Missouri fans, recruiting and other tidbits...

Well, the football regular season is over and we're working our way toward basketball season.  Nothing to do now except wait for the bowl games to begin, (1st 3 being on December 18th, just a few short days away) finish up with this years recruiting class, get out and support the basketball team, and, being Missouri fans, bitch like hell.  I hate to say that about a fan base, especially one that I consider myself to be a member of in good standing, but it's true.  I frequent a lot of message boards and am constantly amazed at the negativity our fan's.  The Tigers, by most were considered to be, before the season about an 8 win team, 9 if some things broke correctly.  Now, following a 10 win season, the third time in four years the Tigers have reached double digit wins, a large percentage of our followers choose to focus on the negatives.  Yes, we should have beaten Texas Tech.  And if you want to nitpick then yes, we probably also fell a couple of bowl games below where we could, note I said COULD have been selected, although our following the last couple of seasons probably doomed us there.  I choose to be happy myself about the fact that since the day Chase Daniel took over as quarterback in 2006, the Tigers have gone 48-18.  Folks with a bowl game to be played, Missouri has averaged over 9 wins a season.  Folks, the first Missouri game I can remember was played January 1st, 1966 in a 20-18 win over Florida in the Sugar Bowl.  Trust me on this one, these are the "good old days".

Now Missouri has the opportunity to send off our players to a great warm weather destination for a bowl game against a good, if somewhat underachieving Iowa Hawkeyes team from the Big Ten, the conference we hoped to be a member of this summer, yet we're complaining that we were passed over by the Cotton and Alamo bowls.  I get the snub from the Cotton Bowl and understand why folks are a bit pissed off by said snub.  They took a Texas A&M team that the Tigers throttled 30-9 at College Station a few weeks ago.  However, since that time the Aggies reeled off 6 straight wins, including victories over both teams that represented the conference in the title game, Nebraska and Oklahoma.  There is no way to say they weren't the hottest team in the conference down the stretch.  Their last trip to the Cotton Bowl was after the 2004 season, they have a huge fan base that's going to travel and put butts in the seats.  We forget that, outside of the BCS title game, the rest of the bowls are mostly concerned with showing a profit and making themselves look good.  While I don't agree with it, I get it and think they probably made a good choice.  As far as the Alamo Bowl, well Okie Lite finished with the exact same 10-2 and 6-2 conference record as the Tigers and the teams didn't play each other.  It's perfectly within their right to select the Cowboys.  And frankly, if you asked the Missouri players, I imagine they'd all prefer to spend a few days in Phoenix as opposed to Dallas or San Antonio.  Hell, the Insight Bowl even has a bigger payout than the Alamo so that's more travel money for Mizzou.  We need to get over the victim mentality and get behind this team.  The Tigers only lose 5 starters this year and the future indeed looks bright.

Another whine fest that I'm growing tired of is the one currently going on about the state of Tiger recruiting.  Yes, we currently lost 2 kids in Anthony Pierson and Sheldon Richardson that were our highest ranked recruits, but Big Shel has been uncharacteristically quiet since announcing he was flipping his commitment to USC while Pierson is reportedly heading to CoMo this weekend for an official visit.  I wouldn't write off either of these young men quite yet.  And even if they do both wind up elsewhere, why not concentrate on the kids we do have, such as Gerrand Johnson, a 270 lb defensive tackle that will graduate high school in December and enroll early at Mizzou.  Yep, he's only a three star kid, but take a look at his offer list.  The Tigers beat out such teams as Arkansas, Ol' Miss, Nebraska and Tennessee for his services.  He looks like the kind of kid that's going to pair with last years DT prize, Lucas Vincent to give Missouri a nice pair of tackles to build around once Dominique Hamilton and Terrell Resonno graduate next year.   

In short, it's time Missouri fan grew a pair and decided to get behind the sports teams at our university.  Mike Alden has hired a couple of quality coaches that have established winning programs and graduated their players.  I, for one am going to do what I can to support them.  You can either continue to whine and bitch, or you can open your checkbook, buy a bowl ticket, get out to watch a top 15 basketball team and make a wrestling match, volleyball game or do a bit of hot stove work taking a look at what could be very good softball and baseball teams this spring.  Frankly, it looks to be a much better way to spend your time as opposed to the glass half empty approach.  But hell, that's just me.  

Week 12:Style points or hanging on by a thread.

