FanHouse Dezmon Briscoe

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.

So much for the Big 12 North being taken seriously this season.

On a day when division leaders Kansas and Nebraska had a chance to make a statement, both teams were upset, and stunningly so.

No.15 Nebraska was exposed offensively in a 31-10 loss to unranked Texas Tech in Lincoln, Neb. And the 17th-ranked Jayhawks, which hadn't played a quality opponent until Saturday, was stunned, 34-30, by a one-win Colorado team for their first loss of the season.

Both defeats have left the door open for supremacy in the North with darkhorses Colorado and Kansas State perhaps having a shot at the division title. The Wildcats exploded on Texas A&M Saturday for after struggling offensively most of the season.

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.

Kansas' basketball team may have an early-season problem, but Kansas' athletic department may have an even bigger mess on its hands.

The Kansas football and men's basketball teams are at odds, resulting in at least two skirmishes Tuesday and another early Wednesday morning. Sophomore guard Tyshawn Taylor suffered a thumb injury in one of the altercations and likely will not be available when the Jayhawks begin practicing next month.

The situation is serious enough that it demanded the attention of the school's administration, as well as basketball coach Bill Self and football coach Mark Mangino, on Wednesday.

For the longest time, Kansas senior Kerry Meier couldn't help but feel like a quarterback playing wide receiver.

Those feelings had everything to do with what was in his heart and where he spent his practice weeks as opposed to the games. Meier was a quarterback for the Kansas Jayhawks every day of the week except the days it really counted.

But Meier is finally coming to grips this season with the move that has allowed him to see the field the last two seasons and the one that is ultimately best for the Jayhawks.

Hey, it's always football season at FanHouse. Welcome to "Greetings From Flyover Country," a new weekly feature that will keep you up to date on Big Ten, Big 12, and MAC football. We'll also cover any Midwestern stories which have national repercussions, along with rounding up the week's arrests and suspensions.

We start this week with a decision bound to have people from San Ysidro to Bangor scratching their heads. Please give a moment's thought to the worst aspect of the last postseason. While the Big 12 championship was settled on the field, the Big 12 South championship wasn't. Instead, the conference gave the division title to Oklahoma, because they use the BCS rankings as a tiebreaker.