Big 12 Game Will Knock Out One

No way this compares to Super Saturday two years ago, when college football fans were spellbound by UCLA’s dramatic loss to Miami in the afternoon and Kansas State’s dramatic loss to Texas A&M; in the evening, which vaulted Florida State into the national title game while Coach Bobby Bowden was eating potato chips on his couch.

But this weekend could get very interesting.

Here’s what’s on the line when Kansas State and Oklahoma meet in the Big 12 title game in Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium:

* An Oklahoma victory sends the Sooners to the Jan. 3 Orange Bowl to play No. 3 Florida State for the national championship.

This puts the Bowl Championship Series in a pickle because Miami is No. 2 in both the Associated Press and coaches’ polls but No. 3 in the BCS standings, which means Miami gets kicked to either the Sugar or Fiesta bowls. There, the Hurricanes have a chance earn a split of the national title because, while the coaches are mandated to award their championship to the BCS title-game winner, the AP pollsters are not.

* An Oklahoma victory also greatly enhances Oregon State’s chances of getting a Fiesta Bowl bid.

* A Kansas State victory knocks Oklahoma out of the national title game and sets up a Florida State-Miami rematch in the Orange Bowl. Kansas State, as the Big 12’s automatic BCS qualifier, goes to Tempe, leaving the Fiesta Bowl to mull over an at-large choice of Notre Dame or Oregon State.

Is it possible the Fiesta will succumb to Pacific 10 Conference pressure and actually take Oregon State over Notre Dame?

Yes. It is possible, which would rank among the greatest upset victories ever scored against the Irish.

Oklahoma over Kansas State is far from a lock. The Sooners defeated the Wildcats in October, 41-31, at Manhattan, Kan., but have sputtered in their last three games. Oklahoma needed a fourth-quarter rally to defeat Texas A&M; and followed with a sloppy 28-13 victory over Texas Tech. Last week, the Sooners nearly choked their national title hopes away before prevailing in a 12-7 victory over Oklahoma State.

An Oklahoma loss would also mean that, in the last four years, three Big 12 schools would have been deprived a shot at a national championship because of the conference title game. In 1996, Texas knocked Nebraska out of the Sugar Bowl and, two years ago, Texas A&M;’s overtime victory in the Big 12 title game knocked Kansas State out of the Fiesta Bowl.

Line: Oklahoma by 2 1/2.

5 THINGS TO LOOK FOR

1. A Pac-10 team in the Fiesta Bowl. It’s going to happen, Tom Hansen, we can almost guarantee it . . . next season. That’s right, because the Rose Bowl is hosting the national championship game in 2002, the Pac-10 champion will be forwarded to another BCS bowl with a comparable cash payout. That bowl is to be, by agreement, no farther east than Arizona. That’s right, the Pac-10 champ will play in the Fiesta Bowl, unless it is ranked either No. 1 or No. 2, in which case it stays in the Rose.

2. Heisman home stretch. Three weeks ago, the trophy was Oklahoma quarterback Josh Heupel’s to lose. Guess what? He might have lost it. Heupel will have one last chance to impress voters against Kansas State, but he is coming off his worst two games of the season, which has allowed Florida State senior Chris Weinke to seize control of the Heisman momentum.

3. Kansas State at last raising a banner? We can all agree that Bill Snyder has done an amazing job turning around the Kansas State program, finishing with 10 victories or more the last four seasons. Yet, despite amassing a 98-42-1 record in 12 years at the school, Snyder has yet to lead the Wildcats to a conference championship. That can happen Saturday with a victory over Oklahoma, which would give Kansas State its first title since it won the Big Six crown in 1934.

4. “Let them eat . . . wedding cake?” Dick Tomey, the longtime Arizona coach who resigned last week after a 5-6 season, might have saved himself being fired in a receiving line this year. You see, Tomey’s son is engaged to be married in the spring to the daughter of Arizona Athletic Director Jim Livengood.

5. Army-Navy. Yes, the teams are a combined 1-19 and you can use this as evidence that our military might be weakening, but the meeting of these academies is always special and this is their 101st.

RATING THE TV GAMES

**** Whoa, Nellie

*** The yardwork can wait

** OK to pay bills while watching

* For XFL scouts only

*** Army (1-9) vs. Navy (0-10), 9 a.m., Ch. 2.

Don’t miss the glitzy halftime show, during which cheerleaders open overseas ballots.

Line: Army by 2 1/2.

*** Western Michigan (9-2) at Marshall (6-6), 10 a.m., Channel 7.

The winner claims the Mid American Conference title and earns a berth in the Motor City Bowl.

Line: Western Michigan by 6 1/2.

