 35-13 drubbing in front of their home crowd at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

Reesing, third in the country in passing yardage per game coming into the contest, threw three interceptions during the Jayhawks' first three possessions . Oklahoma defensive back Dominique Franks was the recipient of the third, which he promptly returned 85 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter to help the Sooners take a 14-6 lead into halftime.

Conventional wisdom says Tyler Hansen should have been wary.

You don't commit to a program where the quarterback you will be competing with for time is the head coach's son. Period.

But that is exactly what the lightly-recruited Hansen did two years ago when he committed to Dan Hawkins and the Colorado Buffaloes, with Cody Hawkins already entrenched as the team's signal caller. Ever since, it had been a rollercoaster ride for Hanson.

It's the great mystery in Norman, Okla., right now.

Is quarterback Sam Bradford's career over at Oklahoma? Will the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner opt for surgery to repair the sprained AC joint in his right shoulder? Could he play again this season or next?

Those are all burning questions that Sam Bradford was supposed to address following Wednesday's Oklahoma Sooners practice, but he called off a scheduled press conference. Oklahoma associate athletic director for media relations Kenny Mossman told FanHouse that Bradford wants to gather more information. There is no rescheduled date set and that Bob Stoops will not be taking any questions on Bradford after practice.

Danielle McCray has never played in the NCAA Tournament. "But I don't think you have to have been there to know what it takes to get there," the Kansas standout guard said this week. "We want it so bad, and I think we have it in us."

McCray and her teammates are trying to break a 10-year NCAA drought for the Jayhawks women's team. Four returning starters and McCray's emerging status as the top player in the Big 12 Conference may finally be the ticket.

After a 22-14 season that ended with a defeat in the WNIT title game, the Jayhawks have been picked to finish second in the Big 12 by the league's coaches. McCray, who averaged 21.6 points a game as a junior, has been selected as the preseason player of the year.