Weekend Watch List: Drop-off is steeper by the dozen

This may be as bad as the Big 12 has been in recent years. Make that the Big 1. After Texas, it drops off like Thelma and Louise going over the cliff in that T-Bird.

The two teams ranked in the latest AP poll (No. 3 Texas and No. 12 Oklahoma State) represent the fewest in the league on this date in at least eight years. Last year on Nov. 20, there were five. The year of the quarterback in 2008 has turned into the year of a quarterback. Colt McCoy, at 15th, is the only league QB ranked in the top 22 in pass efficiency.

You may have also read a word or two on Kansas coach Mark Mangino (more on that subject below).

It's not just the long-moribund North Division (28-67 against the South since 2004, coming into the season). Injuries have sliced Oklahoma's jugular. Baylor lost the conference's most promising quarterback (Robert Griffin). Texas A&M's Mike Sherman has won four of 14 conference games in two seasons and is fresh off a 55-point beat-down by Oklahoma. Texas Tech is simply down from last season.

At least the league has maintained its bowl rep. Oklahoma State could get to the Fiesta Bowl without beating a currently ranked team.

This brings us to the league's big game this week -- unranked Kansas State at Nebraska, tied for 25th in the coaches poll. The winner gets Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game two weeks from now. That's a promise, not a threat.

Saturday is not so much about the winner, but which team would give the 'Horns the best game. Is it the Huskers, who, just when they seem like they're turning the corner, crash into the guard rail? Or is it Kansas State, a force of nature under 70-year-old Bill Snyder, but still with losses to Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Missouri by a combined 90 points?

The Wildcats could achieve a rare double on Saturday. Beat Nebraska and Kansas State (6-5) not only wins the North but achieves bowl eligibility, which is, you know, kind of important if you're going to play for a conference championship.

Looking ahead -- which is the only way to look -- Nebraska can slow Texas with its defense but can't score. Snyder is a mastermind, but the magic seems to be slipping away late in the season. K-State still has some small part of history on its side. The Wildcats are the only Big 12 team without a losing record against the Longhorns, 5-5.

Texas will be a prohibitive favorite against either one.

For now, ABC isn't stupid. The Longhorns get to clinch the South Division in prime time against Kansas on national television. K-State and Nebraska play to see which program gets driven off a cliff two weeks from now.

Five on the clock

Mark Mangino: The enablers at Kansas have conveniently put up with the coach's "bullying" and "yelling" and "personal attacks" -- their words -- apparently for eight years. Now, with a 5-5 record and a five-game losing streak, Mangino suddenly becomes a monster.

Mangino may be a bad guy, but a large part of this is on the accusers. Where were you front-runners when you were in the Orange Bowl? This includes AD Lew Perkins, too, who apparently was also unaware of a turf war on his campus between the football and basketball players.

Right or wrong, former players have essentially chopped the legs out from underneath Mangino, who cannot return as coach. Recruiting is shot. So is the coach's credibility. He might never be a head coach again. Still, all we have is a poke in the chest during a friggin' walk-through for gosh sakes. That, and some inappropriate language.

You want to tear down a program and a man for that?

Shame on all of you. And now we hear KU fans dropping names like Tommy Tuberville, Brent Venables and Gary Patterson as replacements? What coach is going to want to come to a place where you could win 12 one year and have an anonymous mutiny behind your back two years later?

It will be easier for Mangino to survive Texas on Saturday than to come out alive with all the knives in his back.

Justin Boren: The Ohio State offensive lineman transferred from Michigan when Rich Rodriguez arrived. Since then, Boren has spent a large part of his life attacking Rich Rod. Boren was the guy who criticized Rodriguez for the program's lack of "family values."

Strong language for a kid who once fell asleep at Ohio State during a recruiting visit.

When you're dressing up like your former coach for Halloween, it's not funny, it's an obsession.

Dude, let it go.

The Game: Meanwhile, Ohio State-Michigan has that John Cooper feel to it. As in, does Rich Rod fully understand the global implications of playing the Buckeyes? That was the vibe I got this week. Two Wolverines reportedly called a players-only meeting to stress the importance of Ohio State.

