So where do we go now?

It's always a lot more fun to write this thing after a win.  Not just a win, but a dominating, butt kicking 38-12 screw you to Bill Snyder and his Wildcats.  My Tigers came out and played their best game since the season opener against Illinois.  K State wasn't a pick to do anything before the season had started, but the white rat, Bill Snyder had them sitting in first place in the mediocre north division of the Big XII.  They were favored and a win would have made them bowl eligible, which would have been remarkable in itself after the last 2 seasons under former coach Ron "Scary Smart" Prince.  Gary Pinkel had never beaten Coach Snyder, and the Tigers had yet to score a 2nd half touchdown in Big XII play this year. But all that changed on Saturday afternoon.  Blaine Gabbert had a nice game, going 20 for 27 for almost 300 yards.  Danario Alexander assured himself that he'll be a millionaire next year with a 10 catch, 200 yard game with 3 touchdowns.  As a bonus, Mizzou rushed for 137 yards and controlled the clock in the 2nd half.    It should take a lot of pressure of offensive coordinator David Yost who's been taking a lot of heat (much of it justified) for the decreased production from this years team.    

So now the Tigers are bowl eligible and likely will receive their 5th straight bowl bid following the season.  Now you play to improve your bid and hopefully avoid a trip to Shreveport.  Iowa State rolls into town being bowl eligible for the first time since 2005 and I know they'd love to improve their standing also.  So the question is, which Tiger team shows up?  If it's the same team that we saw in Manhattan today, then we can hope for a trip to El Paso and the Sun Bowl.  If not, then we might as well prepare ourselves for crawdad souffle at one of the Shreveport Riverboats.
The Tigers got my conference season off to a good start this week.  They opened up as a 3 point underdog.  I confess that I might have picked the Wildcats, but I just couldn't, so I picked Mizzou to cover and win; 24-21.  It was even better than I hoped.
Texas opened as a  24 1/2 point favorite against Baylor.  I didn't think that was nearly enough and I had the Longhorns winning big, 45-10.  The final was actually 47-14 Texas, but Mack Brown showed mercy in the 2nd half as the Horns were up 40-0 at halftime.  It certainly doesn't do anything to make that loss the Tigers had to Baylor any easier to take.  They reverted to sucking this week, which is really where Baylor belongs.

Iowa State opened up as a 5 point favorite at home against Colorado.  Despite giving up over 400 yards of offense, the Cyclones defense stiffened when it counted and now find themselves bowl eligible.   I picked Iowa State to cover, 24-13, with the final being 17-10.  Congratulations to the 'Clones and their fans.  They deserve it, as does their fine coach, Paul Rhodes.  That being said, I hope you guys go down like a twenty five dollar hooker in Columbia next Saturday.  I'll be there rooting for the guys in black.
In lawrence, kansas the beakers continued their "history in the making" season by falling to Corn nation 31-17.  Todd Reesing once again proved that he should have spent a little more time practicing and a little less drinking during the off season as he went 19 for 41 for 236 yards and a touchdown against the hick defense.  He does appear to be healing from the groin injury though as he wasn't sacked.  This makes 5 straight losses for the beaks after opening the year with 5 straight wins.  It doesn't get any better for them next week as they travel south to Austin to face the Longhorns.  It likely comes down to the Border War at Arrowhead to determine whether they make their 3rd consecutive bowl game in their storied history.  (chuckle)

Texas A&M rolled into Norman to face the Sooners as an 18 1/2 point underdog to Boob Stoops and the Sooners.  I thought the spread was too high and though I predicted OU to win, I thought they'd fail to cover the spread.  Of course, Oklahoma got things rolling and Stoops continued throwing the ball up by 6 touchdowns.  The final was Oklahoma 65-10.  I would love to watch the asshat and his team get rolled for about the next 10 years.  Stay classy Bob.  Those Mary Kay sales may go down if you lose another game this year.   Bubba may decide he doesn't need any more eye shadow.
Texas Tech visited Stillwater as a 3 1/2 point underdog to the Cowboys, who probably are the best team in the conference not named Texas.  I had the Cowboys winning 31-27 with the final being 24-17 Okie Light.   The most notable thing about the game, in my opinion was this brutal hit on Cowboy quarterback Zac Robinson.  Where am I?  Whether he plays against Colorado next weekend is anyone's guess.
My only out of conference game this week was the Thursday night Big East matchup between West Virginia and Cincinnati.  The Bearcats have been rolling and appear to be headed to their 2nd consecutive trip to Miami in January.  They opened as a 9 1/2 point favorite at home.  I confess I've only watched some highlights of them until then, but felt that they'd probably cover.  However, the Mountaineers played some inspired defense holding them to 24 points.  Unfortunately for them, they were only able to put up 21 points of their own.  

So for the week, I wound up a very respectable 5-2 against the spread which got me back to even at 49-49 for the year.  Straight up I was 7-0 which takes me to 75-26 this season.  Very good for me.  There are some interesting match ups this week and a Big 10 rivalry game that has lost some luster the past few years.  I'll try to have my picks out by Thursday and I'm thinking about taking a look at some potential bowl matchups pretty soon; at least as to how it will affect Big XII teams.  Have a great week!