The Big 12 pretty much went as expected this season.

The top two teams in the league met in October. And they'll meet again on Saturday in the Big 12 championship game.

So what's the big whoop?

Big 12's best

MVPs Crouch Eric Crouch and Roy Williams. How do you choose between the Big 12's best offensive player and the conference's best defensive player? You don't. Crouch, with his 95-yard run against Missouri and his 63-yard catch against Oklahoma, and Williams, with his Superman leap against Texas and his season-long dominance, were the conference's best playmakers, pure and simple. While he probably won't win, Crouch will wear a suit to the Heisman Trophy ceremony in December. Williams should, too. Coach of the Year Gary Barnett. He was our midseason coach of the year for righting the Buffs after their potentially devastating season-opening loss to Fresno State. Now he has a chance to right Colorado's only other wrong by beating Texas in the Big 12 championship. While most coaches ask their kids to live for football, Barnett has asked his team to operate by a remarkably refreshing motto this year: "It doesn't matter." Ironically, Barnett's leadership has mattered most to the Buffs. Biggest Surprise Oklahoma State's Norman conquest. Come on. Oklahoma State, 3-7 at the time, beating No. 4 Oklahoma? With a true freshman who dislocated his thumb halfway through the game? With a defense that gave up more than 500 yards to Baylor? With a little known receiver stealing the ball from superman Roy Williams? Let's just say that more people would have predicted that the Taliban would rise up to defeat Allied Forces. Biggest Disappointment No one -- not Baylor, with its 29-game conference losing streak, not K-State with its four-game skid, not Kansas with its miserable season -- can top Nebraska and Oklahoma's cliffdives last week. After an 11-0 record that put them in front of the Rose Bowl parade, the Huskers and their defense grabbed nothing but air Friday in Colorado's 62-36 pounding. And, with his team poised to defend its national championship, Nate Hybl's passes found nothing but ground Saturday in Oklahoma's 16-13 loss. Nebraska still will get a BCS bid and Oklahoma will probably play on Jan. 1 in the Cotton Bowl, but both are mere consolation prizes compared to the national titles both teams coveted.

Everyone knew Colorado and Texas were destined for a rematch in the Big 12 championship after that stomach-churning, nail-biting, 41-7 Texas pounding in October, right?

Not quite.

The Big 12 in 2001 has been home to about a dozen surprises, what with K-State's decline, the in-season firing of Kansas' coach, Oklahoma's offensive collapse, Nebraska's defensive collapse, Oklahoma State's one-game wonder.

But can Colorado cook up another shocker in Texas Stadium?

You bet it can. Forget about Texas' 41-7 pounding of the Buffs on Oct. 20. The game was close in the first half and backup quarterback Bobby Pesavento had just been thrust into the starting lineup. Plus, as Texas coach Mack Brown said, "Colorado played like they were the best team in the country on Friday."

Then again, the Longhorns have spent the last seven weeks -- since their loss to Oklahoma -- methodically carving up their opponents, hoping for their chance. And Colorado coach Gary Barnett acknowledged after Friday's game that he doesn't know how much his team has left in the tank.

This much is certain: Both teams will be clawing for a BCS berth. Whoever wins is in. Whoever loses is out.

Come to think of it, that's pretty much what everyone expected.

Baylor
In his three years, Kevin Steele's record hasn't exactly rocketed. His Bears were 1-10 in 1999, 2-9 in 2000 and 3-8 in 2001. Yet the Bears have made more progress than those baby steps in the record book. Baylor was competitive against A&M, Oklahoma and Nebraska -- especially defensively. Now, they have to establish some sort of offensive consistency. They could start by sticking with a quarterback. For the second straight year, Steele played a handful of quarterbacks.

MVP: Samir Al-Amin. The senior strong safety had three interceptions, including two for touchdowns in his last game Saturday against Southern Illinois. He also was the Bears' leading tackler, with 101.

Biggest disappointment: As Steele said, the Bears were able to put together two, sometimes three, great quarters against the Big 12's top teams. But never four. As a result, the Bears have lost 29 in a row against conference opponents.

Did you know?: Since the Big 12 was formed in 1996, Baylor has won three conference games. The Bears beat Iowa State in 1996 and Kansas in 1998. But who is the only Big 12 South team that the Bears have beaten? Hint: It's a certain Big 12 South team that will play in the conference championship Saturday.

