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Joey Johnston's College Football Sidelines

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2007

BORDERING ON INSANITY

When the Kansas Jayhawks and Missouri Tigers get together, you can generally expect high stakes and national-television cameras.

In basketball.

In football? Uh, no.

Until tonight.

The Border War suddenly has implications for the national championship and the Heisman Trophy. Kansas (11-0, 7-0) and Missouri (10-1, 6-1) meet for the Big 12 North championship tonight at neutral-site Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. The winner moves to the league's title game Dec. 1, probably one step away from playing for a national championship.

Kansas QB Todd Reesing and Missouri QB Chase Daniel are prime contenders for the Heisman Trophy. In fact, tonight's winning quarterback may be the biggest competition for Florida QB Tim Tebow.

It's heady stuff for the Jayhawks and Tigers, neither of whom have won a league title since the late 1960s.

"It's all or nothing now," Missouri freshman WR Jeremy Maclin said.

The game's neutral site was arranged before the season. Kansas and Missouri will each receive a guaranteed $1 million this season and in 2008 for playing in Kansas City before the game returns to campus.

"Obviously, you'd like to be able to play at home and have your crowd behind you," Reesing said. "But I think the atmosphere we're going to have at Arrowhead is probably going to be unbelievable, and something we'll remember for a long time."

DUCKS HAVE HOPE

The Oregon Ducks (8-2), after crashing out of the national championship race, are clinging to BCS bowl hopes, but must defeat UCLA (today) and Oregon State (Dec. 1).

And they'll have to do that without senior QB Dennis Dixon, who suffered a season-ending injury against Arizona. Dixon, once considered the Heisman Trophy front-runner, will be replaced by Brady Leaf.

Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said he thinks Dixon still will finish high in the Heisman race.

"If you look at creativity and impression on an offense, he's maybe the most fun player to watch in the nation, performing at a level unsurpassed by any upperclassman in the nation," Bellotti said.

"Dennis has sort of come from the ashes he was benched last season. It's one of those feel-good stories."

With a not-so-happy ending.

CAVS: JACKSONVILLE BOUND?

The Virginia Cavaliers (9-2, 6-1 ACC) face a winner-take-all showdown for the ACC's Coastal Division title today when they host Virginia Tech (9-2, 6-1), making it the most significant game for a rivalry that began in 1895.

Virginia could earn its first trip to the ACC Championship Game on Dec. 1 in Jacksonville.

Way back on Sept. 1, who could have predicted that?

Virginia opened its season with a dismal 23-3 loss at Wyoming. Cavaliers sophomore QB Jameel Sewell was ineffective (11 of 23 for 87 yards). But since, with Sewell leading an efficient offense and DE Chris Long pacing the defense, Virginia has stamped itself as a contender.

The Cavaliers, who have dropped 10 of their past 14 meetings against the Hokies, wouldn't mind a little more luck. Virginia has won an NCAA-record five games by two points or fewer this season.

ALMOST HEAVEN

The West Virginia Mountaineers (9-1, 4-1 Big East) can clinch the league title and a BCS bowl bid by defeating Connecticut (9-2, 5-1), but clearly they have bigger things in mind. If West Virginia also captures its season-ending Backyard Brawl game against Pittsburgh next Saturday, the Mountaineers could find themselves in the BCS Championship Game.

Mountaineers DL Keilen Dykes said he doesn't think West Virginia should have to rely on any help to play for the No. 1 spot.

West Virginia plummeted after losing at the University of South Florida 21-13 on Sept. 28. LSU, meanwhile, went from No. 1 to No. 4 (and quickly recovered) after its first loss, a 43-37 triple-overtime defeat at Kentucky on Oct. 13.

"I think if we had a different kind of logo on our helmet, they'd probably put us higher," Dykes said. "It seems like every year you've got something to prove in the Big East. They always want to talk down about us. But I think the Big East is one of the best conferences in the country.

"I guess a lot of old people vote, and they want to see the USCs and the LSUs and the Ohio States in the game. You have to change their minds, but all we can do is win."

NOTABLE NUMBERS

•Three of the nation's most notable upsets were Stanford over then-No. 2 USC, Colorado over then-No. 4 Oklahoma and Kansas State over then-No. 7 Texas. Flukes? Probably. Since then, Stanford, Colorado and Kansas State are a combined 6-13.

•Kansas, which opened as a 2 1/2 -point favorite against Missouri, is 10-0 against the Las Vegas spread. No team this decade has gone unbeaten against the Vegas spread.

•Kansas QB Todd Reesing hasn't thrown an interception since Oct. 6 against Kansas State (205 pass attempts).

•For the fourth straight season, neither Washington nor Washington State will go to a bowl.

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