There is very little in-between this week as we roll toward the end of the season.  The seven Big XII teams that have qualified for bowl games are now playing for style points and bowl positioning.  4 more teams still have at least a punchers chance of getting to six wins, and only one poor miserable bastard of an athletic department has a program that has no hope of getting to six wins and very little of getting to four.  Any guesses who I might be talking about?   Well of course, it's my 2nd favorite team next to the Oakland Raiders.  Every Tiger fan realizes I mean the kansas jayhawks.  The last 2 weeks have been quite kind to the peckerheads as they rallied from 28 points down 2 weeks ago to pull out their first conference win in over a year against the Buffalo's of Colorado.  They then backed that up with a solid defensive performance against hick nation last week as they fell, but a much shorter distance than expected, 20-3.  It's senior day in Larry and Oklahoma State is coming to town to send off a graduating class that just 3 short years ago left Miami as Orange Bowl champs.  Since that day they've won 16 games in 3 years.  9-1 Okie Lite comes in as a 24 point favorite.  I see no way the beaks keep it that close, but they've probably provided me with more losses than anyone this year.  However, I'm going to do what Tiger fans do and lead with my heart.  Take the Cowboys to cover and win, 48-13.

My guys travel north to Ames this weekend to face the Cyclones, who are as desperate as anyone in the country.  The Clones blew a golden opportunity to qualify for their 2nd bowl game in a row last week as they fell 34-14 in Boulder.  They've lost starting quarterback Austin Arnaud for the season in the process and HAVE to win this weeks game if they're to continue practicing next week.  Missouri got back on track a bit last weekend as they withstood a 4th quarter rally by the K State Wildcats and hung on for a 38-28 win in the final game at Faurot Field for this season.  The Tigers have been devastated by injuries on the defensive side of the ball and plagued by inconsistancy on the offensive side.  The Tigers open as 11 point favorites but I don't expect the Cyclones to go down without a fight.  I'm picking Mizzou to win, but fail to cover, 31-24 on a late touchdown run from Kendial Lawrence.   

In Waco, two teams that already know they are going to be playing after Thanksgiving are matching up as Baylor hosts Oklahoma.  The Sooners have to win this game to make their contest against cross state rival OSU mean something as far as the title game to be played in Jerry World.  Baylor has a chance to win it's 8th game and take a trip to someplace a little more exotic than Houston for the Texas Bowl.   OU opens as an 8 point favorite in this game, and really just needs a win.  However, Bob Stoops will still be trying to make a statement going into next weeks road trip to Stillwater.  I'm looking for the Sooners to win and cover, 42-20.
Another team that has already qualified for the post season was the team that I watched last weekend in Columbia.  The Wildcats travel west to Boulder to face a Colorado team that won it's first conference game last weekend against Iowa State.  This had to be a good sign for interim head coach Brian Cabral, who would like to have the job.  The fact that he could probably be had fairly cheaply is another.  The Buffs need to close out with a win this week and next at Nebraska to qualify for a bowl game.  As much as I'd love to see that, I just don't believe they have a prayer.  For some reason, there's no line for this game but I see Bill Snyder going for win # 7 and a chance to move up in the bowl pecking order.  K State 34, Colorado 24.

Another team that needs to win out to be eligible for post season play surprisingly resides in Austin, where the 4-6 Longhorns host the 4-5 Florida Atlantic Owls.  The Owls have won 3 straight game, but is a streak over Florida International, Western Kentucky and Louisiana Lafayette all that impressive?  I think not.  UT meanwhile is on a 4 game losing streak that includes Iowa State, K State and Baylor.  Both the team and the fans appear to have mailed in the season but this game still has to be played.  Texas opens as a 21 point favorite in this showdown and I feel like they might, just might pull a little bit of self respect out and attempt to make a run at a bowl game.  God knows they could use they extra practice.  It probably won't matter much since they'll also need to win next week at home against A&M, but I do expect them to cover this Saturday.  I'm taking the whorns, 38-14.  

Yet another team that needs a win this weekend is Texas Tech.  The Red Raiders sit at 5-5 with 2 remaining non conference games to go.  The easiest of the two happens this weekend as they host Weber State from the "Is that really a" Conference.  All you need to know about Weber State is that this is their season finale as they only play 11 games.  No line on this game either, but I'm picking Tech to get their 6th win this week, with a score in the 41-21 range.

Probably the best game of the week is in College Station where a suddenly resurgent Aggies team goes for win number 8 against 9-1 and likely north representative Nebraska.   A&M has won 3 straight games since they hit their low point of the season, a 30-9 loss at home to Missouri while Nebraska sits at 9-1 but has struggled the last two weeks against Iowa State and kansas.  Hick nation opens as a 2 1/2 point favorite this week, and maybe I'm calling this one with my heart instead of my head, but I'm taking the Aggies to pull the upset and win 31-27 late. 
That's about all I've got for this week.  I did want to say thanks to those who've been reading this.  This is my 100th post.  I've been somewhat amazed at the number of hits this has been receiving.  If you get a spare few minutes, I hope you'll stop by my website at www.merlinsedge.com  Thanks and we'll talk again on Sunday.

