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Coaches we love to hate week is rolling on at ESPN.com, and today it's familiar territory for the Big 12.

Some coaches are hated because they simply win too much. For the Big 12, it seems like that's the only reason why any coaches earn hatred from fans.

For the most part, the coaches in the Big 12 are a civil bunch, with hardly a heated rivalry between them that inspires hate from the fans.

Nobody catches more flak for winning than Bob Stoops and Mack Brown. That's what happens when you win and do it for a long, long time.

Stoops has been accused more than once of running up the score in some of those wins, and when you look back on the 2008 season, it's easy to see why some might feel that way. The Sooners memorably scored 60 points in five consecutive games leading up to the national title, and scored at least 52 points in four more games.

The "leaving starters in" debate is a timeless one, and I tend to fall on the side of, "If you don't like it, stop them." Others don't, and Stoops catches the flak for it.

Simply put, Big 12 teams love beating OU and Texas more than any other school, and those winning traditions are the biggest reasons why.

Stoops and Brown also have to deal with the incessant chorus from fans who argue that coaching at Oklahoma and Texas is simple: You get the best players and you get the best record, regardless of your coaching acumen.

That couldn't be further from the truth. Brown and Stoops both inherited losing teams and turned them into perennial winners who do recruit well and sign the best players in the Big 12 every season. To think that happens automatically is silly. You need good coaches to make it happen, and Brown and Stoops have personified that, even if Brown hasn't won as big as some expect with the type of talent Texas reels in.

In this debate, though, I'd argue Stoops and Brown aren't alone. In recent seasons, they've been joined by none other than Art Briles at Baylor.

The former Texas high school coach is quick with one-liners that earn the media's favor, but he talks about doing big, big things at Baylor. Things like Big 12 titles and telling players they can win Heisman Trophies.

To those on the outside, it sounds like crazy talk.

Then, he goes and inches closer to those goals. He achieved the second one last season, and does anyone want to rule out a Big 12 title for the Bears in the future?

The same people who want to do that probably would have done the same for Oklahoma State. Mike Gundy has equaled or surpassed his win total in every season at Oklahoma State.

Briles has done the exact same, even while losing Robert Griffin III in a four-win campaign in 2009.

He won seven games the following year and did the unthinkable by winning 10 games in 2011. Losing RG3 is a big blow, but Briles has stocked his team with loads of offensive talent and signed five-star talents such as safety Ahmad Dixon and running back Lache Seastrunk.

It's a new day at Baylor, and thanks to Briles the Bears will soon be playing in a new stadium, too. As much as the rest of the Big 12 wants to pretend BU will go back to the same ol' Baylor without RG3, Briles will soon prove that no such thing's going to happen in Waco.

A word of advice on how to view the trio? Don't hate. Appreciate.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Mike Gundy remembers what happened the last time Oklahoma State shook up the Bedlam rivalry.

Gundy was an assistant on Les Miles' staff back in 2001 when the Cowboys knocked off the defending national champion Sooners on their home field as four-touchdown underdogs. In 2002, Miles did it again, beating the No. 4 Sooners in Stillwater, 38-28. The Sooners' noisy neighbors to the north woke them up to a rivalry that would turn one-sided again very soon.

"The first two years I was here with Les and we beat them, they didn’t really consider us a factor. I obviously don’t have any proof of that, but I’m sure when they looked at their schedule, they were looking more at Texas and Nebraska and people like that. ... I don’t think their players every really paid much attention to us," Gundy said. "It’s been so one-sided here for the last 100 years, or however long; it's been a bigger factor for the fans than it was the players.

"That changed in 2003 up through now. They, in my opinion, were very aware of that game. Last year is only going to add to that."

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops? Well, he strongly disagrees with that assessment.

"Everyone calls it a rivalry for all these years, now you’re saying it’s now become one? I don’t understand that. When wasn’t it a rivalry?" he said. "Like I didn’t need to last year? What year didn’t I need to win it?"

Valid points from Stoops, but the facts support Gundy's assumption. After the 2002 loss, the Sooners won next eight Bedlams battles. Only three of the eight wins were by single digits, even though a rising Oklahoma State program was ranked in five of the eight meetings.

Just like 2001 and 2002, Gundy says the Cowboys' emphatic 2011 win "throws fuel on the fire" of Bedlam, a Big 12 rivalry gaining fast on Red River as the Big 12's most nationally relevant game.

Last season, the balance of power in the state shifted. When receiver Isaiah Anderson goes home to Wichita Falls, Texas, he sees more orange than ever before. It's on car bumpers, the fronts of shirts and emblazoned across hats.

With a 44-10 Cowboys romp in Boone Pickens Stadium capped by a field storming, Oklahoma State announced its arrival.

"Oklahoma’s not the only team in Oklahoma anymore. They can’t call it the Sooner State," Anderson said.

This was no fluke win. It was no blip of an upset that put a late-season blemish on Oklahoma's record. This was two in-state rivals playing for everything, and Oklahoma State walked away as 34-point victors.

"I said it then: If not now, then when? When is that gonna happen?" offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. "We got them here, everything’s on the line, we’ve had a bye week, we’re playing good football. We’re healthy. They weren’t."

The Sooners had taken home seven Big 12 titles since 2000, and even with injuries to leading receiver Ryan Broyles and running back Dominique Whaley, they had positioned themselves for an eighth. Oklahoma State said, "No. This one's ours."

Oklahoma State had won games, sure. It had won bunches of them -- 29 in the past three seasons, including a school-record 11 in 2010. What it hadn't won? The big one.

"The bully is the bully until you beat up the bully," Monken said. "You can’t say you’ve arrived until you actually win it."

Fans mobbed players to celebrate as they ripped down the goalposts.

Middle-aged alums hopped the field's 8-foot wall and hugged players such as Justin Gilbert, who said he couldn't take a step without someone thanking him and his teammates.

In one night, Oklahoma State ended eight years of frustration.

"Hopefully, now in our players' minds and our fans’ minds, we’re not the whipping boy anymore," offensive lineman Jonathan Rush said. "We can play. It’s not like we have a curse that we’ll never win that game. Now we can believe. It’s doable."

