SPORTSDAY

Now he is saying that the two best quarterbacks in the country happen to play in the conference he calls. How convenient. At least this week, he has junked his reference to "junk" offenses. Oh that's right, Florida plays a spread offense, too.

We'll be holding a chat today on the Showdown in the South Plains, the biggest game to ever hit Lubbock, the Saturday night matchup of No. 1 Texas and No. 6 Texas Tech. I'll be back here at 1 p.m. to try to answer your questions.

It was inevitable...ESPN's Mel Kiper says Colt McCoy reminds him of...

Let me pose a question to all the loyal Texas A&M; fans out there: In Saturday night's showdown in Lubbock, who will you be rooting for (if anybody) Texas or Texas Tech?

Yes, I know, to you, it's like choosing between root canal and hypothermia.

But look at this as more than an exercise in difficult choices. We all know how you A&M; folks feel about anything burnt orange. It's a great college rivalry and now Texas is No. 1 and moving closer to its second national title in four seasons. Do you really want to see that?

At the same time, Tech is on the verge of becoming an elite national program and there's not much love lost between the Red Raiders and A&M; either. Remember the little matter of the touchdown that Tech scored in the final minute this season in College Station, with a win already assured?

Plus, I'm genuinely curious.

So, what's the verdict?

Given all the powerhouse football programs in the Big 12 South, undoubtedly the toughest division in the nation, should the conference look at dividing up the haves and have nots?

Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald thinks so. His proposal:

• Big 12 West: Nebraska, Colorado, Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas, Kansas State.

• Big 12 East: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri, Iowa State, Texas A&M;, Baylor.

Then institute a 5-2-1 scheduling model that allows one cross-division game a year to preserve an old rivalry.

So what do you think?

Chuck Carlton's column about the boom in big-time college quarterbacks from Texas is a great read. All the high school and college coaches are absolutely right about the trend of Texas producing more quarterbacks, thanks in large part to the boom in high school passing offenses.

But let's not kid ourselves. There might never be a group of Lone Star State QB products like the one we're watching this season. Even in a football-crazy state like Texas, this is an extremely rare batch of talent.

I had the pleasure of seeing Southlake Carroll's Chase Daniel, Ennis' Graham Harrell and Highland Park's Matthew Stafford play several times during their high school days. There isn't a high school quarterback in the area this season that comes close to being of their caliber.

Texas high school quarterbacks will benefit from great coaching and 7-on-7 passing leagues for a long time. But quarterbacks like Daniel, Harrell and Stafford (and Colt McCoy) don't come around very often.

This one is hard to watch, so take that into consideration before you click on the video below.

Houston receiver Patrick Edwards suffered a compound fracture of his right leg Tuesday running into what reportedly were band carts left behind the end zone. A redshirt walkon freshman from Hearne who had always dreamed of playing at Houston, Edwards had 46 receptions this season.

As for Marshall and every other team in the country that has stuff near the field, move it. Now.

Regarding the school band, I hope you have good legal counsel.

A lot of folks at Texas have helped Colt McCoy evolve into an 80 percent passer. But one coach who has gotten much praise this season for his work elsewhere with Longhorns might have helped most of all. His initials are WM. Who says? Craig James, the ABC/ESPN hot shot analyst. It really makes a lot of sense. Read all about it.

North Texas football coach Todd Dodge acknowledged during his Tuesday morning press conference that the 15 members of the team who tested positive on a school drug test failed due to recreational drug use.

Here's the initial story.

Analyst Trevor Matich looks at Texas Tech's offense, searching for the method in the madness.

Texas QB Colt McCoy will arrive in Lubbock as the Heisman frontrunner. He might leave that status in Lubbock, too.

If Graham Harrell leads Texas Tech to a shootout win over the nation's top-ranked team, he'd deserve to vault to the top of Heisman lists.

He leads the nation in passing yards with 3,147. He ranks third with 28 passing TDs and has added six more scores on the ground. His QB rating of 167.4 ranks sixth in the country -- and fifth in the Big 12, which might have the best conference crop of QBs in college football history.