Week 11 recap:Back on track.

It wasn't a thing of beauty, but Mizzou's win over over Kansas State Saturday was just what the doctor ordered for the Tigers.  It was senior day in Columbia and Missouri capped off a 6-0 record for the season to send them out in style.  Blaine Gabbert wasn't spectacular but very efficient as he threw for 206 yards on a 17 for 26 performance with 1 interception which was more about a great play rather than a poor throw.  Blaine added 91 yards rushing as Mizzou went for 227.  The game wasn't as close as the final score of 38-28 indicated.  It was 38-14 with less than 7 minutes remaining when K State scored it's 3rd touchdown and their final came with just over a minute left.  The Wildcats rushed for 190 yards themselves, which is what they have done well all season and Daniel Thomas was held to 66 yards on 12 carries.  Not a bad effort at all considering the Tigers are still without Dominique Hamilton and Luke Lambert in the middle as well as Will Ebner.  Andrew Wilson filled in at middle linebacker and did well in his first start.  I predicted the Tigers to cover the 13 point spread, which they failed to do, but this team needed a win badly and that's all that matters in the long run.  The Tigers are 8-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play.  A 10 win regular season is within reach which would made 3 of the last 4 seasons Missouri would have recorded double digit wins.  In my view, today is a pretty good day.
For the week I went 4-2 straight up but just 2-4 against the spread.  For the year I'm 65-19 straight up but fell to 37-39 against the point spread.   

One of the games I whiffed completely on happened in Boulder, where Iowa State came in as a 2 point favorite over a Colorado team that hadn't won a conference game and fired their coach this past week.  ISU quarterback Austen Arnaud was injured in the 4th quarter and likely won't be available to the Clones this week as they close out their season at home against my Tigers, needing a win to reach bowl eligibility.  Next Saturday means a lot to both teams as the Tigers are now playing for a better bowl as well as keeping their slim (anorexic actually) hopes for a division crown alive. 
My other strike happened in Waco as Texas A&M came to town facing a Baylor team that's qualified for it's first bowl game in 16 years.  A&M has come a long way since the Missouri game as Ryan Tannehill has taken over as trigger man for the Aggies.  They've moved their record to 7-3 and 4-2 in conference and host Nebraska next week.  Baylor is now 7-4 and closes their season next weekend at home against Oklahoma.  Then they can do something they haven't done since 1994.  Sit home and wait to see which bowl selects them.

The other game I split on, besides the Tigers happened last night in Lincoln, where the kansas jayhawks continued their good play from last week in a 20-3 loss to the 9th ranked huskers.  Hick nation sits at 9-1 and can claim the division title with a win at A&M next Saturday.  kansas, despite the moral victory yesterday remains 3-7 on the season and closes out their home schedule next week playing host to Oklahoma State.
Speaking of Okie Lite, they moved to 9-1 yesterday, continuing this nightmare season for the Longhorns as they beat Texas in Austin by a score of 33-16.  Changes will be coming following this season for a UT team that currently sits at 4-6 and needs to win out to become eligible for a bowl game.  In Austin, they aren't familiar with the term "rebuilding".
The other game that I nailed was in Norman, where the Sooners brought Texas Tech back to Earth with a dominating 45-7 win.  Next week the Sooners bring their 4-2 conference record to Waco, needing to win so their season finale at Stillwater is for the division title.  Tech falls to 5-5, but should have no problem getting bowl eligible as their last 2 contests are at home with non conference opponents Weber State and Houston.
Once again, some big games next week as some teams are facing must win games if they want their seasons to continue after Thanksgiving.  Have a great week and we'll talk again on Thursday.    

Week 9 recap:Message board free week for me.

Tiger nation is in full meltdown mode today.  Gary Pinkel, Dave Yost and Dave Steckel are apparently back to being idiots that have no business coaching in a BCS conference and our players should have their scholarships revoked.  And if Mike Alden doesn't take care of this then by golly we're going to storm his house and run him out too.  God there are days when I hate a percentage of our fan base.  
Saturday afternoon in Lincoln, the Huskers jumped out to a 24-0 lead 12 minutes into the game and the Tigers were never able to get back into the contest.  Roy Helu rushed for 307 yards as the hicks were able to control the line of scrimmage, and the offensive line gave Blaine Gabbert no time to throw.  There is no way around it, it was a dominating effort by a pretty darned good husker team.  I made a trip to my favorite pay site and read the message board for about 3 minutes and realized I would spend no time there this week.  And I'm not even going going to think about heading over to Tigerboard.  Anyway, I was 4-2 straight up for the week but only 2-3 vs the spread.  (No line was given on kansas/ISU)  For the year I'm 59-15 straight up and 34-30 playing the odds.

