Byline: B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News
This is a story of mice, men and Mack Brown. And maybe a national championship.
If No. 2 Texas defeats unranked, unraveled Colorado in Saturday's Big 12 Conference championship game, Brown - the Longhorns' eighth-year coach - will win his first league title.
Or, as a fellow wretch from Texas noted earlier this week, 'Unfortunately, we'll only be able to call him America's winningest coach without a conference championship for a few more days, I fear.'
Whatever you think of him or Texans, Brown has had a remarkable run in Austin, and elsewhere. He's the only active Division I-A coach who has guided teams to 10 consecutive seasons of nine or more wins - a streak that encompasses his final two seasons at North Carolina (10-2, 10-1) and the past eight at Texas, including this season's 11-0 string.
Naysayers bark Brown's talent pool finally has become so deep that even he can't foul it, or how the Longhorns perform. Cut the guy a break; somebody has to sell those multi- starred prospects on signing with Texas, then coach them.
If the oddsmakers, seers and even casual observers are correct, the Longhorns will brush aside the Buffaloes on Saturday at Houston's Reliant Stadium and make No. 1 Southern California their final target, catching the Trojans in the Bowl Championship Series' national title game Jan. 4 in the Rose Bowl.
If it all plays out accordingly, that's not a bad itinerary for a first-time conference winner.
To reach Pasadena, Calif., Brown has reached into his trick bag at least once. In preparing his team for last week's rivalry game against Texas A&M, Brown said he scattered rat traps around the football office and even wore one, baited with cheese, around his neck.
The idea, passed on by peers Bill Parcells and Dan Henning, was this: 'Don't let your players bite the cheese' - and, better yet, avoid the trap altogether.
The Longhorns managed to do just that against the Aggies, rallying to win 40-29.
'We nibbled and sniffed, but we didn't bite it,' Brown said. 'We didn't die.'
Said defensive back Michael Huff: 'We were laughing at him. . . . I'd never heard of a coach doing anything like that, but coach Brown will do whatever it takes to get us to win a game.'
No word on what Brown's props might have been this week in preparation for CU. Maybe buffalo chips scattered about the football office, but let's hope not worn as a necklace.
Shaggy 'dog story
CU isn't the only overwhelming underdog to advance to a conference championship game. Florida State opened the season with five wins, including 10-7 against Miami, and climbed as high as No. 4 in The Associated Press top 25.
Some national championship talk even included mention of the Seminoles. It subsided after Florida State's 26-21 loss at Virginia, but there was a two-game recovery and the Seminoles were 7-1 on October's final Saturday.
There hasn't been a win since.
Now, Florida State (7-4) hauls a three-game losing streak into Saturday's Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in Jacksonville, Fla., against No. 5 Virginia Tech (10-1).
'To go out there and play like that, with the talent we have, is really embarrassing,' Seminoles quarterback Drew Weatherford said.
Some postseason projections have CU and Florida State headed for the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 22. If Saturday's conference championship games play out as forecast, the folks in Orlando might be left with the Chumps Sports Bowl.
And the winnah is . . .
Heisman Trophy ballots are due by 3 p.m. MST Wednesday. That allows undecided voters (moi, included) to view the front-runners in this weekend's games.
USC's Reggie Bush or Texas' Vince Young? Or reigning Heisman winner Matt Leinart, who hands off and passes to Bush?
This ballot's forward lean is toward Bush, of whom TV analyst Pat Haden said, 'He's like trying to tackle a balloon on a windy day.'
Then bringing down Young is like trying to lasso a snowflake - albeit one standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 233 pounds.
To many voters, Young slipped a notch in last week's 40-29 victory against Texas A&M, while Bush left a lasting late-night impression in USC's 50-42 comeback win against Fresno State.
It could all change Saturday.
Touring the Big 12
* Keep an eye on both of these predictions: Brown, Texas' coach, said this week he expects Young to return for his senior season, no matter if Young wins the Heisman Trophy and the Longhorns win the national championship. Also, Colorado coach Gary Barnett predicted his junior placement specialist extraordinaire, Mason Crosby, to be kicking for the Buffs in 2006. Crosby is a leading contender for the Lou Groza Award.
* Nebraskans took offense at an off-the-cuff remark Monday by
UCLA coach Karl Dorrell. Asked at a news conference if No.1 USC was the best college team he has seen, Dorrell, a former Bruins player, answered, 'It's up there. I've played against Nebraska teams that were pretty star-studded, too. But they had some steroids.' UCLA sports information director Marc Dellins told the Lincoln Journal-Star that Dorrell's answer 'was a joke. He was just kidding.'
Touring the Mountain West
* Brigham Young's opponent in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 22 might be California, but the picture won't clear until Sunday. Tina Kunzer-Murphy, the bowl's executive director, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, 'We want Cal in the game. They would be great.'' BYU (6-5) against California (7-4) would be a boon for attendance; the Cougars already have sold 11,000 tickets - 3,000 more than its allotment.
* New Mexico's drive for the Motor City Bowl in Detroit might have blown a tire. The Lobos (6-5) are competing with potential entries from Conference USA (Houston, Southern Mississippi or Memphis, all of whom are 6-5) and the Western Athletic Conference (Louisiana Tech, which is 6-4). Motor City Bowl officials are concerned about New Mexico's potential ticket sales.
INFOBOX
Big 12 championship results
Year Site Attendance Result
1996 St. Louis 63,109 Texas 37, No. 3 Nebraska 27
1997 San Antonio 64,824 No. 2 Nebraska 54, No. 14 Texas A&M 15
1998 St. Louis 60,798 No. 10 Texas A&M 36, No. 2 Kansas State 33, OT
1999 San Antonio 65,035 No. 3 Nebraska 22, No. 12 Texas 6
2000 Kansas City, Mo. 79,655 No. 1 Oklahoma 27, No. 7 Kansas State 24
2001 Irving, Texas 65,675 No. 9 Colorado 39, No. 3 Texas 37
2002 Houston 63,332 No. 8 Oklahoma 29, No. 12 Colorado 7
2003 Kansas City, Mo. 75,491 No. 13 Kansas State 35, No. 1 Oklahoma 7
2004 Kansas City, Mo. 62,130 No. 2 Oklahoma 42, Colorado 3
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Photo
Texas coach Mack Brown is the only active Division I-A coach who has led his team to 10 consecutive seasons of nine or more wins, including an 11-0 record heading into Saturday's Big 12 Conference championship game against Colorado. Despite his success, Brown still is seeking his first conference title. RONALD MARTINEZ / GETTY IMAGES
