ESPN College Football

"College Football Live's" panel of experts preview Kansas State's upcoming season.

ESPN.com Big 12 blogger David Ubben talks with Arkansas DE Tank Wright following the Razorbacks' victory in the Cotton Bowl.

NEW YORK -- Kansas State athletic director John Currie asked a simple question. If the BCS bowls don’t use the BCS ratings to pick the BCS teams, then why have the standings?

Kansas State finished No. 8 in the final BCS standings. The Wildcats (10-2) got passed over by the Allstate Sugar Bowl in favor of No. 11 Virginia Tech and No. 15 Michigan. Currie, speaking on a panel with four other athletic directors at the IMG Intercollegiate Athletic Forum, said, “We don’t necessarily have to have labels that designate this group of games better than all the other games, unless we’re going to objectively put the people into the games.”

Kansas State will play No. 6 Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. It joins the Rose, the Fiesta and the Allstate BCS National Championship Game in matching up top-10 teams. Currie is thrilled that Kansas State is going to Dallas. Wildcat fans bought every ticket and filled every hotel room they could find the last time Kansas State played in the Cotton Bowl. They would have done the same in New Orleans.

The Sugar Bowl took Virginia Tech and Michigan, expecting them to do those things, too. The selection struck at the credibility of the BCS.

“We have to be in control of how we’re presented, in terms of whether we’re ethical and following some explainable scenario,” Currie said. “That’s our responsibility.”

He clarified after the forum that he didn’t intend to suggest that the Sugar Bowl had done anything unethical. He met Sugar Bowl executive director Paul Hoolahan in New York on Monday afternoon. Hoolahan explained to him the fact that the Hokies had been to the Sugar Bowl twice before played into the decision.

Asked who let Kansas State down, Currie said, “I let us down, because I didn’t know the people well enough to do whatever we’re supposed to do. If that’s what we’re going to be about, whoever had a relationship 40 years ago, I don’t think that’s the thing to stand up and tell student-athletes. ‘Hey, you get to do this or this because of somebody else’s relationship.”

Gotta love the system. In a completely unrelated note, athletic directors Bob Bowlsby of Stanford and Scott Woodward of Washington, also on the panel, said they believe a plus-one is inevitable.

Kansas State Wildcats (10-2) vs. Arkansas Razorbacks (10-2)

Jan. 6, 8 p.m. (FOX)

Kansas State take from Big 12 blogger David Ubben: Kansas State does it ugly. All the time, every time. But it does it. The Cats are college football's biggest overachievers, and they do it on the back of Collin Klein, who has dragged defenders on his 6-foot-5, 225-pound frame for 1,099 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns. By the way, he's the quarterback. Never mind his wonky delivery. He's gotten better and more accurate as the season has gone on, and somehow has stayed healthy. He just might be the toughest player in college football, and if you're watching K-State's offense, he's probably the guy with the ball in his hand.

Bill Snyder deserves the national coach of the year nod, and the Wildcats have had a defensive renaissance under coordinator Chris Cosh in 2011. This is the same team that gave up more than 3,000 rushing yards last year. Well, sort of. It's not quite the same team. Linebacker Arthur Brown doesn't miss very many tackles and he's one of the Big 12's speediest linebackers. Cornerback Nigel Malone picked off seven passes this year for an All-Big 12 caliber season.

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Arkansas take from SEC blogger Edward Aschoff: Before the season, it looked as if coach Bobby Petrino was equipped with his best, most complete team since his arrival in Fayetteville. The defense was easily the best he had, and while quarterback Ryan Mallett was gone, Tyler Wilson appeared to be just as talented, and with their wealth at wide receiver, it didn’t look like the Razorbacks would miss a beat in the passing game. Not to mention Arkansas had one of the SEC’s best in running back Knile Davis.

But days before the season began, the Hogs were dealt a crushing blow when Davis went down with a season-ending ankle injury. With Davis sidelined, the Arkansas offense became more one-dimensional as it searched for a consistent running back. Injuries then took hold of the defense and the Hogs found themselves outmanned in a huge game with Alabama, losing 38-14. The Razorbacks then struggled to get going in the first half of games after that. The slow starts nearly cost them at Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, but things changed during their homecoming game with South Carolina.

The Hogs jumped out quickly against the Gamecocks and never looked back. Starting with that 44-28 win, the Razorbacks won their first three games in November by a combined score of 137-52. Arkansas had an opportunity to shake up the BCS and sneak into the national championship, but fell 41-17 to No. 1 LSU in its season finale. Still, Arkansas had another fine year under Petrino, getting to 10 wins and finishing first in the SEC in total offense (445.8 yards per game).