As angry as Missouri fan is today, I can't begin to imagine what things are like on the Longhorn boards as Texas dropped to 4-4 and 2-3 in conference play following a 30-22 loss to Baylor in Austin.  The Bears didn't do anything particularly well yesterday.  They passed for a little over 200 yards and rushed for a little over 100 and simply stuck around and waited for the Longwhorns to implode in the 4th quarter.  Yes, this is another game that I completely whiffed on but it's hard to hate on Baylor.  I can only imagine how much dancing was going on in the streets of Waco.  Or would have been going on if Baptists danced.  
The game that I split on this week was in College Station where the Aggies hosted Texas Tech as a 7 point favorite.  I thought A&M would win but fail to cover, but they drilled the Red Raiders 45-27.  The Tigers have to hope that A&M is coming into it's own as they host the huskers in a couple of weeks.

Going into the games I picked correctly this week, one occurred in Norman where the Sooners hosted Colorado.  OU came in as a 24 point favorite and you just knew that they'd be in a foul mood after dropping last weeks game against the Tigers.  Oklahoma used a 26 point 2nd quarter to end this game at the half as they rolled 43-10.
When I began making my predictions for last week, the Oklahoma State team still had their star receiver, Justin Blackmon on tap for this week.  However, a DUI arrest put him out of commission.  Fortunately for the Cowboys, they had a trip to Manhattan to face the Wildcats who are generally always undermanned.  Brandon Weeden still threw for almost 300 yards and a couple of touchdown as Okie State won and covered 24-14.

The final game of the week was in Ames where the Cyclones played host to a kansas team that may be among the worst in conference history this year.    There was no line on this game since the beaks were down to their 3rd string quarterback.  It was easily ku's best defensive effort of the year, but in the end, the result was the same as the jayhawks dropped their 11th straight conference game 28-16.  It was win # 5 for the clones as they hope to go to consecutive bowls under Paul Rhodes.  They close with 2 games at home and just one on the road, which is at Colorado so you'd think they were a shoe in.  Unfortunately for ISU, their 2 home games are against Nebraska next week and closing their season against Missouri.  For kansas fans the season can't end quickly enough.  heh.
That's all I've got for this week.  There are some interesting games next weekend involving some unlikely players as Baylor visits Oklahoma State, and Colorado travels to lawrence as those 2 teams battle for uncontested possession of 11th place in the conference.      
    

Week 9:The next "biggest game of the year"http://www.blogger.com/

It's a by-product of success.  Every time you win a big game, it makes the next game even bigger and adds more pressure to the coaches and players.  It's not like this week wasn't going to huge to begin with.  For the last 4 years the winner of the Missouri/Nebraska game has won the division and the right to be the sacrificial lamb in the conference championship game.  Well, make it # 5 with a bullet.  Mizzou travels north and puts their 7-0 record on the line against the 6-1 Huskers.  The Tigers will be without their best defensive tackle, Dominique Hamilton who suffered a broken ankle in Saturday nights 36-27 win over # 2 ranked Oklahoma.  The hicks bounced back from a home loss to Texas to out gun Oklahoma State 51-41 in Stillwater.  Corn nation has actually fared better on the road the last couple of years and some of their players, Nyles Paul in particular, not to mention head coach Bo Pelini have made disparaging comments about their fans.  Nebraska opens as an 8 point favorite in this one and I don't buy it for a minute.  The game opened at 7 but apparently money has been pouring in on the nubs.  I'm guessing a lot of farmers have suddenly taken out loans on their combines.  Despite the fact that I've admitted to being a shameless homer, I just have no idea what the odds makers and betters are thinking.  I'm taking the Tigers to not only cover, but to win outright.  MU 31-21.

Columbia wasn't the only program that was celebrating homecoming last weekend. A few miles to the west of here the jayhawks were taking on Texas A&M, Missouri's victim the week before in College Station Saturday night in larry.  While the crowd may not have been quite as large as the one in CoMo, there's something to be said for the ability to sit most anywhere you want.  This week the Crimson and Blue wrecking crew travel north to face Iowa State who pulled the upset of the week, and maybe the year last Saturday in a 28-21 win over Texas in Austin.  There hasn't been a line established for this game as of Tuesday.  I don't know if it's because of some Iowa State injury I haven't heard about of if the gamblers just plain forgot this game was being played.  At any rate, I'm going to predict the beaks fall to 0-4 in the conference as the Cyclones win 38-13.

