In the interest of pulling Texas A&M out of the doldrums, coach R.C. Slocum changed offensive coordinators. He changed starting quarterbacks. He even changed kickers three times.

All of that may not be able to keep from making the biggest change.

Zip codes.

There's No Place Like Home

Home for the Holidays never sounded better to the Hawaii Warriors. Their reward, what they wanted most for a 7-2 start to this season, came to them Saturday when they became the first NCAA team to be offered -- and to accept -- a bowl bid. The Warriors will be in the inaugural ConAgra Foods Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Day. They get to travel to someplace exotic. Their own backyard. Round trip: Zero miles. And a Mele Kalika Maka to you and yours. "It's a reward. It's happiness," quarterback Tommy Chang told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. "There's no better way to spend Christmas Day." "You know, I still try to shake the boxes and guess what I'm going to get for Christmas," linebacker Chris Brown told the Honolulu Advertiser. "Now I know what I'm going to get for Christmas and it's a great present. It's an unreal present. It's going to be a Merry Christmas." "We were thinking about two words: per diem," said tackle Uriah Moenoa, conscious of the $125 daily bowl stipend the Warriors will receive. Moenoa got closest to the spirit of the move. For the Warriors, likely to finish as runner-up to Boise State in the WAC race, it's about money and, mostly, respect. Last year the Warriors went 9-3 and had the dubious distinction of being the only team with nine wins to be shut out of a bowl bid. Boise went 8-4 and also had to watch. The WAC, rightfully feeling snubbed, took a direct approach: If you can't get the bowls to take you, you take the bowls. Instead of counting on ti leaves, a traditional Hawaiian good luck symbol, the conference took things into its own hands. In the offseason the WAC forged tie ins with the Crucial.com Humanitarian and Hawaii bowls that all but bound the host teams to the games if they qualified. Boise is already bowl-eligible at 8-1 and will probably also end up happily at home for the holidays, with a spot in the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise. There is a chance the Broncos could go to a higher profile bowl, with a larger payout than the $750,000 the Humanitarian offers, if the school, conference and bowl agree on the move. The WAC is also tied into a third bowl (Silicon Valley Football Classic) and shares a spot with the Mid-American Conference USA in a fourth (GMAC Bowl), but it's dicey if more than two league teams will be bowl eligible. Fresno State and Louisiana Tech would need to win three of their last four games; Nevada two of three; Rice two of two and San Jose three of three. Tech, Nevada and Rice still have to play Boise. Rice still has to play Hawaii. As many as four -- and as few as zero -- of those five teams still alive could get the minimum six wins (seven in the cases of Fresno and San Jose) to qualify. Though a longshot, San Jose State is the sentimental favorite. The Silicon Valley Football Classic will be played in Spartan Stadium. The Spartans know it well. To them it's home. -- Mark Wangrin

Whether Slocum, the longest tenured coach in the Big 12 (along with Kansas State's Bill Snyder) finds himself packing up his personal possessions at the end of the season for the move to the Aggies new end zone football facility -- or to a U-Haul out of town -- remains to be seen. The sad reality for Slocum is that after a .738 winning percentage and four Southwest Conference and Big 12 titles in his first 13 seasons, he hasn't been left with much wiggle room in his 14th.

With three games left, including a home game this week against BCS No. 1 Oklahoma and a visit to BCS No. 4 Texas the day after Thanksgiving, the 5-4 Aggies are holding out just to achieve something that doesn't go over well in College Station.

Mediocrity.

Should A&M win the one game it's expected to win, at home against Missouri on Nov. 16, and lose the two it's expected to lose, the Aggies will finish 6-6. That will make the Aggies bowl eligible and earn them the right to do something they haven't done since 1982.

Have a losing record.

That might be enough to convince new President Robert Gates to send Slocum packing in the interest of his declared war on apathy and mediocrity, just as he forced out athletic director Wally Groff, who will leave at the end of the year.

Gates has not yet named Groff's replacement, leading to even more intrigue over what will happen. Could Gates be holding off on the move to spare the new AD the tough situation of having his first official act being the dismissal of the football coach? Or could he be in no hurry to name a replacement because he doesn't feel a coaching change is imminent? Gates has remained mum on his thoughts and what he'll do next.

