It’s appropriate that World Wrestling Entertainment’s yearly pay-per-view Survivor Series is right around the corner.

Because this Saturday night at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, two teams from the Big 12 North, Nebraska and Kansas State, will be on the field with one mission in mind.

There’s also that little thing called a trip to the Big 12 Championship Game on the line, too. That’s because the winner of Saturday night’s matchup will advance to the Big 12 Championship on Dec. 5 in Arlington, Texas, with No. 2 Texas as the likely adversary for the winner of this game.

This upcoming winner-takes-all test of survival that has been brewing has not gone unnoticed throughout the conference, as it was a popular topic during the Big 12 Coaches’ Teleconference on Monday.

On both sidelines, there is unmistakable praise and admiration for what the other side has done this year. Nebraska coach Bo Pelini praised Kansas State’s Bill Snyder’s return to the sidelines this year, saying that he’s much the same caliber of coach who turned K-State around and built a powerhouse program throughout the 1990s.

“Really he’s done it again,” Pelini said. “Just goes to show how good of a coach Coach Snyder is. He does a great job, he works hard at it. He gets the kids to be committed, and they play tough, very sound, fundamental football. That’s a pretty good equation.”

Snyder had much the same praise for Pelini. Nebraska has developed a reputation for having one of the toughest defensive units in the Big 12, and Snyder agrees with this assessment.

“They’re every bit what people say about them, and perhaps more,” Snyder said. “They play hard. All 11. They pursue well. They’ve got speed and quickness to complement the effort.”

Kansas coach Mark Mangino, whose Jayhawks lost a hard-fought game to Nebraska 31-17 last Saturday, agreed with many of these sentiments about what has caused the resurgence of Nebraska’s Blackshirt defense.

“Nebraska has a couple of looks that they believe in and they stick with … They change things up here and there but not too drastic,” Mangino said. “Nebraska really depends on playing good, fundamental football, coaching their kids well, getting them to the right spots, and don’t allow the same things over and over.”

Mangino did allow for a little bit of comparison between the Blackshirts and the Texas Longhorns’ defensive unit, saying that while Texas is a good, fundamentally sound unit as well, they give offenses multiple looks, and they don’t let offenses get comfortable against them.

Mangino also gave Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh his due credit, but he also took note of another stout defensive tackle for the Huskers, Jared Crick.

“Crick’s a little overshadowed by him (Suh), but Crick is a heck of a player,” Mangino said.

The move back to the top of the North by NU and KSU hasn’t gone unnoticed in Austin either, as Texas coach Mack Brown has been keeping an eye on the proceedings in the North. His team faces KU in a Saturday night game on ABC at essentially the same time as the KSU/NU showdown, but that doesn’t mean Brown isn’t interested in the matchup.

“I have to say that both Bo and Bill Snyder have done a tremendous job coaching this year, and you just see how much the team at Nebraska has improved since the first of the year, and then you go on the other side of the spectrum and I think probably more so for Kansas State,” Brown said. “It’s one of those games I’ll definitely TiVo.

“But they’re both tremendous coaches, and they both have great histories in their programs, and they’re both going to end up with really good teams here, so I think we’ve got a great game here in Austin on Saturday night … That one will also be one of the games of the week.”

ericheisenach@dailynebraskan.com