It also booked its first trip to the BCS and, most importantly, won its first outright conference title.

"If we beat Iowa State and lost to OU, it’s not the same," Monken said, referencing a double-overtime loss to the Cyclones that cost OSU a shot at the national title but didn't deter its Big 12 title hopes. "Yeah, we might have gone on and played in the Sugar Bowl, but it wouldn’t have been the same because you didn’t win the league. You didn’t win the title. You can’t say, 'Hey, we’re conference champs.' And you did it against OU, who, let’s face it, has had the upper hand for years."

The Sooners had the upper hand on more than just Oklahoma State. OU and Texas combined to win 10 of the 15 Big 12 titles before last season. No one except the Sooners and Longhorns had won the former Big 12 South since Texas A&M in 1998.

Then, all of a sudden, the Big 12's Red River dominance came to an end.

"I think what that’s done is kind of broke the ice a little bit," Gundy said. "The people that follow football in this part of the country, I think they enjoyed watching Oklahoma State win this league, because of the dominance the other two schools have had."

It's no longer impossible to surpass Oklahoma and Texas. The road to the Big 12 title was easier in the former Big 12 North, but when the Big 12 eliminated divisions in 2011 after being trimmed to just 10 teams, concern arose that no one would be able to outperform OU or Texas over the course of a 12-game season.

A Big 12 North team could upset a team from the South in the Big 12 title game. Kansas State proved that with a mammoth upset in 2003. Colorado upset Texas in 2001. But outplay the Red River rivals for an entire season? Good luck with that.

A year later, Oklahoma State proved it can be done, and can be done emphatically. The Cowboys finished two games ahead of the Sooners after the Bedlam beatdown for state supremacy.

"Winning a BCS game in some way has changed all of their lives," Gundy said. "They just don’t know it. It certainly changed mine and the people that coach here and work in their organization. It did theirs, too. They just don’t know it yet."

The race was close, but not too close to call.

Wes Lunt will enter fall camp as Oklahoma State's starting quarterback, coach Mike Gundy announced Thursday. The true freshman enrolled early and outgunned redshirt freshman J.W. Walsh and junior Clint Chelf to earn the gig.

From our news story:

Illinois native Lunt, a 6-foot-4, 211-pound traditional passer, enrolled early this spring and outdueled his more experienced competition to win the job, coach Mike Gundy announced Thursday.

Lunt will be the first true freshman starter for Oklahoma State since Tone Jones in 1993, and no true freshman has ever started a season opener.

"We had to make a decision based on what we thought was best for our offense to score points and then give us the best chance to win football games," Gundy said in a statement. "All three players had good springs, but at some point the decision is made on the field. There's always a comment about who coaches are going to name as the starter at any position, but the coaches usually don't make that decision -- the decision is made by the players. Wes performed better than the other two quarterbacks in the spring."

Said Lunt: "I'm overwhelmed. It's such a humbling experience. Coming in early, I knew I had a chance to compete for the job, and to get it is just overwhelming. I know that we're still going to compete through summer and two-a-days, so it's not over."

It's not a huge surprise. This thing was close. Worth noting: Walsh was recruited by former offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, and Chelf was a hometown kid.

Lunt, though? He's the only Illinois player on Oklahoma State's roster, and second-year coordinator Todd Monken went out and got his man. Once his man got on campus, Lunt delivered. Now, he's being rewarded, and it's time to develop him.

Oklahoma State won't be perfect next season, but oh my, will the Cowboys be fun to watch.

Additionally, the Pokes go from a 28-year-old starter who graduated high school in 2002, to an 18-year-old starter who technically hasn't walked at his own high school graduation yet. That's quite a jump, but Lunt's even temper was similar to Brandon Weeden's, and was a trait that no doubt aided him in winning the job.

This race isn't completely over yet, but Lunt can change that quick by validating his status as a leader over the summer and showing up and practicing strong come fall camp.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- The similarities? Well, they're almost too uncanny.

A record-setting quarterback? Gone.

The best receiver in school history? Gone.

And that was in the spring of 2010.

Dez Bryant took a trek south after being drafted in the first round by the Dallas Cowboys. Zac Robinson took his ball and left for the NFL, too.

In the fall, Mike Gundy's Oklahoma State squad was picked to finish fifth out of six teams in something called the Big 12 South.

Instead, the Cowboys won 11 games for the first time, coming a defensive stop or two away from knocking off Oklahoma and playing for the Big 12 title, which also would have been unprecedented for the program.

There are more new faces in the spring of 2012. Could Oklahoma State overachieve again?

"I feel like it’s kind of the same. Gundy said that spring we were so good because we were scared," said sixth-year offensive lineman Jonathan Rush. "I wouldn’t exactly agree that we were scared, but I feel that urgency."

How could he not? Two-time All-Big 12 first-team quarterback Brandon Weeden is headed to the NFL. Two-time Biletnikoff Award winner Justin Blackmon is likely to hear his name called in the top 10 of tonight's first round of the NFL draft.

Oklahoma State's 23 victories in the past two years were the highest total of any two-year period in school history, and Weeden and Blackmon were the two biggest pieces of a team that captured the Cowboy's first Big 12 title.

"It’s real similar, except Weeden was an older guy. Weeden was 26 years old or however old he was back then," Gundy said.

Now, Oklahoma State is left to rely on three inexperienced quarterbacks without the minor league baseball experience that helped shape Weeden's even-tempered demeanor.

The similarities don't end at what's gone, either.

"We’ve got good running backs, good receivers and we’ll be as good on the offensive line as we’ve been," Gundy said.

All-American Kendall Hunter helped carry the 2010 team with a 1,500-yard season, the second of his career. In 2012, Joseph Randle is ready to carry the offense after rushing for 1,200 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2011. Jeremy Smith and Herschel Sims fill out the rest of the Pokes' deepest unit, which also features a fourth underrated, powerful runner in Desmond Roland.

"We’re further along on defense, because we recruited well the '09, '10, '11 and '12 seasons, so we’re further along athletically," Gundy said. "But offensively, it’s about the same."

