Big 12 Shit: Part 3, Predictions

If it is not clear by this point I can not make it any clearer than I will right now. The Big 12 champ will, once again hail from the South division once again. For those keeping score at home that will make the total 8 champions from the South division. Nebraska is nice team, and should come away with the North division title. A sudden media favorite in Missouri not with standing. Missouri will be a very nice team in 2008, but there are too many question marks right now on the defensive side of the ball. They had a decent defense last season, but putting pressure on any one of the grizzeled vets that man the QB spots across the conference will be a problem without Xzavie Jackson and Brian Smith will be a problem, though they should be solid against the run, thanks to a pair of returning DT’s, always a good thing to consider in the prediction phase of the game. So the Big 12 will continue much as it has for the past few years, in the shadow of their dominering southern brethern; fighting, scratching and crawling for respect and the glimour of a national profile. Their labours are, in the end, doomed not to produce fruit, in terms of interdivisional wins, and national respect. That does not mean that the North will be worse than it was last season. In fact, I beleive it will acctually play the game at the higher level. Unfourtunatly no one will see the improvement. This is largely do to the intense spotlight is that is going to be shone on the Southern goliaths, in the form of nearly national title ready teams being fielded at Texas and Oklahoma. When improvement for the North will be recoginized it will be, by and large, in the form of “wow, (insert bottom feeder program of the North divsion) has really improved over last year” of course that phrase will be mentioned during the highlights or broadcast of a game featuring Texas, Oklahoma or Texas A&M, it won’t be important enough to be brought into discussion based events that have transpired, it will be in essence a throw away comment. This is a case when the proverbial “(blank) team is better than last year, even if the record does not show it” tag will be applied to an entire division, and it will be by and large a true statement. I think this is going to be a fiercly competive conference, but there is going to be a clear dividing line between the contenders and pretenders that is going persist throughout the season.

Standings

North

1. Nebraska
2. Missiouri
3. Kansas State
4. Kansas
5. Colorado
6. Iowa State

South

1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Texas Tech
4. Texas A&M
5. Oklahoma State
6. Baylor

Game of the Year – Oklahoma vs Texas At Dallas – October 6

The Red River Shootout is always an interesting game. It has been thrust back on to the national stage after nearly a decade of dormancy in terms of national impact with the arrivals of Bob Stoops and Mack Brown to Norman and Austin. This year the game will once again take on crucial national importance. Both squads are loaded to hyperbole inducing levels. In the end though this game comes down to a familiar trend. The Oklahoma Defense against the Texas Offense. The trend is for the Oklahoma defense to have the advantage, the Vince Young induced abberation of 2005 not withstanding, on the grounds that Vince Young simply induced a lot of bad stats for defenses by thwarting even the most well conceived game plans by starting to dance, and then ripping people’s heads off and shiting down their necks. Even last years game which looked like a big Texas win was closer than you would think. The 28-10 score is as much an indication of Paul Thompson’s worst game of the year in the biggest one than an indication that the corner of this rivalry has deceisivly in the favor of Texas. Oklahoma statiscticly domminated that game but as is always the case they commited, more turnovers and lost because of it. While the odds of OU’s starting QB throwing for 200 yards are short, more because of OU’s inexperinced QB than any sort of drastic improvment of Lornhorns equally inexperinced secondary. The edge is in OU’s favor because, in relative terms, OU’s defense is just better than UT’s offense. OU matches up with Texas very, very well. The key is in the size and speed of the Sooner Secondary, which will be as good as any in the country. Nic Harris goes with Taylor Mays in the “safties I would never want to meet in a dark alley” catagory, let alone go across the middle in front of. Long story short, it is the Sooners, they are the best team in this rivalry this year, and therefore, the defacto best team in this conference.

All Conference Team

QB: Colt McCoy, Texas

RB: Mike Goodson, Texas A&M

RB: Dantrell Savage, Oklahoma State

TE: Chase Coffman, Missiouri

C: Adam Spieker, Missouri

G: Cedric Dockery, Texas

G: George Robinson, Oklahoma

T: Tony Hills, Texas

T: Corey Clark, Texas A&M

DE: Ian Campell, Kansas State

DE: Drew Hudgins, Colorado

DT: Frank Okam, Texas

DT: Roy Miller, Texas

LB: Alvin Bowman, Iowa State

LB: Rashad Bobino, Texas

LB: Bo Ruud, Nebraska

CB: Aqib Talib, Kansas

CB: Marcus Walker, Oklahoma

S: Reggie Smith, Oklahoma

S: Nic Harris, Oklahoma

K: Garrett Hartley, Oklahoma

P: Justin Brantly, Texas A&M

PR: Leon Patton, Kansas State

KR: Perrish Cox, Oklahoma

Conference Notes

 Whatever Dan Hawkins had in mind for his first season at the head of the Buffalo program, what acctually happened in 2006 had to have been as far from his ideal as possible. The defense was good, borderline great but the offense, not quite. So what does Hawkins have in mind? How about moving his best player, Bernard Jackson, from the most important possition on the field to becoming a jack of all trades player…Gene Chizik is about to take a major step down in talent. After being at the helm of defenses at Texas and Auburn full of NFL players he is at Iowa State where NFL caliber players aren’t born on trees…Mike Leech has to be happy. He has something he hasn’t had since Kliff Kingsburry manned the Air Raid cannon. A second year starter at QB. problem is that Texas Tech is a little short on proven talent at wideout. Not that it will stop them or anything, just something of note…Oklahoma State has the most balanced offense in the conference, if not the country. 2,704 yards rushing, 2,623 yards passing. Well over 200 rushing and passing per game, only Boise State can match that…Aqib Talib is not a distant relative of Talib Kweli, but he is the best corner in the country, on the worst pass defense in the country. The root of the problem? Everyone else.