Colorado
It's Rocky Mountain High time in Colorado again. With the Buffs' 9-2 record and the 62-36 woodshed whipping of Nebraska last Friday, Colorado has returned to dominance, as promised. The question is, will the dominance translate into lasting prominence? Or will Colorado be the helter-skelter team that goes 10-2 and, two years later, goes 3-8. Remember, Barnett led Northwestern to back-to-back Big Ten titles, only to watch the Wildcats fade to 8-16 his last two years. But with three sophomore tailbacks and a talented quarterback returning, the Buffs are standing on solid ground. MVP: The offensive line. Led by Andre Gurode and Victor Rogers, Colorado's offensive line was the steadying force in an otherwise injury-plagued season. Even though the Buffs lost starting quarterback Craig Ochs, they pounded opponent after opponent with one of three running backs.

Biggest disappointment: The closing seconds of the opening loss to Fresno State. Had they simply kicked a chipshot field goal -- instead of ending up with Ochs throwing a game-ending interception on the Bulldogs' 2-yard-line -- the Buffs would be near the front of the line for the Rose Bowl.

Did you know?: Four heads are better than one. In their 11 games, Colorado's four horsemen -- Cortlen Johnson, Bobby Purify, Chris Brown and Marcus Houston -- combined for 2,304 yards this year. Barry Sanders' NCAA record was 2,628 yards in 11 games for Oklahoma State in 1988.

Iowa State
While the galleryfurniture.com bowl's name evokes visions of the Poulan Weedeater bowl, it'll suffice for Iowa State. The 'Clones (7-4) were able to nearly close last year's 9-3 bowl season through a deft combination of defensive overachievers and a dazzling quarterback. They've become the first Iowa State team to go to back-to-back bowls since 1977 and 1978.

MVP: Seneca Wallace. In separate games, Wallace, the Big 12's newcomer of the year, completed 65, 74, 84 and 92 percent of his passes. He was second in the league, behind Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury, with 229 all-purpose yards per game.

Biggest disappointment: A three-game skid in which the Cyclones proved that they're still not quite ready to beat the conference's elite. The Cyclones dominated Texas A&M but lost 24-21, then got killed by Kansas State (42-3) and Colorado (40-27).

Did you know?: Iowa State, predominantly a running team, has lost seven fumbles in the past two years -- five last season and only two this season.

Kansas
It was the nation's toughest schedule. And it may have been the nation's toughest season. Kansas lost its coach, its star wide receiver and, oh yeah, eight games. Soon, the Jayhawks will lose their entire coaching staff, including interim coach Tom Hayes, as new athletic director Al Bohl prepares to start fresh in Lawrence. Look for Hayes to woo Fresno State coach Pat Hill, whom he worked with at Fresno State. And if he gets the job, look for Hill to struggle at the stadium by the hill. The Big 12 is loaded and, in the Big 12 North, Iowa State and Missouri have a head start on turning programs around. Still, if anyone can engineer a competitive football team, it's the determined Bohl, who has done so at Toledo and Fresno State.

MVP: Nate Dwyer and Marcus Rogers. The two defenders were the reliable ones for Kansas. Dwyer, at 6-3, 305 pounds, could have started on any Big 12 team. And until he was injured late in the year, Rogers, a linebacker, averaged 12 tackles a game -- a better per-tackle average than the league's top tackler, Texas Tech's Lawrence Flugence.

Biggest disappointment: That Bohl fired Terry Allen with three games left. Everyone, including Allen, knew the fifth-year coach was on his way out. His firing with three games left -- so Bohl could get a head start on a coaching search -- sent a message to Kansas' players that the athletic department had given up on its season. To their credit, after getting blistered by Texas and Iowa State, the Jayhawks bounced back to beat Wyoming in the season finale.

Did you know?: Kansas finished 90th or lower in every major offensive coordinator: rushing offense (90), passing offense (99th), scoring offense (111th) and total offense (113th).

Kansas State
A September to remember. An October to forget. A November to save a season. Indeed, 2001 was by far the wildest Wildcat season under coach Bill Snyder, who has produced his fair share of wild times in Manhattan. K-State looked like world-beaters when they nearly beat Oklahoma in September. Then, a rash of injuries and inconsistent passing led to a hideous four-game losing streak in October, forcing the Wildcats to battle for bowl survival in November. Snyder severely needs to go back to the junior-college ranks to find receivers. Then, he needs to teach quarterbacks Ell Roberson and Marc Dunn how to throw to those receivers.

MVP: Josh Scobey. Opposing coaches have described the punishing Scobey as a tailback who always runs down hill. Scobey survived an uphill season -- which included a rash of injuries on the offensive line -- to set the K-State single-season rushing record with 1,263 yards and finish second in the league with 114.8 yards per game.