Gundy is entering his eighth season in Stillwater this fall. In 2010, he credited a system that had been drilled into players for the surprising success. Knowing what was expected helped to soothe some of the growing pains new players would experience in a new system.

That's been drilled only deeper into this year's squad.

"They realize what they have to do personally. How to practice. They realize those things that are essential to be a good team. You have to work hard, show up on time. It’s not even so much a big thing," Rush said of the team's younger players. "They realize how essential little things are. Working hard, not quitting. Finishing."

Said receiver Isaiah Anderson: "I feel like we have a lot more leaders now than people know. It’s not just up to the seniors to lead. The young guys can step in and lead if they need to."

The biggest talents are gone. This year, OSU won't be picked near the bottom of the Big 12. Instead, it will be near the bottom of the top 25.

With the spotlight on teams above OSU, will 2012 be yet another Stillwater surprise for the Big 12?

"Be on the lookout, but they know we’re coming now," Anderson said. "We all know what it takes to get there and willing to do what it takes to get there again."

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Mike Gundy's spent just under half of his 44 years on the planet playing for or coaching Oklahoma State in some capacity.

In 2011, he finally scaled the mountain and provided an outright conference title, the school's first and only since the birth of the Big 8 in 1958.

Gundy is preparing for his eighth season at Oklahoma State, but still holds the rare distinction of improving or equalling his record in every season in Stillwater.

This year's team doesn't have a player on the roster who has been on a team that won fewer than nine games, Gundy notes.

"These guys think they’re better than they really are, and I’ve kind of told them, 'You know, look guys, you've got a ways to go here,' but they don’t believe that. Just because they’ve been here," Gundy said. "And a good portion of them have won 11 or 12, so they don’t know any different, which is a good thing. Now, if it ever becomes an issue where they don’t think they have to practice hard, then I’ll have to deal with that, but they think they’re better than that."

The task ahead of Oklahoma State now is clear: The Cowboys proved they could do a great Texas or Oklahoma impression for one year, winning a Big 12 title.

The Cowboys are further along the road to becoming a national power than any other Big 12 team, but now must prove their worth in the most difficult of proving grounds: the "rebuilding" year.

Winning, or even being a factor in the Big 12 title race, in a season like this would be no greater proof that Oklahoma State has arrived.

This is not the purest of rebuilding years for Oklahoma State. Sixteen starters return from last year's team, 29th-most in college football. However, the loss of near-Heisman winner Brandon Weeden and two-time Biletnikoff Award winner Justin Blackmon is enough to demote the Cowboys from postseason top three to preseason top 20.

Gundy knows what has to happen if OSU's going to fight its way back to the top of the Big 12 in a season when few outside of Stillwater see it as a possibility.

"There are a small percentage of teams that can have good and/or great success with just a guy at quarterback. But there’s a large percentage of them that have good or great teams with good quarterbacks," Gundy said. "So, I think developing a quarterback is key as anything to continued success."

Anyone who watches the Big 12 knows that. Dominant defenses in the SEC make it easier to replace quarterbacks. In the Big 12, though, it's score or lose. Most places are like that.

Freshmen J.W. Walsh and Wes Lunt are competing with junior Clint Chelf to win the honor of replacing Weeden in the fall.

There have been plenty of conversations in the coaches' offices this spring about the quarterback race, and offensive coordinator Todd Monken told Gundy about celebrations in the NFL when teams see drafted quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Manning start to see success blossom in their first minicamp or fall camp.

"Everybody celebrates, because you know you’re good for eight or 10 years. Well, in college, you don’t have that luck. It takes them a year to get ready, and you only have three years out of them and then they’re out of here," Gundy said. "In the NFL , you hang onto those guys for so long, because you know you’re in good shape for a number of years. So, I think establishing a quarterback for us, and probably just about anybody other than your teams that dominate on defense."

OSU got its first taste of big-time success in 2011, capping the Big 12 title by beating likely No. 1 pick Andrew Luck and Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl, the program's first trip to the BCS.

Weeden, a former walk-on, and Blackmon, a moderate receiving recruit, emerged in the last rebuilding year. Oklahoma State was picked to finish fifth in something called the Big 12 South. It earned a share of the Big 12 South and won 10 games.

Oklahoma State will likely be near the middle of the pack in the Big 12 preseason poll this year. Gundy's already got his Big 12 title ring, but getting the Cowboys to finish at or near the top might be even more impressive.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- We've only scratched the surface of my notebook after my visit to Stillwater on Wednesday. Lots, lots, lots more to come. Here's a few spare thoughts, notes and quotes from my day with the reigning Big 12 champs.

