Around the Big XII, part 7. Texas

Everyone knows one.  He's the richest guy on the block, in the company or even in your own family.  He drives a car that was built in Germany, wears a diamond pinkie ring and Armani suits.  It wouldn't be a problem at all, except the guy is nothing but a monumental prick and always reminds you just how well off he is and how your life pales in comparison.  That, in a nutshell is Texas fan.  The richest program in the NCAA, Big XII titles galore, and an athletic director that not only can go out and hire any coach for any sport that he desires but had the balls and the power to play both Larry Scott and Jim Delaney, commissioners of the Pac 10 and Big Ten respectively last year when they thought they were going to break up the Big XII and become the new power brokers in college athletics.  What they got for their efforts was Utah, Colorado and Nebraska.  Tough to be considered much of a mover and shaker when you're hanging out with Orrin Hatch and Larry the cable guy. 

But all that power and all that success was what made last year so enjoyable watching Texas stumble to a 5-7 record and 2-6 in conference play.  Particularly when they went on a 4 game skid, including losses to Iowa State, Baylor and Kansas State after beating the hicks in Lincoln.  Well, things like that just don't happen to Texas without someone getting whacked.  In this case it was both coordinators and both line coaches.  After all, it had to be the coaching right?  After all, Texas doesn't recruit players, they select them.  Of course, this was the same staff that had the whorns in the national championship game just a year earlier.  The important thing is that Mack Brown keeps making his 5 million dollar plus annual salary and nothing like standing up for men that he'd hired and trusted.  The simple fact was, Texas discovered they were mortal and sometimes shit just happens to mortals.

At first glance, it looks like Texas will find out a lot about themselves early as their non conference schedule features home games against Rice and BYU before traveling to Los Angeles to face UCLA.  I'm not that sold on either the Bruins or Cougars being all that tough and Rice perennially blows so we really may not know much about them until October 8th when they meet Oklahoma in the annual Red River Shootout, which for some reason is still being played at the Cotton Bowl.  I'm predicting that to be their first loss of the season, but I think it's going to be followed by at least 3 others.  Oklahoma State travels to Austin the following week and that's an extremely losable game for them.  Road trips to Texas A&M, Baylor and Missouri are going to be really tough also.  Texas will be back in a bowl game this year, and probably contending for conference and national titles again soon, as long as the impatience of their fans and athletic director cause them to make a series of rash decisions.  It's the only problem I can see with having a lot of money.  You always think you can just buy your way out of any problems.
Next time we'll talk about the little brother of Texas, the A&M Aggies.           

Week 12 recap:The Clone Wars.

It was a little taste of winter last night in Ames when Missouri rolled into town seeking their 9th win of the season.  The Cyclones were a desperate team, needing a win to extend their season with their second straight bowl.  It wasn't frigid, but the weather obviously played a part as both offenses struggled in the passing game.  However, tight end Michael Egnew was able to pull in 7 passes including a 1st quarter touchdown and the Tigers defense did the rest, as Missouri held on for a 14-0 win.  Missouri came in as an 11 point favorite and I knew this would be a tough game.  Ok, I thought it would be a tough game, and uncharacteristically I was right.  However, I didn't think the Tigers would cover the spread, and there I was wrong.  However, for the week I went 6-1 straight up and 4-1 against the spread.  (2 games had no lines)  For the year I'm 71-20 straight up and 41-40 vs Vegas. 

A big game that I nailed happened in College Station Saturday night as hick nation rolled into town as a 2 1/2 point favorite.  It was vintage Bo Pelini as he drew an unsportsmanlike conduct flag to go with 15 other Nebraska penalties.  You don't have to be Nostradamus to see that sooner or later this is going to end badly for Pelini.  His volatile temper and complete inability to control it is sooner or later going to cause him to punch a referee.  Do I think the refs played a part in the corn loss?  Absolutely.  I also think that when you're constantly in someones face, sooner or later they're going to retaliate.  I have a feeling that Dr. Tom is going to be taking Pelini behind the woodshed this week for a little tough love.  Whether it does any good or not is another story.  The loss prevented the corn from clinching the division title, but they'll have another chance next Friday when they host a suddenly rejuvenated Colorado.
Speaking of the Buffs, they hosted K State yesterday, still clinging to a faint hope of reaching bowl eligibility.  There was no line on this game, but I fully expected the Wildcats would put Colorado out of their misery.  However, tailback Rodney Stewart rushed for 195 yards, caught 2 passes for 50 and threw a 23 yard touchdown pass as the Buffs swept past the kitties 44-36.  Interim head coach Brian Cabral is making a strong case for the job as Colorado is 2-0 since firing Dan Hawkins.  If they somehow can pull out a win next week in Hooterville, I don't see why he wouldn't get the opportunity.

