ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Can a Big 12 coach who has never taken his current school to a bowl game be considered as the nation's most underrated coach?

He can if he's Art Briles, the second-year Baylor coach who has chosen by Heisman Pundit.com as the nation's most underrated coach.

And truthfully, Briles deserves the honor as much as anybody.

Considering he's battling in the difficult Big 12 South Division and recruiting against those same schools for talent, Briles and the Bears face some unique challenges that most coaches haven't faced.

Imagine this: Texas and Oklahoma arguably are at the peak of their programs because of their recent success. Texas Tech assuredly is. Oklahoma State is one breakthrough season from being there. And Texas A&M has some unique recruiting and tradition advantages which makes it a potential goldmine for the right coach.

Look at those daunting odds and tell me that Briles hasn't done a heck of a job battling those forces in his own division.

Briles has been the master of turnarounds everywhere he has coached. He transformed Class 2A Hamlin High School in his first job and later turned Class 5A Stephenville into a nationally known offensive juggernaut that helped bring the spread offense to Texas high schools.

That carried over once he became a head coach at Houston, where the Cougars had posted an 8-26 record in the previous three seasons before his arrival. Briles took the team to a bowl in his first season -- the first of four bowl appearances the Cougars qualified for in his five seasons there.

The Bears haven't had a winning season since 1994 when they qualified for the Alamo Bowl. That drought has coincided with the start of the Big 12 Conference.

But that could all change this season if Robert Griffin can stay healthy and Phil Taylor is the force everybody expects in the trenches. It might be a memorable season for the Bears.

And the guys at Heisman Pundit appear to be ahead of the bandwagon with this one.

They also had Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy on the honorable mention list for their most underrated.

I would also nominate Mark Mangino for the list. Mangino has taken Kansas to back-to-back bowl games. They've earned a share of the Big 12 title and won a BCS bowl game while he's been there. Only 24 teams nationally and four in the Big 12 can say they have won a BCS game since the configuration started in 1998.

I might also argue and say that Mike Leach still belongs on this list. Sure, he's getting complimentary stories done about him by 60 Minutes and he still hasn't been to a BCS bowl game yet. But he's competing against many of the same challenges that Briles is facing and he's been much more successful on a consistent basis. Sure, he's quirky at times, but don't ever discount his ability to coach football and particularly teach offenses.

But it's interesting to me that Briles is already receiving this national acclaim and the Bears have never won more than four games with him coaching.

That likely will change this season, but he's already getting wide public acceptance before it happens.