• You've heard enough about Oklahoma State's QBs for today (Part 1, Part 2), with more to come on that trio, but whoever wins the job won't be short for targets. Receiver Josh Stewart's made the biggest improvement this offseason, but Tracy Moore has come on strong on the outside, too. Inside, you really do have to watch out for Blake Jackson. I regret not putting him on my "Top Newcomers in the Big 12" list from earlier this week. He's playing inside, but he's basically a tight end, and was the best of the junior college ranks last year. He's also a man. He's a huge target with great, great hands. Look for him to get some run on the goal line, but in this offense, he may actually be my frontrunner for Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. I'd almost guarantee him getting a high volume of touches, and he's going to be tough to bring down at 6-foot-3, 238 pounds. He's every bit of that, too. "He's a big body guy and has really good hands. If it's in the general area of him, he's going to catch it," quarterback J.W. Walsh said. "He's got really good leaping ability and great ball skills."
• Speaking of newcomers, you don't hear as much hype around him, but defensive coordinator Bill Young is hopeful that Calvin Barnett can have a big impact on the defensive line. Plenty of folks were after the one-time OSU commit, turned Arkansas signee, turned juco All-American, turned Cowboy signee. The 6-foot-2, 300-pounder has big-time potential, but he has to pick up the speed of the game and focus on technique. OSU's defense may ultimately depend on strength at the defensive tackle spot. "He's a very talented guy, he's really strong and powerful. Weight coaches have raved about what he's done in the weight room," said Young. "He's a big guy who can run and change direction. We're fortunate to have him." Big impact? "We're hoping he can," Young said.
• Fired Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt, an Oklahoma State alum, was back on OSU's campus on Wednesday visiting with the coaching staff. Colorado coach Jon Embree also showed up unannounced earlier this spring to meet with Gundy, who granted the request.
• Oklahoma State's corners and running backs are both having great springs, as expected. Those two spots might be the biggest strength on the team. OSU has a great case as the Big 12's best set of running backs, and is second to only Texas at cornerback.
• Defensively, Mike Gundy feels like this year's team is the most talented and deepest of any team he's had dating all the way back to even when Gundy was an assistant under Les Miles.
• Oklahoma State may be hurt the most of anyone with the new rule changes in special teams. Kickoffs have been moved up to the 35-yard line and touchbacks are now brought out to the 25-yard line. That negates two huge advantages OSU has had the past two season. Quinn Sharp boomed 61 touchbacks last season. No other kicker had more than 40. Meanwhile, Justin Gilbert is one of the most dynamic return men in the league, but he'll have fewer opportunities. He says he'll still plan on taking it out when he gets a chance, but he'll have to dial it back some and take the unselfish route a whole lot more. Sad to see that. He's electrifying.
• Oklahoma State moved safety Daytawion Lowe to nickel back and Lavocheya Cooper is holding down the free safety spot. The void at strong safety will be filled by committee, Young said. Zack Craig will be part of it, as and Shamiel Gary and Deion Imade will get a shot, too. "The good thing about is we have all the backups back," Young said.
• OSU is missing center Evan Epstein this week. He's out with pneumonia.
• Former OSU lineman Levy Adcock showed up briefly to Oklahoma State' facilities on Wednesday. I can confirm he's shaved his mullet.

When it comes to quarterback, Bob Stoops lives a charmed life these days.

Not many coaches can boast a bona fide Heisman contender -- Landry Jones -- with 37 career starts to his name entering the 2012 season. Stoops can.

But looking at both of the Sooners' rivals, it's a different picture.

Texas is engrossed in a two-man derby between David Ash and Case McCoy. North of the Sooners, Oklahoma State is playing host to a battle between junior Clint Chelf and a pair of freshmen, J.W. Walsh (redshirt) and Wes Lunt (early enrollee).

Texas nearly has its man; Ash is handling the majority of the first-team snaps.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma State is still splitting first-team reps evenly and doesn't have much separation between the three. Neither Texas or Oklahoma State has named a starter.

Stoops will have to replace Jones next season, but if he were in Mike Gundy or Mack Brown's shoes, he wouldn't hurry to name a quarterback.

"There's so much that can happen from the end of spring," Stoops told ESPN in Norman this week. "Just think about the amount of time before you take a snap in a game. So, I always felt having our guys continue to remain very competitive was the best thing."

Brown didn't name Garrett Gilbert his starter until the week before the Longhorns' opener against Rice last season. Texas' spring ended with Sunday's spring game and once again, Brown didn't name a starter.

Gundy, meanwhile, has seven practices remaining in the spring and wants separation. What about the notion that a team needs a commanding presence during the summer, when coaches can't oversee player workouts and it's up to a team leader to organize?

"I think that's overrated," Stoops said. "What, Ryan Broyles can't do that? A big-time receiver can't orchestrate it? Or the two (quarterbacks) can't say, 'Hey, we're meeting at this time.'?

“Or your team pride. What, I need the quarterback to tell me I need to come in here and work hard? You've got 100 guys on a team … they oughtta all be pushing each other to get in here and work. Heck, (former OU tight end) Jermaine Gresham could have grabbed everybody by the throat and made sure they were here."

Gundy and offensive coordinator Todd Monken see it quite differently.

"I don’t think it’s overrated," Gundy told ESPN in Stillwater this week. "I think it needs to be there. Can you have a lineman do it? Yeah. It’s not the same. This’ll be a big summer for us, because whoever we feel like is going to be our quarterback, he has to develop some leadership and I feel like that’s all part of it."

Said Monken: "You’re staring at two guys who played quarterback, Mike and I. So from our end of it, that’s how we’re going to see it. Stoops, he played DB, so he doesn’t care. He sees it a different way, and he’s right, anybody can organize it, but that’s not usually the case."

Monken's biggest reason? Quarterbacks need it more than anyone else. OSU receiver Justin Blackmon lived with a walk-on quarterback during his career, and anytime he wanted to get some work, he had an arm who could throw him balls at full speed.

Quarterbacks, though? Work is work, but throwing to walk-ons or friends isn't the same as throwing to targets with sub-4.5 speed like they will in live games.

"Quarterbacks need those guys to function," Monken said. "I don’t blame anybody for their opinion. That’s their opinion, but the reality is that the guys that are usually in charge of the summer workouts are the QBs because it affects them the most."

He added: "There’s something to be said for the guy that leads your team being the organizer. It doesn’t have to be, but it certainly helps."

Oklahoma State doesn't know who its quarterback will be. It would love to name him by spring. But even with the stakes high during the summer, they have no plans to force a decision.

"If we don’t know, then we won’t do it, but if we do, then we’ll do it," Gundy said. "That’s as important as anything we do in the offseason."

STILLWATER, Okla. -- Spent all Thursday talking to players and coaches around Oklahoma State's program, and came away with plenty of thoughts and several stories you'll see on the blog very soon. First things first, though:

I've officially switched my pick in the Oklahoma State quarterback race. I've tentatively leaned to Clint Chelf since the offseason, but after my visit, I'm going with J.W. Walsh. I'll have a much longer look at the race on the blog soon, but let me briefly explain:

One: This race is really, really close. It probably will be through the spring. Coach Mike Gundy noted after Wednesday's practice that true freshman Wes Lunt was still in the race.