In Austin, the bowl eligible Bears from Baylor visit the not yet bowl eligible Texas Longhorns.  It's like we've entered some sort of parallel universe as the whorns sit at 4-3 and suffered that home loss to Iowa State.  Texas fans being Texas fans, there has been some rumbling that Mack Brown may have lost his edge and they might need to replace him.  Mack himself has told his assistants that their jobs could be in jeopardy if they can't get the team playing with more emotion.  The fact that Texas was in the NC game last year doesn't really mean much to UT fans.  The athletic department at UT rakes in over 120 million a year and they aren't really familiar with the term rebuilding.  Texas opens as a 7 1/2 point favorite and I'm thinking they get off the 2 game home skid Saturday and win 38-24.   If Baylor was to pull off the upset here, and I certainly believe they're capable, we'll be hearing some major bitching from the Longhorn not so faithful.

Speaking of coaches and hot seats, Dan Hawkins makes his last trip to Norman to face a pissed off Sooner team in his farewell tour.  Expect the Hawk to be terminated before the last fan leaves the stadium in their final game, and really why wouldn't he be?  Meanwhile the Sooners will still be smarting from their nationally televised loss at the hands of my Tigers last weekend and you just know that Bob Stoops and company are going to take it out on someone.  Big game Bob has no problem running the score up on an over matched opponent as they try to get back in the national championship picture.  Oklahoma opens as a 24 point favorite in this one and they may cover that before the 1st quarter ends.  Pick OU in a rout, 59-7.  They will have one less rabid fan following the game this week so maybe they can dedicate the game to him.   Boomer Sooner.

Over in Manhattan the 5-2 K State Wildcats have another opportunity to get to bowl eligibility this week as they host Oklahoma State.  The Cowboys dreams of an unbeaten season were shattered last week in a 51-41 loss to hick nation.  Early Tuesday morning they got more bad news when star receiver Justin Blackmon was arrested for speeding and suspected driving under the influence as he was returning from the Monday night football game in Dallas.  The Cowboys open as a 6 point favorite in this one and I'm really tempted to call for the upset.  However, the Wildcats just aren't very good yet and I'm not ready to call for Carson Coffman to pull off a Taylor Martinez performance this weekend.  Look for the Cowboys to rally and win 41-24.

The week wraps up in College Station as the Aggies play host to the Red Raiders from Texas Tech.  Both  teams should be feeling better about themselves after wins last week over perennial powers Colorado and kansas.  A&M opens as a 7 point favorite in this one and the winning coach will feel the temperature of the seat he's on to cool a bit, but just a bit.  I'm going to take the Aggies to win, but fail to cover 24-21.
That's all I have for this week.  It should be a beautiful weekend in Kansas City and my honey do list is long.  I'll probably have to DVR the Missouri game and just catch some scores during the afternoon while I go out and mutilate some bushes in the yard.  Have a good weekend folks and we'll talk next Sunday.

Week 7: Things begin to get interesting

Ok everyone, we're officially knee deep into the season as all 12 teams match up in conference action this week and weekend.  Some really interesting games are on tap but a couple of dogs in the mix also.  But it's all Big XII football

The week begins Thursday night again with that classic match up that all America has been talking about and waiting for; The Sunflower Showdown, being held in lawrence this year between the university of kansas and Kay State.  This one is for all the marbles and bragging rights for the next year in the entire state of kansas.  For some inexplicable reason the beaks open as 3 point favorites in this one.  Apparently the odds makers watched the Wildcats last game, again on a Thursday night against the children of the corn, where Mr. Burns team laid a gigantic egg.  It kind of gives me pause until I think back just 5 days before that when the beaks traveled down to Waco to face Baylor.  I'm going to go with the upset here and take Kansas State to win this straight up, 27-21.

On Saturday morning my Tigers take the field, Kyle Field to be exact to take on the Aggies of Texas A&M.  Mizzou enters the game a perfect 5-0 and 1-0 in conference, while A&M is 3-2 and 0-1 in league play.  A&M is going to be hungry for a win after 2 straight losses, while the Tigers still have not convinced people that they're for real yet. A&M has outscored their opponents 175-105 in their 5 games, but c'mon; their 3 wins have been against Stephen F Austin, Louisiana Tech and Florida International.  Not exactly murderers row if you know what I mean.  They are pretty good against the run, which Missouri doesn't do all that well sometimes, but vulnerable to the pass and their offense is a turn over machine.  The Tigers can control the line of scrimmage in this one with any luck and because of that, I'm going to pick my second upset of the week.  I'm taking Mizzou 31-21.

