Bill Snyder and Paul Rhoads are singing the praises of the opposing program in anticipation of Saturdays Kansas State-Iowa State game in Ames, and thats as it should be.Snyder has known Rhoads since he was a youngster, dating to Snyders Iowa days. Rhoads all but called the Wildcats college footballs most disciplined team.The No. 1 secret in winning football games is not to lose them first, Rhoads said. Bill Snyder and Kansas State do that week in and week out.The mutual admiration shouldnt stop there, not this week. K-State and Iowa State have something else in common, roots that date to a single moment 150 years ago and to Abraham Lincoln.In 1862, in the crucible of the Civil War, Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act, which put in place federal funding for public institutions to teach agriculture and mechanical arts without excluding science and classical studies.Until then, higher education had largely been the domain of private colleges, many established by religious denominations. Just look at the earliest college football powers: Yale, Harvard and Princeton were the top football teams for the games first quarter century. College was for the well to-do, not the industrial or farming class.The Morrill Act changed that, and the Iowa legislature was the first to accept terms of the law to boost funding for what was known as Ames College.But it wasnt the nations first university to open under the Morrill Act. Kansas State was, in 1863.The Wildcats and Cyclones dont play for a trophy, but maybe they should as pioneers of public higher education.There are more than 100 land-grant universities in the United States, including Missouri and Nebraska. In all, there are four in the Big 12 and eight in the SEC. Six of this weeks Associated Press top 10 (Florida, West Virginia, K-State, Ohio State, LSU and Oregon State) are land-grant schools.The anniversary date July 2, 1862 has passed, and many schools marked the occasion during the summer. But no campus celebration matches a football Saturday like that in Ames, when it will be worth recognizing how land-grant schools came about.

BIG 12 REPORT

Give a game ball to Abe Lincoln for creating land-grant schools

The 16th president signed bill that allowed land-grant schools like K-State and Iowa State to open.

By BLAIR KERKHOFF

The Kansas City Star

RANKING THE BIG 12

Team (previous ranking)	Saturday’s game	Comment
1. Kansas State (1)	at Iowa State	Dogfight for Cats
2. West Virginia (2)	at TexasTech	Can go two up in road games
3. Oklahoma (4)	Texas (Dallas)	Winner stays in race . . .
4.Texas (3)	Oklahoma(Dallas)	. . . And loser falls out
5. Baylor (8)	TCU	First game since 70-63 loss to Mountaineers
6. Iowa State (9)	Kansas State	New quarterback produced big victory
7. Oklahoma State (7)	at Kansas	Ugly games last two years
8. TCU (5)	at Baylor	Life with new quarterback
9. Texas Tech (6)	West Virginia	Can Raiders rebound from Oklahoma loss?
10. Kansas (10)	Oklahoma State	Now add the second half

Big 12

• Offense: Andrew Buie, West Virginia RB

• Defense: Alex Okafor, Texas DE

• Special teams: Tavon Austin, West Virginia KR

Southeastern

• Offense: Mike Gillisee, Florida RB

• Co-defense: Matt Elam, Florida DB; Kevin Minter, LSU LB

• Co-special teams: Ace Sanders, South Carolina PR; Richard Kent, Vanderbilt P

• Offensive lineman: T.J. Johnson, South Carolina C

• Defensive lineman: Trey Flowers, Arkansas DE

• Co-freshman: Bernardrick McKinney, Mississippi State LB; Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M QB

BIG 12

Saturday

• Texas-Oklahoma, 11 a.m. ABC

• Kansas State at Iowa State, 11 a.m. FX

• West Virginia at Texas Tech, 2:30 p.m. ABC

• Oklahoma State at Kansas, 2:30 p.m. FSN

• TCU at Baylor, 6 p.m. FSN

Oct. 20

• Texas Tech at TCU, TBA, FX or ABC

• Baylor at Texas, TBA, ABC

• Iowa State at Oklahoma State, TBA, FX or ABC

• Kansas State at West Virginia, 6 p.m. FOX

• Kansas at Oklahoma, 6 p.m. FSN

Southeastern

Saturday

• Auburn at Ole Miss, 11:21, SEC Network

• Alabama at Missouri, 2:30 p.m. CBS

• Florida at Vanderbilt, 5 p.m. ESPNU

• Kentucky at Arkansas, 6 p.m. FSN

• South Carolina at LSU, 7 p.m. ESPN

• Tennessee at Mississippi State, 8 p.m. ESPN2

• Texas A&M vs. Louisiana Tech at Shreveport, La., 8:15 p.m. ESPNU

Oct. 20

• Alabama at Tennessee, TBA

• LSU at Texas A&M, TBA

• South Carolina at Florida, TBA

• Auburn at Vanderbilt, 11:21 a.m. SEC Network

• Georgia at Kentucky, 6 p.m. TBA

• Middle Tennessee State at Mississippi State, 6 p.m. TBA

TWO QUOTES

• “We don’t talk about it much. That’s step No. 1.”

| West Virginia Coach Dana Holgorsen, asked to explain how quarterback Geno Smith’s stretch of 30 touchdown passes without an interception.

• “I told the people at the bagel store this morning, and they still made me pay for my bagel and coffee.”

| Iowa State coach Paul Rhoads on being ranked No. 25 in the USA Today coaches poll.

More News

Bill Snyder and Paul Rhoads are singing the praises of the opposing program in anticipation of Saturday’s Kansas State-Iowa State game in Ames, and that’s as it should be.

Snyder has known Rhoads since he was a youngster, dating to Snyder’s Iowa days. Rhoads all but called the Wildcats college football’s most disciplined team.

“The No. 1 secret in winning football games is not to lose them first,” Rhoads said. “Bill Snyder and Kansas State do that week in and week out.”

The mutual admiration shouldn’t stop there, not this week. K-State and Iowa State have something else in common, roots that date to a single moment 150 years ago and to Abraham Lincoln.

In 1862, in the crucible of the Civil War, Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act, which put in place federal funding for public institutions to teach agriculture and mechanical arts without excluding science and classical studies.

Until then, higher education had largely been the domain of private colleges, many established by religious denominations. Just look at the earliest college football powers: Yale, Harvard and Princeton were the top football teams for the game’s first quarter century. College was for the well to-do, not the industrial or farming class.

The Morrill Act changed that, and the Iowa legislature was the first to accept terms of the law to boost funding for what was known as Ames College.

But it wasn’t the nation’s first university to open under the Morrill Act. Kansas State was, in 1863.

The Wildcats and Cyclones don’t play for a trophy, but maybe they should as pioneers of public higher education.

There are more than 100 land-grant universities in the United States, including Missouri and Nebraska. In all, there are four in the Big 12 and eight in the SEC. Six of this week’s Associated Press top 10 (Florida, West Virginia, K-State, Ohio State, LSU and Oregon State) are land-grant schools.

The anniversary date — July 2, 1862 — has passed, and many schools marked the occasion during the summer. But no campus celebration matches a football Saturday like that in Ames, when it will be worth recognizing how land-grant schools came about.