MORGANTOWN — There were any of a thousand points you could take out of West Virginia University’s first venture into the world of the Big 12 with the conclusion of that conference’s two-day media gala at Dallas’ Westin Galleria Hotel Tuesday, but there was one point that stood above all others for those who were trying to figure out the difference between the Big East and the Big 12.

All one needed to do was look at the roster of coaches that were paraded to the podium at the Big 12 and think back to the group the Big East always seemed to gather to understand why one conference bathes in the college football spotlight and the other operates on the fringes of its highest level.

The Big East had become a conference of either young, ambitious coaches setting off on their career or of long-time assistants who had been bypassed time after time for head coaching jobs.

True, some would emerge as successes such as Rich Rodriguez and Greg Schiano, but for the most part it was Greg Robinson or Doug Marrone at Syracuse, Jim Leavitt at South Florida, Randy Edsall at Connecticut, Butch Jones at Cincinnati.

These were young or inexperienced head coaches trying to make their way in the profession, much the way WVU’s own Dana Holgorsen is starting out.

But run a finger down the list of Big 12 football coaches and think about Bob Stoops at Oklahoma and Mack

Brown at Texas, about their legacy. Then think of the experience and accomplishments they possess. Toss in Tommy Tuberville at Texas Tech or Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State, Gary Patterson at TCU or Charlie Weis at Kansas, a coach with the New England Patriots and Notre Dame in his background.

The list in the Big 12 is stunningly impressive, yet it is a coach who normally doesn’t draw much attention to himself or to his coaching ways who just may be the best coach in the conference, and that would be the veteran Bill Snyder.

Snyder operates on the outskirts of civilization at Kansas State. It is a school that gets little attention, living in the vast shadows cast by Oklahoma and Texas and Oklahoma State in the region. It doesn’t win national championships, and recruiting there is as difficult as it is even at West Virginia, especially since it must share its state with the flagship university now coached by Weis in Lawrence, Kansas.

A year ago the Wildcats of the venerable Snyder were selected eighth in the Big 12 preseason poll, yet somehow put its season together to the point that it finished second in the conference to Gundy’s Oklahoma State team, being ahead of both Oklahoma and Texas.

This year, with much talent back, including a quarterback who figures to make a large jump forward, the Wildcats were selected sixth in the conference, something that caught the attention of the league’s media.

Considering last year’s results, that is just how Snyder likes it, overlooked as an underdog rather than having to prove itself as a favorite over such talented opponents.

“I’m not altogether certain (if he’d rather be an underdog than favorite),” Snyder said, taking a cautious approach to a question. “I just hope that we can do something similar to that. Do we perform better as quote/unquote underdogs? That I don’t know. I haven’t seen any statistics in that regard. Last year, we played reasonably well in those circumstances.

“I have a great concern about game by game when we are perhaps selected as favorites in a ballgame. As any coach probably would say, that’s where your great concern lies, just making sure that young people don’t take things for granted or we as coaches don’t take anything for granted.”

The danger, of course, as a favorite is taking things for granted, something that seldom will happen when a team is an underdog. A coach can use that underdog role to inspire a team, making up in emotion for a lack of talent.

Or does it happen that way?

“You go back to the last season, and what was our mindset going into the very first ballgame?” Snyder said. “We played Eastern Kentucky and did not score a touchdown until 58-plus minutes of the ballgame, and then we’re fortunate to walk away with a victory.

“So one of the things we have to be concerned about this coming season is that very simple concept of not taking anything for granted. I think sometimes underdog or favorite, the favorite role is one that’s more complex because it’s easier to kind of take it for granted.”

It is, of course, his job as coach to get that across to his players, something he has learned how to do in his 72 years on this Earth while producing a career record of 159-83-1. It is that age and experience that he uses so well to get his kids to play the game the way he wants it played.

“I think our youngsters have responded well, maybe not so much dealing with the fact that they are an underdog or they’re ranked lower, but in realizing it may be more so in the day-to-day improvement that comes from just trying to compete every single day to get themselves a little bit better and realizing the rest of it takes care of itself.”

Snyder learned the trade at the knee of Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry, first at North Texas State, then at Iowa. He shaped his philosophies and approach to the game, modified it as the game changed over the years, and has managed to sell old-time values in a hip-hop world.

He has a running offense with a run-first quarterback in a pass-happy conference, much the way Rich Rodriguez had at WVU when he was featuring Patrick White at quarterback.

His quarterback is Collin Klein, who came out of nowhere last season, and when Snyder talks about him you sense all the qualities he has as an old-fashioned coach that allow him to be at the top of his profession even now.

Did Klein surprise him last year?

“First, I’m too old to be surprised,” he said when asked. “At my age you’ve seen an awful lot of things take place over a period of time.

“Believe it or not, it’s not my modus operandi to place expectations on young guys in regards to their performance level.

“Collin is a wonderful young person. He has made tremendous improvement during his time in the program. And it’s happened because of the quality of person that Collin is.

“Collin is one of those young guys truly committed to becoming better every single day of his life in all facets of his life, very faith-based young guy, and he works diligently to improve his plight with the state every day.

“He’s a tremendous family man, and he works diligently every day to become a little bit better family man, to try to be a better person, et cetera, et cetera, and certainly to become a better football student-athlete. And he works diligently at trying to improve his skills and consequently does.

“It’s the way you’d like for all young people in your program to be. And we have a lot of young guys that have that same kind of commitment to that daily improvement that Collin does.”

Email Bob Hertzel at bhertzel@hotmail.com. Follow on Twitter @bhertzel.