Posted on 08/23/2008 1:44:58 PM PDT by GOP_Raider
While it’s a reflex to automatically assume the SEC is the nation’s best conference year in and year out, there’s a contender to the throne this season. It took 12 years to get to this point, and now this should be the season when it all comes together for the Big 12.
It’s one thing for the usual stars like Oklahoma and Texas to be good, which they will be, but a conference really blows up when the normal also-rans become contenders. After a fantastic bowl season (outside of OU’s gaffe to West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl), the league is primed and ready to explode.
With Kansas and Missouri emerging as special teams last season, and with Texas Tech loaded with talented veterans on both sides of the ball, and with Colorado, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Kansas State, and Baylor likely to all be better than they’ve been in the last several years, there won’t be a week off for anyone.
More than anything else, the coaching situations are more settled than they’ve ever been. No one is on any real hot seat, at least as far as possibly getting fired, and with a new breed of young, hot coaches like Iowa State’s Gene Chizik, Baylor’s Art Briles, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy, Nebraska’s Bo Pelini, Colorado’s Dan Hawkins, Kansas State’s Ron Prince, and even going to the assistants like Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, who’ll be off to a big-time head coaching gig soon, this is the golden age of the Big 12. This is when it should all come together and the league should be special.
http://www.orangeandbluehue.com/wp-conten t/uploads/2008/04/2008FBSSchedule.xls
Go Big Red! Lets not stink this year!
Word
RAIDER!!!
GO BUFFS!
I think Pelini was just about as ideal hire as possible for them. I liked Callahan when he was a coordinator or an asst., he just always seemed overwhelmed running the entire show.
All that having been said, I haven’t taken a very in depth look at the Huskers and who they have coming back, schedule, and so forth. So we’ll have to see...
CU is kind of a “wild card”/darkhorse in the North. I live in Boise and the offenses he had at Boise State were flat out explosive.
Still, I think at least in terms of the Big XII North, this is probably Mizzou’s year (again).
I do not see a weakness anywhere in any skill position.
I was watching the BSPN College Football Preview Show and I think it was either Corso or Lou Holtz that predicted an Ohio State/OU title game.
POWER!!!!
You got that right!
I still have TTU and OU as the game that decides the South division this year. Although you may want to bring that up with the Sooner fans...
Mizzou will bury all entrants onto the field of real football. Nebraska is a pipe dream still living in the past—recall how KS scored a mere 76 pts against them. CU can’t beat the little teams but occasionally beats a decent team. KS had a great year last year based on a pony-league schedule and TX might surprise a few teams. Mizzou is the team to beat.
You do make a fair point but what was their bowl score last January?
Power!
Coach Stoops says if Demarco Murray stays healthy that he has the potential to be better runner than Adrian Peterson.
OU is a lot like the Republican party, they have some of the best players in the nation but are capable of screwing up the outcome with out help from their competition.
I forgot about the B.S. game. I was embarrassed for the Big 12 conference. I was very impressed with OU’s freshman QB.
When Pinkel actually beats a Nebraska team in Lincoln let me know. He might this year but Mizzou is most certainly the most important game this year for Nebraska and the date is circled on the calender. We can deal with the Kansas whoopin last year, the KU fans are at least decent people to be around, but Mizzou fans are just @sses from top to bottom, they are the new KSU fans with little brother syndrome thinking they are to be always mentioned with the best and should be sat down at the dinner table of the big boys. Congrats for finally having a break out year last year, your best since what? 1968? Either way this won’t be the same pathetically coached Nebraska team as last year, and if you think they are then congrats on being naive.
Oh, trust me, it's still talked about ad infinitum. As a Utah fan, it gets on my nerves after a certain point, but it is far and away the biggest non-Larry Craig story around here at least in my lifetime.
Coach Stoops says if Demarco Murray stays healthy that he has the potential to be better runner than Adrian Peterson.
I saw that when I was reading OU's team capsule--I'm getting caught up here now that I'm at home fighting off an infection. OU also has a junior RB in Chris Brown as well, is that correct? That could be a good tandem in the Darren McFadden/Felix Jones mold.
OU is a lot like the Republican party, they have some of the best players in the nation but are capable of screwing up the outcome with out help from their competition.
So what are their thoughts on illegal immigration? ;)
BTW, I ran across two You Tube videos featuring Barry Switzer that you might like.
This one is on the TNT show "Saving Grace" (the kind of anorexic muscle looking blond is Holly Hunter)
Here's another one that features Switzer and T. Boone Pickens State's AD on OSU's facilities. Kind of eye opening stuff.
Watching that game and having seen games in the “good ol’ days” of the WAC that game reminded me of the WAC games of the 80s and early 90s where the last team to have the ball would probably win the game. That was an old school WAC kind of game if there ever was one.
As much as this Longhorn fan regrets saying this, Playboy's got um ranked numero uno. Hookem Horns!
Playboy’s Pigskin Picks 1 thru 50
Oklahoma (12-0)
Ohio State (11-1)
Florida (11-1)
Missouri (11-1)
USC (11-1)
Georgia (10-2)
West Virginia (10-2)
LSU (9-3)
Auburn (9-3)
Kansas (9-3)
Texas Tech (9-3)
Arizona State (9-3)
Texas (9-3)
Wisconsin (9-3)
Clemson (9-3)
Utah (9-3)
Cincinnati (9-4)
Virginia Tech (8-4)
Arkansas (8-4)
Boise State (9-3)
Illinois (8-4)
Kansas State (8-4)
Tennessee (8-4)
Oregon State (8-4)
Georgia Tech (8-4)
BYU (10-2)
Arizona (8-4)
California (8-4)
Rutgers (8-5)
Central Florida (8-4)
Michigan (7-5)
Penn State (7-5)
Nebraska (7-5)
Oklahoma State (7-5)
Colorado (7-5)
Purdue (7-5)
Connecticut (7-5)
Louisville (7-5)
Oregon (7-5)
Alabama (7-5)
Mississippi State (7-5)
South Carolina (7-5)
Florida State (7-5)
UCLA (7-5)
Boston College (7-5)
Texas A&M (7-5)
Miami (7-5)
Virginia (7-5)
Notre Dame (7-5)
New Mexico (7-5)
We have BO !!!
