ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

When I was a kid growing up, watching the weather on television was a lot different than it was today.

There weren't any Doppler satellites, 24-hour weather channels or live satellite camera crews back then. Often on the station I watched in Memphis, Tenn., the forecast was accompanied by the weatherman drawing a picture along with his prediction live on television.

Sure, that might seem a little dated and simplistic, but it always had a way of getting me to know which clothes to wear to school the next day.

Texas coach Mack Brown is a little bit older than I am. But maybe that same concept taught him some basic life lessons in Cookeville, Tenn., when he was growing up.

Brown likes to provide his own illustrations that go along with his teaching points when he meets with his team.

Natalie England of the San Antonio Express-News wrote about Brown's habit of illustrating his talks with his own artwork.

After beating Oklahoma, Brown sketched a ladder and had the Longhorns climbing it. He continued on that theme this week, after Texas' 56-31 victory over Missouri enabled it to claim No.1 spot in the initial BCS standings.

"Their rear end going up the ladder -- show them the higher you get up that ladder, you get more exposed," Brown told the Express-News. "Well, I put the clouds at the top of the ladder (Sunday). They're up in the clouds they're so high."

Brown has also used the analogy of not eating poisoned cheese -- or buying into the hype surrounding a successful team. He's even been known to place mousetraps around the Texas football facilities to hammer that point home.

And on Sunday, Brown pulled out his magic marker and drew "big boxes of cheese" at the foot of the team's ladder.

"It's cheesy," Texas quarterback Colt McCoy said when asked about Brown's motivational ploys. "But at the same time, it's so true. You can't get caught up in the hype."

Here are some other stories from around the conference that caught my attention this morning.

• No hyperbole here. John Werner of the Waco Tribune-Herald calls the Big 12 South "the hardest division in the history of mankind."
• Omaha World-Herald columnist Tom Shatel apologizes for placing the 1983 Nebraska team in the same collective breath as this season's Missouri team several weeks ago.
• So the national championship goals were a tad lofty. Missouri is focusing on its next game rather than any long-range goals, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Tom Timmerman writes.
• Preseason All-American William Moore of Missouri tells Mike DeArmond of the Kansas City Star he's looking for a return of big plays to the Missouri defense. So far this season, Moore has produced no interceptions, recovered no fumbles and notched no sacks.
• Oklahoma fans will be in the unusual position of rooting for Oklahoma State this week against Texas to help push the Sooners back into Big 12 South and Bowl Championship Series contention, the Oklahoman's John Rohde writes.
• B.G. Brooks of the Rocky Mountain News writes about all of the elements that went into Colorado's quarterback change last week. Both Cody Hawkins and Tyler Hansen are expected to play this week against Missouri.