Big 12 begins from position of strength

Finally.

Everybody else has opened league play, and the Big 12 begins its family feuds in style on Saturday.

Six teams hold top-25 membership, the most since 2003, including No. 1 Oklahoma.

“It’s a positive thing,” Sooners coach Bob Stoops said. “But you’ve got to earn it each week.”

With all this poll attention, could the upset bug that bit college football last weekend buzz into the Big 12 on Saturday? The six ranked teams play the six unranked, with five of the favorites playing on the road.

“What you’ve been seeing across the country is anybody can beat anybody on any weekend,” Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said.

The Big 12 beat most in its nonconference games. This season marked the third time in 13 years every team finished at break even or better. The nonconference record stands at 38-10, two games better than in 2007.

The Big 12 went 7-8 against teams from other Bowl Championship Series conferences. It went 3-0 against the Pacific-10 but 0-4 against the ACC.

A 4-2 record against ranked opponents reversed a trend. The Big 12 finished 1-13 in those regular-season games over the previous two seasons.

It had Big 12 coaches feeling good about a league that boasts four among the top seven in The Associated Press poll with Missouri fourth, Texas fifth and Texas Tech seventh. Also, Kansas is 16th and Oklahoma State 21st.

“These guys aren’t up there under false pretenses,” Colorado coach Dan Hawkins said.

One reason for the rise is quarterback play. Nine from the Big 12 are rated among the nation’s top 20 passers. Two through five are Texas’ Colt McCoy, Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford, Missouri’s Chase Daniel and Zac Robinson of Oklahoma State — all leading ranked teams.

It’s easy to get carried away, as Missouri coach Gary Pinkel did Monday.

“It’s a great conference, if not the best, one of the best ever,” Pinkel said.

Well, maybe not ever. But this week, you can’t argue with the ratings.