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.
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.
We all knew the Kansas Jayhawks offense had a chance to be lethal this season with quarterback Todd Reesing and wide receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier setting the pace.
Well, the trio took it to a ridiculous level Saturday as the receivers bested each other during the Jayhawks' 41-31 win over Iowa State. First Briscoe set the school record for career receptions, then Meier jumped ahead of him. Meier, a converted quarterback, has 167 career catches while Briscoe sits at 165 after making 12 catches for 186 yards and two touchdowns Saturday.
Every college football season there seems to be at least one major conference that's projected to be among the best , only to find out it's all just hype.
Could this season be the Big 12's turn?
Projected to be one of the top two conferences in the country, along with the SEC, there is now a small mountain of evidence indicating the Big 12 isn't the conference we thought it would be. The league has already suffered more than it share of stunning upsets in non-conference play, starting at the top.
Perhaps Colorado coach Dan Hawkins somewhere internally knew his tenure was in trouble when he made the infamous 10-win prediction prior to this season.
That's what desperate coaches do to soothe a restless fan base. Smart ones just shut up and coach.
But two games into Hawkins' fourth season in Boulder, we're finding out Boise State isn't exactly the cradle of coaches and that it's time for the Hawkins experiment to end. The Buffaloes' latest embarrassment, a 54-38 drubbing at the hands of middle of the pact Mid-American Conference foe Toledo on Friday night at the Glass Bowl.
Colorado head coach Dan Hawkins announced a few moves on his staff this week, the biggest being that he will add the role of receivers coach to his duties this upcoming season.
Hawkins will coach the Buffaloes as he prepares 13-year NFL defensive back Ashley Ambrose to take over the wide receivers position for the 2010 season. Ambrose, who is carrying the title of defensive technical intern this season, will be able to observe Hawkins but is prohibited from coaching the players until after the season when he will be named a full-time assistant.
It's a battle between the immolated -- West Virginia coach Bill Stewart -- and the meditated -- Colorado coach Dan Hawkins -- up in the Rockies. Our FanHouse partner in crime John Radcliff will be there in person, guitar (and moonshine!) in hand to strum out songs in support of his 'Eers and in annoyance of the Colorado faithful.
Good times.
Culturally we've got quite the unique matchup here as Colorado is sort of the flag-bearer for western, free-wheeling mountain folk of the Rockies going up against the eastern, free-wheeling mountain folk symbolically linked to Appalachia.
In football terms, we have two powers of the late 80's running modern offenses that have led to a revival of sorts.
As for us the festivities kick off around 8:30 Eastern, be sure to kick it with the clackety clack of sound of furiously fast keyboards College Football FanHouse gang after the jump.
I was out in Boulder this spring, and for some reason I thought this would be a good picture just in case...well...something like this happened.
Colorado redshirt freshman offensive lineman Ethan Adkins was indefinitely suspended from the football team by coach Dan Hawkins after being cited for driving under the influence Monday in Boulder.
Hawkins also suspended starting guard Devin Head for one game for an undisclosed violation of team rules. It is unclear if Head's violation was connected to Adkins'. Head started at left guard in the season opening victory over Colorado State on Sunday.
Normally this wouldn't be so bad, but Colorado already lost two offensive linemen to academic issues and a torn knee ligament. Colorado shouldn't be tested this weekend against Eastern Washington even being short on offensive linemen, but a date with West Virginia looms on September 18th. As well as Florida State and Texas the following two weeks. Absolutely a great opportunity to jump into the top 25. This is what you're supposed to do in the off season, fellas. Not heading into the meat of the schedule.
Yummy! The sweet dairy goodness of tasty cupcakes. To an extent everyone schedules at least one gimme on their schedule. So we'll overlook that 1-AA warm up game at the beginning of the season and move on to more important things. Seeing as how this is the Big East we'll just say that everyone will play two quality opponents in West Virginia and South Florida, three potentially good teams in Pitt, Cincinnati, and Rutgers, and three teams that shouldn't make anyone's top 25.
1. Connecticut- Starting off with the fat dough boys that got way too much credit for their record last year and look to do the same this year. Did I say that I wasn't going to mention the 1-AA teams? I'm sorry, because the Flying Dutchmen of Hofstra has to be one of the best names in all of college football. Unfortunately, they're not one of the best teams in college football. And that's who UConn starts their season off with. Oh, but it doesn't get much harder from there. The next three weeks they play @ Temple, and then get Virginia and Baylor at home. Any team worth their salt should easily be 4-0 at this point. Aside from having an easy schedule last year, UConn also got every break including a rather nice no call on a fake fair catch that helped them beat their fifth opponent in 2008, Louisville. Circle that game if you want to savor the sweet smell of revenge. UConn closes out their non-conference schedule with what should be a much improved North Carolina team. I don't know that they will crack the top 25, but for the sake of argument we'll count this one as a quality opponent. So that's one up and four down for UConn. Remember this at the end of the year when you look at their record. It will be deceiving.
2. Cincinnati- But they play @ Oklahoma! Yeah, well that's about it. Let's not forget that Oklahoma has proven themselves susceptible to Big East speed. All kidding aside, Cincinnati starts out the season hosting Eastern Kentucky, then travels to Oklahoma. In their next three games they host Miami (OH) and play @ Akron and @ Marshall. Ha! Marshall? They shouldn't be scheduling two 1-AA teams in one year. Cincinnati then plays their conference schedule and ends the year @ Hawaii. That might have been a tough game last year, but this year it shouldn't take a lot of effort. To be honest, I had to think long and hard about Cincinnati being number one on this list, but the Oklahoma game saved them in the end.
Spring practices are known for position changes and some are certainly more unusual than others. But if you leave things up to Dan Hawkins, they get really strange in a hurry. Just ask Kai Maiava. Maiava was recently moved by Hawkins from offensive guard to fullback.
"I always was a little undersized for a lineman, so I think that's what pushed coach towards making me a fullback. So I can still block for them," Maiava said.
As Maiava continues to try the new position, he said his comfort level is not what it used to be. However, he was quick to point out his willingness to try a new spot.
"I thought it would be cool to at least try it out, and if I didn't like it, I could probably switch back during the summer," Maiava said. "But I thought I'd try it out, and I'm starting to like it... (but) I'm fairly uncomfortable. I don't really know the plays yet. I don't even know where to line up half the time. But I'm sure once I learn everything I'll begin to like it."
This switch is even more bizarre given the accolades Maiava had earned at his previous position. Maiava made the Scout.com freshman All-America team and was also the recipient of the Lee Willard Award, which is awarded annually to the Colorado's top freshman. So it seems Maiava had a ton of talent at guard. The type of talent would allow you build an offensive line around in the years to come.
"I'd like him to be an offensive guard in the backfield," Hawkins said. "We want him to pick up blitzes, be a lead blocker and maybe catch three passes this year."
And when Dan Hawkins wants an offensive guard in the backfield, that's what Dan Hawkins gets.
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.
Conventional wisdom says 
We all knew the Kansas Jayhawks offense had a chance to be lethal this season with quarterback 
Every 
Perhaps Colorado coach 
Yummy! The sweet dairy goodness of tasty cupcakes. To an extent everyone schedules at least one gimme on their schedule. So we'll overlook that 
Spring practices are known for position changes and some are certainly 
