Around the Big XII. Part 3, Baylor

Last entry I was talking about Iowa State, a team that had a young coach that had broken a bowl drought in '09 only to fall back last season, and not a lot of hope for this year.  Today I'd like to talk about the Baylor Bears, a team with a not nearly as young coach that broke a 15 year absence with an appearance in the Texas Bowl.  The two schools share a lot in common in that they're both hard to recruit to and don't spend the money on athletics like their competition.  However, Baylor is still in Texas and that's going to give them a big leg up with the Texas kids, which is a main component of Big XII football.  Their future looks a little brighter right now.  Last year the Bears stood at 7-2 with a win over Texas before falling flat to end the year with 4 straight losses, including aa 38-14 trouncing to Missouri's favorite whipping boy, Illinois.

Head coach Art Briles is a native Texan who moved from the job at Houston to Baylor in 2008 and began the slow process of trying to make a small, private college competitive with the like of Texas, Oklahoma and the other south powers.  Probably nothing he accomplished that first year was bigger than recruiting a kid named Robert Griffin.  Griffin was a highly rated, highly sought 4 star recruit who chose the Bears over a host of better known schools.  He's turned out to be Coach Briles version of what Brad Smith was for Gary Pinkel.  A star on a team full of somewhat average players that gave them some credibility.  Frankly, I'm kind of surprised he returned this year, but it's good for Baylor as well as the rest of the Big XII.  Recruiting has since picked up and I expect them to remain competitive as long as they can hang on to Briles.

Their schedule this season is still very respectable as it will be with all conference teams with the new round robin format.  In addition to the conference games, the Bears open with a biggie, TCU at home before settling down with games against Stephen F. Austin and Rice.  Road trips to Oklahoma State and Texas A&M will certainly be tough, but they also travel to kansas and Kansas State which won't be nearly as daunting.   Their home schedule is very tough with Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech and Missouri coming to Waco.  The only breather there is an Oct. 8th match up with Iowa State.  It's not going to be easy for the Bears to make a second straight bowl game without a little help and an upset or two.  Right now, I'd pick them to go 2-1 in the non conference schedule, and hope for a 4-5 conference record.  The final 2 games of the season, at home against UT and Texas Tech will be critical.  They, in my opinion will have to at least win one of those games.  But regardless, the Bears are going to be fun  to watch and for some reason, those lily white cheerleaders of theirs have always been among my favorites.
Next time, we'll talk about another north team, the Kansas State Wildcats and head coach Bill Snyder.

Week 8 recap:How do you like us now?

What a night in Columbia!  A packed house of rowdy fans, some who had been there since 3:30 Saturday morning when the Quad was opened up for the weeks edition of ESPN's Game Day.  An Oklahoma team that was ranked 2nd in the nation and 1st in the BCS rankings had few answers but left with plenty of questions as Mizzou rolled them 36-27, in a game that really wasn't quite that close.  OU had 402 yards of offense in the game, but only 99 of them came after halftime as the Tigers defense again rose to the challenge.  Missouri accounted for 486 yards of total offense including 178 rushing yards.  Let that one sink in.  Blaine Gabbert was once again very effective managing the offense as he threw for 308 yards on a 30 of 42 night.  He was never sacked and spread the ball around with 10 receivers making catches.  It was electric inside of Faurot and a night we that were there will be talking about in the years to come, along with 2003 vs Nebraska, and other huge wins from the past.  I called this one, but I'm not going to claim much if any credit for a gutsy prediction.  Pure and simple, I'm a homer.  So now the Tigers will get to celebrate this Sunday afternoon before the next biggest game of the year hits next weekend as the Tigers travel north to face the Cornhuskers in the battle for the north and just possibly this year, the conference.

Speaking of the hicks, there wasn't a black shirt to be found in Stillwater as the Huskers won a 51-41 shootout with the Cowboys.  Taylor Martinez threw for 323 yards and repeatedly gashed Okie Lite's secondary that came into the game ranked 114th against the pass.  We can expect that ranking will not improve with this effort.  The fact that Martinez demonstrated he can indeed throw the ball came along at the best possible moment for the nubs since I see no way they could have beaten Missouri as one dimensional as they'd shown the first 6 games.  I'd picked OSU to upset in this one, so I fell to 1-1 for the week.