Slocum is left to take the heat. "You spend your time working on things you can control and do something about."

Tops on that list is winning games. What would help the Aggies would be finding a way to finish games as strongly as they start them. In painful losses to Texas Tech and Nebraska the Aggies blew 18- and 17-point leads.

"I'm not going to end my senior year with a losing season,'' said linebacker Jarrod Penright. "We shouldn't lose another game; I don't care who we're playing. Texas is not good enough to beat us. OU is not good enough to beat us."

Like it's fiercest rival, Texas, A&M figures to be quick on the trigger. Texas fired Fred Akers after his first losing season in 1986 and canned David McWilliams (in 1991) and John Mackovic (in 1997) the year after both had won conference titles. The Aggies have normally fired coaches based on a long string of disappointments, not after one bad season.

Slocum has one ace in the hole -- the Aggies still have to play Texas. A win over the Longhorns in Austin would cure a multitude of sins. No A&M coach has ever been dismissed for performance reasons after a season in which he beat Texas.

But the fact remains that the balance of Big 12 power has overwhelmingly swung to the South Division and A&M is set to slip even further next year. The Aggies will lose the heart of its once-dominant defense in seniors like end Ty Warren, linebackers Jarrod Penright and Brian Gamble, cornerback Sammy Davis and safety Terrence Kiel, with few clear heirs apparent in sight.

With that urgency staring them down, the Aggies may have to act quickly to keep up with the Sooners and Longhorns, not to mention improved programs in Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.

The Aggies have already made one decision. Groff told the Dallas Morning News that if they finish 6-6 and are eighth in the Big 12 pecking order, he is in favor of declining a bid to the bowl game in Boise, the ironically named -- for A&M at least -- Crucial.com Humanitarian Bowl.

"A bowl game is a bowl game,'' said A&M running back Joe Weber, who is among the players itching to play in any bowl game. "If you're a football player it shouldn't matter where you're playing as long as you're playing. That should be the only thing that matters."

That stage is long past for Slocum. Change is in the wind. Right now Slocum could very well be twisting in it.

Around the Big 12

Baylor
Baylor coach Kevin Steele, fired as the Bears coach Sunday after compiling a 9-33 record, including a 1-28 mark in the Big 12, said he realized his tenure was doomed when the Bears were routed 70-22 in the season opener at Cal. … Frustration cost the Bears on another front. Offensive lineman Antoine Murphy and defensive back Matt Johnson were ejected from Saturday's loss to Tech and by league rules will be suspended for this week's game at Texas. … Senior Reggie Newhouse caught seven balls to break Gerald McNeil's school record for receptions. The most interesting thing about his 164 career catches is that they were thrown by nine different quarterbacks.

Colorado
Colorado coach Gary Barnett touched a nerve with OU coach Bob Stoops when he talked about a rematch with the Sooners in the Big 12 title game after getting thumped 27-11 in Norman on Saturday. "Our guys would line up and play 'em tomorrow,'' he said. Told of the comments, Stoops went off. "Well, they ought to know when you show up on Saturday you're not going to the local country club, and if you don't like your first shot you tee it up again and get a mulligan. That doesn't work. You show up and play, like our players did." The approach worked well last year for the Buffaloes, who lost 41-7 to Texas in the regular season and then upset the Longhorns 39-37 in the Big 12 title game in Irving, Tex.

Iowa State
Iowa State quarterback Seneca Wallace's Heisman Trophy candidacy may not be completely dead yet. The senior threw for a school record 425 yards against Missouri and rolled up a school-record 493 yards total offense. And Wallace did all that while fighting the effects of a cold. "I play better when I'm sick,'' he told the Des Moines Register. "Kind of like when Michael Jordan played sick." Wallace was referring to Jordan's incredible performance against Utah in the NBA Finals despite a high fever. … Defensive back JaMaine Billups is expected back after taking a hard shot to the jaw against Missouri.