Michigan State defeated Michigan 28-14 on Oct. 15 and finished one game ahead of the Wolverines in the Big Ten's Legends Division.

The Spartans played in the inaugural Big Ten championship game on Saturday night, falling to Wisconsin 42-39 in one of the most entertaining games of the season.

Yet, when the BCS bowl games were announced on Sunday night, the Wolverines were picked to play Virginia Tech in the Allstate Sugar Bowl, while the Spartans were left out and will play Georgia in the lesser Outback Bowl.

"Michigan sat home on the couch and watched us," Cousins said. "I don't see how you get punished for playing and someone else gets to sit on the couch and get what they want. If this is the way the system is, I guess it's a broken system."

Oklahoma State might be asking the question of Alabama.

Without a playoff system in college football, the BCS objective is to match the two best teams in the country in the Jan. 9 Allstate BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans.

Whether you like the sport’s system for determining its national champion or not, the BCS got it right this season.

No. 1 LSU will play No. 2 Alabama in the Mercedes-Benz Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans with a BCS national championship on the line.

The Tigers and Crimson Tide are the two best teams in the country.

There’s no debate about whether or not the Tigers deserve to be there, after they blasted No. 14 Georgia 42-10 in the SEC championship game on Saturday night to finish the regular season with a 13-0 record. The Tigers have defeated the Pac-12 champion (Oregon), Big East champion (West Virginia) and six SEC teams which were ranked when they played them.

The Crimson Tide, whose only loss came against LSU 9-6 in overtime on Nov. 5 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., edged Oklahoma State for No. 2 in the final BCS standings released on Sunday night. The Crimson Tide had a .9419 BCS average, slightly ahead of the Pokes’ BCS average of .9333.

Alabama (11-1) was ranked No. 2 in the Harris Poll and USA Today coaches’ top 25 poll, which make up two-thirds of the BCS formula. The Pokes (11-1) were No. 3 in both human polls.

Alabama was also No. 2 in two of the six computer ratings in the BCS formula; OSU was No. 2 in the other four. A team’s average in the computer rankings is the other one-third in the BCS formula.

“The system that we have is the system,” Alabama coach Nick Saban told ESPN. “Regardless of what anybody thinks [of the system], it sort of is what it is. I think there are a lot of people out there who think these are the two best teams in the country and want to see them play again.”

LSU coach Les Miles said he didn’t have a problem playing the Crimson Tide again, even though the Tigers have already defeated them on the road this season.

“We look forward to playing Alabama,” Miles told ESPN. “The upside is you understand your opponent and you’ve seen them play. You’ve studied them before and obviously you’ve played them. It will be played in the same fashion with great enthusiasm and want to compete.”

OSU coach Mike Gundy, whose Cowboys will play No. 4 Stanford in the Jan. 2 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, said his team did everything it could in trying to impress voters by blasting rival Oklahoma 44-10 on Saturday night.

“We were very disappointed,” Gundy told ESPN. “We felt like our team had worked very hard. We had a tough loss [37-31 in double overtime at Iowa State on Nov. 18], but we came back and did everything we could do to dominate the game against Oklahoma. We felt like we had an opportunity by the way we played in the game.”

Gundy didn’t criticize the BCS system, saying his school “bought into the system several years ago.”

“We wanted the opportunity to settle the debate that had gone on all year about the offense of the Big 12, the defense of the SEC,” Gundy said. “We thought our defense was a lot better than most people thought. For whatever reason, people decided they wanted to see a rematch of LSU and Alabama. There obviously weren’t enough people who wanted to see the Big 12 champion against the SEC champion.”

The BCS didn’t get everything right on Sunday night.

After then-No. 6 Houston was upset by Southern Mississippi 49-28 in Saturday’s Conference USA championship game, there was one at-large selection available to BCS bowl games. By finishing in the top four of the final BCS standings, Stanford was guaranteed of earning an at-large selection under BCS rules.

With the Cougars out of the mix, the Allstate Sugar Bowl selected No. 11 Virginia Tech to play No. 13 Michigan in New Orleans on Jan. 3. The Hokies were routed by then-No. 20 Clemson 38-10 in Saturday night’s ACC championship game in Charlotte, N.C.

Sugar Bowl officials selected the Hokies over higher-ranked teams like No. 7 Boise State and No. 8 Kansas State.

The other BCS bowl matchups: No. 5 Oregon will play No. 10 Wisconsin in the Jan. 2 Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio and No. 15 Clemson will play No. 23 West Virginia in the Jan. 4 Discover Orange Bowl.