In another big game this week, the 3-2 Texas Longwhorns travel north to hick nation to face the fighting Pelini's.  The nub faithful have been pointing to this game since last December when Texas beat them on a last second field goal to win the Big XII title game.  The hicks are favored by 9 1/2 points in this one.  At first I thought this was way too much considering the athleticism of Texas.  I've changed my mind on that since I really haven't seen much from the whorns that makes me think they are very good offensively.  I'm going to go with Nebraska to cover in this one 27-17.
Iowa State proved last weekend that they weren't ready for prime time as they were crushed at home 68-27 by Utah.  Things don't get a lot better this week as they travel to Norman to face the Sooners.  OU opens as a whopping 23 1/2 favorites.  I don't see them having much problem covering this one so I'll take OU 47-21.

In Boulder, it should be a case of cultural shock as the fighting Baptists of Baylor travel north to face the place that never left the 60's behind.  I was impressed with Colorado last week in Columbia and wish I could pick them to win this week.  However, I think they were pointing to the game against Missouri and the fact that they were really never in the game and that most pot smokers have short attention spans, I'm going with the Bears.  Baylor is a 1 1/2 point favorite in this one.  I think they'll do a little better than that and I'm picking them to win and cover, 34-31.
The week winds up at Lubbock where Oklahoma State comes to town to face the Red Raiders of Texas Tech.  Despite the fact that the Cowboys are 5-0 they're 3 1/2 point underdogs in this game.  I'm going to predict my 3rd upset of the week here and go with Okie Lite winning 23-21.
That's it for me this week.  I've been loving the weather in western Missouri this fall and hoping for more of it.  Hopefully things are going well for you and I'll see you Sunday.   
 
     

The light at the end of the tunnel

And no, it's not a train coming this time.  We're now about a week away from my favorite time of the year.  It's almost football season.  Pretty soon we'll be reading endless articles about the new offensive strategy at Texas Tech now that they are without the pirate; why Nebraska will have a better defense even though they lost the best tackle in college football, and if Blaine Gabbert will be able to function without the security blanket known as Danario Alexander.   And I, for one am going to love every minute of it.  It's time for for uninformed fans such as myself to begin looking at depth charts, schedules and injury reports to make baseless predictions on how the season will play out.  In other words, I'm getting back into my element.
Today I'm going to talk about the southern division of the Big XII which is in it's final year of division play and offer a few useless predictions based on schedule and returning players.  Since I usually go from last to first, let's start out in Waco with the perennial last place team, the Baylor Bears.

The Bears will return quarterback Robert Griffin to the team as well as the purest cheerleaders in the conference.  I expected them to end their bowl drought last season but the injury to Griffin changed that.  The non con schedule should provide them with 3 wins, minus a Sept. 18th trip to TCU.  The challenge is finding 3 more wins during the conference season.  Home games against kansas, K State and Oklahoma State give them a reasonable chance and with a road trip to Colorado, I believe this is the year they earn their first bowl bid since 1994.
Oklahoma State had a great 2 year run, but now faces a major rebuilding job and now Mike Gundy gets a chance to prove he really is a man.  Their schedule is about as soft as it gets with the big name in the non con being Washington State which has won a whopping 3 games over the last few seasons.  They also get kansas, Kansas State and Baylor at home so they definitely have a punchers chance at making a bowl game.

In Lubbock, the Red Raiders enter the post Mike Leach era.  They return a lot of experience on the offensive side of the ball, where new coach Tommy Tuberville will have to find a way to utilize their talents in a manner he's really not used to.  Tommy is more of a defensive specialist and the Red Raiders don't return a lot of talent there.  I think Tuberville was a really good hire and the schedule breaks nicely for them.  I expect the Red Raiders to make a bowl game, but they aren't going to be world beaters this year.
At College Station, the Aggies of Texas A&M enter the season with high expectations and I'm really not sure why.  They went 6-7 last year and now, with an experienced quarterback their fans expect them to challenge for a division title since Texas and OU both lost a lot from last year.  Sorry Aggies, but I just don't see it.  The schedule is not terrible, but imo Mike Sherman has never shown himself to be a dominant coach.  I think the Aggies have a good chance at a bowl game, but it will be a disappointing season to a fan base that is 2nd only to Nebraska when it comes to overestimating their talent.

