DALLAS -- Colorado makes its first-ever trip to the Dr Pepper Big 12 Football Championship on Saturday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. (CST) at Texas Stadium and faces Big 12 South Division champion Texas after the Buffs defeated Nebraska 62-36 for a share of the Big 12 North Division title Friday, Nov. 23.
CU scored an opponent-record 62 points (previous mark was 61 points by Minnesota vs. the Huskers in 1945) in a convincing win at Boulder, Colo., on national television (ABC). Coach Gary Barnett's crew came all the way from a 3-8 mark during an injury-plagued 2000 campaign to 9-2 (7-1 Big 12 Conference) prior to the Dr Pepper Big 12 title contest.
Nebraska (11-1, 7-1 Big 12) tied the Buffs for the Big 12 North title, but Colorado advanced to the Championship by virtue of head-to-head competition with the Huskers. Nebraska has been either No. 1 or No. 2 in every Bowl Championship Series rating prior to the Nov. 26 survey. The two teams combined for 98 points and 1,140 net yards of total offense in Friday's high-scoring contest.
Texas watched with enthusiasm from Austin and student-athletes and coaches' homes as Oklahoma State upset Oklahoma 16-13 in Norman, Okla., Saturday to place Texas one game (7-1 to 6-2) ahead of the Sooners in Big 12 South standings. Nebraska earlier downed Oklahoma 20-10 at Lincoln, Neb., for the other league loss for OU. Coach Mack Brown is taking his second team to the Dr Pepper Championship while it's the third trip for UT along with a 37-27 win over Nebraska in 1996 at St. Louis and a 22-6 loss to NU in the '99 title contest at San Antonio.
The Longhorns notched their first 10-win season since 1995 when Texas closed at 10-2-1, and Brown's 10-1 contingent continues UT's best four-year run (cumulative 38-12 mark) since the 1961-64 seasons when retired coach Darrell Royal's squads each captured at least nine wins.
Coach Gary Barnett's CU team qualified for the crown despite missing 2001 starting QB Craig Ochs for almost half the season. Key backup Bobby Pesavento passed for 202 yards on 9-for-16 aerials without an interception in the win over NU while teammate RB Chris Brown set a school record with six rushing touchdowns, 24 carries, 198 net yards, and a long gainer of 36 yards.
Some quick points about the 2001 Dr Pepper Football Championship and its previous legends:
The 2001 game is a rematch of the Colorado-Texas encounter in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 13. Texas won that game 41-7. It's also the third consecutive second match of the year after Nebraska-Texas in 1999 and Kansas State-Oklahoma in 2000 met during the regular seasons and in the championship.
Every divisional champion in Big 12 annals has won its opening conference game. Translation: don't get off to a 0-1 conference start if your team doesn't want to buck the trend. Colorado started the 2001 conference portion of the season on Sept. 29 with a 27-16 victory in Boulder over Kansas. Texas toppled Texas Tech 42-7 at Austin on that same date to begin league play.
Three of the first four North Division winners finished their conference seasons at 8-0. Nebraska closed at 7-1 in 1999 (falling to Texas 24-20 in the regular campaign) while Kansas State was 6-2 (co-champion with NU in 2000; won the tiebreaker with a 29-28 head-to-head match against the Huskers at Manhattan). Last year KSU and Nebraska were the first North editions to tie for the divisional crown with 6-2 league marks.
The South Division champ has been 6-2 in league activity three times while Texas A&M's 1998 conference championship team and Texas in 2001 closed at 7-1. Oklahoma had a South Division-best 8-0 conference worksheet in 2000.
Combined loop records of the eight previous champions have been 84-12 (.875) from 1996-01. North Division winners are 44-4 (.917) while South champs are a composite 40-8 (.833). Four teams have finished 8-0, four have been 7-1, and four other squads have finished 6-2 since '96.
The designated "home" team in every Dr Pepper Big 12 Championship from 1996-00 has been the winning team, though the teams wearing dark uniform tops have been from opposite geographic areas. CU is the 2001 the designated 2000 Dr Pepper Championship "home" squad.
The 2001 Dr Pepper Football Championship is slated for Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas, for the first time. The 2002 site is Reliant Stadium in Houston while the 2003 Dr Pepper Football Championship is scheduled for Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium.