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'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.
Maybe it's premature to start trumpeting the return of the Big 12 North, but if the non-conference success of the big-three North teams is any indication this could be an interesting season.
Nebraska and Kansas were expected to dominate the weaker of the league's two divisions, but it appears they will have company. Missouri, which is supposed to be in a rebuilding mode after back-to-back North titles, is off to a surprising 4-0 start that catapulted the program into the Top 25 this week at No. 24.
Texas Tech quarterback Taylor Potts was released from the hospital Sunday afternoon after being kept overnight from complications of an apparent concussion suffered in the second quarter of the Red Raiders' 48-28 win over New Mexico.
An operator at Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock, Tex. confirmed to FanHouse that Potts was discharged Sunday while free safety Nathan Stone remains hospitalized with what is believed to be some type of spinal cord injury. The hospital would not release any information on the health of the two players.
But the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported Potts suffered a concussion and that Stone had a spinal injury.
HOUSTON -- Reclined way back with his feet kicked up on a table in the Houston Cougars' film room Tuesday and answering questions in a philosophical yet aloof way, Dana Holgorsen was channeling his inner Mike Leach without even realizing it.
The voice, the demeanor and delivery were all Leach -- albeit a younger, less clean-shaven Leach.
"I sat in the same room as him for many, many years," Holgorsen, the Cougars second-year offensive coordinator said when reminded of the similarity. "All of that stuff rubbed off, I guess."
It was of little surprise Monday when Texas coach Mack Brown named redshirt freshman running back Tre' Newton as the starter for Saturday's UTEP game.
Newton gave the second-ranked Longhorns everything they had been looking for in a tailback for the last two seasons during Saturday's win over Texas Tech, picking up difficult yards and moving the chains. Filling in for injured starter Vondrell McGee in the second half, Newton rushed for 88 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries.
His 18 carries for 81 yards in the second half proved pivotal in keeping Texas Tech's explosive offense off the field as the Longhorns escaped with a 34-24 win. It was the inability of the Longhorns backs to pick up critical yards late that paved the way for their upset loss to Tech last season.
AUSTIN, Texas -- Just think, Texas coach Mack Brown worried last week that quarterback Colt McCoy wasn't having as much fun as he use to have playing the game.
McCoy showed his coach what fun really looks like Saturday night as the second-ranked Longhorns and Texas Tech got caught up in a virtual game of H.O.R.S.E. during the third quarter. With each touchdown the Red Raiders scored to try to reclaim the lead, McCoy was only too happy to match them.
"In the second half, he had a blast," Brown said. "When they'd score he'd say 'Look out, what a game. We've got come back and score.' He was the old Colt for the second half."
AUSTIN, Texas -- Considering what was at stake and what was likely lost that, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy has tried to erase the ending of last year's Texas Tech from his memory.
On the game's final play last November, Tech quarterback Graham Harrell fired the football to star receiver Michael Crabtree in double coverage near the right sideline. It appeared Crabtree's momentum or a push from one of the Texas defenders would take him out of bounds, and game over, Texas prevails. But instead Crabtree spun away and high-stepped the remaining yards into the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown reception to give the Red Raiders a 39-33 upset win over No.1 Texas in Lubbock.
A defining moment in the 2008 college football season had been made. And then shown over and over.
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.
"Taylor Potts has outperformed Graham Harrell the last two practices, so the quarterback situation's wide open,'' Leach said. "If Taylor Potts is able to continue to outperform Graham the rest of the spring and through camp and some things like that, he's got a shot to be the starting quarterback here.''
"Competition brings out the best in everybody," Leach said, "but you want to make sure it's real and warranted competition, the best you can. I think both are good quarterbacks. Both do good things. Both have some real strengths, and now I think we want to prepare them both so that they can have the best offseason possible, and then see who we're going to go with in the fall."
The emergence of Potts is an unexpected development in Lubbock. Prior to his recent performance, he was probably most known for taking part in ESPNU's televised summer camp-on steroids Summer House. For his sake I'm glad that it looks as though he will soon be able to add something a little more meaningful to his resume'.
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.
It's just three weeks into the full-swing of 
Texas Tech quarterback 
HOUSTON -- Reclined way back with his feet kicked up on a table in the Houston Cougars' film room Tuesday and answering questions in a philosophical yet aloof way, Dana Holgorsen was channeling his inner 
It was of little surprise Monday when Texas coach 
AUSTIN, Texas -- Just think, Texas coach 
AUSTIN, Texas -- Considering what was at stake and what was likely lost that, Texas quarterback 
Every 
A year ago Graham Harrell (pictured at right) won the starting quarterback job for Texas Tech as a sophomore. All he did was complete over 60% of his passes and throw for 38 touchdowns. One would assume that he had the job for 2007 all locked up. 