Biggest disappointment: Passing. K-State finished 111th in passing this season and both Roberson and Dunn drove Snyder nuts with their inconsistent play. During one three-game stretch, the two combined to complete just one out of 3 passes, prompting Snyder to give a lecture on the basics of passing. (Throw to the guy that's open.) Dunn finished with a 49 percent completion percentage. Roberson was at 40 percent.

Did you know?: K-State's 3-5 record in the Big 12 was the Wildcats' worst conference record since finishing 2-5 in the Big Eight in 1992.

Missouri
Coach Gary Pinkel has chided fans for cheering his team after losses. He's mocked self-mutilation at Missouri's myriad mistakes. And he has expressed hardly any happiness with the 4-6 Tigers' progress. That's good news for Missouri football. Pinkel's no-nonsense, no-excuse approach will net Missouri bowl games and, perhaps, national fame. And his impatience will make those two things happen sooner rather than later.

MVP: Justin Gage. Going into Saturday's game against Michigan State, Gage is third in the Big 12 in receptions with 68. Not bad for a guy who just switched from quarterback to receiver last season and has spent his offseasons with the basketball team.

Biggest disappointment: The opening loss to Bowling Green. Not only did it ruin Pinkel's debut against a familiar MAC foe, it basically blew any chance Missouri had of getting to a bowl. Had the Tigers won that game, they could have gone bowling with either a win at Kansas State or Michigan State. As it was, they had to upset both - an insurmountable challenge.

Did you know?: In a sign of Pinkel's insistence on disciplined football, Missouri is on pace to commit the league's fewest penalties. Going into Saturday's Michigan State game, the Tigers have 54 penalties. The next best team, Texas, has 61.

Nebraska
Alas, the Huskers can open their eyes after the nightmare in Boulder. Because the BCS is about as screwed up as the Huskers' run defense, Nebraska is still a longshot to make it to the Rose Bowl. And they almost certainly will make a BCS bowl. Still, even the Sugar Bowl would be a bittersweet ending for a team that seemed destined for roses after beating Oklahoma in October.

MVP: Crouch, of course. The senior quarterback shattered just about every record this season, including a few during Friday's 62-36 loss in Boulder. He became the all-time total offense leader in the Big 12 with 7,915 yards. And he shattered Nebraska's single-game total offense record with 360 yards, although that total included a meaningless 70-yard run with Colorado up 62-30 halfway through the fourth quarter. The record books will show that Crouch was the best running quarterback in Nebraska, maybe NCAA, history. But he won't earn the title of best Nebraska quarterback because he hasn't won a national title.

Biggest disappointment: Giving up 62 points to Colorado. The most points in school history. More points than the Blackshirts had given up in their first seven games combined. More points than Colorado scored on 3-8 San Jose State. Worst of all, the Buffs did it with Nebraska's bread and butter - straight up the gut, smashmouth football.

Did you know?: Until Colorado hung 62 on the Huskers Friday, it had been 45 years since an opponent had scored 50 points or more on Nebraska.

Oklahoma
Unfortunately for Sooner boosters, 2001 proved that OU was oh so human. After riding its defense to 20 straight wins, it appeared that coach Bob Stoops and Oklahoma might never lose. But the Sooners defense, as dominating as it was, couldn't overcome one hurdle -- its increasingly inept offense.

MVP: Besides Williams, Rocky Calmus deserves mention. Calmus topped 100 tackles for the second straight year and finished third in the conference with nearly 10 per game.

Biggest disappointment: The offense. On Saturday, everyone saw why Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops was downplaying Jason White's torn ACL as a "sprained" knee. Put simply, the Sooners wanted White down the stretch run. That's not to pin OU's seasonlong offensive woes on Nate Hybl, who was horrible Saturday (46 percent completions, three interceptions, no touchdowns). Zero rushing yards on 27 carries against the 64th best defense in the country? Ouch.

Did you know?: The 16-12 loss Saturday was the first time Stoops, 30-7 at Oklahoma, had gotten beat when his team was favored by more than a touchdown. Oklahoma was favored by 27 points over the Cowboys.

Oklahoma State
It's rare that one win can wipe out a season of discontent. Oklahoma State's huge upset of Oklahoma on Friday did just that. Come next month, no one will remember that the Cowboys were 4-7, that they basically were outplayed by 3-8 Baylor, that they lost six in a row. They'll simply remember T.D. Bryant's incredible robbery of Oklahoma superman Roy Williams, and the incredible pass by true freshman Josh Fields to Rashaun Woods to beat the Sooners. For all the understandable thrill of that victory, the Cowboys can't let their bragging rights in the bedlam series make them complacent in the off-season. They desperately need to start harvesting a running game and a more consistent defense. And they could stand to keep Fields, the true freshman, from the baseball field, where he's a pro prospect.