Harrell has Heisman-worthy stats, and he's spread the ball around enough so that he shouldn't split votes with WR Michael Crabtree. To have a shot to win the honor, all he has to prove is that he's the best of the Big 12 South quarterbacks.

Harrell has that chance over the next few weeks, with home games against Texas and Oklahoma State and a road trip to Oklahoma on the schedule.

A win over the Longhorns is a must for Harrell to be a realistic Heisman candidate, not to mention making the Red Raiders legit national title contenders. If Tech can handle the Horns and at least get a split with the schools north of the Red River, Harrell's name ought to appear on a whole bunch of ballots.

So I was sitting around minding my own business when FoxSports Radio delivered an e-mail touting on of its shows.

Host Andrew Siciliano asked CBS Sports' SEC analyst Gary Danielson to compare a couple of quartberbacks with Texas high school roots _ Colt McCoy and Matt Stafford.

Not surprisingly, Danielson really likes the quarterback he gets to see most. But I think in this political season he slung a litte mud on McCoy.

Yes, No. 1 Texas is a little battered and bruised after three consecutive wins against ranked opponents for the first time in school history.

Heisman favorite Colt McCoy had a nasty looking left (non-throwing) hand with a little swelling and some scabbed-over cuts. Said it was just bruised and he didn't have it wrapped, so we'll take him at his word. Plus, nobody seemed to be in a panic. Senior cornerback Ryan Palmer was wearing an arm sleeve to protect a hyperextended elbow. There were plenty of stuff we probably didn't know about.

At the same time, coach Mack Brown was remarkable upbeat. He predicted his team would play well in Lubbock because of the challenge presented by the game. All the hype will keep his team focused, he said. The Longhorns aren't looking at the game as the end of a brutal four-game stretch, Brown said, but the beginning of four games that they hope will take them to the Big 12 title game.

The mentality: every contest now becomes a one-game playoff, win or fall back.

"This team, so far, has not played up and down like some we have," Brown said. "After eight weeks, there's usually a pattern. And their pattern is to play hard and enjoy it."

The game plan, according to Brown and McCoy, is to throw, throw and throw some more with McCoy completing 81.8 percent of his passes. The running game remains a concern, especially the performance late in the game against Oklahoma State. One thing to watch: will Texas be able to play ball control against Tech using the pass.

Texas Tech has selected the site for the ESPN College GameDay set for its first appearance in Lubbock this week for the showdown between the Red Raiders and top-ranked Texas.

The ESPN College GameDay set will be constructed on the Engineering Key just north of Memorial Circle beginning on Thursday morning in order to prepare for live tapings that will begin on Friday afternoon. The first taping from the set will occur at 3:45 p.m. for the Friday evening SportsCenter. The actual show begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning and will conclude at 11 a.m. Fans are asked to arrive between 7-7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning for another SportsCenter segment at 7:45 a.m. just prior to the show.

The area around the set will be controlled by security and fans will not be able to get behind the stage for the tapings until 3:30 p.m. on Friday and then again at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning.

So, let's hear from you Texas and Texas Tech fans. What are your best sign ideas for GameDay's appearance in Lubbock? Let's try to keep them clean for our younger audience.

I'm here on the South Plains trying to get a good feel for the excitement building for No. 6 Texas Tech's Saturday showdown with No. 1 Texas.

Had a nice chat with AD Gerald Myers. Visited with defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill. Planning on looking for some locals to visit with tonight.

While coach Mike Leach is doing is best to downplay the "sensation," the Red Raiders players admited they feel it, but are doing their best to put it out of their minds.

"There's a vibe," offensive tackle Rylan Reed said. "We all have an understanding this is something special. This isn't normal. We have a big opportunity ahead of us, and we're ready to make the most of it.

"The main thing for us is to stay focused during football time and eliminate as many distractions as we can."

It won't be easy, though this team seems pretty good at it.

Also of interest....

