ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

The worst scheduling week in Big 12 history might be approaching.

Four Big 12 teams will be playing opponents from the Football Championship Subdivision in contests that have euphemistically been termed by many coaches as "body-bag games."

Coaches of those FCS schools know what they have to do in these games. Mainly, collect a big check and hope they emerge out of the game relatively unscathed for the rest of the season.

A 12-game season makes these games more necessary for the big boys from the Football Bowl Series, even if they aren't necessarily appealing, according to Texas coach Mack Brown.

"It's probably better if we didn't," Brown said, "but I don't know if it's possible right now."

Brown knows about these games after once coaching at Division I-AA Appalachian State, which then played two games against Division I-A teams as financial salvation for the rest of the school's athletic department.

"As tough as it is with the score and kids being mismatched sometimes," Brown said, "it is a positive for the university from the standpoint of exposure.

"And a lot of the kids I've talked to like the experience of going into big stadiums, even though they lose."

But try telling that to fans who pay full price, with increasing full costs, to travel to stadiums in order to watch these glorified exhibitions.

The difference is more than just the 22 extra scholarships that the FBS teams have -- 85 scholarship athletes on a roster compared to 63 for FCS teams.

During the first week of the season, FBS teams went 31-1 against their siblings from the FCS. The lone FCS victory was Cal-Poly's 29-27 triumph over San Diego State, coached by former Oklahoma assistant Chuck Long.

Baylor, Colorado, Kansas State and Missouri can only hope not to join the Aztecs on that dubious list this week.

Until then, here are a few morning links that are always competitive.

• Colorado can't afford a reprise of the last visit by a Football Championship Series when Eastern Washington visits on Saturday. The Buffaloes lost 19-10 to Montana State in their 2006 opener. "It's almost surreal when you look back and you think about it," DT George Hypolite told the Boulder Camera.
• Texas A&M may consider a change in kickers after Richie Bean shanked two short attempts in the Aggies' loss to Arkansas State last week.
• Natalie England of the San Antonio Express-News writes about Texas QB Colt McCoy's emergence as a running threat.
• We now know who wears the pants in Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy's family. If you don't believe it, check the 7:43 mark of this Oklahoman video to find out.
• Steve Sipple of the Lincoln Journal-Star writes about the development of Nebraska LB Cody Glenn and QB Joe Ganz, two seniors who have hardly played most of their college careers.
• Oklahoma WR Manny Johnson is filling the void after Malcolm Kelly's departure to the NFL.
• The Columbia Tribune's Dave Matter writes about improvement necessary for Missouri's leaky secondary, which allowed Juice Williams to squeeze them for 451 passing yards.
• Missouri beat writer Mike DeArmond of the Kansas City Star writes and has video on the development of Missouri TB Derrick Washington.
• Baylor CB Dwain Crawford, a converted safety, tells the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Dwain Price about his enjoyment of his new position's challenges.
• Des Moines Register beat writer Andrew Logue chats about Iowa State's extra rest from playing on Thursday, the Cyclones' memories of Kent State from last season and the Cyclones' looming rivalry game against Iowa next week.
• Iowa State RB J.J. Bass will suit up for his first game this season after being suspended for the opener.
• Kansas coach Mark Mangino isn't expecting Louisiana Tech to be a cupcake.
• Oklahoma State WR Dez Bryant's athleticism makes him effective in jump-ball situations.
• Texas Tech inside receivers coach Lincoln Riley is responsible for providing Mike Leach reports from the press box. It's not a surprising evolution, considering Riley has been Leach's right-hand man since he was 19 and helping coach quarterbacks as a student assistant.
• Kansas State's passing game was effective -- as QB Josh Freeman predicted before the start of the season -- even without graduated WR Jordy Nelson.

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin 

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini can hardly tell this is the Big 12 since his return after being away at the LSU since 2005. The proliferation of spread offenses has resulted in a record-setting binge on offensive numbers across the conference.Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle gleaned that all Big 12 teams except Texas have set single-season passing records since 2002 --  including Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and Kansas State last season.

"I think it's not just the Big 12, but college football in general," Pelini said. "You see all the spread offenses that are happening. It's gone from option football to zone read and spreading the field with fast break-type offenses."

Here are a couple of other numbers that Duarte developed to prove that point. In the conference's inaugural season in 1996, Colorado's Koy Detmer passed for a league-high 3,156 yards. That total would have been good for sixth in Big 12 passing last year as the number was eclipsed by five quarterbacks a year ago -- Texas Tech's Graham Harrell, Missouri's Chase Daniel, Kansas' Todd Reesing, Kansas State's Josh Freeman and Texas' Colt McCoy.

But most worrisome for Pelini is this: His leaky secondary will be playing all of them except McCoy this season.

Top of the mornin' from Kansas City, where we'll have one more day of hype about the upcoming season. Until then, here are some morning links tastier than any baby backs you might find at Arthur Bryant's legendary pits.

• The Daily Oklahoman's Scott Wright profiles Oklahoma State quarterback Zac Robinson, one of only two quarterbacks last season who rushed for more than 800 yards and passed for more than 2,800 yards last season. The other? Florida's Tim Tebow.

My take -- Robinson might be one of the most underrated players in the nation.

• Oklahoma State megabooster T. Boone Pickens pitches a plan to the U.S. Senate he hopes will lessen America's dependence on foreign oil.

My take -- With $4 dollar a gallon gasoline prices, Pickens is finding it's a lot easier to get on the front page these days than when he was merely writing checks for buildings at his old school.

• Jimmy Burch of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that season-ticket demand at Texas Tech has already exceeded last season. The Red Raiders have sold 27,085 in 2008, compared to 27,027 last year.

My take -- Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree help make the Tech football program about as recession-proof an economic commodity in West Texas as can be found.

• Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy arrived at the Big 12 media days basking in the glow of his Internet notoriety, Mike Finger of the San Antonio Express-News writes. Gundy said that he's not concerned, even after Reid complained in an ESPN.com story that his celebrated rant "basically ended [his] life" before he transferred to Texas Southern. "I don't have any problems sleeping at night," Gundy told Finger.

My take -- Nobody will be happier than Gundy to start the 2008 season. At least then, most of the attention will be focused on the results on the field rather than what happened last season.

• Jeffrey Martin of the Kansas City Star/Wichita Eagle examines the pressures surrounding Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman, who will be attempting to better his school-record passing totals of last season without record-breaking receiver Jordy Nelson. "It's his time," KSU coach Ron Prince told Martin about Freeman. "It's his team."

My take -- Hard to believe that Freeman isn't mentioned in the same breath as some of the other top Big 12 quarterbacks -- particularly considering he was as highly recruited as any of them coming into college football.

• Colorado coach Dan Hawkins said that he might consider using heralded freshman running back Darrell Scott as a punter in some situations.

My take -- If Scott gets banged up punting, Colorado fans will think that Hawkins is nuttier than when he made his legendary "This is Big 12 football, it ain't intramurals" declaration.

• Hawk Digest has a list of 14 wishes for Kansas football this season.

My take -- If the Jayhawks accomplish half of them, Mark Mangino might be cashing in on another contract extension.

• Thayer Evans of the New York Times follows "The George Hypolite Show."

My take -- Hypolite -- by far -- is the early leader in the clubhouse as the Big 12's quote machine for this season.