The season will soon mercifully end for the folks in larry.  Yesterday on their senior day, the ku crowd, many of which were disguised as empty seats, watched the beaks give it everything they had, only trailing the 9-1 Oklahoma State Cowboys 20-14 at halftime.  The 2nd half was another matter however, as the beaks managed 6 yards of offense in the 3rd quarter and fell 48-14, which was remarkably close to my prediction of 48-13.  Next week the Cowboys host Oklahoma in bedlam, for the right to play the Big XII title game, while the beaks drive up the road 30 miles for their season finale at Arrowhead against my Tigers.

The season ended at the right time for Baylor as they hosted Oklahoma in their finale.  I'm glad the Bears are going to be playing in a bowl game, but they aren't quite ready for prime time yet as they fell 53-24 to a Sooner team that showed they aren't quite ready to concede the south to their cross state rivals just yet.  The Bears will be able to continue practicing while they await the decision on where they go, which is a very good thing for their program.  I don't know who will select them, but they better be ready for thousands of rabid Baptists coming to party hard.
In one of the week's 2 non-conference tilts, Texas Tech notched their 6th win against a hapless Weber State team 64-21.  If the Red Raiders are selected for a bowl game, and I have no reason to believe they won't be, it will mark their 17th straight bowl appearance, top streak in the conference.  Tech closes their season at home next week against Houston.

The other non conference match up was in Austin, where the longhorns faced a Florida Atlantic team that isn't going anywhere this bowl season.  The whorns flexed their muscles in a 51-17 win that was probably their 2nd best performance of the year, outside of that glorious Saturday afternoon in Lincoln when they revealed the first chinks in the husker armor.  Thanksgiving day Texas will close out their season at home against Texas A&M.  It's a chance for them to assume the role of spoiler, which is usually the part the Aggies play.  It also would give them their 6th win, and God knows, this Texas team needs the extra practice.
I'll have to get started early for next weeks games, since we have a Thursday and Friday matchup.  Have a great holiday week folks and we'll talk about Wednesday or so.      

Week 10:Time to snap back

Toward the end of the Larry Smith era at Missouri the Tigers had reverted to the form they'd shown during the Woody Widenhoffer and Bob Stull years.  That means they were bad...really bad.  Larry was trying to figure out ways to keep morale up after the devastating losses would continue to pile up.  One time he gave every player a tennis ball so they'd remember to bounce back.  That seemed stupid enough but when he gave everyone rubber bands to wear around their wrists to remember to snap back I knew he was a dead man walking, and it probably was going to end badly in Columbia for him.  At that point we'd pretty much been terrible for the better part of 2 decades and I wondered if we'd ever be decent again.  I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was less than excited when I heard we'd hired Gary Pinkel.  Mainly because I'd never heard of Gary Pinkel.  Thankfully I was wrong and now I couldn't be happier to have him coaching my team.
Both the Tigers and I have to snap back this week.  They suffered their first loss of the season at Lincoln last week against the soon departing hicks and I once again lost more than I won against the spread with my predictions.  I went 4-2 straight up but on 2-3 against the spread.  For the year I'm 59-15 straight up but only a touch above water at 34-30 against the point spread.  So I'm hoping for better things from both of us this weekend, but mostly my Tigers.

Mizzou travels to Lubbock Saturday night on ABC's nationally televised game against the Red Raiders.  Tech is 4-4 on the season and 2-4 in conference play.  Last weekend they fell 45-27 to Texas A&M at College Station in a game that really wasn't that close.  Mike Leach no longer patrols the sideline for Tech which isn't particularly good news since Coach Pinkel seemed to have his number.  However, Tommy Tuberville has experienced a lot of growing pains and it appears that the Red Raiders bowl streak may well end this year.  Missouri only opens as a 4 1/2 point favorite and the crowd isn't going to be nearly as intimidating as it was last week in Bugtussel.  If I was a gambler this would be like taking money to me.  I'm going to pick the Tigers to get back into the win column this week and cover 31-17.
Something happened this year that no one forsaw and that's the rebirth of the Baylor football program.  The Bears, fresh off an upset of Texas last week in Austin travel north this weekend to Stillwater to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who are 6-1 themselves.  Okie Light opens as a 7 1/2 point favorite in this one but I believe they'll do a bit better.  I'm taking the Cowboys to win and cover 35-27.