*No word on if defensive tackle Rajon Henley will return from injury.

*Leach wouldn't bite when I asked him if he was concerned about the officiating in the Texas game. He's voiced complaints the last two losses to Texas and earned a $10,000 fine last year.

"I'm not really allowed to comment on officiating, as you well know from the experience last year," Leach said. "Well, I guess you can. You just have to check your bank account and select your moments."

COLLEGE STATION - Senior quarterback Stephen McGee (shoulder) is not 100 percent ready, but coach Mike Sherman is more confident in his availability going into the matchup Saturday against Colorado than in the previous week. "He feels that he could protect himself enough in the ball game that going out and getting hit on wouldn't necessarily send him in a back slide," Sherman said. But the Aggies appear to be in good shape at quarterback regardless. Sophomore Jerrod Johnson is coming off a 31-of-39 performance with 381 yards and four touchdowns in the 49-35 victory at Iowa State.

R-E-L-I-E-F
There were plenty long faces at A&M;'s weekly press conferences during the Aggies' three-game losing streak. The vibe was quite different on Monday, as smiles were everywhere. "It makes it a lot easier," freshman defensive back Trent Hunter said. "It's like being thrown to the wolves a little bit after a loss. We don't have a lot to say. After a win, I have a lot to say. The team played great."

Sherman was just as elated by the victory. "I don't know about everybody else but it sure helped me a lot," he said.

Here's the AP story ...

Tyrone Willingham is out as coach at Washington, effective at the end of the season.

Two days after the Huskies fell to 0-7, athletic director Scott Woodward said Willingham will step down at the end of the year. When asked Monday if this was his decision, Willingham said flatly, "no."

Willingham, appearing at his weekly news conference, added that he never considered resigning.

"No, it's just not in my makeup," he said.

The decision comes after Saturday's 33-7 loss to Notre Dame, and after eight days of discussions with Woodward. Willingham coached Notre Dame until he was fired in 2004.

I believe James is the only man in the United States who can say he works the college football studio for ABC, the college football booth for ESPN, is a Heisman voter and has a son (Adam) on the Tech football team.

He also had Colt McCoy out to his ranch this summer. He loves the kid.

So who is James picking in Saturday night's game? May I invite you here to learn more.

Note: I usually only to try to hijack readers from The Cowboys Blog, but in these trying times I thought I'd try to expand my pirating ways.

This is the best defense Mike Leach has had since he arrived in Lubbock. That's a slightly better compliment than calling Lubbock the coolest town in West Texas.

Everybody knows that Tech will have to put up a ton of points to beat Texas, which would put the Red Raiders smack dab in the middle of the national championship picture.

How many? The Red Raiders, who average 50.2 points per game this season, have given up at least 50 in three of the last four meetings with the Longhorns. Leach's lone win over UT was a 42-38 victory in 2002.

Safe to say that Tech would have to at least get in the 40s, which will be awfully tough to do with Brian Orakpo, Sergio Kindle and Co. harassing Graham Harrell. But what the heck? I'll go out on a limb and predict a 48-45 Tech win.

As much as I love the attention I'm getting from Tech Tech fans in the GameDay post below, I'm afraid the honor is a tad misplaced.

I'm not doing as much harm to the Red Raider as the computer rankings. Despite the big road win at Kansas, Tech climbed just one spot in today's BCS, to seventh.

The Red Raiders are fifth in both the Harris Interactive and USA Today coaches polls. But in the average of the computer polls, Tech is tied for 10th with once-beaten Florida and two-loss Ohio State. Among the teams ahead of Tech in the computers: Oklahoma State, Boise State and Utah.

Other quick notes from the BCS:

1. Texas, Alabama and Penn State remained the top three teams. No surprise.

2. TCU climbed to No. 13, which is one spot from the magic automatic qualifier status for BCS busters. Just one problem: Utah (No. 10) and Boise State (No. 11) are ahead of the Horned Frogs. And even if multiple BCS busters are in the top 12, only the team with the highest ranking gets an automatic bid.