POWER!!
I'm also gonna root for them because a few years back, your coach said something about if the players did not want to practice for a month, they need to leave. And ESPN was crying all over themselves about “how can he say that to college students.” And one of the smarmy Sportscenter announcers said “well, how about you win before you call out your players.”
Because of that, I now root for him...when they aren't beating us in Lubbock.
Mizzou is finally putting together a consistent program using top notch recruits. We have suffered for decades here. And things like the infamous 5th down play still infuriorate the fans.
Mizzou is finally getting some respect. Well deserved.
Go Mizzou!
I like that show Saving Grace. Funny clip.
Why don't you tell us all about real football.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in college football. The program has established itself as a traditional powerhouse, and has the fourth-most all-time victories of any NCAA Division I-A team. The Cornhuskers are currently in their 117th season and hold an all-time record of 808–334–40. On October 14, 2006, with a 21-3 win over the Kansas State Wildcats, Nebraska became only the 4th program in NCAA Division I-A history to win 800 games. The Cornhuskers are the winningest college football program of the last 50 years, both by winning percentage and number of wins. The Cornhuskers' three national championships in Division I collegiate football over the past 25 years are the second most of any university. They have five all time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_Cornhuskers_football#Season_results
Nebraska is a pipe dream still living in the past
While you're at it, tell us about Missouri's past.
The most improved will be Nebr this year. My boys are somewhat young & need some more depth at a few positions but BO & company will get them playing Husker ball. Traveling 1600 miles to see them beat VT.
As a Big East fan I’m liking Texas Tech in the Big XII.
My Mom was telling me about it as she watches it and I got a chuckle out of it. :)
The main knock on TTU has been that they don’t play defense very well but I think that might be different this year. We’ll have to see, and the Tech contingent will be much more cognizant about this than I.
Tech FINALLY fired the Defensive Coach last year... they began to improve almost immediately. We are hoping this is a good year for the team with a lot of returning starters and some hope of a defense.
I know how you feel - Tech seems to lose each year to some team that they should have creamed. I believe Colorado was a stumbling block for us both last year....
Yeah, we’ve got a couple of big old boys this year.... ;^)
Back in June I went to Kansas City to see the Giants play the Royals. Though I was lucky enough to have one of the 10 or so seats in fair territory throughout Kauffman Stadium (albeit decked in all of my SF Giants regalia), I was able to notice that the Big XII is overrepresented--lots of KU, K-State and Mizzou hats and shirts, Nebraska, Texas, the occasional Sooner and OSU Cowpoke...and then there's my Dad in his Boise State cap.
At any rate, the Royals have some guy named Tim, who works for 610 AM, the sports talk station in Kansas City. He does goofy vignettes between innings and he went to downtown KC to ask "what temperature does water boil?" Well, it's 212 F (100 C), but you had various people out bar hopping and clubbin' not really thinking of your basic science class facts, but one girl said "um....140 degrees." So Tim asks where she is going to school, and she says "KU". To which he responds "putting that KU education to work I see." "You know it!"
The reaction to it was interesting. The KU fans at Kauffman start booing, and pretty much everyone else (particularly the Mizzou fans) start laughing and pointing at the KU fans. I kept thinking "man a fight is going to start here, isn't it?"
Order was restored, but I didn't really understand just how much you folks really genuinely hate each other. ;)
Errr... believe.
I agree that CU is a dark horse this year. I don’t think Mizzou is a lock by any means. They have a lot of work to do to prove last year wasn’t a fluke.
You make a good point, Mizzou may not be a “lock”—hell, I didn’t think Kansas would have anywhere near the season they had last year going in. Cody Hawkins is going to have a solid year—I remember him playing HS ball here in Boise and it was always “oh, its little Cody”...well he’s not so little anymore. :)
Every Saturday he would shut down,close up and walk across the street to watch his Red Raiders.
There's no love loss between Oklahoma and Tech after the screwing the refs gave OU a few years ago out there in Lubbock.
I had the opportunity to meet Mike Leach when he coached at OU. The guy is a smart cookie and sure has recruited some great players.
I wish you Red Raider fans the best of luck in all of your games except two OSU and OU.
Yeah, thats the one. “It’s division 1 football!” I love it. Oh, and the ESPN guy that was crying about it was Brian Kenny. I’ve seen him get real defensive on other issues, but this one stuck out to me.
I’d just like to say that Ralph Friedgen picked the wrong QB at Maryland.
Are you kidding me?
This could be the beginning of the end for Ralph.
Chris Turner beats 2 top 10 teams coming off the depth chart at #3 with a banged up team and OLine and he is beat out by Jordan Steffy because of practice.
We’ll be lucky to get wins over Delaware and Middle Tennessee to start the season.
You owe me...I went to a friggin Gayfer blog for that schedule and couldn’t find it! Started off my midnight shift the wrong way, Raider, and it’s ALL YOUR FAULT!
ARRRGGGGGGGGGH!
j/k. Is the file really there somewhere? I couldn’t find it.
You shouldn’t have, it’s supposed to be an Excel file, it should have prompted you to download the file. Thats wierd...
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