That said, if Chelf, a junior, was going to win this race, he'd have done it, or at least distanced himself to some degree by now. As it stands, all three quarterbacks are still getting equal reps with the first team, but Walsh is sort of in the sweet spot. His major growing pains are over -- his head was spinning when he was in Lunt's shoes last spring -- and he grew up a lot despite getting no reps during the season from August to December. His understanding of the offense is there and expedited by being the son of a coach, with a lot of knowledge in his corner just a phone call away.

Two: At some point, you have to play the "potential" card if you're OSU. Chelf and Walsh are about even right now. I'd put Lunt just behind them, but like Gundy said, still a factor. But the upside? There's Chelf, a moderately rated recruit entering his fourth overall season in the program. Then there's Walsh, the nation's No. 10 recruit in the 2011 class and a guy who's been in the program just over a calendar year. And those two are even? Recruiting rankings aren't everything, but they're certainly something, and Walsh sounds like he's doing everything to make the most of what potential he does have.

So, if Chelf wins this job at the end of spring, could you believe without a doubt that Walsh wouldn't surpass him by the time preseason camp was at its midpoint? The additional first-team reps would help Chelf, but could it not also be argued that Walsh would be helped more by the same reps?

I spent time Wednesday with Gundy and offensive coordinator Todd Monken, and both emphasized the need for a vocal leader that teammates can believe in -- this above all else when I asked.

That's in Walsh's personality, and much less so in Chelf's.

OSU's coaches have a stated goal of naming a starter by the end of spring, but ultimately the players decide this. If Chelf distances himself in the final seven practices of the spring -- it might happen, it might not -- I think OSU's coaches designate him the starter heading into fall.

But if there's no smoke from the chimney and no announcement made? Advantage Walsh, in my opinion. Monken admitted Wednesday that at some point, you can't keep giving three quarterbacks first-team reps, and somebody has to step aside. For now, though, he's not as confident in his second team -- receivers and offensive line, namely -- to get a good feel for what the quarterbacks can do, so his only real assessments come when they're working with ones.

The easy guess is Lunt is fazed out of the race at some point: Monken explicitly said there's no way Chelf could fall any lower than No. 2 on the depth chart.

Bottom line, OSU will have two really good QBs for next fall.

Finally, a note on Walsh: Yes, his mechanics are still a bit rough. The staff still wants to get a feel for exactly what his legs can do in live 11-on-11 action. The mechanics are wonky, which could mean spotty accuracy at times, but he gets the ball where it needs to go.

Before I say this, important note: It was not a direct comparison. Anything but that, in fact. That said, Gundy said Walsh reminded him a little bit of Colt McCoy. The motion wasn't pretty, but it got there, and he's tough with a mean leadership streak.

Walsh's sidearm throwing motion will remind you a lot more of Nebraska's Taylor Martinez, but his accuracy is somewhere in between Martinez and McCoy. A wide variance, no? Well, we haven't seen him play a game yet. Give me a break. Walsh isn't going to complete 70-some percent of his passes like McCoy did, but he's got big potential to make plays with his feet.

It'll be a fascinating next few months in Stillwater for sure. I'm picking Walsh now for the reasons outlined above, but it's still wide open. Chelf could still win it. It's hard for me to see Lunt doing enough and proving himself enough to really win it this soon, but these three are going to be fun to watch for years. They can all three play, and I see a nice future for all of them.

1. Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy has a new contract that will pay him $30 million through 2019, and it makes me hope more than ever that Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops stays in Norman. Given Gundy's reverence for his alma mater in Stillwater, and given the way he has taken the resources provided him by sugar daddy T. Boone Pickens and turned the Cowboys into a national presence, the longer Stoops sticks around, Bedlam may catch up to the Iron Bowl and Ohio State-Michigan just yet.

2. From his portrait of the last “Big Thursday” game in 1959 between Clemson and South Carolina, to his feud with Alabama coach Bear Bryant, to his coverage of football Between the Hedges (Georgia) and on the Flats (Ga. Tech), Furman Bisher served as the preeminent voice of Southern sports journalism for decade upon decade. Bisher died Sunday at age 93, and it’s hard to believe that the Masters will tee off without him.

3. Here’s Bisher’s lead on Big Thursday, when the Tigers and Gamecocks played at midweek during the State Fair in Columbia for the final time:

As streaks of eastern light cracked the skies of South Carolina this Thursday morning, many a Sandlapper arose from his bed and dressed in his garish best while in the kitchen his bride packed the picnic basket. Flasks were filled with tonic water, in case venomous snakes were encountered on this hazardous journey, and shortly they set out, hardy pioneers advancing on the state capital.

From Wampee to Walhalla, from Yemassee to Tamassee this little drama of the dawn was enacted. Fathers, mothers, daughters and sons, alumni, alumnae and spiritual affiliates, politicians, storekeepers and bankers, doctors, lawyers, bakers and thieves, alcoholics, teetotalers, preachers and bartenders all were going the same way.

There was a funeral to attend.

The season's over, but our look back is just beginning. Here's five things we learned this year in the Big 12.

1. In the national title debate, losses mean a lot more than wins. Oklahoma State deserved its shot at LSU. Period. It was close, yes. Making LSU beat Alabama a second time was unfair to the Tigers, who already waded through one of the most difficult schedules in college football history, dispatching the Big East and Pac-12 champions, who also won BCS bowls. It also beat the national champion and SEC East champion. But OSU deserved a shot, based on its total résumé. Voters, though, weren't willing to look beyond the one awful loss (in double overtime at Iowa State) and focus on the five wins over teams in the final BCS top 25 of the regular season (Alabama only had two). They also looked over the seven wins over bowl teams with winning records (the Crimson Tide had three). Do I think Alabama was a better team? Yes, I do. But in the current system, Oklahoma State deserved its chance, not a second chance for Alabama that rendered the Nov. 5 "Game of the Century" meaningless. It also produced a snoozer of a title game and deprived us of definitively settling the year-long conference dispute, which might be the most frustrating aspect of the entire debate.

