Morning homecoming

The Kansas-Nebraska game slated for Nov. 3 will kick off at 11:30 a.m. and be televised by Fox Sports Net, it was announced Monday.

How far that game will reach, though, is to be determined.

ABC is waiting until Sunday to decide which games it wants to broadcast between Texas at Oklahoma State and Texas A&M at Oklahoma. The network may want to air both and has a 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. window to do so.

But if it only wants one, FSN will pick up the other for an 11:30 a.m. kickoff slot and do a “split national” telecast of both that game and the KU-Nebraska game. Fox Sports Midwest (Sunflower Broadband channel 36) will show the Jayhawks no matter what.

Webb honored

KU kicker Scott Webb was named the Big 12 special-teams player of the week for his performance against Colorado.

Webb, a senior, connected on field goals of 48 and 35 yards, the first coming despite a bad snap that caused him to stutter-step. He also converted his only extra-point attempt.

For the season, Webb has hit 11 of 12 field-goal attempts and all 38 of his extra-point attempts.

Why Sparky?

It’s always fun to hear the stories behind a nickname, even if they’re completely unimpressive.

KU coach Mark Mangino was asked Monday to tell the story again of how quarterback Todd Reesing was given the nickname “Sparky” last year.

“He’s a guy that when he’s on the practice field, even as a true freshmen, he makes something happen,” Mangino responded. “Most of the time it was positive. He did some ad-libbing and would do some things that would be a little off beat, and he’d make a play and make something out of nothing.

“So I just kind of said, ‘That guy’s kind of a spark plug.’ and the next thing you know, we’re calling him Sparky.”

Pick picks KU

Dodge City High quarterback Kale Pick has orally committed to play at KU, Rivals.com reported Monday night.

The 6-foot-1, 198-pound dual-threat QB committed to Arkansas in May, but changed his mind over the weekend.

Pick, ranked by Rivals as the sixth-best prospect in Kansas, suffered a season-ending injury to his throwing hand in the opening week.

“I just felt comfortable with the coaching staff at Kansas, and I really love the style of play. It was just a matter of me being comfortable with the coaching staff,” Pick told Rivals.com.

Pick completed 105 of 190 passes for 1,779 yards, good for 19 touchdowns his junior season. He was intercepted six times.