Kansas
Kansas senior backup Jonas Weatherbie will start if Bill Whittemore continues to be sidelined by a knee injury, said coach Mark Mangino. Weatherbie completed only 2 of 9 passes for zero yards with an interception and a lost fumble in the 64-0 loss to Kansas State, the worst defeat in KU history. Redshirt freshman Brian Luke had a little more success in relief of Weatherbie, completing 7 of 18 for 74 yards with an interception and two lost fumbles, but it wasn't enough to push him past Weatherbie. … Junior running back Reggie Duncan, who led the Jayhawks in rushing last year but has been hampered by a hamstring injury this fall, probably won't play again this year, Mangino said.

Kansas State
Despite Kansas State's recent dominance of the "Sunflower Showdown" with Kansas, the 64-0 win was the first shutout since 1955. … Junior defensive end Andrew Shull may have lost his starting job but it hasn't hurt his production. In the last two games he's had three sacks against Baylor and had the tackle in the end zone that gave the Wildcats' their first points in the rout of KU. … Free safety Jesse Tetuan and offensive tackle Dralinn Burks are expected back in the lineup for this week's game against Iowa State. … Though two of KSU's seven wins are over I-AA teams, they're can claim bowl eligibility on a technicality. NCAA rules allow a Division I-A team to count one I-AA win toward its necessary total once every four years. With games against Iowa State and Nebraska coming up and a visit to Missouri in the season finale that's a distant possibility.

Missouri
Missouri's secondary had proven to be one of the league's worst. In the Tigers' last three games they've given up 510 passing yards to Tech's Kliff Kingsbury and 425 to ISU's Seneca Wallace. Kingsbury's total was the most the Tigers had allowed in school history. … Marcus Jones broke the nation's longest streak without a punt return for a touchdown with his 80-yard return against ISU on Saturday. Mizzou hadn't brought one back for a score since Niu Sale's return against TCU in 1990. … Freshman quarterback Brad Smith needs 173 yards passing and 143 rushing to become only the second I-A player to run for 1,000 and pass for 2,000 yards in a season. Clemson's Woody Dantzler did it 2001.

Nebraska
Nebraska coach Frank Solich said he would do the same thing he did Saturday against Texas on third down with 16 seconds left and the ball at the UT 16. Trailing by three points, Solich called a pass play and Jammal Lord's throw was intercepted by Nathan Vasher at the 1. Solich said the Cornhuskers 1 for 3 night on field goal tries was a factor and admitted he briefly considered faking the kick on third down. … Rush end Chris Kelsay returned to practice this week after missing a month with a hamstring injury. Despite the time off, the senior still leads the Huskers in sacks (4.5). … Rover Lannie Hopkins is also expected back from his injury.

Oklahoma
Oklahoma didn't just jump Miami in the AP poll. The Sooners got a commitment from Northeastern A&M College tight end Willie Roberts, who had originally signed with Miami in February 2001 but wasn't eligible. OU also got commitments from defensive tackle Steven Coleman of Dallas (Tex.) Skyline and offensive tackle Akim Millington of Wheaton (Ill.) North. … Defensive ends Jimmy Wilkerson (ankle) and Dan Cody (concussion) were knocked out of OU's win over Colorado. Wilkerson is expected back for Saturday's game against A&M but Cody's status is less certain -- it's his second concussion in three weeks.

Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State, trying to make a late run at a bowl game, hopes to iron out its kicking woes. Luke Phillips came within a bad snap of the cycle -- he missed one field goal, had one blocked and one was botched by a bad hold. Snapper Jed Newkirk has been coached to slow down his snaps. … Cornerback Darrent Williams (elbow) and defensive tackle Clay Coe (ankle) are expected back after getting injured in the A&M win. Tailback Vernand Morency (ankle) and guard Corey Curtis (shoulder) are out. … Former Cowboys great Thurman Thomas, grand marshal at last Saturday's homecoming parade, told the Daily Oklahoman that he would be interested in coaching at his alma mater someday.

