By RICHARD CROOME
Eagle Columnist

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At next year's Big 12 football media days, all the North Division coaches -- including the new one at Nebraska -- should get together and devise a plan to repeatedly ask the reporters one question.

"Why do you think the North caught up with the South?"

The head coaches for the six Big 12 North teams have had to defend their division's poor showing repeatedly over the past few years, often before two-a-days had even begun. Their answers formed a who's who of politically correct phrases, including everything from complimenting the South to saying the balance of power was cyclical to defending their own.

The truth is, the South was not only better but far superior.

That's no longer the case, however, and the North coaches should make everyone take note after having to apologize for their laggardly division since the beginning of the millennium.

With only two interdivisional games remaining this season, the Big 12's North vs. South score is knotted at 8-8. But what's more significant is what the North's interdivisional victories have done to the South Division race.

With eight of the 12 teams more than halfway through their conference schedule, two teams in the South -- Oklahoma and Oklahoma State -- can win the division by winning out. Both teams have four games remaining, and Oklahoma State has the nation's second-toughest schedule left.

Sidenote: The only team with a four-game winning streak in the Big 12 so far this season is the North's Kansas.

The North has done such a number on the South that the South could be represented by a 5-3 team -- or a team that lost its first two Big 12 games.

Texas A&M remains mathematically eligible to claim the South title, which has equated to an automatic Big 12 crown recently.

A&M, with a victory at Oklahoma -- don't laugh, I'm just trying to make a point about the race -- would hold the edge in a tiebreaker scenario with the Cowboys and Sooners. And with a victory at OU, the Aggies could lose to Missouri and still have an opportunity to advance by defeating Texas, though they would need help from OU and OSU in such a scenario.

There are other scenarios, too, including a wacky one that would keep Texas Tech, currently 2-3 in the Big 12, in the hunt for a share of the South Division crown.

However you add it up, it shows what a mess the North has made of the South standings thanks to Colorado's upset of Oklahoma, Kansas State's surprising victory at Texas, Kansas' first victory at A&M and Missouri's thumping of Texas Tech. Colorado also put Texas Tech in its current predicament with a victory in Lubbock.

Only OSU has escaped the wrath of the North, and the Cowboys still have to face the Big 12's only undefeated team in Kansas, albeit in Stillwater, Okla.

Oklahoma is likely to derail many of the South's possibilities this weekend and is easily the odds-on favorite. But even with a victory over the Aggies, the Sooners have to get by Texas Tech on the road and win the Bedlam showdown.

And the Sooners have had trouble on the road -- see games at Colorado and at Iowa State -- and the Cowboys have given their rivals trouble in the past with a far less-talented team than they have now.

The North has represented so well it has two teams in the Top 10 of every significant poll, and it could remain that way until the final weekend when the Tigers and Jayhawks meet at Arrowhead Stadium. Allowing that game to be take place in Kansas City, instead of at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, may be the only wrong play the Jayhawks have called this season.

As for the North vs. South thing, if Missouri beats A&M or Kansas beats OSU, it will mark the first time since 2000 that the South has not won the 18-game series between the divisions. Last season, the South won 13 of the 18 games. It dominated in 2004, when Baylor was the only South team to lose to the North (15-3 record).

The truth is, there's no need to ask the North coaches how they've turned it around this season. The answer is an easy one: defense.

Four of the North teams are ranked higher in scoring defense than one of the Big 12 South leaders (OSU). Kansas is No. 2 nationally, and Missouri, often thought of highly for its offense, has given up one less point than OU in Big 12 play. The Tigers held Texas Tech to 10 points, nearly four touchdowns less than the Red Raiders' conference average.

Colorado held OU 20 points under its average and held Texas Tech to its lowest total this season in Lubbock.

And the North has accomplished all this with its big dog, Nebraska, looking more like Iowa State than Oklahoma. Six of the eight North losses to the South belong to the Cornhuskers and Cyclones.

By comparison, every South team has fallen victim to the North so far except OSU.

The Big 12 South has never had a team finish 5-3 and advance to the title game, nor has it had one of its schools go 0-2 (like Texas this season) and qualify. If OU slips up against A&M or Texas Tech, one of the above scenarios is feasible.

Then the media will have to take a new angle at next year's media days.

• Richard Croome's e-mail address is richard.croome@theeagle.com.

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