Texas Tech coach Mike Leach leaves the hype to others.

Why overstate when it’s just as easy to underplay any question?

With the Red Raiders moving to second in the Bowl Championship Series standings with their 39-33 victory over previously top-ranked Texas, thoughts turned quickly to once-beaten Oklahoma State, Tech’s next opponent.

Leach’s response: “Oklahoma State is now the biggest game in the history of this year.”

Of course, what Leach says to the media in his deadpan, easily distracted style may be different than the more orthodox message his players hear, as defensive lineman Colby Whitlock noted when asked about the Texas victory.

“It’s like coach Leach told us in the locker room,” Whitlock said. “If we don’t come out there next weekend and get another ‘W,’ this win doesn’t mean much to us.”

Before Tech can think about beating four consecutive ranked teams, stopping Kendall Hunter and Dez Bryant and closing the gap on Alabama, the Red Raiders must battle human nature.

Everybody on campus, in Lubbock and the vaguely defined region known as West Texas will be telling players how great they are, after the team improved to 9-0 for the first time since 1938.

Late Saturday night, ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit called receiver Michael Crabtree the best player in college football.

Quarterback Graham Harrell, who threw the pass that Crabtree turned into the game-winning score, probably will find himself at or near the top of all those online Heisman polls this week. He threw for 474 yards and directed the winning 62-yard drive in the final 89 seconds against the Longhorns.

“As a quarterback, that’s what you live for, a chance to bring your team back,” Harrell said. “All we needed was a field goal, but a touchdown is even sweeter. If you’re a quarterback and you don’t want to be in that situation, you should probably change positions.”

The Red Raiders’ climb in the BCS standings was helped more by all the arcane data in the computer polls, not the voters with first-hand knowledge of what happened Saturday night.

Analyst Jerry Palm of CollegeBCS.com repeated his assertion that Tech controls its destiny in terms of finishing among the top two teams in the final BCS standings.

“They are in great shape,” Palm said Sunday. “They have it right front of them. There’s no way they finish behind Penn State if they finish 13-0. There’s no way Penn State can move ahead in any measure if they finish 13-0.”

In one week, the Red Raiders went from a tie for 10th in the average of six computer polls to a tie for first. That was enough to overcome being ranked No. 3 in the Harris Interactive and USA Today Coaches polls.

Palm attributed the rapid rise to a variety of factors, including the losses by Texas and Georgia, as well as Southern California beating a winless Washington team.