Revenge of the Sodd - The Big 12 North Preview

So here we are…the post many of you have been waiting for....time to put my money where my keyboard is. Over the years, I’ve gotten quite a lot of feedback about my blog…some good…some bad. But NOTHING stirs up the emotion, tears and bad blood like the Big 12 North official prediction column. It’s pretty much the basis of what I do…considering I spend most of the rest of the season telling you how wrong you were and how right I was. But regardless, this should be the most interesting season in YEARS for the North. The one thing I will say is...as outrageous as you may think these are...I ALWAYS return to them at the end of the year. (Unlike many of you who brush your ridiculous "Marlon Lucky for Heisman" claims under the rug come November...ironically just as you're making a brand new Roy Halu for Heisman t-shirt.)

I’ll get to you folks in the south later on this week…but in the meantime, let’s get the bloodshed and crying out of the way early.

Here we go.

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Iowa State – 1,000,000,000,000 to 1 winning the North. 2 projected wins. (0-8)
(North Dakota State, Army)

* We’ve already covered the clones in our ill-fated look around the conference. (Which ended up being an ill-fated look at conference doormats.) The Clones have a fairly brutal schedule with only three true Big 12 home games. (Baylor, OSU and Colorado). I think it's safe to say that most sane people don’t really see ISU pulling any upsets there (The Buffs usually lay and egg every year on the road, and Baylor hasn’t proven they can win…pretty much anywhere.) , however there are no true scenarios where I could see the Clones making any noise at all. Oh well, at least the September 3rd opener against former DII powerhouse North Dakota State should give ISU fans their first chance to celebrate a win since September 6th of LAST year....or, could be the most embarassing loss of a generation, for a team that has had plenty of them. Yeesh




Kansas State – 700 to 1 winning the North. 5 projected wins. (2-6)
(UMass, ULL, Tenn Tech, ISU and Texas A&M)

* I’ve thought about it a little bit, and I think I like what KSU and their wacky athletic department is trying to do. If they use logical thought, and allow Bill Snyder to groom the next long-term coach at KSU, I think they’ll be OK. (since he really has produce a ton of good ones) Many people around the league tend to forget, but Snyder’s last season was a disaster (in his terms), and that was with way more talented players than he has right now. I definitely think the Cats will be better in the mid-term…and maybe even in the long term. But for this season, I don’t see how players used to Ron Prince’s laid back style are going to adapt well to Snyder’s iron fist. They’ll be good for an upset perhaps, but nothing you can count on. Love the Cat fans though..always have.



Nebraska – 500 to 1 winning the North. 5 projected wins. (2-6)
(FAU, Arkansas State, ULL, Iowa State, Kansas State)

Congratulations Husker fans! This is the highest I’ve predicted your team to finish since 2006….which is saying something. (Or says how bad ISU and KSU are right now, I'm not sure.) I can see how some national pundits can look at Nebraska as being shoe-ins for the Dallas in December…because quite frankly they're lazy and they don’t know any better. But the lack of ANY returning skill players (replacing guys who weren’t that good anyway) and a schedule WAY WAY WAY tougher than anybody wants to admit…and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. Why? Because this season will all be about how Bo Pelini handles the pressure…which if you’ve seen any of their games…isn’t that well. (Personal fouls anyone?) We saw how fast Hick nation turned on Bill Callahan (wanting him fired 7 weeks after giving him an extension)…but how will things taste when there is nobody left to fire? How will the greatest fans in college football react when close games like last year’s CU debacle in Lincoln doesn’t go their way? I already know the answer. You should too. Look for the Turner Gill bandwagon rolling out of control by Thanksgiving.



