John Walters

Saturday night’s Texas-Texas Tech contest followed the formula of every classic Western: A pair of gunslingers, one sporting a white hat and the other a black hat; a town, in this case the Big 12 South, that ain't big enough for the two of 'em; and a shootout to settle matters.

If you judge solely by helmet color, the bad guys won in Lubbock on Saturday night. The unbeaten Red Raiders scored the game-winning touchdown with :01 remaining to topple top-ranked Texas, 39-33. It was just the latest edition of college football’s Cattle Drive to the BCS Championship and the good news is that like a second helping of pinto beans, there’s plenty more where that came from.

Of course, there are no bad guys when it comes to the four elite teams in the Big 12 South. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas Tech are actually quite similar: Hootin', hollerin' renegade offenses that come out guns a' blazin' and keep firing until the clock runs out. You want to talk about heading them off at the pass? The starting quarterbacks at these four schools are among the top five nationally in terms of passing efficiency at BCS programs.

And, after three-quarters of the season, any one of those four teams could find themselves playing for the national championship on Jan. 6.

Oklahoma spent two weeks at No. 1 this season, only to lose to Texas, who then spent three weeks at No. 1. Now Texas has lost to Texas Tech, who finds themselves ranked No. 2 this week, but could ascend to No. 1 next week should Alabama lose at LSU. That is, assuming the Red Raiders defeat Oklahoma State in Lubbock. Should the Cowboys win, the Big 12 South would potentially have four 9-1 teams whose only losses were to one another.

It truly is a Wild West Show the Big 12 South has been staging. Each Saturday, beginning with the Red River Shootout between Oklahoma and Texas on Oct. 13, the nation's No. 1 team has met an opponent, an hombre with designs on being the new sheriff in town, at high noon on Main Street.

In Dallas, No. 5 Texas survived a non-fatal shot and struck down No. 1 Oklahoma. A week later in Austin, No. 1 Texas gunned down a Big 12 North cousin, No. 11 Missouri. Then the Longhorns drew faster than No. 7 Oklahoma State. Finally, in Lubbock, No. 6 Texas Tech was quicker to the draw than the Horns, who did not run out of bullets, only time.

John Ford ought to be directing these telecasts. Slim Pickens ought to be providing color commentary. Tumbleweeds ought to roll across midfield, simply for effect.

Gaze out yonder, to next week and beyond, and you’ll see that the Wild West Show continues in Lubbock before folding its tent in Norman. Next Saturday, as previously mentioned, Texas Tech, the last unbeaten in the Big 12 South, hosts an Oklahoma State squad that beat Missouri in Columbia (the most impressive road win any of these four teams have) and came within four of upsetting Bevo in Austin.

After a week of relative quiet, Norman, Okla., becomes the O.K. Corral of college football. The Red Raiders visit on Nov. 22 and the Cowboys ride into town on Nov. 29. Any of the three teams mentioned could very well be ranked No. 1 in the nation on those two dates.

Alabama and Penn State are still undefeated and very well could remain that way. But it's difficult to comprehend the justice — and the Old West was about, if anything, justice — of a one-loss Big 12 South school not advancing to the BCS Championship game in Miami.

First of all, the duels thus far have been more tense and memorable than the final 15 minutes of High Noon. Texas trailed in the fourth quarter against No. 1 Oklahoma before winning 45-35. Oklahoma State got the pigskin to midfield in Austin before time ran out on them against the No. 1 Horns. And Texas Tech trailed with eight seconds to play against No. 1 Texas before Graham Harrell connected with Michael Crabtree on an improbable 28-yard pass that ended with :01 on the clock.

Second, these teams can play, especially on offense, where all four are ranked in the top six nationally in scoring. The other two teams in that sextet are non-BCS Tulsa, which lost on Saturday at Arkansas, and Mizzou, which has lost to both the Cowboys and the Longhorns.

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