In lawrence this weekend it's the rumble at Mount Oread as the Colorado Buffalo's come to town to face the jayhawks for undisputed possession of 11th place in the conference.  Both teams are 0-4 in Big XII play and this represents their last best chance to avoid the cellar.  The Buff's open as a 9 point favorite.  I love to hate on kansas as much as anyone, but that line seems ridiculous to me.  Not that I think ku doesn't suck; they do, but so does Colorado and their dead man walking coach.  In a game where neither team has an offense or defense, I'm going to take the Pac 10's newest crown jewel to win but fail to cover.  Colorado wins 28-24.

It's back to grand times in Lincoln as their countrified version of the big red machine pulls up stakes and heads east for their final battle with Iowa State.  After their convincing win over the Tigers last weekend, hick nation is once again out in full force and predicting losses to the 7 or 8 teams in front of them as they march to their rightful destination in Glendale at the national championship game.  The corn open as 19 point favorites in this game and believe me, nothing would give me more pleasure than watching a repeat of last years game in Hooterville.  Unfortunately I don't see it happening.  Nebraska wins and covers 38-13.
Oh how the mighty have fallen this year.  In Manhattan, last years national champion runner's up the Texas Longhorns limp in with their 4-4 record to face the Wildcats who are still looking for their 6th win and bowl eligibility.  The whorns open as 4 point favorites in this game and while I'd like to pick the Cats, I think that UT has enough to pull this one out on the road, although I think it will be a nail biter.  I'm picking Texas 24-21.

The week closes out at College Station where the A&M Aggies play host to the Sooners who are still walking a bit stiff from their loss in Columbia a couple of weeks ago.  Texas A&M switched out to quarterback Ryan Tannehill last weekend and it paid off big as they swept past Texas Tech 45-27.  I feel safe saying this OU team is light years better than the Red Raiders, and the line opening at OU minus 3 1/2 looks like a license to print money.  The Sooners roll, 41-14.   
That's all I have for now.  I hope to get back to you Sunday with a recap of my Tigers getting back in the win column.  Have a great weekend!

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.

The winners in this mess

So now all the remains is who will the Pac 10 pick to be their 12th member now that they managed to corral the worst athletic department in Division 1 sports.  Expect Utah to receive their invitation sometime within the next 10 days to 2 weeks.  Then we can all sit back, take a long breath and wait for the next 18 months to 3 years until it starts up again.  And believe me, it's going to start again.  But while we're catching our breath or having a cigarette, let's take a look at who were the winners here.
Winners:

The University of Colorado.  They finally managed to get to the conference that they always belonged in when they joined the Pac 10.  They have the whole west coast mentality going plus great skiing.  You can include beautiful scenery, a student body more interested in smoking weed than attending football games and absolutely the least successful athletic department in the country.  Can you tell me the last league title they've won?  Can you tell me the last time they finished in the top 5 in anything?  I'm serious here.  I have no idea.  They were basically the way the Pac 10 extended a middle finger to Texas when they suggested they might be better off taking Baylor so the entire south of the Big XII could remain together.  Somehow the administration of Cal and Stanford couldn't see themselves with a Baptist university and it was a good time to show them.  But what the hell, Colorado gets what it wants.  Away from Texas and access to some really good northern California pot.
Texas.  Was there any doubt they were going to land on their feet?  At any time they could simply have called up the Big Ten, Pac 10 or SEC and been admitted without making a 2nd call.  However, other than the SEC they weren't going to be given permission to start their own network.  And that's what they really wanted from this.  Now they have a few years cushion to get the thing up and running before they begin looking for another soft place to land that will allow them to bring their own up and running network along.  They may well be powerful enough and the Pac 10 especially may be desperate enough at that point.

Chip Brown and Kevin Keitzman.  These are heady days for these 2 formerly unknown media pundits.  Keitz was the guy that actually threw the first chum in the water last month when he announced on his radio show that formal offers had been extended to Missouri, Nebraska, Rutgers and Notre Dame.  He parlayed this into appearances on numerous appearances on radio and television stations around the country and much of the media, including ESPN just took his story and ran with it.  Meanwhile, Brown, acting as Jimmy Olsen to Deloss Dodds Superman regurgitated information coming from the Texas athletic department and enjoyed his own 15 minutes of relative fame.  Whether they can retain their new found popularity once this dies down remains to be seen.
The Big East and Notre Dame.  A week ago it seemed really likely that we were going to see the implosion of the Big XII and likely the Big East as Missouri would be swept up with corn nation.  Grabbing Rutgers and Syracuse would have ended the Big East as a football conference and put their basketball status in jeopardy.  Now, things remain the same and the Irish can continue to remain independent in football while continuing an affiliation in basketball and minor sports with Pitt and the boys.