2. A whole lot of points are a whole lot of fun to watch. Bad defense? Yeah, there was some of that. There was also a whole lot of good offense. Baylor's Robert Griffin III only accounted for one touchdown and the Bears still hung 67 points in a win over Washington -- a bowl record for all of a week before West Virginia posted 70 in the Orange Bowl. Baylor had three 100-yard rushers and Griffin wasn't one of them, even though he had arguably the most memorable run of his season, a Houdini act of slipping out of a handful of tacklers and outrunning the Washington offense to the pylon, taking a hit as he dove into the end zone. The game drew a 5.1 rating, and more than 5 million people watched, making it the fifth most-watched non-BCS bowl in history.

3. Texas looks on its way back up. The whispers were out there: Was 5-7 the beginning of the end of Mack Brown's tenure at Texas? Had he lost it? The problems were plentiful throughout the 2010 season, but the Longhorns bounced back (sort of) in 2011 and fixed many of them. The 21-10 win over Cal was mostly a four-hour advertisement for Texas' best asset: the Manny Diaz-led defense. An enormous, and biggest, void at quarterback remains, but this year the running game was much improved, and will continue to get better in 2012. Malcolm Brown will mature and Johnathan Gray will join him and Joe Bergeron in the backfield. The defense was the Big 12's best and should reclaim that title in 2012. Texas isn't back yet, but 2010 was not the beginning of the end for the burnt orange.

4. The top two teams are all that separates the Big 12 and SEC. Assume all you'd like, but compare the bowl records: The Big 12 was 6-2. The SEC was 6-3, with a win over and loss to itself in the title game. The Big 12 finished 33-5 (.868) in nonconference play, the best mark of any conference since the SEC in 1997. The SEC finished 47-8 (.855). The SEC earned all the headlines by putting LSU and Alabama in the title game, but the difference between the two leagues isn't very wide. They met on the field just twice this season: Arkansas beat both Texas A&M and Kansas State. The Big 12 beat teams like Stanford, TCU, Florida State, Washington, Northern Illinois and California along the way. The league's top five teams returning in 2012 went 19-1 in nonconference play. Four of the five losses came via expatriates-to-be Texas A&M and Missouri, as well as Iowa State and Kansas, who finished in the bottom three in the Big 12 standings. The league was deep, and unfortunately, didn't get many chances to prove it against the SEC.

5. The Big 12 is getting two really, really good teams in 2012. If you didn't watch, you should have. West Virginia put on an absolute show in the Orange Bowl, beating Clemson by a rousing 70-33 final that included 400 yards of passing from one Geno Smith (you'll get to know him better in 2012) and a 99-yard fumble return for a touchdown that featured a review that could have resulted in a touchdown for either team. TCU? All the BCS-snubbed Horned Frogs did was play an uninspired game against underrated Louisiana Tech (who beat, ahem, SEC member Ole Miss by 20) and win by a touchdown. But they're on their way in 2012, and both could win the Big 12. Next year, the league will have three conference champions, and if you include new members, went 8-2 in bowl games. Of course, if you subtract the departing members, it went 6-2, so who's counting?

Welp, this is it. The college football season is over, and two teams have closed up shop in the Big 12. This will be Texas A&M's and Missouri's last time to make an appearance in the Big 12 Power Rankings.

After 14 weeks of the regular season and eight bowl games (the Big 12 went 6-2), here's how the league sits.

1. Oklahoma State (12-1, beat Stanford, 41-38 in overtime): The Cowboys needed some help from Stanford's kicker to get their BCS win, but their spot atop the Big 12 was never at stake. The Cowboys proved themselves as the Big 12's best team throughout the season and beat Stanford to make history. Stillwater's never seen a season like this, and Mike Gundy was rewarded with a $1.6 million raise after the season for his efforts.

2. Kansas State (10-3, lost to Arkansas, 29-16): The Wildcats' Cotton Bowl experience wasn't a fun one after early mistakes, but K-State earned its first double-digit-win season since 2003 and earned the tiebreaker against Baylor on the field. Arkansas, too, is a whole lot better than Washington. This was a disappointing end for the purple folks from the Little Apple, but they bring back almost the entire core of the 2011 team. The Wildcats look like 2012 Big 12 title contenders.

3. Baylor (10-3, beat Washington, 67-56): The Bears put on a show and Terrance Ganaway's 200 yards, along with two other 100-yard rushers, iced the win over the Huskies. That gave Baylor the third 10-win season in school history and the first bowl win since 1992. Now, the big question awaits: Is RG3 gone, or is the allure of one more year in college for the Heisman winner enough to convince him to provide one more memorable season in Waco?

4. Oklahoma (10-3, beat Iowa, 31-14): The Sooners stumbled at the end of the season, but closed it in fine fashion, not playing their best game but soundly beating Iowa. Landry Jones will return. Will former DC and former Arizona coach Mike Stoops? Oklahoma's secondary was a liability this year, and Sooners fans would love to see Bob Stoops' brother put in charge to change it.

5. Missouri (8-5, beat North Carolina, 41-24): Missouri's season wasn't too memorable, but the Tigers rebounded from a 3-4 start to win eight games, including the best offensive performance of the season against the Tar Heels. That gave Mizzou eight wins for a sixth consecutive year. Only a handful of programs have duplicated that feat.

6. Texas (8-5, beat California, 21-10): The Longhorns' defense shut down the Bears and David Ash made a few big throws to make Texas' return to the postseason a good one. Ash has to show he's the guy for Texas moving forward. He'll get more offseason work than he did last year, which may show up in the fall. Freshman Connor Brewer will be joining, but it looks like a juco quarterback won't.

7. Texas A&M (7-6, beat Northwestern, 33-22): The Aggies head to the SEC after the most disappointing season in recent history. A team stocked full of NFL talent and toting a top-10 ranking lost four of its final five Big 12 games, with the only win coming at home over 2-10 Kansas. Now, new coach Kevin Sumlin returns to lead A&M into its new conference after coaching four years at Houston and winning 10 games in two seasons.

8. Iowa State (6-7, lost to Rutgers, 27-13): Paul Rhoads is already only the second coach to win a bowl game at Iowa State, but he couldn't win his second bowl in three years in Ames. Either way, the Cyclones have a good shot to be even better in 2012. Redshirt freshman Jared Barnett showed a lot of promise, and he'll progress during the offseason, even though he was benched in the bowl game for Steele Jantz, who started the season's first half.