Another game that I, along with the rest of American missed went down in Austin where the Iowa State Cyclones pulled the 28-21 upset of Texas.  Alexander Robinson rushed for 120 yards and 2 scores and the Clones defense forced Texas quarterback Garrett Gilbert into 4 turnovers.  After their upset in Lincoln last weekend the whorns had moved back into the top 25.  I think this turd should insure they don't see that again this weekend, but who knows.  The media infatuation with Texas will likely continue as soon as they beat someone else with a pulse.
The 3rd game I missed on the weekend can't really be described as an upset.  Texas Tech walked into Boulder as 2 1/2 point favorites, but I'd picked the Buffs to win one at home for the Hawk.  However, Tech held on for a 27-24 win.  With reports this week that former coach Bill McCartney would be interested in taking over the job, I'll be surprised if Hawkins is employed longer than a half hour or so after their season ends.

In Waco it was the battle for bowl eligibility as the Bears hosted Kansas State.  I'm not interested enough to look it up, but I believe this will be the first bowl for Baylor since the 1994 season, making them the final team in the conference to play in a bowl game.  I've made no bones about the fact that Art Briles is a good coach that I like a lot.  I'm really happy for the Bears, and happy for myself since it was a game I'd picked correctly.
Another game I picked right happened just down the road in lawrence where Texas A&M found the right cure for what ails you when you're on a 3 game losing streak.  The Aggies not only won, but rolled in a 45-10 win over the hapless jayhawks.  Adding insult to injury was a disclosure this week that there was no buyout stipulation in the contract former AD Lew Perkins negotiated with Turner Gill.  In the first place, Gill was given a 2 million dollar a year salary, and now it appears if he's terminated the remainder of his contract will have to be paid within 30 days.  Frankly, I think the beaks are stuck for at least 2 or 3 more years.
For the week I wound up 3-3 on the spread and straight up.  For the year I'm 55-13 straight up and 32-27 vs the spread.  There's a lot of games this week that could go either way, so I'm going to think about things for a few days and I'll get back to you.  Have a good week and let me close with M  I  Z.....

