Leave it to Bob Knight to steal the spotlight from college football on New Year’s Day.

The Hall of Fame basketball coach had the full attention of the sports world on Bowl Day when his Texas Tech Red Raiders blew a 20-point lead before rallying to a historic 70-68 victory over New Mexico in Lubbock, Texas.

It marked the 880th victory of Knight’s 41-year college coaching career – one more victory than Kansas University graduate and North Carolina legend Dean Smith, who dropped to second on the all-time coaching victory list.

“I watched the game,” KU coach Bill Self said, realizing he wasn’t alone. “Was coach Knight not a typical coach after the game? With all the congratulations (he said), ‘Hey, we still played a terrible second half.'”

Knight, in fact, credited his wife for the game plan that built the big lead and blamed himself for the Lobos nearly becoming the second team in a week to spoil Knight’s bid to pass Smith.

UNLV defeated the Raiders, 74-66, on Wednesday night, also at United Spirit Arena.

“It’s great to see. I was happy to see Tech was able to knock it out today,” Self said of the record. “It’s great for our league and certainly great for Texas Tech and coach Knight. I think we should applaud any individual’s accomplishments that have withstood the test of time. Even somewhat controversial at times, coach Knight has certainly withstood the test of time.

“They’ve got a good ballclub. They can score,” Self added of the 11-4 Red Raiders, who were not assured victory until ex-Jayhawk J.R. Giddens’ long three-pointer clanged off the rim at the buzzer.

“I thought New Mexico played great the second half from what I saw. Still Tech was able to pull it out.”

Self – who spent the early portion of his weekly Hawk Talk radio show discussing Knight’s feat – has been amazed at the 66-year-old coach’s longevity.

“The number of wins isn’t the accomplishment, I don’t think,” Self said. “I think the length of time you have to go to do that … I mean, ‘Wow.’ That’s 22 wins on the average for 40 consecutive years. That’s a long time. You have some better years than 22, but also some worse years that 22. It’s unbelievable.

“He’s still a young guy,” Self added. “He could go four, five more years easily. If that’s the case, he’ll set it where it will be awfully hard for ‘Coach K’ (Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski) to break it.”

Knight recently agreed to a contract extension through the 2010-11 season. His closest pursuer, Krzyzewski, 59, has 765 victories.

Self said he can imagine there’s a lot of relief in Lubbock today.

“When you are in a situation like that where the whole country is watching every move you make, there’s pressure involved,” Self said. “Even though you don’t intentionally put it on yourself, there’s subliminal pressure: ‘We need to do it for coach.’ Sometimes you can lose focus and not be carefree and just play the game.”

KU will travel to Texas Tech on Jan. 20.

¢
Bumps, bruises, ailments update: Junior guard Russell Robinson, who didn’t play the second half of Saturday’s victory over Rhode Island because of the flu, practiced on Monday as did Sherron Collins, who pulled his groin Thursday versus Detroit.

“Russell still doesn’t feel very well at all. Sherron is a little beat up,” Self said. “Both practiced today. They are on the road to recovery.”

Of freshman guard Collins, Self said: “He pulled it (groin) against Detroit. We needed him to step up against Rhode Island, and he did just that. He was great.”

Collins scored 13 points with five rebounds, five assists and just one turnover in 27 minutes of KU’s 80-69 victory over Rhode Island.

“Fortunately for us Sherron played very very well,” Self said. “In a weird way it was probably good Russell couldn’t go (the second half) as opposed to him being out there and not being effective. It gave Sherron some chances to get his confidence. I think that did occur.”

¢
Recruiting: Brennan Cougill, a 6-8, 260-pound sophomore from Bishop Heelan High in Sioux City, Iowa, attended Saturday’s Rhode Island game on an unofficial recruiting visit. He’s also made trips to Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa. “I don’t have any leaders or favorites right now,” he told rivals.com. “I plan to make it back to Kansas for a game.”