Texas' Brown selected Big 12 coach of the year

AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas coach Mack Brown approached the 2009 season by looking back to a single second in 2008.

One play with one second left on the clock on a chilly night out in Lubbock ruined any chance to play for a national championship. Brown has pushed the 2009 Longhorns to use that 39-33 defeat at Texas Tech as motivation to chase Big 12 and national titles.

It has worked so far.

The Longhorns are 12-0, South division champs and preparing to play Nebraska on Saturday night in the Big 12 championship with a likely berth in the BCS title game waiting if they win.

On Tuesday, Brown was named The Associated Press Big 12 coach of the year, selected by a panel of 20 reporters who regularly cover the conference for newspapers in the league's seven states.

"You don't have many windows of opportunity," Brown said. "Last year we had a chance. This year we have our chance with one game left. That just doesn't come up in kids' and coaches' lives all the time. When you get to that point, you need to finish it."

Brown also won the award in 2005 when he was a unanimous choice. This year, he received nine first place votes. Nebraska's Bo Pelini and Iowa State's Paul Rhoads each received four votes. Kansas State's Bill Snyder got two and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy got one.

Nebraska's Suh honored

Nebraska nose tackle Ndamukong Suh has been named the Big 12's defensive player of the year in a vote of the coaches.

Suh also was named defensive lineman of the year. The senior from Portland, Ore., has made a team-leading 65 tackles, including 6.5 sacks, for the 21st-ranked Cornhuskers.

The 6-foot-4, 300-pound Suh is a finalist for several major awards, including the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award.