9. Texas Tech (5-7, idle): A disappointing season gave way to a tumultuous offseason in Lubbock, with a handful of new assistant coaches and defensive coordinator Chad Glasgow heading back to TCU, who joins the Big 12 next season. The Red Raiders have to be better. Offensively, they were good enough, despite injuries, in 2011. They weren't great, though, like Texas Tech has been. Defensively, they've been awful for both seasons under Tommy Tuberville. Injuries have played a role in that, but improvement starts there.

10. Kansas (2-10, idle): Get ready to see much-needed new blood in Kansas. Turner Gill is out after two terrible seasons and a 2-10 record in 2011 that included six losses by at least 30 points. Now, it's time for Charlie Weis to take over, and he's brought two big quarterbacks and a receiver with him.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Oklahoma State's season is over, and ended in rather dramatic fashion. Here's my take on the game from last night, but there's plenty about the game left unsaid. Here's a few leftover thoughts:

• Good gracious, Justin Blackmon. I mentioned it in the postgame video, but this was probably the best game of his career in the last game of his career. The Cowboys needed every single yard he racked up, including a crazy catch in the fourth quarter to extend the game that, with all the late drama that followed, ended up getting overshadowed. On fourth-and-4 with a little more than three minutes left, he caught a short slant and took it 21 yards. Big-time play in a big-time spot. Three touchdown catches in a BCS bowl? He hadn't had three TDs all season, and hadn't done so since catching three against Tulsa in 2010. That was his second game in the season's first three games with three touchdowns.
• Totally disagreed with Mike Gundy's decision to kick the field goal after the Colton Chelf touchdown was reversed. Did he not just watch Stanford? Bad mojo. You want to tell me the odds of Quinn Sharp making a 22-yard kick is higher than Brandon Weeden running a QB sneak or two from a half-yard out? No way. Oh well. Paid off for the Cowboys.
• I know the OSU fans were mad about Stanford's band playing through the alma mater and postgame celebration, but oh man, when they're not making you mad, the band is awesome. They were led by -- who else? -- Hello Kitty and flanked by the tree mascot. It was my first time seeing a Stanford sporting event in person, and I wanted to take them all home with me.
• I mostly loved that this game was everything we all thought it would be. Two offenses ill-equipped to stop the other. Both executed well. We got lots of points and lots of drama. Great stuff.
• Can't say enough about the moment on the podium between Gundy and Shelley Budke. Gundy took the right approach by not talking about it before the game, but great move to dedicate the game to victims of the Nov. 17 plane crash that killed four people, including Kurt Budke, Oklahoma State's women's basketball coach. It's not overwrought. OSU is a close-knit university, and those deaths meant a lot to the players on the team. I touched on it in the postgame. A win like this doesn't change what happened, but it gives a lot of people who went through a lot of pain back then one big reason to smile. That's a great gift.
• Great crowd. I think that came through on the TV broadcast, but this was great. Last year's game with OU and UConn not playing for a whole lot was pretty weak. This one was electric. About 80 percent of the lower bowl stood for almost the entire game, and those fans were loud.
• The reaction on OSU's sideline after that missed kick to send the game into OT was pretty priceless. The jubilation was immediate, but when the players got to the sideline, you knew they knew how fortunate they were. A lot of guys could only look at each other and shake their heads. Cooper Bassett and Richetti Jones took some time to pray by themselves on the sideline after the kick. Here's guessing it was a prayer of gratitude.
• If you missed it: Gundy absolutely did "The Gundy" on the podium before the TV broadcast of the trophy celebration began. It was exactly as amazing as you'd expect. His players were begging for it from below the stage. He delivered.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- With a finish as wild as that, it's a little hard to tell whether the tears stemmed from sadness or elation.

For most of Oklahoma State, the finish was the latter. For some, it was a whole lot of both.

Three seconds remained in a season that took Oklahoma State to heights it had never reached, and lows that changed lives forever.

With the game tied at 38, a few Cowboys knelt on the sidelines. Others couldn't watch.

The fans behind the end zone -- dressed in cardinal for Stanford and orange for Oklahoma State split evenly at the goal post -- would tell the bench if the season continued for a few more minutes.

Stanford redshirt freshman kicker Jordan Williamson sent the orange-clad Cowboys fans into a frenzy when his 35-yard kick sailed wide left, giving life to the Cowboys' season and setting off a storm of chest bumps.

Oklahoma State took advantage, grabbing a win in overtime, 41-38, when kicker Quinn Sharp drilled a 22-yard field goal to put a most emotional exclamation point on the Cowboys' dream season. This was the season Fiesta Bowl MVP Justin Blackmon and quarterback Brandon Weeden imagined when, last January, they told the nation they had more business to attend to in Stillwater. Big 12 champions. Fiesta Bowl champions.

History made.

"This was it," Weeden said, "This was sort of our fairy tale ending."

Albeit an anticlimactic one.

After stuffing Stanford and another Williamson miss, Oklahoma State got what it wanted.

Stanford dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for almost 42 minutes, compared to Oklahoma State's 18. Chances were good the Cowboys perhaps unfairly maligned defense would be on the field to decide the game.

The celebration that ensued after Williamson's miss wasn't one of euphoria, it was one of anticipation. Finally, a team that won the Big 12 and reached the BCS on the back of its offense would have its offense on the field to decide the game.

It delivered.

Weeden hit Colton Chelf -- both started their Oklahoma State careers as walk-ons -- for a senior-to-senior connection that looked like it sent the duo out in style with a game-winning touchdown.

"I just ran over the middle of the field and nobody was there," Chelf said. "I thought I was in."

The Cowboys mobbed Chelf and dogpiled in front of the OSU faithful in the end zone. Weeden emerged with a smile and a double fist pump. Blackmon ran out of the pile and celebrated with a kiss from his cheerleader girlfriend, Mariel Dunlap.

It was no postgame proposal a la Boise State on this same field in 2007, but it'd have to suffice on this night.

