Sports writers, sportscasters and those yahoos who work for ESPN have been making fun of the Big 12 Conference North Division all week.

One scribe went so far as to pinpoint Nov. 6 as the conference’s key game. That’s when Colorado and Kansas, the North’s only unbeatens, will meet in Lawrence.

Key game? Perhaps. Yet the only guarantee is that Nov. 6 will be four days after the presidential election, and I would wager Harold Stassen would win before I would discount Nebraska, Kansas State and Missouri from the North race.

Or as KU coach Mark Mangino said: “It’s too (early) to have a funeral for any of the other teams in the North.”

Still, there is no doubt Kansas has been the most impressive North team after just two weeks. The Jayhawks are plus-five in turnover ratio and have outgained their opponents 702 to 439 in total yardage. Moreover, Toledo and Tulsa, while realistically mid-majors, each won eight games last year and each had a talented returnee at quarterback.

Colorado, meanwhile, doesn’t compute. The Buffaloes have knocked off Colorado State and Washington State despite surrendering 849 yards and compiling only 497. Go figure.

Colorado’s bubble isn’t likely to burst with the Buffs having North Texas at home Saturday, but Kansas is vulnerable because the Jayhawks will be playing on the road. KU hasn’t defeated a BCS school outside of Memorial Stadium since edging Texas Tech, 34-31, in overtime in 2001.

Saturday marks the end of non-league play for every Big 12 school except Texas and Baylor, and it’s still another opportunity to enter the Wanna Whack Woodling contest. Go to KUsports.com on the Web, click the prompts and you’ll have an opportunity to win a gen-yew-ine We Whacked Woodling T-shirt.

Here are this week’s picks:

Pittsburgh 23, Nebraska 19 — Cornhuskers no longer have lineman Richie Incognito, while QB Joe Dailey, after eight cough-ups in two games, may wish he could go incognito.

Texas Tech 51, TCU 43 — Nothing like a good old-fashioned intrastate shootout. Texas Tech QB Sonny Cumbie leads nation in passing with an average of 429.5 yards per game. Gee, what a surprise.

Iowa State 19, Northern Illinois 3 — Cyclones, as expected, still don’t have much offense, but stingy defense has been a surprise. Would you believe ISU ranks No. 7 nationally in total defense?

Missouri 55, Ball State 18 — Tigers are bengals at home, tabbies on the road. This game is in Columbia, Mo., so Ball State will pay the price for Mizzou’s stunning loss at Troy, Ala.

Kansas State 29, Louisiana-Lafayette 0 — Battered and bruised by Fresno State, Wildcats will climb off the mat and announce: “Lafayette, we are here.”

Oklahoma 53, Oregon 9 — Those who lose at home to Indiana, as Oregon did Saturday, are destined for disaster in Norman, Okla.

Clemson 31, Texas A&M 25 — QB Reggie McNeal has been Big 12’s most versatile one-man show so far, but Aggies’ defense still looks like a 10-man show.

Oklahoma State 50, SMU 0 — Pitiful Ponies take pounding as OSU tailback Vernand Morency, the nation’s No. 2 rusher, makes a bid to take over the top spot. Did you know Cowboys have thrown only 16 passes in their first two games?

Colorado 19, North Texas 13 — Mean Green will stun CU fans and take this one to the wire. Despite 2-0 record, Buffs rank dead last in Big 12 in both offense and defense.

Kansas 29, Northwestern 27 — If Jayhawks are going to have any chance of posting a winning record, they must win in Evanston, Ill. Emotional incentive of last year’s loss to Wildcats in Lawrence could be decisive factor.