Here are a few other intriguing bowl games outside of the BCS:

• No. 6 Arkansas will play No. 8 Kansas State in the Jan. 6 Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas. The Razorbacks, whose only losses came against LSU and Alabama, probably would have played in a BCS bowl if they weren’t in the SEC (BCS rules allow only two teams from one conference to play in BCS bowl games). The Wildcats were just as deserving as Virginia Tech to play in the Sugar Bowl.
• Florida State and Notre Dame, two of the sport’s traditional heavyweights, will meet in the Dec. 29 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla. Both teams had disappointing seasons after high preseason expectations, but should bring back good teams in 2012.
• Penn State, which finished 9-3 and tied with Wisconsin for first place in the Big Ten Leaders Division, slipped all the way to the Jan. 2 TicketCity Bowl at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The Nittany Lions will play Houston. It seems obvious that bowl games sitting higher in the Big Ten’s pecking order wouldn’t want PSU because of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
• Ohio State (which last week hired Urban Meyer as its new coach) will play Florida (Meyer’s old school) in the Jan. 2 TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. OSU interim coach Luke Fickell will coach the Buckeyes in the bowl game, but Meyer figures to be a very interested observer.

» BCS standings reaction: ACC | Big 12 | Big East | Big Ten | Pac-12 | SEC | Non-AQ

College football fans who live north of the Mason-Dixon Line and west of the Mississippi River were already sick of hearing about the SEC’s dominance.

What are they going to do now?

After its teams won each of the sport's past five BCS national championships, the SEC now has the top three teams in the latest BCS standings, which were released Sunday night. With only two weeks to go in the regular season, an all-SEC rematch in the Jan. 9 Allstate BCS National Championship Game in New Orleans now seems like a strong possibility.

LSU remained No. 1 with a perfect BCS average of 1.000, followed by No. 2 Alabama (.9491) and No. 3 Arkansas (.8985).

Oklahoma State, which kicked off a chaotic weekend of football by losing to unranked Iowa State 37-31 in overtime on Friday night, fell from No. 2 to No. 4 with an .8408 average. Virginia Tech is No. 5 (.7842) and Stanford is No. 6 (.7711).

“It’s quite a lineup for us,” SEC commissioner Michael Slive said Sunday night. “It’s not over yet, though.”

LSU hosts Arkansas in Baton Rouge, La., on Friday, and if it wins would then play No. 13 Georgia in the Dec. 3 SEC championship game in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. But if the Razorbacks upset the Tigers -- and if Alabama beats No. 24 Auburn on the road in Saturday’s Iron Bowl game -- the SEC West would be decided by a three-way tiebreaker.

In that case, the SEC West champion would be determined by the final BCS standings. The highest-rated team in the Nov. 27 BCS standings would be declared champion, unless the second-place team were within five spots and won the head-to-head matchup.

Alabama seems to be in better shape than Arkansas -- even if the Razorbacks upset LSU -- because of the Tide’s 38-14 victory over the Hogs in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Sept. 24. Because of that victory, it’s hard to imagine the Tide falling below the Razorbacks, as long as the Tide beat Auburn.

LSU has the tiebreaker over Alabama because of the Tigers’ 9-6 overtime win in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 5.

Here’s a couple of other BCS notes:

• Houston is No. 8 in the BCS standings, one spot behind No. 7 Boise State. But as long as the Cougars defeat Tulsa on the road on Friday and win the Dec. 3 Conference USA championship game, they’ll receive a BCS at-large bid. That’s because the Cougars would be rated in the top 16 of the BCS standings and would be higher than the Big East champion. The Big East doesn’t have a single team included in the top 25 of the BCS standings.

Under that scenario, the Broncos would probably be eliminated from BCS at-large consideration, since BCS rules state that only one team from a non-AQ conference must be selected each season.

• Michigan is No. 15 in the BCS standings, but must finish in the top 14 to be considered for a BCS at-large spot. If the Wolverines defeat Ohio State on Saturday, there’s a good chance they’d be in line to receive an at-large bid. If the Wolverines are defeated, Kansas State might be next in line. The Wildcats are No. 11 in the BCS standings.

1. One by one, the challengers to Alabama junior tailback Trent Richardson for the Doak Walker Running Back Award have been felled by injury. Oregon junior LaMichael James, the 2010 winner, led the nation in rushing when he dislocated his elbow earlier this month. South Carolina sophomore Marcus Lattimore and, as of Wednesday night, Pittsburgh junior Ray Graham have suffered season-ending knee injuries. If Richardson stays healthy, the award is his to lose. Of course, staying healthy has been the problem.

2. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) told Chuck Todd on MSNBC’s Daily Rundown on Wednesday that West Virginia University “had a done deal” with the Big 12 before politics -- ewwww -- entered the fray. Manchin suggested that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) may have intervened with the conference on behalf of Louisville. To counter the use of politics, Manchin suggested a Senate hearing. I’m guessing the irony went completely over his head.

3. There’s a lot of ways in which history says that No. 8 Oklahoma will beat No. 9 Kansas State, but this is the most interesting: the Sooners, coming off their 41-38 loss to Texas Tech, haven’t lost consecutive games since 2003. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the next longest streak, shared by Boise State, TCU and Oregon, dates to 2007. How unusual is Oklahoma’s streak? Of the 120 FBS teams, 81 have lost at least two straight this season.

Here are 10 things I’ll be watching in college football this weekend:

1. Will Oklahoma bounce back against Kansas State?

The No. 9 Sooners were stunned by unranked Texas Tech 41-38 last week, ending their 39-game home winning streak. OU hasn’t lost consecutive conference games since a four-game slide in 1998. The Wildcats are off to a 7-0 start but haven’t beaten OU since the 2003 Big 12 championship game. Wildcats quarterback Collin Klein ran for 10 touchdowns in the past three games, but the Cats are averaging only 153.9 passing yards per game. The Red Raiders were able to expose OU’s secondary while totaling 572 yards of offense last week.

2. Should Clemson be on upset alert?

Heading into Saturday night’s game at Georgia Tech, the Tigers are aiming for their first 9-0 start since 1981, when they finished 12-0 and won a national championship. Georgia Tech has dropped two games in a row, scoring only 28 points and averaging only 253 yards of offense in losses to Virginia and Miami. But Tech’s triple-option offense might pose problems for Clemson’s defense, which surrendered 83 points in victories over Maryland and North Carolina. The Tigers scored 115 points and had 1,026 yards of offense in their last two games.

3. What does USC have to do to upset Stanford?

The No. 6 Cardinal will be going for their 16th consecutive victory in Saturday night’s trip to USC. The Trojans will have to slow down Stanford’s running game, which ran for a school-record 446 yards in last week’s 65-21 rout of Washington. The Trojans will need another big game from receiver Robert Woods, who had 12 catches for 224 yards with three touchdowns in last season’s 37-35 loss to Stanford. USC quarterback Matt Barkley has thrown nine touchdowns with only one interception during a three-game winning streak.

4. Who starts at quarterback for Florida?

Gators coach Will Muschamp said senior John Brantley is ready to go for Saturday’s game against No. 22 Georgia in Jacksonville, Fla. But Brantley hasn’t played since injuring his ankle early in the Gators’ 38-10 loss to Alabama on Oct. 1 and hasn’t practiced much over the past three weeks. Brantley might get a chance to play against the Bulldogs, but don’t be surprised if freshmen Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett take most of the snaps. Georgia has to do a better job of taking care of the football -- it has had 12 turnovers in its three consecutive losses to UF.

5. Who’s going to run the ball for South Carolina?

The No. 13 Gamecocks begin life without star tailback Marcus Lattimore, who will miss the rest of the season after tearing knee ligaments in a 14-12 victory over Mississippi State on Oct. 15. Freshman Brandon Wilds will get the start in Saturday’s game at Tennessee, after running for 75 yards on 13 carries so far this season. Quarterback Connor Shaw will have to carry a bigger load on offense, and former USC basketball player Bruce Ellington might get some snaps out of “Wildcats" plays. Volunteers freshman quarterback Justin Worley makes his first start after senior Matt Simms was benched last week.

6. Should Oklahoma State be worried about Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III?

The No. 3 Cowboys’ defense has held up so far this season but will be tested by Griffin, who has thrown 22 touchdowns and two interceptions this season. Baylor’s defense has been exposed by strong passing attacks, giving up 681 yards of offense in a 55-28 loss to Texas A&M on Oct. 15. The Bears allowed 725 yards in a 55-28 loss to OSU last season. Griffin played very well against the Aggies, throwing for a school-record 430 yards with three touchdowns. Baylor has lost five straight and 14 of 15 games to the Pokes.