Iowa State, Kansas State and Baylor.  These were the 3 schools that stood to lose the most.  Make no mistake they were likely going to fall hard, unless the Big East had made a desperate attempt to take the 5 remaining Big XII teams had the Big Ten and Pac 10 plans worked out the way they intended for them to work.  Now they have some time to get their shit together and prepare for this thing when it starts up again.   That really applies to Mizzou and kansas as well, although I still think both of them would have landed somewhere.  In my opinion the new Big XII has a shelf life of 5 years at the most.  The most important guys on campus in Columbia are Gary Pinkel and Mike Anderson.  We better get behind those guys and their teams or it could get really ugly when things get started.
I intended to include the losers in this post, but it's drawn on too long already so we'll talk about them next week.  I've lots to do this weekend so just get out there, fire up your grill and spend some quality time with the people you love.

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.

Well, that was certainly ugly.....

Well, what do we now know after week 7 of the season?  We know, or we SHOULD know that the euphoria after the opening weekend against Illinois was misplaced.  Ron Zook and the fighting Illini are terrible as they illustrated yesterday against Indiana.  However, is the season over as many have stated on various Missouri message boards since about 10:00 pm last night?  Unfortunately, the jury is out on that one.  I've seen nothing from the rest of the Big XII north that convinces me that someone is going to run away from the rest of the pack.  If you look at the standings you might be surprised to see that Bill Snyder and the Kansas State Wildcats sit at the top with a 2-1 conference record.  Yep, the same K State that suffered a 52 point thumping at the hands of Texas Tech a week ago.  The entire conference, with the possible, and yes I said possible exception of Texas is badly down this year.   I believed they were head and shoulders above the rest of the league, but a 3 point win against a Sam Bradford-less Oklahoma team that currently stands 3-3 doesn't lead me to believe that they are actually the 2nd best team in the nation.  Any discussion about whether the SEC or Big XII is the best conference should officially be suspended until next year at least.  We can now debate whether we're better than the Big East or the Pac 10.  Right now, I'd have to say probably not. 

Last night we witnessed some head scratching play calling from David Yost as he chose to abandon a running game that had had some success in the first half and leave a gimpy Blaine Gabbert alone in the backfield to face the Okie Light pass rush.  We also saw the best argument for simply getting rid of the instant replay in college football as the replay official completely blew what I, much of America, and the television announcers thought would be easily overturned calls on fumbles.  Why pay the money for a replay official when he doesn't appear to know what he's looking at?  I'm not saying those calls would have changed the outcome, but they did drag an already too long game on by 15 minutes to still get the call wrong.
The biggest question for me this week involves our sophomore quarterback Gabbert.  The kid is an absolute warrior that just shouldn't be on the field right now.  Before the game, Gabe DeArmond of PowerMizzou stated that Blaine was limping badly as the team headed out the tunnel.  It wasn't obvious in the first half, but was painfully so in the second when the wheels came off the offense.  Both Derrick Washington and Devion Moore had had some success in the first half, but were MIA after the break.  My suggestion, and I have no doubt this won't happen would be to sit Gabbert this week against Texas.  Give that right ankle an extra week to heal against a team that we don't have a snow balls chance in hell of beating anyway, and save him for the 5 winnable games remaining on the schedule.  5-3 is going to be good enough to win the north so why not give ourselves the best chance to get there?
For the week, I finished a miserable 4-5 straight up and an even more miserable 3-6 vs the spread.  For the season I'm now 51-19 straight up but fell below the .500 mark against the spread at 33-34.  And yes, I'll state again that I don't gamble.  I predicted us to lose against the Cowboys but to cover the 7 point spread.
In other games I thought that Baylor would cover the 3 point spread actually beat Iowa State straight up.  They wound up falling to the Cyclones 24-10.  That being said, Baylor could mail the rest of their season in and still manage to finish 5th in the south.  Last place was officially reserved by Texas A&M.  I predicted that they would fail to cover as 5 1/2 point favorites but still best K State.  The Wildcats managed to sneak by and win 62-14.  Mike Sherman, the Aggies have plenty of money to buy out your contract and I doubt you'll see the end of the season while employed in College Station.  
I predicted kansas would cover a 10 point spread and win at Boulder against the hapless Golden Buffaloes.  However, Dan Hawkins came out of his coma long enough to bench his son and play the former backup Tyler Hansen.  The Buffs responded with a 34-30 win over the pre-season favorites.  Coming up next is a pissed off Oklahoma team with nothing to lose.  Party hearty this week Sparky.  I think the Sooners would like nothing better than leaving a quarterback lying motionless on the turf in Lawrence.
I thought the 10 point spread of Nebraska over Texas Tech was ridiculous and predicted the Red Raiders to not only cover but to win.  They didn't let me down.  The Huskers found that it isn't quite as easy to make up for a deficiency in speed when the game isn't played in a monsoon.  I think Bo Pelini has done a pretty good job in Lincoln of getting more out of Bill Callahan's recruits, but they simply aren't going to be fast enough to keep up in the Big XII against the better teams, even in a down year.  If they intend to restore the order, they're going to have to address this issue.
Iowa is starting to look for real to me now.  I'd predicted them to fall to Wisconsin and it looked promising as the Badgers jumped out to a 10-0 lead.  It was all Hawkeyes from then on though.  Dare we start thinking Rose Bowl?  Why not after watching Ohio State pull a face plant at Purdue?
I'd discussed the Cincinnati/South Florida game from last Thursday.  The Bearcats definitely appear to be the best team in the Big East and expect another rousing BCS game against Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl this January.  Woo haw!

