Kansas Jayhawks News

I'm a little confused. No, I'm a lot confused.

It's hard to believe that just a week ago the primary conversation?in Lawrence about?Jayhawks football involved Kansas' upcoming game against the Cornhuskers.?

From the beginning of his tenure as head coach at the University of Kansas, Mark Mangino has had many obstacles to overcome, most importantly turning the fortunes of a perennial loser.

Matt Hayes These are the bland Saturdays when no one is safe. No, really. How often have we seen this is the past: the relatively uneventful developing into the remarkably significant. Even No. 1 Florida, playing host to cupcake Florida International, isn't immune at this late stage of the season. "We know what's on the line," Florida linebacker Ryan Stamper said. "We're going hard." Maybe it's some cosmic balance in response to the wild... weekends of the last three years, but just when you think 2009 couldn't be more predictable we give you these six wild possibilities (ranked in order of likelihood it will happen) that could develop Saturday: 1. A Stanford player wins the Heisman Trophy How it can happen: Hey, it has happened before (Jim Plunkett, 1970), why not again? No BCS league tailback has more yards (1,395) or touchdowns (19) than Toby Gerhart, who has surged to the top of Heisman Trophy lists with 405 yards and six touchdowns in back-to-back victories over teams in the BCS top 10 (Oregon, USC). Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said it best on his Twitter account, two hours after Stanford's rout of USC: "Stop the madness. Hand him the Heisman." 2. Kansas State wins the Big 12 North How it can happen: It's embarrassing enough for the Big 12 that K-State can beat Nebraska on Saturday and win the North Division, or lose and not qualify for a bowl. It's worse that we have no idea which Nebraska team shows up: The team that lost at home to Iowa State and Texas Tech with 10 combined turnovers, or the team that physically battered Oklahoma (and could potentially do the same to the Texas spread offense) in a 10-3 win? 3. Arizona one step closer to its first Rose Bowl How it can happen: It'll be loud in the Zona Zoo, and it'll be your typical Pac-10 game: no defense and more offense than a Big Ten fan can stomach. And that's the last thing Oregon wants. The Ducks have the Pac-10's best defense, but have given up 72 points in the last two games. The longer Oregon lets Arizona hang around, the more streaky Cats QB Nick Foles builds confidence. Related Links Hayes: Week 12 story lines SN staff picks for Week 12 Who will replace USC in Rose Bowl? SN Conversation: Jim Tressel Week 12 matchups, scoreboard 4. Michigan upsets Big Ten champion Ohio State How it can happen: Rose Bowl-bound Ohio State has nothing (OK, obviously The Game is something) for which to play; Michigan is playing for a bowl game -- and maybe, as crazy as it sounds, coach Rich Rodriguez's job. We know Michigan can score on offense. But is this the game the Wolverines play inspired on defense (hasn't happened yet) and give Rodriguez a Get Out of Jail Free card? 5. SMU and Temple: conference champions. How it can happen: SMU won one game in each of the last two seasons, yet needs wins over slumping Marshall and awful Tulane to secure the C-USA West Division. The Mustangs likely would face ECU in the C-USA title game, and SMU beat the Pirates in October. And Temple? Been a nice run, fellas. Kent State on Saturday shouldn't be tough, but at Ohio on Nov. 27 will end the ride before a potential MAC championship game against heavyweight Central Michigan. 6. Kansas rallies behind embattled coach Mark Mangino and beats No. 3 Texas How it could happen: Mangino said earlier this week he hadn't lost his team -- a sure sign that a coach has. The Jayhawks could get a big game from struggling QB Todd Reesing, and Texas could commit multiple turnovers and play lethargic on Senior Day, but that's about as likely to happen as Mangino keeping his job. Matt Hayes covers college football for Sporting News. E-mail him at mhayes@sportingnews.com.more>>

AUSTIN, Texas-When Colt McCoy started his first game at Texas in 2006, the second pass of his career was a sign of things to come: a 60-yard touchdown in a rout of North Texas.

The Big 12 was all the rage in '08. Story lines galore. Now there's just one on Saturday, Dennis Dodd says: Nebraska and K-State will vie for the right to get throttled by Texas in two weeks.

LAWRENCE, Kan.-University of Kansas officials are willing to talk with former players about allegations of abusive behavior by football coach Mark Mangino - and two former players had plenty to say on Thursday.

Let me first say that Mark Mangino has my complete and unquestioned benefit of the doubt.?

The reason behind the Monday meeting between the entire Kansas Jayhawks?football team and athletic director Lew Perkins?has been finally?revealed.?

The opinion?is?wide spread among Jayhawk fans today?that even though Mark Mangino probably did nothing wrong in Fingergate, the entire situation has been such a public relations fiasco that there is no other alternative than to banish the big guy from Lawrence forever.?