7. Can Michigan State get up for another big game?

The No. 11 Spartans just completed a trifecta of emotional victories, defeating Ohio State (17-7), Michigan (28-14) and Wisconsin (37-31). The Spartans defeated the then-No. 6 Badgers on quarterback Kirk Cousins’ 44-yard touchdown pass to Keith Nichol on a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game. Now Michigan State has to regroup to play at No. 14 Nebraska on Saturday. MSU’s defense, which allowed 220 rushing yards to the Badgers, will have to slow down Cornhuskers quarterback Taylor Martinez and I-back Rex Burkhead. The winner gets the inside track to winning the Big Ten’s Legends division.

8. Will Wisconsin rebound to beat Ohio State?

The Badgers saw their BCS national championship hopes all but end with last week’s loss at Michigan State. But Wisconsin can still win the Big Ten’s Leaders division and play in the inaugural Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis on Dec. 3. The Buckeyes had an extra week to prepare, after upsetting Illinois 17-7 on Oct. 15. Ohio State completed only one pass for 17 yards against the Illini, but tailback Dan “Boom” Herron ran for 91 yards with two touchdowns in his first action of the season.

9. Can Texas A&M’s defense shut down another opponent?

Missouri’s trip to Texas A&M on Saturday night will be a matchup of potential future SEC teams. The No. 16 Aggies have struggled defending the pass all season, but they were much better in last week’s 33-17 victory over Iowa State, allowing only 305 yards of offense. Missouri has won four of its last five games against Texas A&M. Tigers quarterback James Franklin struggled in last week’s 45-24 loss to Oklahoma State, completing only 14 of 27 passes for 184 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

10. Can Penn State do it again?

The Nittany Lions have won six games in a row heading into Saturday’s game against Illinois, and they’ve done it with a menacing defense and mediocre offense. Penn State tailback Silas Redd has been very good lately, with four straight 100-yard games. But the Nittany Lions remain unsettled at quarterback, although Matt McGloin played well in last week’s 34-24 victory at Northwestern. The Illini have lost two straight games after a 6-0 start.

To remind us that the expansion game -- it is such a fun game, isn't it -- is all about surprises, the ACC decided to be the conference that crossed the Rubicon as we head toward a superconference future.

Syracuse and Pittsburgh are bolting the Big East for the ACC. It's a done deal, unlike the just-about-done deal for Texas A&M to the SEC, which is only being held up by Texas folks who hate free markets and love frivolous lawsuits when their self-interests are involved.

So, at this moment, the ACC is at 14 and the SEC is just about 13. That means the days of 12 are numbered, not unlike the precarious existence of the Big 12 and Big East.

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott has repeated the same series of phrases -- politely and with an admirable energy that almost makes his message seem fresh -- over and over. He likes the Pac-12. He's perfectly happy staying at 12. Heck, the Pac-12 is the world's richest college sports conference! But the conference won't be left behind. If others start the superconference trend, the Pac-12 will then play its strong hand and add teams.

And so we have Texas' and Oklahoma's boards of regents meeting Monday. Here's a guess that the subject of expansion is going to come up, though the regents won't specifically vote to jump conferences or not, but only to tell their president to do what he thinks is best for the institution.

First, no one knows the endgame. Did you read anything about imminent moves to the ACC from Syracuse and Pittsburgh before this weekend?

But the general feeling is Oklahoma is tired of Big 12 instability and wants to join the Pac-12 and that Oklahoma State would follow. So that's 14, which for a variety of reasons isn't a good number for a conference (which is why we should assume the ACC and SEC aren't done).

What about Texas? The smart move for Texas, as it was when it was first approached by Scott during the previous round of expansion madness, is to join the Pac-Whatever.

I do not know how the parties compromise on the Longhorn Network. I only know smart people know how to reach compromises in business deals that enrich themselves.

And if Texas wants to go its own way, then Scott will look elsewhere, perhaps Kansas and Kansas State.

Or is the ACC about to pull the big whammy and get Texas and Kansas, too (and allow Texas to keep the LHN)?

Or does the Big 12 stage a miraculous 11th-hour rally and save itself?

As Scott told me at the USC-Utah game, no one knows the endgame, even him. There's too much "need-to-know-basis" information out there, with insiders owning disparate bits and pieces they can't put together any better than reporters, as well as plenty of misinformation and gamesmanship.

But it feels like each week the plot thickens. Which typically means in a thriller that we're getting closer to a dramatic climax.

Or an unsatisfying one.

Seems like every year a conference team is a surprise contender.

Few saw Stanford coming in 2010, at least not like it did: A 12-1 record with a top-five finish. And Oregon State didn't look like a Rose Bowl contender in 2009 when it started 2-2.

It's almost certain one Pac-12 team will be picked much worse than it finishes. But who?