Finally, even Southern Cal couldn't save me as they failed to cover the 10 point spread, but did prevail over Notre Dame 34-27.  I predict both teams will move up 3 spots in the rankings as a result of this game.  God I hate the Irish.  But, it does give me one last chance to the USC cheerleaders which is right now my highlight of the week.
Somehow I'll find the strength to get my predictions together for next week by Thursday or so.  Right now I think I'm going to go back to bed and pull the covers over my head.

So what did the Furman game prove?

Of course, the obvious answer is nothing. It was a game that needed to be over by halftime. 42-0, check. See the backups continue to dominate. Check. And no one got hurt. Also checked. Other than that, there's nothing you can take from the performance. Well, that's not true. The new scoreboard and sound system are simply fabulous. A very nice crowd on a beautiful day that got into the game and is beginning to understand when to make noise and when to be quiet.
Blaine Gabbert started the day 1 for his first 5 attempts and the offense looked like they might be trying to turn this into another nail biter. From that point on he was nearly perfect, finishing 17 of 25 for 256 yards and 3 touchdowns. Toss in a designed keeper that went for a 40 yard touchdown and he had a very nice day.
On defense, Sean Weatherspoon was again all over the field, as was Aldon Smith. We're going to miss 'Spoon next year but Ebner, Gachkar, Lambert will help ease the pain. Furman passed for over 300 yards, but only 116 in the first half. It was simply what it should have been, and what I along with most everyone expected. A dominant performance against an overmatched opponent. The biggest thing I saw, was that despite us not having a lot of scholarships to give, you're going to HAVE to find a way to give one to Grant Ressel. The kid has simply been money so far.
Looking at my picks for the week, I was great straight up going 10-1 for the week, but only 6-5 against the spread. For the year I'm 26-7 outright but only 19-14 against the spread. This reinforces my belief that I'd have no business as a gambler, which fortunately I'm not. Taking a look at what I had for the week is as follows.
Baylor was a 10 point favorite at home against UConn. I thought that sounded about right and had them to win 27-14. Not only did they fail to cover, they lost 30-22. Robert Griffin looked totally unable to live up to all the off season hype, going 17-26, but averaging less than 5 yards per attempt. The only sustained drive he led was late in the 4th quarter as the game had already been decided. Possibly the off week hurt the Bears, but right now, they don't appear ready to make any noise in the Big XII south, and very well could re-assume their customary 6th place finish.
Colorado was a 7 point favorite over Wyoming. I knew this was a make or break week for them. Lose and they could very well have mailed in the rest of the season. I predicted a 28-24 win for the Buffs, but they surprised me shutting out the Cowboys 24-0. Like the Missouri win, it really proves nothing except that Colorado had enough talent to take out an overmatched foe. I don't think they'll finish last in the north, but it still wouldn't surprise me if they do.
Iowa State was a 3 point favorite playing at Kent State, alma mater of one Gary Pinkel. I expected the Cyclones to cover 24-20, but they responded with a surprisingly easy 34-14 win. They continue to jockey with Colorado and Kansas State for a 4th place finish in the Big XII north.
Duke was a 21 point dog to the mighty beakers in lawrence, ks. I'd called for a 52-13 red leggers win and they did pretty much what I expected, rolling 44-16. We were watching the first quarter of this game from one of the televisions set up in our tailgate area. kansas has played 3 games and has 3 blowouts to show for it, but I can't say that I saw anything from the early action that really impressed me. Todd Reesing looks like a kid that spent more time partying in the off season than preparing to lead his team. Duke isn't terribly good but they are from a BCS conference and it was an opportunity for the beaks to shine on a regionally televised game. They looked all right but lets see what they do when they're playing against teams with comparable or superior athletes.
Kansas State opened as an 11 1/2 point underdog visiting UCLA. I thought that the Bruin cheerleaders would be the only reason to watch this game but I was wrong. I predicted a 38-10 rollover of the Wildcats, but they made a game of it falling 23-9. Snyder doesn't have the athletes to compete in the Big XII and I'm not convinced he'll be able to recruit them. But the old man can get what he can given what he has. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him finish ahead of both Colorado and Iowa State.
Another game that really surprised me was Nebraska, opening as a 3 1/2 point underdog to Virginia Tech. I picked the Hokies to cover 38-24. It wound up a classic 1940's dogfight where Va Tech came back in the last 2 minutes to escape with a 16-15 win. Tyrod Taylor appears to be a horrible quarterback but when the chips were down he completed an 80 yard bomb to Danny Coale. 3 plays later the Hokies scored. Roy Helu rushed for 169 yards for the corndogs, who were held to 0 yards in the first quarter. Zac Lee was an eye-popping 11 for 30 for 136 yards and he husker offense continually shot themselves in the foot. Bo Pelini did use the loss as an opportunity to once again display his immaturity when he launched his headset over the husker bench after the 80 yard completion. His lack of personal discipline continues to reflect itself in his team as they were flagged 9 times for penalties totally 60 yards. Many of those occurred at critical times. Hick nation will be spinning this as his "competitive fire" for the next week. But don't get too comfortable Bo. They extended Bill Callahan's contract with a nice raise, only to fire him 7 months later. I see another trip to kindly old Dr. Tom's office, (ie woodshed) this week with a lecture about "cornhusker class" for Pelini.
Tulsa came into Norman, Oklahoma this weekend as a 15 1/2 point dog against the Sooners. I called for a 49-10 Sooner thumping and the final was 45-0. Nothing new here. Coach Stoops is becoming known for laying an egg, then clubbing enough teams at the right time along the way to allow the Sooners to make it to the national championship game, only to go dormant. Exactly why are he, Pete Carroll and Jim Tressel considered 3 of the greatest coaches in the game? Yes, they win league titles and continue to post double digit win seasons, but they also have more talent than 95% of the teams in D1. They should be doing exactly what they do. It takes someone like Urban Meyer at Florida to channel that talent at the proper time of the year. Right now in the coaching fraternity it's him and everyone else. And it's not particularly close in my opinion.
Oklahoma State opened as a 32 point favorite against lowly Rice. I called for a 52-6 Cowboys romp but they failed to cover, winning 41-24. I think they're dealing as badly or worse as last years Tiger team. They appear to be a top 20 type team, but as of yet they still seem to be 3rd best in the tough Big XII south. Look for them to very possibly get a nice post season return trip to Dallas however.
Hapless Utah State entered College Station as a 17 1/2 point underdog to Texas A&M. I called for the Aggies to win, but fail to cover 34-21. They didn't let me down, winning 38-30. We still know nothing about them except they may be able to top the Baylor Bears for 5th.
The conference opener was in Austin this weekend as the Longhorns took on the Red Raiders of Texas Tech and Pirate captain Mike Leach. Texas opened as a 17 point favorite. I predicted a 41-21 victory for Mack Brown's troops but they failed to cover, winning 34-24. Texas is 3-0 but look like the 2nd best team in their division again to me. I see no way they are a top 5 team at this point.
So now my Tigers face a Friday night ESPN nationally televised game against a Nevada team they beat by 50 points last year in Columbia. I don't really like doing home and home's against teams like this, but it is what the landscape is becoming in college football. You either throw more bones to D1 schools like this or little your non-con schedule against teams like Furman. I'll have my picks out by Thursday this week, the Lord willing.