They're gone now, most of the players who inspired Texas Tech coach Mike Leach to call the Big 12 the top quarterback conference in the country last year. Nate Hybl. Kliff Kingsbury. Chris Simms. Seneca Wallace. All gone. All waiting to be replaced.

All missed. Not so terribly.

Oklahoma's Jason White, Texas Tech's B.J. Symons, Texas' Chance Mock and Iowa State's Cris Love Jr. are the names on the hot seat now, and none of their coaches sound the least bit disturbed.

	Around The Big 12
	Baylor Bears
	Colorado Buffaloes
	Iowa State Cyclones
	Kansas Jayhawks
	Kansas State Wildcats
	Missouri Tigers
	Nebraska Cornhuskers
	Oklahoma Sooners
	Oklahoma State Cowboys
	Texas Longhorns
	Texas A&M Aggies
	Texas Tech Red Raiders

"It's been proven, time and time again, that you can win the national championship without the best quarterback in the country,'' said OU Coach Bob Stoops, who said it's time for the injury riddled White to start having some good luck..

"Anytime anybody loses a quarterback, all of a sudden the sky's falling again," said Leach, who'll count on Symons to keep the sky high and blue. "'Nobody had heard of the quarterbacks who were starting before they were starting. Whoever is the greatest quarterback in the world, at some point in time, nobody had ever heard of him."

Last year's new wave of quarterbacks -- Missouri's Brad Smith, Kansas State's Ell Roberson, Oklahoma State's Josh Fields and Texas A&M's Dustin Long and Reggie McNeal -- are now the proven old hands, and each of them carries their team's hopes. Roberson will be asked to lead a Kansas State team that finished strongly last year to the North Division title, which he's favored to do. Smith, Fields, Long and McNeal will all be expected to lift their teams into their respective title hunts.

White and Mock have the easiest jobs -- and the hardest. Both will be surrounded by some of the best offensive players in the nation and both will have an excellent defense guarding their back. Both will be asked to guide the team with a minimum of mistakes. In other words, it's not what they do, it's what they don't do that'll matter most.

"It doesn't always take the biggest arm,'' Stoops said. "There are a lot of ways to win."

Game of the Year
Oklahoma vs. Texas. Because the Big 12's rotating schedule means an OU-KSU matchup would have to wait for the title game Dec. 6 in Kansas City, this traditional border rivalry wins out as the most important regular season game in the league. Mack Brown says the Longhorns have the most talented offense they've had; Bob Stoops says the same about his defense. If Texas doesn't shrivel in the fourth quarter, as they've had in double-digit losses to the Sooners the last two years, the Horns may finally break their oh-for-the-century drought.

Offensive Player of the Year
Rashaun Woods, OSU. Two senior wide receivers with the same monogram on their cuffs thrilled their coaches and fans by deciding to return for their senior seasons. While the other "RW" -- Texas' Roy Williams -- is spectacular when healthy and, like Woods, can take over a game -- just ask Nebraska -- UT can win without him. Take Woods away and the Cowboys are just hoping for an upgrade on last year's Houston Bowl, instead of figuring in the mix for their first Big 12 South Division title.

Defensive Player of the Year
Take your pick of Sooners. Tackle Tommie Harris won't pile up the gaudy stats, but he occupies enough blockers to let the OU linebackers clean up. Want someone with numbers? Choose between linebackers Teddy Lehman, who has a knack for big plays, and Lance Mitchell, who led OU last year with 124 tackles. We'll go with Harris, who makes it all happen.

Mark Wangrin covers the Big 12 for the San Antonio Express-News.