MVP: Rashaun Woods. Coach Les Miles has repeatedly said that Oklahoma State's only crime is that they don't get Woods the ball more. Even so, they got him the ball enough for the sophomore to establish the Cowboys' single-season record with 80 catches. Woods was the only receiver in the conference to top 1,000 yards.

Biggest disappointment: That the Cowboys couldn't finish the job against Missouri and Colorado. The 'Pokes staged an incredible two-touchdown rally against Missouri to tie the game in the fourth quarter, then lost in overtime. They led Colorado 19-7 before watching the Buffs storm back in the second half to win 22-19. Had they won those two games, the 'Pokes would be 6-5 and bowl bound.

Did you know?: The last time Oklahoma State beat a team ranked as high as No. 4 Oklahoma was No. 3 Colorado in 1972.

Texas
The Longhorns are the luckiest Big 12 team since the 1997 Nebraska team turned the immaculate deflection in the end zone against Missouri into a share of the national championship. Give the 'Horns, 10-1, credit for staying on task after their early-season loss to Oklahoma seemed to relegate them to second fiddle. But give them no credit for their schedule of Calista Flockharts. Besides Oklahoma, Colorado and -- we're being generous here -- Texas A&M, the Longhorns played no one this year. But they'll get their chance to prove their mettle in the next two games.

MVP: Quentin Jammer. The nation's second best defense has a host of playmakers, including D.D. Lewis, Derrick Johnson and Nathan Vasher, but none are bigger than Jammer. Superjam, a senior cornerback, has broken up a school-record 23 passes. And he has completely intimidated and frustrated some of the conference's best receivers.

Biggest disappointment: Watching Major Applewhite ride the bench. Chris Simms has performed well, although he has yet to show the big-game grit of Applewhite. But all judgments on Simms aside, wouldn't it have been fun to see Applewhite, the Big 12's co-offensive player of the year in 1999, stick his chin out from under that oversized helmet and challenge Oklahoma's Roy Williams in the Cotton Bowl one last time? As it is, it looks like we'll have to wait for Applewhite to show his savvy as a coach.

Did you know?: Texas is ranked either second, third or fourth in every defensive statistical category - total defense (second), rushing defense (third), pass defense (fourth), pass efficiency defense (fourth).

Texas A&M
Although the Aggies lost their last three games to finish 7-4, they may have overachieved this year. Especially when you consider that they lost at least a dozen key players to injury and were horribly inconsistent on offense. If the Aggies can stick with one offensive scheme next year, they, mercifully, should be much better. For all its futility A&M had only two seniors on its 48-man offensive roster. Hopefully, that's a good thing for next season.

MVP: Sammy Davis was one of several playmakers (Terrence Kiel, Jarrod Penright, Rocky Bernard) on a Wrecking Crew defense that is the reason for A&M's 7-4 finish. Davis had five interceptions on the season and was the team's second-leading tackler.

Biggest disappointment: Injuries and inconsistency caused the Aggies to produce just one offensive touchdown in their last three games. Plus, the Aggies were so depleted at receiver and tight end that Mark Farris had little chance to develop chemistry and prove that he's better than his numbers - 58 percent completions, eight touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Did you know?: The Aggies' streak of 12 straight 300-point seasons came to an in 2001. The Aggies managed just 220 points -- or 20 per game.

Texas Tech
After a 2000 season in which they beat up only on lesser opponents, the Red Raiders (7-4 and 4-4 in the Big 12) beat some teams they weren't supposed to (Kansas State and Texas A&M) and played teams like Nebraska and Oklahoma tough for long stretches. Now, they need to beat up on a bowl opponent and start playing consistent enough defense to give Kliff Kingsbury the shot at the Heisman in 2001 that coach Mike Leach says he so richly deserves.

MVP: Ricky Williams gets honorable mention for his versatility - including a league-leading and school-record breaking 92 catches this season -- but Kingsbury proved that he is the best passer in the league by averaging nearly 100 yards more passing per game than any other conference quarterback.

Biggest disappointment: The homecoming loss to Kansas. The Red Raiders found out just how dependent they are on Kingsbury when he left the game in the fourth quarter with a sprained thumb. The Red Raiders lost 34-31 in double overtime. Kansas won two other games the entire season.

Did you know?: Texas Tech coach Mike Leach went for it on fourth down an amazing 28 times -- tying with Kansas State for the league's most fourth down attempts. (No other Big 12 team attempted it 20 times.) To boot, the Raiders' third-down and fourth-down conversion rates were nearly identical -- at 43 percent.

Todd Cooper is a staff writer for the Omaha World-Herald and a regular contributor to ESPN.com.