Team preview: Kansas

You see, Mangino has already been part of two amazing turnarounds in the Big 12 -- first as Bill Snyder's recruiting coordinator, running game coordinator and eventually assistant head coach at Kansas State, then as one of Bob Stoops' right-hand men at Oklahoma.

The year before Mangino arrived at K-State, the Wildcats were 5-6. Over the next eight seasons, K-State went 71-23-1 and were a Top 25 fixture.

From there, Mangino headed to Oklahoma in the winter of 1998, where Stoops hired him as his assistant head coach. Stoops and his sidekick Mangino took over a program that was 5-6 in 1999 and the Sooners started winning again -- going 7-5 in 1999, 13-0 in 2000 and 10-2 in 2001.

Now, Mangino's working his magic again, it appears. After winning just two games in his first season, Mangino's 2003 squad won six games and went bowling (where it was shellacked 56-26 by North Carolina State in the Mazda Tangerine Bowl). But that beating didn't ruin a season that saw Mangino's team set 12 different school single-season records, including most points scored (384), most first downs (286), most touchdown passes thrown (25) and most yards gained (5,479).

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