Cooper certainly can relate, never having shaken the rep that he didn't he didn't take the Michigan game seriously enough.

It would help more if both teams were ranked, but there are plenty of reasons to watch: Terrelle Pryor, Michigan's bowl eligibility, Rodriguez's job security, Boren's next costume ...

"I would disagree with your assessment that this is not a big game," Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel told a reporter on this week's Big Ten conference call. "Kids came to Ohio State to play in games like this, venues like this. Rich has been there one year and he's building and building and building. The only thing he cares about is six minutes after 12 on Saturday."

Rodriguez: "If we're going to put it all together, let's do it this week. I don't think you can be a revisionist. It's been several years since we beat the Buckeyes."

Five in a row to be exact.

The Big Game: For the first time since 1991, Stanford and California are both ranked going into their annual celebration of the Stanford band being run over.

Ranked is a relative term. Stanford is No. 14 in AP. Cal is 25th in the BCS, something that didn't exist 27 years ago when the Pac-10 crew decided, yup, it's a good touchdown.

That dollar bill in the UPS envelope: It arrived this week at WWL's worldwide headquarters.

I'm not saying Texas-El Paso is trying to buy votes for junior tailback Donald "Buck" Buckram, but, hey, whatever works. In the most creative Heisman/All-American campaign since Ryan's "leaf" at Washington State, the school shipped dollar bills to each person on the Football Writers Association of America All-America selection committee. That's 14 "bucks" plus postage.

Buckram is second nationally in rushing and is attempting to become only the school's third All-American running back. The last was 22 years ago. The payola came just in time for the FWAA committee, which picks the All-America offense on Sunday.

Buckram came to El Paso on a track scholarship, then came out of nowhere.

"He was our 10th running back, because we couldn't get the other nine [in recruiting]," coach Mike Price said.

Buckram is the only I-A player to be in the top 10 in rushing, scoring and all-purpose yards. Now he finds his mug pasted on dollar bills where George Washington should be.

With Fresno State's Ryan Mathews injured, Buckram could take over the national rushing lead with a big game against Rice. In the interest of full disclosure and journalist ethics, WWL is on the All-America committee and will be sending back Buck's buck.

Scouting the Nation

Pac-10 playoff: It's clear that the Pac-10 has become the nation's second-best conference this season (yes, the SEC is No. 1). The league probably didn't rise that high in the national consciousness in the previous seven years when USC dominated.

Now with five teams in the BCS standings and plenty of high-profile stars, it's going to be a fun final three weeks. There is still a chance of a six-way tie if everything falls right. For now it's an elimination match in Tucson between Oregon and Arizona, two teams that control their Rose Bowl destiny.

5-0 in the streets, 5-5 on the field: Like Lane Kiffin, the Knoxville police ("5-0" for all you non-hipsters) are probably tired of the stupidity and frequency of the law breaking.

It would help everyone associated with the Power T to win out against Vanderbilt (Saturday) and Kentucky. This season has taken an ominous turn after the Ole Miss embarrassment, a 42-17 loss.

No campaigning: If there were ever a time to shamelessly jock his team, this is it for TCU coach Gary Patterson. Unless there is a monumental upset or two, the Frogs are going to stay stuck at No. 4, at best, in the BCS.

With closing games against Wyoming (Saturday) and New Mexico, Patterson's team won't have the schedule strength to nose its way into the national championship game.

"All I can do to change people's minds is the play on the field," Patterson said.

Eighteen years in the making: Clemson will know by the time it plays Virginia if it actually has to win to capture a spot in the ACC title game. If North Carolina wins at Boston College, Clemson clinches the Atlantic Division. If Clemson loses, BC could claim its third consecutive Atlantic crown by defeating North Carolina and Maryland.

Clemson hasn't won the ACC since 1991.

Give it to Dexter: Why is Ole Miss (vs. LSU) just now just discovering tailback Dexter McCluster? His 25 carries (and 282 yards) against Tennessee were both season highs -- in Game 10.