So let's get into the only 2 teams that really matter.  The University of Texas played in the national championship game last year, falling to Alabama.  They could argue, (with good reason) that the game could have ended differently had they not lost Colt McCoy early.  I personally watched them literally dismantle my Tigers in Columbia and they were nothing short of a machine.  They lost a lot of talent, but hell, it's Texas.  They always have talent.  I expect the division to come down to the Red River shootout, just like always.  The horns will make a nice bowl game but the season will fall a bit short of their expectations.  The fans will bitch, yada, yada, yada.  I hate Texas.
But if you think I hate Texas, believe me, I struggle writing about the cocksuckers from Norman.  "Big Game" Bob Stoops and the Sooners had something of a non OU season last year, and all world quarterback Sam Bradford will soon be making St. Louis Rams fans wishing they had drafted someone else with their first round draft choice but they are loaded again this year.  I see people picking them to go undefeated.  I'm not that sold on them, but I believe they return to the double digit win type of season they are used to this year, and a return to the NC game certainly isn't out of the question.

So, my early prediction for the south finish goes like this.  I expect OU to return to what they consider to be their rightful place as south champions.  I think the Longhorns will finish 2nd and both teams will make very good bowl games.  However, I think neither will make the national championship game as someone from the ACC or Big East will sneak into the championship game against whoever wins the SEC.  After that you could probably draw straws, but the final 4, in my opinion will probably be Texas Tech, A&M, Baylor and Okie Lite.  All 6 teams may make bowl games and once again we'll hear about how the north does nothing more than drag the conference down.       
If you're familiar with the term SSDD, then you know exactly what I'm talking about.  Next week we'll take a look at the north, or the "have nots" if you prefer.   Stay cool folks.

So who exactly is orchestrating this right now?

What's happening in college football now is unprecedented.  We've seen swerves and double swerves followed by more swerves during the last couple of weeks.   First Missouri is heading to the Big Ten.  Then Nebraska jumps in and winds up with the bid that the Tigers felt was theirs.  Then Chip "Scoop" Brown announces that the Pac 10 is prepared to offer Colorado and the Big XII south, minus Baylor.  Then Texas determines they can't leave Baylor behind so they tell the Pac 10 they'll have to take the Bears over the Buffalos.  Then the Pac 10 issues their middle finger to Texas and offers Colorado without a mention of Texas and their little brothers.  Now Texas A&M decides fuck Texas, we're going to talk to the SEC. 

So just exactly where are we now?  In the middle of a really high stakes poker game is where.  I do know that in the game we saw Texas blink first, but oddly enough, at this point in time I believe that A&M is holding all the cards.  They apparently have an offer in hand from the SEC that they are prepared to accept as soon as Tuesday morning.  So now Texas faces having to go to the Pac 10, carrying Tech, OU and Okie lite with them which may not be anything like the Pac 10 envisioned in the first place.  After all, the Aggies would have been considered a much bigger prize than the Red Raiders or Cowboys.

So, as the clock nears midnight in rides Dan Beebe with what he claims is an offer from Fox Sports to pay the remaining 10 teams SEC money for the television rights.  Word has it that the Longwhorns are prepared to accept this offer this week, providing A&M comes along.  The reason, in my opinion is that if Texas goes to the Pac 10 their dream of a Texas channel will never come to fruition.  The new deal supposedly allows any and all teams to explore their own networks including starting up their own channels.  I would currently give this about a 30% chance of actually happening, but given the uncertainty of Missouri receiving an offer from the Big Ten or SEC, it's a good fall back position for the Tigers right now.  In poker-ese, Missouri may have just drawn a one eyed jack to go with their 2 pair.  Or, in Vince McMahon's world, maybe the hulkster (Dan freaking Beebe?) just stormed the ring to make a save. 

One of the first signs of spring is coming.

No, I'm not talking about some robin showing up in my yard.  They apparently have their butts parked down south somewhere still.  I can't even coax a sparrow to show up at the bird feeder right now.  What I'm talking about is spring football which starts up in a few short days, which culminates in one of my favorite events of the year; the "PowerMizzou Black and Gold Tailgate" which will be taking place on April 17th.  I'll absolutely get into that some more later but right now, just for fun, let's take a  way too early look at some of the teams that will effect the success or lack of for my favorite team.
So starting out today I'll take a look at the south division of the conference or as we like to call it, the have's.  4 of the 6 teams reside in Texas, home of spring football at the high school level.  We're 2 weeks away from basketball conference championship in Missouri which lead up to the state tournament and they've already determined their state champions, which tells you all you need to know about the food chain down south.  Can't have your star quarterback miss a snap because he's playing forward on the basketball team now can you?