Will it be one of the new teams: Utah or Colorado? While Utah has won 33 games over the past three seasons, it has some apparent holes, most notably its secondary. The general feeling is the higher level of the competition in the conference will run the Utes down.

Few have high expectations for Colorado, but the Buffaloes have 14 players back from a team that went 5-7 and beat quality teams such as Georgia, Hawaii and Kansas State.

Or what about one of the teams likely to be picked at or near the bottom: UCLA or Washington State? Might the Bruins or Cougars not only climb out of the cellar but climb toward the top of their respective divisions? UCLA has a solid defense, while WSU has a passing attack that will scare most teams.

Another possibility: California. The Bears have been hard to predict in recent years, but Jeff Tedford has collected some intriguing talent over the past couple of recruiting seasons. If Cal gets solid play at quarterback, it could end up a contender.

So what do you think?

1. In announcing the new 13-year deal between Fox and the Big 12, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione pointed out that every school can “monetize” some distribution rights; i.e., the Longhorn Network that exists and the OU Network that is being investigated. I’m sure it comes as great solace to Kansas State and Baylor that they can “monetize” their rights. In other words, the Big 12 will be more unbalanced than ever.

2. We have to wait five months to find out if new Vanderbilt coach James Franklin can win games. But he has provided a jolt of enthusiasm into a program that needs it. Franklin interrupted a team meeting last Friday to announce a dodgeball tournament. The coaches filed into the meeting room in “uniform” and talking smack. Check out the video at VUCommodores.com, if for nothing else than to see coaches Herb Hand and Ricky Rahne take pratfalls straight out of America’s Funniest Home Videos.

3. National Football Foundation president Steve Hatchell told me Tuesday that he has been inundated with calls from athletic administrators asking the NFF to do something to help restore the image of a game that over the past few months has been battered by scandal, controversy, you name it. Hatchell is a capable guy, but he has no magic wand. The game is cleaner than it was a generation ago, but the scrutiny of the modern era is closer -- and never-ending.

1. It’s not a surprise that South Carolina has suspended indefinitely quarterback Stephen Garcia, and that may be the saddest aspect of it. Five suspensions since his arrival show remarkable immaturity, and Steve Spurrier hasn’t been able to coax him to grow up. Garcia looks more and more like another in what has become a long line of disappointing passers for the Head Ball Coach. Your turn, Connor Shaw.

2. Houston quarterback Case Keenum’s return from tearing his right ACL is proceeding on schedule. The 2010 Heisman candidate, who suffered the injury while trying to make a tackle after throwing a pick at UCLA in the third game of the season, has participated in some individual drills and thrown to Cougar receivers this spring. But he won’t be on the field for the spring game on Saturday. Houston, which has three All-Conference USA returnees on offense plus Keenum, should be a defensive nightmare in the fall.

3. If Kansas State isn’t the last FBS team to begin spring practice, they had to be close. The Wildcats bring back a decent amount of experience, including their top five tacklers, from the 7-6 team that lost that controversial Pinstripe Bowl to Syracuse. The good news for Bill Snyder is that his team won’t play Nebraska for the first time since 1922. The bad news is the ‘Cats pick up Big 12 favorites Oklahoma and Texas A&M, which they wouldn’t have played this fall had the league remained at 12 teams.

Coaches love talking about explosion plays. You want to get a lot of them and give up very few.

We looked at offensive explosion plays -- plays of 20 or more yards -- on Tuesday and defenses that prevented explosion plays on Wednesday. Today we look at explosion plays in terms of rushing offense and rushing defense. On Friday, we'll look at explosion plays in terms of passing numbers.

So here's how the Pac-12 stacked up in 2010 (again, thanks to ESPN Stats & Information). The number to the left in national rank. The number to the right is the total number of explosion plays in the running game in 2010.

4. Oregon... 39
25. Stanford... 21
29. Washington... 20
29. UCLA... 20
49. USC... 16
49. Utah... 16
66. Arizona... 14
66. Arizona State... 14
83. Oregon State... 12
91. California... 11
91. Colorado... 11
99. Washington State... 10

Not many surprises here, though Oregon State's and California's totals might seem low, considering the quality of their tailbacks: Jacquizz Rodgers and Shane Vereen.

Some other thoughts.

