FanHouse MackBrown

Somewhere in the privacy of his own home, 70-year-old Kansas State coach Bill Snyder is enjoying this and laughing at those who quietly thought the energy was gone to resurrect the Wildcats.

But as we've suspected for years, the private Snyder is different from the public guy. So it should be no surprise Snyder seems oblivious to the instant success he and the Wildcats are experiencing after he decided break a three-year retirement to return to Kansas State just under a year ago.

The Wildcats are sitting atop the Big 12 North with two regular-season games remaining after being picked to finish on the bottom half of the division in the preseason media poll.

The comparisons between the Texas Longhorns 2005 team and this season's team are inevitable.

At this point in the 2005 season, the Vince Young-led Longhorns looked pretty invincible. After a tough early season game against Ohio State , they romped over opponents with relative ease on the way to the BCS national title. These Colt McCoy-led Longhorns are doing the same with only their annual rivalry game against Oklahoma serving as the lone close challenge in putting together a perfect 9-0 record and a No. 2 national ranking.

It's just the second time since 1983 that the Longhorns have been 9-0. The other time, of course, was in 2005 when they put together an undefeated campaign that ended with a dramatic national championship victory over USC.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- As much debate swirls around which teams are the best and most deserving for a shot at the BCS national title, the Texas Longhorns appear to have the most unabridged path to Pasadena of any of the serious contenders.

Take your pick of the other potential candidates -- Florida, Alabama, Iowa, TCU, Cincinnati, Boise State, Oregon -- and they all could suffer heartbreaks during this final stretch of regular season. Texas' path has far fewer land mines.

The Longhorns, who leaped back into the No. 2 spot in both polls over Alabama on Sunday and are third in the most recent BCS poll, just completed the most difficult portion of their schedule in impressive fashion, beating Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri and Oklahoma State in what was supposed to be a challenging four-game stretch.

STILLWATER, Okla. --- Texas coach Mack Brown normally demands his teams stay in the moment.

But in the week leading up to Saturday night's game against 13th-ranked Oklahoma State, Brown wanted to make certain the third-ranked Longhorns remembered where they were at this point last season and what they lost against Texas Tech.

They were different opponents, but presented a strikingly similar scenario a year apart.

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.

It's just three weeks into the full-swing of Big 12 play but the North Division is looking like any of the six teams could win the race.

That doesn't necessarily bode well at all for the weaker half of the two-division league.

Nebraska and Kansas came into the season as the presumed favorites to represent the North, but after two weeks of inconsistent play neither seems as powerful. The same can be said for two-time North champion Missouri, which started the season a surprising 4-0, but has dropped its first two games of the Big 12 season.

DALLAS -- University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy says revenge will be the furthest thing from his mind Saturday when third-ranked Longhorns take on No.20 Oklahoma in the anticipated Red River Rivalry here at the Cotton Bowl.

But you'd better believe the Longhorns are still upset from last season when they beat Oklahoma by 10 points on a neutral field and finished the season in a 7-1 three-way tie with the Sooners and Texas Tech. Yet it was Oklahoma that represented the Big 12 South in the conference title game and subsequently advanced to the BCS national title.

DALLAS -- Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford's emotions were sprawled all over the place on the night of Sept. 5 as uncertainty about his injured shoulder weighed on him, when a text message of inspiration popped onto his cell phone.

"I'm praying for you and I hope you can get back as soon as possible."

---

---

It's not like Texas and Oklahoma ever needed a reason to make their annual Red River Rivalry game in Dallas any more intense.

The tradition of the two programs, the bordering states and the fight for superiority in fertile recruiting ground of Texas use to be enough. Who knew this early season game would take on so much more meaning when both teams joined the Big 12 in 1996?

This game has become about so much more than school pride and bragging rights, as one of these two teams has won the South each of the last 10 years, and it has sometimes set the stage for the national championship picture.

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.