The Cowboys, though, would have to wait to celebrate their first 12-win season and first BCS win. An officials' review called Chelf down inside the 1, and Quinn Sharp would need to seal it with a kick.

He did, unleashing the orangest of evenings on the Arizona desert.

It came seven weeks after one of the darkest days in Oklahoma State history. The Cowboys awoke on the day of their Nov. 18 game against Iowa State to news that women's basketball coach Kurt Budke was among four killed in a plane crash. Later that night, the 10-0 Cowboys lost, too.

A friend and mentor was gone.

Trivial though it may suddenly seem, so was a national championship.

Monday night, though, Budke's wife Shelley stood on the podium and received the Fiesta Bowl trophy from coach Mike Gundy, who dedicated the game to the four killed in the crash. The Cowboys also added a patch to their helmets for the final two games with a "4" and the victims' initials in the logo. It sits next to an "AS" patch to honor Angela Spencer, the wife of running backs coach Glenn Spencer, who died on the night Oklahoma State beat Tulsa -- a game with a post-midnight kickoff because of a weather delay.

Monday's win can't change the past, but it can offer a brief moment of happiness to those still affected by literal sudden death in a game that's supposed to be about kids having fun.

Gundy hugged a teary-eyed Budke.

Plenty of tears surrounded the platform. Before the trophy presentation, Chad Clay, one of the school's top donors, gestured to the team and school he and others had written checks to over the years.

"Y'all don't understand what you just did," he said to a team wearing fresh Fiesta Bowl championship T-shirts. Years of frustration and beatings from Oklahoma. From 1989-2002, the Cowboys went to one bowl game.

Now, they'll probably finish the season as the nation's No. 2 team. They might have some idea of what they just did.

"This is probably the biggest win in Oklahoma State football history," Weeden said.

Indeed it is, even though it took a 44-10 beating of Oklahoma to get here, a win narrowly topped on Monday night.

Blackmon starred and rightfully took home the hardware as the game's best player, grabbing eight passes for 186 yards, three touchdowns and a whole lot of shedded tackles.

"That's what he's done all year long. You could tell they were set out to stop him," Weeden said. "It doesn't matter. You can't stop 81. Especially when he's pissed off."

Blackmon disagreed about his mental state after the offense's early struggles. Chelf admitted the offense was "rusty" from a month-long layover after the Bedlam beatdown. It was held without a point in the fourth quarter for the first time all season.

"I wouldn't say I was mad. Just irritated with what was going on," Blackmon said. "I knew we could play better. I just tried to help the team play as best they could. If that takes me getting mad, I guess I get mad and go out there and do it."

They did it. And starting with an unassuming news conference with a couple folding chairs and a table a year ago and all the way until tonight, they provided Oklahoma State with a season and two players it will never, ever forget.

Two unforgettable Stanford kicks helped OSU stage the first fourth-quarter comeback of its season, too, but these Cowboys will take it.

"The big man upstairs? He blessed us on that one," assistant recruiting coordinator Terrel Harris told the Cowboys, just before Gundy gave a preview on the podium of his signature dance move, the Gundy, as his team egged him on. "Y'all know, though, we're back on the grind again in a couple weeks."

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The offenses fizzled early, exploded late and the two marquee playmakers in the this game, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon, shined on the brightest stage. It was so good, 60 minutes couldn’t contain it. Here’s how it all went down, with Oklahoma State winning 41-38 over Stanford in overtime in the desert:

How the game was won: In the first overtime, after Stanford kicker Jordan Williamson missed a 43-yard field goal attempt (he previously missed a 35-yard attempt for the win as time expired in regulation), Brandon Weeden connected with Colton Chelf on a 24-yard pass down to the Stanford 1-yard line. Weeden took a knee to center the ball, setting up a 22-yard field goal that Quinn Sharp nailed.

Second guessing: Trailing 28-21, an interesting decision by OSU coach Mike Gundy to kick a 19-yard field goal rather than going for it on fourth-and-goal at the Stanford 1-yard line. Not saying it was the wrong call, but clearly it was the conservative one. Hey, they won.

Stanford player of the game: As good as Luck was, running back Stepfan Taylor was fantastic, carrying 35 times for 177 yards and two touchdowns. He made holes when they weren’t there and exploded through the ones that were.

Oklahoma State player of the game: Blackmon was everything the Cardinal thought he would be -- and a whole lot more. The wide receiver caught eight balls for 186 yards and three touchdowns. He was clearly the most athletic player on the field.

What it means: For two teams feeling more than a little disrespected for being left out of the national championship game, both showed why they there were among the nation’s elite this season. Oklahoma State was the benefactor of a couple of missed field goals, but fought their way back all game and proved to be the more clutch team in overtime. For the Cardinal, it’s a disappointing end to the Luck era -- one of the most successful stretches in school history.

PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. -- Brandon Weeden owns nearly every major passing record in Oklahoma State history, and is 22-3 as a starter.

The team around him is better than what predecessors like Zac Robinson played with, but coach Mike Gundy, another former Oklahoma State quarterback, made it clear that the team's rise has been paralleled by Weeden's, too.

"I don't think there is any question he will finish as, in my opinion, what's the best quarterback that's ever played at Oklahoma State," Gundy said.

His impact, too, spread off the field and in the community, too. Weeden, as the quarterback, also spent this season doing an unprecedented amount of media interviews, and the 28-year-old has been known to hold his own with reporters after games for 30 minutes or longer.

"He's been a great ambassador," Gundy said. "He has been tremendous with the people. He's graduated. He's won a number of games. I think the football part of it speaks for itself, but what he's brought to the table from a leadership standpoint and the way he has handled himself out there with the public and the Oklahoma State people and the media has been tremendous."

He'll suit up tonight in his final game, and his age likely means he'll hear his name called in April's NFL draft later than if he were the same age as most draft entrants.

"The best years are ahead. He's 28 now and I think he has the body of a 22-year-old," Gundy said. "He's healthy, and I see him doing this for six or eight more years and really being a valuable asset to somebody's organization."