Week 8: Backs against the wall

It just isn't getting any easier.  At the beginning of the year, I knew the 3 games of Nebraska, Okie State and Texas were going to be 3 of the biggest tests of the year for this young Tiger team.  2 weeks in, there is no other way to say it, but they've fallen terribly short.  The 4th quarter collapse against the hicks in Columbia followed by the inexplicable play selection last week in Stillwater were nothing compared to this weeks potential for disaster.  Texas is good.  Really good, and they can make you look very bad as was witnessed last year in Austin against a much more seasoned team than this years version of the Tigers.
Does that mean I'm throwing in my towel and calling this season a bust?  Not only no, but hell no.  I knew before the beginning of the season that 37 freshmen and sophomores on your 2 deep wasn't exactly a recipe for success, but hoped that the talent would carry them through.  Unfortunately, few teams recruit more talent than Texas, so this week it's going to be gutcheck time just to keep this baby close.
The early departures of Dominique Grooms, JP Tillman and Blaine Dalton has left the team short of quarterbacks, so Blaine Gabbert, sprained ankle and all is going to have to do his best once again to lead the team.  I've been impressed with the way this kid handles adversity due to injuries.  I still believe he's going to be a very good one for us, and I anticipate watching him for years after his college career ends on Sundays.  I believe that Mizzou will be the odds on favorite next year in the north, but we're just going to have to hope for the best the remainder of this season.
Moving on to predictions, there's just no way to break this down that looks favorable for the Tigers.  Texas has the advantage in experience, speed, size and most intangibles.  It has however, been the year of upsets so anything is possible.   Texas opens as a 13 1/2 point favorite.  Their offense has been a bit down but the defense remains solid.  I'll go with Texas 38-13.
Oklahoma State (5-1, 2-0) travels to Baylor (3-3, 0-2) as a 10 point favorite.  The Cowboys will still be playing without Dez Bryant, but have their running game going now, regardless of who the running back is.  I'm going to go with Vegas and predict an OSU win, covering the spread 31-20.  
Can Colorado make it 2 in a row?  Last week appeared to be another good first half effort that would be followed by a 2nd half collapse against the beakers in Boulder.  However, the Buffs rallied late and upset kansas 34-30.  The Buffs are 2-4 and 1-1 in conference.  Kansas State annihilated Texas A&M last weekend 62-14, which may say more about A&M than them.  They are 4-3 overall but currently sitting in first place in the north at 2-1.  The Wildcats open as a 4 1/2 point favorite at home.  If the game were in Boulder I'd pick Colorado by a touchdown.  However, I'm not sure they can pull off the road win.  They aren't as bad as they'd appeared before last week and KSU is no where near as good as they looked against the hapless Aggies.  I think the spread is about right here and I'll go with the Snyders to win, but fail to cover 31-27.
Iowa State (4-3, 1-2) travels to Lincoln to face the Cornhuskers (4-2, 1-1).  Nebraska's lack of team speed was exposed last weekend against Tech.  You'll never convince me they'd have stayed within 10 points of Missouri on a dry field.  They have a full blown quarterback controversy going now and Bo Pelini blasted the red hoard for booing his team last weekend.  This actually has the potential to roll downhill quickly for the bugeaters should the unthinkable happen and they fall to the Cyclones this weekend.  I think that they will pull it out however, winning 27-13.  That won't be enough to cover the spread, which I consider to be too high anyway with the hicks listed as a 17 1/2 point favorite.  As I say though, nothing would surprise me in this game.  
3-3 and 1-1 Oklahoma travels north to lawrence to face the 5-1, 1-1 kansas jayhawks.  The Sooners open as a 7 1/2 point favorite.  The loss at home to Colorado last weekend did some major damage to beaker stock.  They have a remarkably slow defensive backfield which a small and slow set of linebackers is unable to overcome.  Oklahoma lost Sam Bradford for the season on Wednesday as it was announced he'd have season ending surgery on his twice injured shoulder.  Back up quarterback or not, the Sooners are going to be able to move the ball on the pathetic jayhawk defense.
On the other side of the ball, ku quarterback Todd "Sparky" Reesing was harrassed all day by a Colorado pass rush that had more resembled glaciers forming that the Steel Curtain.  As badly as the year has gone for Oklahoma, the defense has been nasty and solid.  The beaks have 3 of the best playmakers in the division in Reesing, Meier and Briscoe.  Sadly, (well for them anyway) they just don't have the horses anywhere else.  Stoops boys will be pissed and looking to take it out on someone.  (yep, I mean you Todd)  Look for Okie to cover and double up the beaks, 34-17.  
In the final conference tilt of the week, Texas A&M (3-3, 0-2) travels to Lubbock to take on Mike Leach and the Red Raiders. (5-2, 2-1)  Tech opens as a 21 point favorite and actually, that sounds a little low to me.  Mike Sherman may not be allowed on the bus home after this one.  Tech wins big, 63-10.
I've found the out of conference schedule to be very boring this week.  However, I managed to pick 3 games that I found mildly interesting.  In the Big East, West Virginia (5-1, 1-0) opens as a 7 point favorite at home against UConn. (4-2, 1-1)  West Virginia has been moderately impressive this year, averaging around 35 points per game.  Had they not fallen in week 3 to an over rated Auburn team they'd be sitting comfortably in the Top 10 right now and we'd be drooling at the upcoming game against Cincinnati.  As it stands now, I think the Mountaineers win and cover, 35-17.
In the ACC, Clemson (3-3, 2-2) opens as a 6 point underdog to Miami.  (5-1, 2-1)  I don't think the Hurricanes are as good as their record would indicate but I think they have enough to take care of business this week.  Pick the Canes 31-24.
In the final game of the week, we go to Knoxville where Tennessee (3-3, 1-2) opens as a 16 point dog to #2 Alabama.  (7-0, 4-0)  The Volunteers earned their first win of any significance last week when they upset Georgia 45-19.  However, Georgia is suffering from the same malady as Mizzou this year.  Too much youth.
Meanwhile the Tide has rolled along on the strength of their defense.  I look for them to cover this, winning 34-10.  If you're wondering what this game did to be deemed worthy to talk about, may I present Lane Kiffin's wife; ahem, Layla.
Good luck this week, unless you are a kansas fan.