• Oregon ranked second in 2009 (39) and third in 2008 (37). The Ducks, Nevada and Georgia Tech each ranked in the top five the past three seasons.
• California ranked 18th in 2009 with 24 runs of 20 or more yards, and eighth in 2008 with 30, so its drop-off in 2010 was substantial.
• With Toby Gerhart, the 2009 Heisman Trophy runner-up, Stanford had 20 runs of 20 or more yards. Without him in 2010, it had 21. That said: In 2008, when the Cardinal went 5-7 and Tavita Pritchard was the starting QB, it produced 25 such runs, which ranked 12th in the country.
• In 2008, UCLA and Washington State tied for 109th in the nation with just six explosion runs. In 2009, Washington State had 10 and UCLA nine, thereby ranking 95th and 98th, respectively. While the Bruins new pistol offense didn't help the passing game, it certainly helped produce explosion plays in the running game, more than tripling the 2008 output and more than doubling what was produced in 2009.
• Buffalo ranked last in the nation with just two runs of over 20 yards, the worst total over the past three seasons. Nothing to do with the Pac-10, but that's really, really pathetic.

But do piling up explosion plays in the run game correlate to winning? Short answer: More often than not, though a lot has to do with scheme (Georgia Tech and Navy, for example, run triple-options and don't pass much). Here's the top 10 in 2010 with the team's record in parentheses to the right.

1. Georgia Tech... 45 (6-7)
2. Northern Illinois... 42 (11-3)
3. Auburn... 41 (14-0)
4. Oregon... 39 (12-1)
5. Nevada... 38 (13-1)
6. Nebraska... 36 (10-4)
7. North Texas... 32 (3-9)
8. Mississippi... 31 (4-8)
9. Baylor... 30 (7-6)
10. Tulsa... 28 (10-3)
10. Navy... 28 (9-4)

Three teams -- including No. 1 -- posted losing records. On the other hand, seven won nine or more games and six won 10 or more.

Now, on to defense, starting with the Pac-12.

The number to the left in national rank. The number to the right is the total number of rushing explosion plays yielded in 2010.

2. Arizona State... 6
13. Arizona... 9
13. Utah... 9
13. California... 9
37. Oregon State... 12
45. Stanford... 14
59. Oregon... 16
82. Colorado... 18
90. USC... 19
98. Washington... 22
103. UCLA... 23
117. Washington State... 29

Arizona is a bit surprising because the Wildcats struggled against the run this season, particularly over the second half of 2010. Stanford is a little low because it gave up four runs of 20-plus yards in its loss to Oregon.

Some other thoughts.

• Oregon State's number isn't bad, but in 2009 it was tied for fourth in the nation -- and No. 1 in the Pac-10 -- after yielding just six explosion rushing plays.
• Oregon had better defensive numbers this season than in the previous two, but the Ducks gave up only nine explosion rushing plays in 2008 and 2009.
• This is clearly an area where Washington struggles. In 2009, it gave up 21 explosion rushing plays (102nd in nation) and 22 in 2008 (102nd in nation).
• Washington State yielded 22 rushing explosion plays in 2009 (106th in nation) and 34 in 2008 (worst in the nation) Cougars: You need to get better here.
• In 2008, Tennessee gave up just one run of 20 or more yards. No other team over the past three seasons has yielded fewer than three. In 2009, under new defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, it gave up 21, which ranked 102nd in the nation. This past season, while Kiffin was in his first season at USC, the Vols yielded 16, which ranked 59th, tied with USC. In 2009, the year before Kiffin arrived at USC, the Trojans yielded 13, which ranked 42nd. Just saying.
• While a number of teams are consistently good in this area -- Ohio State, Florida and South Florida, to name a few -- only Iowa ranked in the top 10 the past three seasons.

But do limiting rushing explosion plays on defense correlate to winning? Short answer: Not as much as you'd think, at least this past season. Here's the top 10 in 2010 with the team's record in parentheses to the right.

1. Iowa... 5 (8-5)
2. Arizona State... 6 (6-6)
2. Boston College... 6 (7-6)
4. Purdue... 7 (4-8)
4. Iowa State... 7 (5-7)
4. SMU... 7 (7-7)
4. Florida... 7 (8-5)
4. Ohio State... 7 (12-1)
9. Temple... 8 (8-4)
9. Michigan State... 8 (11-2)
9. Buffalo... 8 (2-10)
9. Wyoming... 8 (3-9)

That's six teams (out of 12) at .500 or below, including two teams who combined for 19 losses. Just two teams -- Ohio State and Michigan State -- won double-digit games. Oklahoma went 12-2 despite giving up 25 rushing explosion plays, which ranked 109th in the nation. Heck, Kansas State finished 7-6 despite giving up 31 such plays, worst in the nation.