Colorado - 25 to 1 winning the North. 7 projected wins (4-4)
(Colorado State, Toledo, Wyoming, Kansas State, A&M, Iowa State and Nebraska)

* I’ve been on the CU bandwagon for a while now..and it seems like almost always, they let me down. One minute you’re watching them smack Oklahoma..the next minute they’re losing to some crappy team they have no business even toying with. The Buffs schedule sets up EXTREMELY nice with big conference home games with all three North favorites. (NU, KU and MU). The key for CU’s success is injuries, or as is the case..staying away from them. You saw last season how the team rebounded late when guys started to get healthy. (playing OSU tough and coming within a Nerd-booted miracle field goal at Lincoln.) Cody Hawkins has another year under his belt, and Darrell Scott has a chance…while now healthy…to prove he’s the monster back most people think he can be. The key for CU is to take care of business at home and let the rest of the chips fall where they may. Anything short of a bowl this season would be extremely disappointing IMO.




Missouri – 5 to 1 winning the North. 8 projected wins (5-3)
(Bowling Green, Furman, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, Baylor, KSU and ISU)

* Many of you know my position on the 2009 Tigers, but I’ll fill in those of you who do not. I can certainly see why the Phil "Dartboard" Steele and the National media would predict a deep drop off for Mizzou. Yes, they lost 3 of their best players and yes…they are starting the year with an inexperienced QB. But what people DO NOT realize, is that a lot of those players…hell MOST of those players starting for Mizzou this year have had multitudes of playing time for whatever reason. On top of that, they still return 3 All-Big 12 selections from 2008, including Sean Weatherspoon, who was playing as well as anybody in the NATION at linebacker at the end of last year. (Single-handedly keeping Mizzou in games when their defense needed stops). This season will only go as far as Blaine Gabbert takes them…but we heard those exact same words about a young Chase Daniel back in 2006. Sure the Tigers fell short in the North that year, but they still won 8 games and finished 2nd in the conference. These are not the Mizzou teams of the early 90’s the Tigers are "falling back" to…these are more like the good to very good teams of the mid 2000’s. (And didn't we hear all about "drop-offs after Brad Smith left?) A 6-6 type year would not shock me, but there’s no reason..with the seemingly invisable firepower that is back, that Missouri can not challenge for the North for a 3rd straight year.



Kansas – 2-1 winning the North. 9 projected wins (5-3)
(N. Colorado, UTEP, Duke (seriously?), Southern Miss, Iowa State, Colorado, KSU, Nebraska and Missouri)

*My God did it hurt to type that. I’ve been telling readers that KU is a sham and a fraud for several years now...and for the most part, that’s been pretty much true. (Not including a 4th and 8 bomb with 20 seconds left to beat Mizzou in a snow shower last season at Arrowhead) However, on paper…NO team in the North returns as many offensive weapons as Kansas. (And sorry Husker fans…offense in this league wins championships….not defenses fueled by fat overrated linemen as you've been told.) Briscoe and Meier are the best 1-2 punch in the league. Todd Reesing…as freaky strange and as squirrely as he is…has 68 TD passes and over 8000 yards of total offense in his two years at KU. Throw on top the experience of bowl games and you have a team that should be tough to beat. The Red Legs true Achilles Heel will be of course their schedule, which as we all know includes OU, Texas and Tech…three pretty sure fire loses. That makes their remaining 5 league games all must-wins. Personally, I see another showdown at Arrowhead for the North title, and in this particular case…evil looks pretty tough to pick against in that scenario. (Not a good matchup for Mizzou) The whole thing could unravel and disintegrate before our eyes…because let’s face it..they’re KU; However, veteran leadership is tough to come by, especially at skill positions. We shall see.


So there you go in order:

1. Kansas 9-3 (5-3)
2. Missouri 8-4 (5-3)
3. Colorado 7-5 (4-4)
4. Nebraska 5-7 (2-6)
5. Kansas State 5-7 (2-6)
6. Iowa State 2-10 (0-8)


And there you have it. South and overall conference picks coming up later this week.

Can't wait to see what some of you come up with this year. Will it be more tears? Or more anger? Crying or Rambling rebuttal? Let's find out and let the pissing and moaning begin.