John Walters

In the next 48 hours, four of the nation’s top 25 teams will be playing in the Lone Star State, a quartet of schools who between them have a combined record of 23-2. Locals will tell you that it’s the most compelling Final Four the state has hosted since, well, last April.

The fun begins on Thursday evening, as unbeaten Brigham Young (6-0) visits Texas Christian (6-1) in Fort Worth. The eighth-ranked Cougars clamber into Amon G. Carter Stadium in possession of the nation’s longest winning streak, 16 games. The Horned Frogs’ only loss thus far took place at then No. 1 Oklahoma, 35-10. TCU, ranked No. 24 in the USA Today poll, also has payback on its mind: the last time BYU visited, they snapped the Horned Frogs’ 13-game winning streak.

Two nights later and 186 miles south, top-ranked Texas (6-0) hosts No. 12 Missouri (5-1) in Austin. Last Saturday, Mizzou lost at home to Oklahoma State, a buzz kill for fans hoping to see the Longhorns upend a No. 1 team one week and potentially a No. 1-3 ranked squad the next. Instead, we get a game between this week’s Heisman front-runner (Colt McCoy) and last week’s (Chase Daniel).

The two contests will spark more chatter across the Lone Star Republic than Friday night’s premiere of "W." At stake are the following: BYU’s realistic chances for a BCS bowl berth and its less plausible, though still possible, shot at the national title; TCU’s hope for its first victory over a top-10 opponent since the 2005 season-opener at Oklahoma, on the biggest prime-time stage the Horned Frogs have ever had; for Texas, the Longhorns’ dual concerns of maintaining the No. 1 ranking and McCoy’s Heisman primacy are on the table; and for Mizzou, the opportunity to restore itself and Daniel to those same lofty goals.

Events do not occur in a vacuum, of course. Also on Saturday, No. 15 Kansas (5-1) visits No. 6 Oklahoma (5-1). Should the Sooners win — their last home loss was that aforementioned defeat to TCU more than three years ago — Mizzou would have the chance to jump right back into a first-place tie in the Big 12 North. A Sooner win in the afternoon and a Tiger victory on Saturday night, then, would propel them both back into the national title picture. A Big 12 champion with no more than one loss will have an excellent argument for the national championship game — but to be the Big 12 champ, you first must get to the Big 12 championship game.

Oh, but we are jumping too far ahead of ourselves. First, you have to enjoy the games themselves. Take Thursday night’s MWC showdown, for example, which purports to be a clinic on defense. The Horned Frogs, led by defensive end Jerry Hughes (No. 98) and middle linebacker Jason Phillips (39), lead the nation in total defense, rushing defense and sacks. TCU averages 3.86 sacks per game, which augurs one of the most intriguing match-ups in this or any game all season, and here’s why: BYU, with an offensive line replete with future NFL monsters such as left tackle David Oswald (6-feet-8, 330), has allowed just two sacks all season.

In other words, when BYU has the ball, keep your eyes off the ball.

Both teams are in the nation’s top 10 in scoring defense as well as turnover margin. These are two well-coached programs; one just happens to exist farther under the radar than the other. But there is an excellent chance that the winner of Thursday night’s game in Fort Worth is BCS bowl-bound.

Two nights later Bevo and the burnt orange welcome Mizzou to town. The Tigers are 0-8 in Austin since beating the Longhorns there 10-0 in 1896 (Brent Musberger had the call that day). What no one knows for certain — although nearly everyone will hazard a guess — is how Texas has dealt with success and Missouri with misery in the past seven days.

Last Saturday in the Cotton Bowl, the Longhorns put together their most masterful performance since the 2006 Rose Bowl. It is no coincidence that in both those games Mack Brown’s team took down the nation’s No. 1 ranked team. How many schools beat a No. 1 twice in the same decade?

It might have been possible for the Longhorns to beat a No. 1 twice in the same month had Missouri won impressively in Columbia last Saturday night. Instead, Chase Daniel, wearing an unfamiliar No. 25 jersey (in honor of a fallen former teammate) did not look himself. The Tigers, as ESPN analyst Lou Holtz astutely noted, played as if they were three touchdowns behind most of the second half — when they only trailed by five points.

Panic set in and Daniel, who entered the day having thrown just one interception, tossed three. The two he threw in the fourth quarter were the kind of ill-advised passes that turn a potential Heisman winner into a second-day NFL draft prospect.

Mizzou has 27 players on its roster from Texas (most of whom grew up dreaming of wearing the burnt orange but never got an offer), many of them stars such as Daniel or defensive linemen Ziggy Hood and Stryker Sulak. Will the Tigers march into Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium with a buffalo chip on their shoulders? Or will they be suffering from the same symptoms of diffidence and malaise that led to another former top 10 squad, Wisconsin, losing 48-7 at home last week to Penn State?

And what about Texas? Wide receiver Jordan Shipley, who scored a trio of touchdowns (one a 96-yard kickoff return) in the 45-35 win over the Sooners, said earlier this week that he received more text messages in the two days following than he had the previous month? In what shape will Shipley’s thumbs be on Saturday night? And will he and the Longhorns be caught basking in the afterglow?

Thursday night, 8 p.m., in Fort Worth. Saturday night, 8 p.m., in Austin. We will find out, as they say in Texas, which of these Top 25 teams are "all hat and no cattle." And if that is simply not enough football for you — and if you have access to a private jet — you can head out west to Lubbock. At high noon on Saturday, unbeaten and No. 5 Texas Tech (6-0), hosts Texas A&M.

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