Last years southern champion and national championship game sacrificial lamb was the Texas Longhorns.  They lost starting quarterback Colt McCoy early in the game so we'll never know for sure if they could have broken the stranglehold the SEC has had for the last few years.  On the upside, at least they didn't lose to Florida.  Man I'm glad I don't have to listen to the Tim Teabow lovefest any longer. The 'horns lost 5 starters on offense including McCoy and star receiver Jordan Shipley who finally completed his 11th year of eligibility.  They only lost 3 starters on defense and brought in the third ranked recruiting class in the country.  And to top it off they've already landed 11 recruits for next year.  It must suck to be them.  Oh, and they also sport some of the finest looking cheerleaders known to man.  They've really pretty much surpassed Oklahoma as the power in the south, (sorry Sooner fans, but it's true) but they have some question marks next year.

The other 600 lb gorilla down south is the aforementioned Oklahoma Sooners.  They suffered a ver un-Oklahoma like 8-5 last year including an ass pounding of epic proportions in Lubbock to the departed Mike Leach and the Red Raiders.  Sam Bradford spent most of the year sidelined with shoulder injuries but they did manage to get some quality time in for his backup, Landry Jones.  I think that's going to pay off in a big way for them this year.  They lost 4 starters each on offense and defense but were starting 2 freshmen on the offensive line which I expect to be much better this season.  Oklahoma is used to winning and expected to be much better last year than they were.  "Big game" Bob Stoops managed to win a bowl game and as usual, they brought in a top 10 recruiting class.  They also have one of the spookiest fan bases I've ever been around.

Down in Lubbock it's a new start as former head coach and Pirate deluxe Mike Leach is out and is being replaced by Tommy Tubberville.  The Red Raiders return 8 starters on offense, including every skill position player but must replace 5 on defense and just as importantly, their defensive coordinator.  Their recruiting class was ranked 41st in the nation, which will in no way allow them to compete with the Big 2 in the long run.  However, Tubberville was a very good coach during his time at Auburn and is considered to be something of a defensive wizard.  He has the makings of a team that could made a run at the south this year and could absolutely improve things on the recruiting front next year assuming they could get to 9 wins this season.  A lot of questions here, but I think they made the biggest splash in the conference as far as coaching hires went.

Following a somewhat disappointing end to what was their most anticipated year in recent memory, the Oklahoma State Cowboys go into full rebuilding mode this year.  They lose 7 starters on offense and must adapt to losing QB Zac Robinson and wideout Dez Bryant, as well as most of their skill positions.  To make matters worse they'll be looking to replace 9 starters on the defensive side of the ball.  It appears that the 2010 season could be a long one for Okie Lite and I can see a few blowups coming from head coach and resident psychopath Mike "I'm a man" Gundy. 

One of the biggest surprises, at least to me was the resurgence in College Station.  Now you may say, and with good cause that a 6-7 record including 3-5 in conference is hardly a resurgence, but I fully expected the Aggies to be hunting a new coach this off season, especially after the 4 touchdown throttling they received at the hands of a mediocre Arkansas team in week 4.  However, Mike Sherman managed to put 6 wins together and get themselves the bowl game that would have belonged to kansas had they not gone into that little 7 game losing streak to close the season.  heheh.  A&M loses only 2 starters on defense but must replace 5 from last years offense.  They did manage the 16th ranked recruiting class in the country which was good enough for 3rd in the Big XII.  I still think that Sherman is a buffoon, and I don't think another 6 win campaign will buy another year for him, but he has them poised for some legitimate success in the future.

I thought it was all there for Baylor last year.  They had one of the most dynamic young quarterbacks in the conference, lots of experience and a schedule that looked conducive to qualifying for their first bowl game since 1994.  This certainly looked to be the case when they opened the season with a 24-21 win at Wake Forest.  However, it all came crashing down quickly after quarterback Robert Griffin went down with a knee injury.   The Bears struggled mightily after that to a 4-8 record with the season highlight being a 40-32 win at Missouri in week 9. #$@&^^  Their recruiting was mediocre at best this year and I'm afraid that Art Briles, who I think is a pretty decent coach is going to see the handwriting on the wall and bail for a better job as soon as something comes available.  It's just going to be almost impossible to recruit well enough in Waco to compete in the tough Big XII south and they'd probably have been better served if they'd wound up in a different conference back when the SWC was disbanded.

So just looking at what each team has coming back, my initial guess for the finish next year pretty much mimics the way it's been for most of the last decade.  I think it will be OU's turn to finish first and win the division, followed by Texas, Texas Tech, A&M, Baylor and Oklahoma State.  What I do think will be different this year is that the south team that makes the conference championship game isn't going to be an automatic 3 touchdown favorite in that contest.  For a change, I think that 2 teams in the north have a legitimate chance to end the south domination this year and that's what I'll talk about next time.  Have a good week.