Texas
Texas finds itself back in the BCS race but the Longhorn defense will be limping at best. Three defensive linemen -- tackles Marcus Tubbs (calf) and Rodrique Wright (knee) and end Kalen Thornton were banged up against Nebraska. Tubbs and Thornton are questionable but Wright is probable for Saturday's home game against Baylor. … With a win over Baylor on Saturday the Longhorns will post their fifth-straight nine-win season, the first time that's happened in the school's storied football history. … With the Horns ending Nebraska's 26-game home winning streak the Longhorns now hold the nation's second-longest home string (17 games) behind Miami (20).

Texas A&M
Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum is not talking about injuries this week, a response to Oklahoma's new policy of not discussing injuries. Offensive tackle Andre Brooks and halfback Derek Farmer are questionable but safety Jaxson Appel is probable. … Bethel Johnson needs five catches to break the Aggie school career record for receptions, held by Keith Woodside (1983, 85-87), who has 110. …The Aggies need one win to qualify for a bowl game. They've gone in 11 of R.C. Slocum's previous 13 seasons, missing only in 1994 (10-0-1 but saddled with NCAA probation) and 1996 (when they went 6-6 and needed seven wins to qualify). … With a loss to OU Saturday the Aggies will have lost four home games for the first time since 1983.

Texas Tech
Texas Tech junior Wes Welker already is among the Big 12 leaders in receiving and punt returns. He may add place kicking next year. Welker booted a 55-yard field goal in warmups before the Red Raiders' rout of Baylor but had an extra point, his first attempt at Tech, partially blocked. Welker could move into the job next year after seniors Clinton Greathouse and Robert Treece move on. … Defensive end Gathan McGinnis came off the bench to join a third-quarter brawl against Baylor and is expected to be suspended for Tech's game against OSU this week. ... Quarterback Kliff Kingsbury, who set a NCAA record for career attempts (1,696) against Baylor, will play Saturday despite an ankle sprain.

Around the WAC
Louisiana Tech coach Jack Bicknell has been among those mentioned in early speculation for a successor to fired Kevin Steele at Baylor. Bicknell is 21-22 in his fourth season in Ruston. … Fresno State's most highly regarded 2002 recruit, safety Vincent Mays of Sacramento, will miss two weeks of practice after an emergency appendectomy. Mays is redshirting this season. … Hawaii's excitement over acceptance of a bid to the first Hawaii Bowl was tempered concern over former defensive back Nate Jackson, who developed a viral infection that caused him to be hospitalized and will necessitate heart surgery. The Warriors wore his initials in tape on their helmets in support for Jackson, who finished his eligibility last year. ... UTEP managed only a field goal against Boise which means the Miners have been held without a touchdown in four games this season, something the troubled program hasn't weathered since 1975, when the Miners went 1-10 and 0-6 in the WAC. … Rice quarterback Greg Henderson ran for 141 yards and two touchdowns and earned WAC offensive player of the week honors in his first career start. Henderson spelled Kyle Herm, who had started 20 straight games. Herm, who's been bothered by leg injuries, is expected back in the starting lineup for this week's game at Boise. … SMU looks to be changing kickers. Starter Trent Stephensen, who's missed five extra points this year and had a field goal blocked against Nevada, could give way to Chris McMurtry this week when the Mustangs visit UTEP. … San Jose State offensive tackle Tim Provost has accepted an invitation to the East-West Shrine Game All-Star Classic in San Francisco on Jan. 11. Linebacker and leading tackler Luke LaHerran has committed to the Paradise Bowl All-Star Football Game, which will be played Jan. 25 in St. George, Utah. … Nevada's hopes at reaching a bowl game rest with improving a pass defense that ranks 107th out of 117 I-A teams. That'll be tough, with the Wolf Pack having to play strong passing games in Boise (11th) and Fresno (40th) in the last three games. … Boise State is three wins away from the first perfect WAC record since Brigham Young went 8-0 in 1996. The Broncos finish the season with home games against Rice and Louisiana Tech and the regular-season finale at Nevada. … Tulsa is hopeful that quarterback Tyler Gooch will be able to play against Fresno despite having an apparent concussion against Rice last week. If not, sophomore James Kilian, who played two series in the first half and all of the second, will get his second career start.

Mark Wangrin covers college football for the San Antonio News-Express.