NCAA Football Bcs

AUSTIN, Texas -- Usually one the most straight-laced and reserved of the Texas Longhorns, senior quarterback Colt McCoy finally stopped to take it all in late Saturday night.

Moments after the second-ranked Longhorns defeated Kansas 51-20 to earn a trip to the Big 12 Championship Game as the South division champs, and after McCoy cemented himself as college football's all-time winningest quarterback, thefour-year starter celebrated with record 101,357 fans who stuck around Texas Memorial Stadium to pay homage.

McCoy jumped into the mode of a normal student overflowing with spirit as he fired off the cannon and then beat storied base drum Big Bertha as the crowd roared even louder.

AUSTIN, Texas -- For 21 University of Texas seniors, Saturday night was their last time playing at Texas Memorial Stadium. So they made it a night to remember.

The second-ranked Longhorns overpowered Kansas en route to a 51-20 victory that cemented them as the Big 12 South division champions and sealed senior quarterback Colt McCoy's place as college football's all-time winningest quarterback with 43 career wins.

But the Texas Longhorns, who are well positioned for their first BCS national championship game bid since 2005, still have quite a bit of business to finish. They will have to get past rival Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night and then North division champ Nebraska in the Big 12 title game.

AUSTIN, Texas -- Okay, so let the debate began.

Vince Young or Colt McCoy.

Which is the greatest Texas Longhorns quarterback of all time? Young led the Texas Longhorns to a season of perfection and the BCS national title in 2005 as a junior. McCoy, a four-year starter at Texas, has a chance tonight to become college football's all-time winningest quarterback with 43 wins should the second-ranked Longhorns make it past Kansas here at Texas Memorial Stadium.

It's that silly time of year again. There are so many significant teams among the big boys of college football, but there are just two slots on Jan. 7 in Pasadena, Calif., for that title game of the Bowl Championship Series. So the voice of the older Jim Mora is screaming in my subconscious.

Playoffs, playoffs?

We don't need playoffs in this situation.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Gary Patterson really doesn't want to lobby the BCS for inclusion into its national championship mix.

The fourth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs' impressive body of work should be enough.

They are just one of six remaining undefeated teams in the country, and have collected quality road wins at Clemson, Air Force and BYU en route to moving into fourth place in the BCS standings, the highest such ranking ever for a non-automatic qualifier.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- If there were questions about the BCS worthiness of the TCU Horned Frogs, they were answered -- and resoundingly -- Saturday night.

The fourth-ranked Horned Frogs made their big game against 16th-ranked Utah seem like an exhibition as they stunned the naysayers and maybe even themselves by routing the defending Mountain West champion Utes 55-28 in front a record crowd of 50,307 at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

The most immediate result is that the undefeated Horned Frogs have a major leg up in the MWC race by getting past nemesis Utah in convincing fashion. Even bigger, the Horned Frogs sent a clear message to the BCS community that they deserve to be part of the BCS conversation, not just for one of the four big bowl bids but for a real shot at the national title game.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The atmosphere is electric and Amon G. Carter Stadium is packed to overflow capacity for what is arguably the biggest game in decades at TCU.

Should the fourth-ranked Horned Frogs (9-0, 5-0) make it past No.16 Utah (8-1, 5-0) tonight they will not only have a strong edge in the Mountain West race but will also keep them in step for a BCS bowl bid and possibly a berth into the national title game. Should the Frogs, who are ranked fourth in the BCS standings, make it to Pasadena, Calif. they will become the first non-BCS conference school to compete in the BCS title game.

(Follow Terrance Harris' game blog after the jump)

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There aren't a lot of more intriguing stories this season than Idaho. After years of being in the abyss of college football, known more for seasons of double-digit losses than anything positive, the once-proud FCS program that has struggled virtually since the start of its time in the Football Bowl Subdivision is bowl-eligible.

This weekend, the Vandals travel to play in-state rival Boise State, an opponent Idaho hasn't beaten since 1998. No one would argue that the Vandals have any pressure, as Boise State needs to win out in order to have a shot at a BCS bowl. Idaho coach Robb Akey is fully aware, and he talked about it Monday.

TULSA, Okla. -- As Chris Petersen left the field and walked through a portal at H.A. Chapman Stadium, a loud-mouthed Tulsa fan yelled, "You guys lucked out.'' The Boise State coach just looked up and smiled.

After all, the Broncos are counting on a lot more luck the rest of this season than anything they got Wednesday night in a 28-21 win over the Golden Hurricane.

How much the pollsters were impressed by the latest win by Boise State (6-0), fifth in the AP poll and sixth in the more important coaches' poll, will be learned Sunday. The next poll will be more important than the last ones since Sunday is the day the first BCS rankings come out.

Despite their lofty ranking, conventional wisdom is that it doesn't look good for the Broncos when it comes to playing in the national championship game. The thinking is all of the top one-loss teams from the big conferences will be able to trump the Broncos at the end of the regular season.

The news just seems to keep getting worse for the Oklahoma Sooners.

Coach Bob Stoops confirmed Monday that leading receiver Ryan Broyles (right) will miss the next four to six weeks with a broken left shoulder. Broyles, who has caught 23 passes for 346 yards and seven touchdowns, broke his shoulder during Saturday's 21-20 loss at Miami.

The Sooners are still awaiting word on when Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford can return to action. He has been out since suffering a shoulder sprain during the season-opening loss to BYU. Stoops acknowledged Bradford's progress last week when he began working with the team for the first time, but it was determined he wasn't healthy enough to return to the lineup against the Hurricanes.