*** No. 18 Auburn (9-2) vs. No. 7 Florida (9-2), 1:30 p.m., Channel 7.

Winner claims the Southeastern Conference title and Sugar Bowl bid. The loser will be Auburn.

Line: Florida by 9 1/2.

** Nevada Las Vegas (6-5) at Hawaii (3-8), 9 p.m., FSN2.

A loss knocks John Robinson’s team out of the Las Vegas Bowl, but that’s the chance you take when you try to mix in a vacation with a ballgame.

Line: Nevada Las Vegas by 7.

TENTATIVE BOWL LINEUP

Other than the Rose Bowl, opponents for the BCS games are still undetermined. The matchup for the Orange Bowl, which will determine the national championship, will be Oklahoma vs. Florida State or Miami vs. Florida State--with either Miami or Oklahoma dropping into a BCS at-large slot. Oklahoma has the only remaining game among the three, Saturday in the Big 12 championship game against Kansas State. Saturday’s Southeastern Conference championship game winner between Florida and Auburn will get a berth in the Sugar Bowl against a BCS at-large team. Nebraska, Notre Dame, Oregon State and Virginia Tech are leading contenders for BCS at-large berths. The bowl lineup, excluding all-star games, with dates, sites, times (Pacific) and networks. * indicates tentative berth for team listed in bowl game.

MOBILE ALABAMA: Dec. 20 at Mobile, Ala.: 5 p.m., ESPN2

Texas Christian vs. Southern Mississippi

LAS VEGAS: Dec. 21 at Las Vegas: 5 p.m., ESPN2

Nevada Las Vegas or Air Force vs. Syracuse or Mississippi St.

OAHU: Dec. 24 at Honolulu: 5:30 p.m., ESPN

Boston College or Virginia vs. Arizona St. or Oregon

ALOHA: Dec. 25 at Honolulu: 12:30 p.m., ABC

Boston College or Virginia vs. Arizona St. or Oregon

MOTOR CITY: DEC. 27 at Pontiac, Mich.: 1 p.m., ESPN

Marshall or Western Michigan vs. Cincinnati

GALLERYFURNITURE.COM: Dec. 27 at Houston: 5 p.m., ESPN2

* Texas Tech vs. East Carolina

HUMANITARIAN: Dec. 28 at Boise, Idaho: 10:30 a.m., ESPN2

Boise St. vs. Texas El Paso or Fresno St.

MUSIC CITY: Dec. 28 at Nashville: 1 p.m., ESPN

*West Virginia vs. * Mississippi

MICRON PC.COM: Dec. 28 vs. at Miami: 4 p.m., TBS

Minnesota vs. North Carolina St.

INSIGHT.COM: Dec. 28 at Phoenix: 4:30 p.m., ESPN

* Pittsburgh vs. Texas A&M; or Iowa St.

LIBERTY: Dec. 29 at Memphis, Tenn.: 10:30 a.m., ESPN

Colorado St. vs. Louisville

SUN: Dec. 29 at El Paso: 11 a.m., CBS

UCLA vs. Wisconsin

PEACH: Dec. 29 at Atlanta: 2 p.m., ESPN

Georgia Tech vs. * South Carolina

HOLIDAY: Dec. 29 at San Diego: 5:30 p.m., ESPN

* Oregon St. vs. Texas

ALAMO: Dec. 30 at San Antonio: 5 p.m., ESPN

* Kansas St. vs. Northwestern

SILICON VALLEY, Dec. 31 at San Jose: 3:30 p.m., FSN

Fresno St. or Texas El Paso vs. Syracuse or Mississippi St.

INDEPENDENCE: Dec. 31 at Shreveport, La.: 5 p.m., ESPN

* Iowa St. vs. * Louisiana St.

OUTBACK: Jan. 1 at Tampa, Fla.: 8 a.m. ESPN

Ohio St. vs. South Carolina or Florida

COTTON: Jan. 1 at Dallas: 8 a.m., Fox

Georgia or Tennessee vs. * Nebraska

GATOR: Jan. 1 at Jacksonville, Fla.: 9:30 a.m., NBC

* Virginia Tech vs. Clemson

CITRUS: Jan. 1 at Orlando, Fla.: 10 a.m., ABC

Michigan vs. Auburn or Tennessee

ROSE: Jan. 1 at Pasadena: 1:30 p.m., ABC

Purdue vs. Washington

FIESTA: Jan. 1 at Tempe, Ariz.: 5 p.m., ABC

BCS at-large team vs. BCS at-large team

SUGAR: Jan. 2 at New Orleans: 5 p.m., ABC

Auburn or Florida vs. BCS at-large team

ORANGE: Jan. 3 at Miami: 5 p.m., ABC

BCS No. 1 vs. BCS No. 2