That said: Seven of the 12 teams that gave up 25 or more explosion plays finished with losing records, and four won three or fewer games.

Colorado is new to the Pac-12 but old to the Big 12, so it makes sense to check in with Big 12 blogger David Ubben to get his take on the state of the Buffaloes as they welcome new coach Jon Embree.

Just who are these Buffaloes? What are their strengths and weaknesses and how will they fit into the Pac-12, specifically the Pac-12 South?

We went looking for insights and Ubben obliged.

Ted Miller: Well, David you -- and the Big 12 -- have to say goodbye to Colorado, with the Buffaloes looking to their future out West in the Pac-12. First of all, give Pac-12 fans a CliffsNotes description of the state of the program. Things haven’t gone so well in Boulder lately. Why?

David Ubben: Colorado is certainly in rebuilding mode as they kick off a new start under coach Jon Embree after firing Dan Hawkins in the middle of the 2010 season. They bring back two stars in quarterback Tyler Hansen and running back Rodney Stewart. But fitting those guys into Embree's new system and greatly improving from their 5-7 record seems like asking a lot.

Hawkins came to Boulder promising big things but never delivered. As for why it didn't go well? Any number of reasons. One that angered fans is Hawkins' tendency to play less talented players who knew the system well over more talented players that maybe didn't have as solid of a grasp of what they wanted to do on the field. Embree has said he'll do essentially the opposite, so I guess that's a start in the eyes of fans.

TM: OK, let’s look forward then. Tell Pac-12 folks about Embree, his new staff and the talent the Buffaloes have returning. What are strengths and what are question marks heading into the 2011 season?

DU: He's stocked his coaching staff with quite a few Buffaloes, but most of the names would be more recognizable as players. The biggest name is his offensive coordinator, former Buffs great Eric Bieniemy, who spent the past few years coaching Adrian Peterson as the running backs coach at the Minnesota Vikings. They also swiped Bobby Kennedy, a Boulder native, from Texas to coach receivers.

Last year, they ran the ball pretty well, and Stewart is back. He's a small, shifty back that seems way, way underrated. He rushed for more than 1,300 yards last year, and the only Big 12 backs who had more were Daniel Thomas and Kendall Hunter, who should be drafted this year. They lose tackle Nate Solder, another first-round pick, but Ryan Miller is back, and he's an all-conference level guard.

The big question for them next season will be if their defense can stop the pass -- which my sources tell me, is pretty important in the Pac-12. Maybe not as important as in the Big 12, but still necessary for big success. Both corners from last year, Jalil Brown and Jimmy Smith, should be drafted. They weren't great at stopping the pass last year (9th in the Big 12) so it's hard to see them being better at it next year.

TM: OK. Good stuff. Let’s wind it up. How would you have projected them in the Big 12 next fall? And do you have any feeling for how they might do in the new Pac-12 South?

DU: They definitely looked like a team in the bottom third of the Big 12 next year, and it seems like it'll be tough for them to finish in the top half of the Pac-12 South in 2011.

Right now, it's just about being competitive and maybe stealing a game or two that people didn't think they'd win. If that happens enough, a bowl game isn't out of the question. We don't have any idea what to expect out of an Embree-coached team, and that could be a good or a bad thing. We won't know for sure until next year, but if Embree can bottle up whatever Colorado had inside of them the way they played down the stretch last season after Hawkins was fired, it could be a real surprise 2011 for the Buffs.

1. Kansas State wide receiver Adrian Hilburn got flagged for one quick salute to the crowd after scoring a touchdown with 1:13 to play in the New Era Pinstripe Bowl that pulled the Wildcats within 36-34 of Syracuse. Kansas State had to go for two points from the 17, and failed. If the standard is an excessive act that calls attention to the participant who committed it, then the Big Ten crew that flagged Hilburn committed the more egregious act. But if you saw the game, you don’t need me to tell you that.

2. Army’s 16-14 victory over SMU in the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl means the Black Knights finished with a 7-6 record. You could talk all day about the rebuilding job that Rich Ellerson is performing at West Point. But let’s all salute Army, Navy (9-4) and Air Force (9-4) for having winning records in the same season for the first time since 1996. That is, unless there’s a Big Ten officiating crew lurking around.

3. Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema sounded a genuine note of remorse that he couldn’t see his college coach, Hayden Fry of Iowa, be inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame on Thursday. “He's the first man that believed in me in coaching,” Bielema said. “I walked on and I earned his respect right away. He didn't know my name. He called me 86. That was my jersey. At least he knew my jersey. But I began to work and he'd see me do things every day.”