It’s fashionable for college football coaches to say they don’t pay attention to national polls.

Polls are for the media, fans and Internet junkies. Coaches would rather spend man-killing hours breaking down film, going over scouting reports and getting their players ready for the next game.

Here’s a sampling of Big 12 coaches views on the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.

“I put no stock in it,” said Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops on his team’s No. 1 ranking.

“I don’t get involved with polls,” said Gary Pinkel, who coaches No. 4 Missouri. “Where you end up in January is what matters.”

“I really believe polls are unimportant until the middle of October,” said Mack Brown, who coaches No. 5 Texas. “When you start playing real good teams in your league, that’s when you figure out who you are.”

Despite their disregard for rankings, Big 12 coaches should get a photocopy of this week’s Top 25 and frame it.

With four teams ranked among the top seven and six in the Top 25, the Big 12 will likely never be so highly represented in a national poll again.

When the Big 12 jumps into conference play this weekend, upsets are going to start flying and top teams will begin falling. Fielding its best collection of teams ever, it’s going to be hard for anybody to come out of the Big 12 unscathed.

Dominant in nonconference

The Big 12 set a record with a 38-10 mark against nonconference teams. The league’s Top 25 teams — No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Missouri, No. 5 Texas, No. 7 Texas Tech, No. 16 Kansas and No. 21 Oklahoma State — went a combined 23-1.

Big 12 teams didn’t exactly play schedules loaded with ranked teams. But their logic is easy to understand: Why play Top 25 nonconference teams when you’re going to see so many in Big 12 play?

It’s inevitable that Big 12 teams are going to start falling in the rankings.

“I think the Big 12 is going to become more like the SEC,” Brown said. “There are going to be some real battles in the league that will hurt national rankings.”

With a ton of great quarterbacks and explosive offenses in the Big 12, upsets could be more frequent than ever. The Big 12 owns six of the top 12 offenses in the country while nine of the league’s quarterbacks rank in the top 20 in passing efficiency.

Defenses beware

That’s going to mean a lot of offensive shootouts. Defenses may win championships, but they’re lagging way behind Big 12 offenses right now.

“With so many quarterbacks who can really throw the ball, you’re never out of a game when you’re behind,” Kansas State coach Ron Prince said. “That’s why this league is so competitive. That’s why you’re going to see so many games go down to the very end.”

Even a long-struggling team like Baylor has a prayer with a dynamic quarterback like freshman Robert Griffin. As good as Oklahoma is, Stoops won’t come into Floyd Casey Stadium Saturday with his scouting report for next week’s game against Texas already in hand.

“Griffin is a very talented, fast player,” Stoops said. “Coach (Art) Briles does a great job utilizing his speed. Their offense will spread you out, and it all goes through him. They’ll make your defense work.”

Gunning for Sooners

Stoops knows everybody is gunning for the Sooners, who moved to No. 1 after USC’s loss to Oregon State. He knows the Big 12 is so good that no win is a given — even for the top team in the country.

“I don’t know that being No. 1 gives us any special advantage,” Stoops said. “We’ve got to earn it each time. Just because we’ve been there before, the bottom line is what you do now.”

jwerner@wacotrib.com

757-5716

JOHN WERNER’S BIG 12 FOOTBALL RANKINGS

Team Record Last

1. Oklahoma (4-0) 1

Baylor on tap

2. Missouri (4-0) 2

Huskers will be test

3. Texas (4-0) 3

Jelling as team

4. Texas Tech (4-0) 4

Bye week pays off

5. Okla. St. (4-0) 6

Enters Top 25

6. Kansas (3-1) 7

Traveling to ISU

7. Nebraska (3-1) 8

Edged by Virginia Tech

8. Colorado (3-1) 5

Bounced by FSU

9. Kansas St. (3-1) 9

Not much defense

10. Baylor (2-2) 10

Jumping into deep end

11. Iowa St. (2-2) 11

Can defense last?

12. Texas A&M (2-2) 12

Survived Army