Pre Season Previews: Big 12 Conference

Ahh the Big 12. Being an admitted Big 10 homer, i've never had a lot of respect for the Big 12. Granted they usually field two really good teams every year (Texas and Oklahoma), the rest of the league is mostly patently horrible, including the entire North Division, which is a complete joke of half of a conference. While seeming to be incredibly top heavy, the conference is stuck with perennial underachieving and talentless teams, such as Baylor (talentless, which is surprising considering they're a world-class track and field school), Kansas, and Iowa State (perennially underachieving is being kind for the Cyclowns...).

And while Colorado, Nebraska, and Oklahoma State have at times been very good, as of late they have been stinking out the joint, particularly the on-going butcher job of one the country's best programs in the 90's, Colorado. Nebraska is at least showing some signs of life the last two years...

Throw in the quirky offense of Texas Tech, which is good enough to win 6-7 games a year but get blown out by anyone remotely good, Texas A&M, which is virtually the same as Tech only without the quirky offense, and Missouri, and you have a conference void of any competition outside of the top two. There is a reason the Red River Shootout each year between Texas and Oklahoma is always the biggest conference game of the year, even though it is played the first week of October. If the Big 12 was smart, they would move that game away from the Texas State Fair and put it as the last week of the season, a la Michigan-Ohio St. Of course, that game would then overshadow the Big 12 Conference Championship the following week, so it will never happen.

Then again, the Conference Championship game is a joke anyway. There hasn't been a close competitive game since 2001. Texas or Oklahoma has represented the South Division in every game since 1998, and the South Division has won 4 of the last 5 years, the only exception being Kansas State's upset of Oklahoma in 2003. That being said, as i stated earlier the top two in the conference are usually very good, and have appeared in the National Championship game five times out of seven since the start of the decade, winning two of them.

This year would seem to be no different, with Texas and Oklahoma each poised to make a strong run through the conference and no other real contenders popping up, with the possible exception of Texas A&M, who is generating a lot of buzz going into the season. The rest of the league will once again be stuck playing second fiddle, trying to angle into mediocre, mid-level bowl games. The winner of the North Division will once again get pasted in the Conference Championship game, leaving the winner of the South Division in prime position for a high ranking and great bowl game.

Team To Beat: Texas
Oklahoma also looks ridiculously loaded heading into the season, but has no proven quarterback to lead them. Contrast that with Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who entered last season as a questionable starter, being just a freshman and trying to fill the gigantic void Vince Young's shoes left behind. McCoy walked away at the end of the year with one of the best seasons by a freshman quarterback in history. This year McCoy should be even better, with the experience and leadership abilities brought about due to last year's fantastic start. Even with an offensive line that suffered significant losses after last year (losing three All-Big 12 selections), the Longhorns return a good running back in Jamaal Charles, and should have no trouble putting up points on anyone. Their defensive front will be solid, and they should once again be contending with Oklahoma for the right to paste someone from the North in the Conference Championship game, this year conveniently played in Texas at San Antonio.

Surprising Team: Iowa State (I hate myself for this...)
I looked at both Nebraska and Texas A&M for this slot, but didn't pick either of them for certain reasons. A&M has too hard of a schedule, with a non-conference game at Miami, and going on the road for both Nebraska and Oklahoma. Nebraska also has a tough schedule, especially in the non-conference. They go on the road to Wake Forest (yeah i bashed them in my ACC post, but they still won the conference last year...), then faces USC at home in consecutive weeks. And even though they miss Oklahoma completely this year (which should be a crime), they go on the road to face Texas. Plus i watched their quarterback Sam Keller go through the ringer down here at Arizona State before transferring, and am still not convinced he can lead a team anywhere. Also, both Nebraska and A&M are getting too much publicity for them to surprise anyone.

So i picked ISU. With new coach Gene Chizik, formerly the Texas and Auburn defensive coordinator, the Cyclones should have a much improved defense. They also return senior Brett Meyer at quarterback, who has plenty of experience with 36 career starts. Their schedule is somewhat favorable, with them getting Texas and Oklahoma, as well as their biggest game of the year against Iowa, at home. Their only tough road games will be at Nebraska and Texas Tech in successive weeks. They finish the year at Kansas, which should be an easy game, though for the Cyclowns Kansas has proved to be a formidable foe. Kansas has beaten them two straight years, including an overtime game in 2005 in which ISU had the lead in the fourth quarter and a trip to the Conference Championship game on the line. While i don't expect great things from ISU this year, they should be better than their 4-8 record of a year ago. Watch for them to go about .500 and make a bowl game this season, as well as surprise a team or two along the way.

Disappointing Team: Colorado
It seems like a cop out to pick Colorado, as they were horrifically bad last year (2-10). Even so, as stated earlier they were one of the elite programs in the country in the 90's, and their fans have come to expect more from them. But with a schedule that starts with rival Colorado St. on a neutral field, at Arizona St., and home against Florida St., don't expect them to start off strong. They also have home games against Miami (OH) and Oklahoma, but finish the year at Nebraska, so don't expect them to finish the year strong either. With another first-year starter at quarterback and no proven receivers, plus a defense that is shaky at best, don't look for much out of the Buffaloes this year.

League MVP: Colt McCoy
An easy choice, to be sure. McCoy looks poised to be a bigger star than he was last year, the returning starter on a championship-caliber team. He should post monster numbers this year, and best his TD total of 29 from last year. And because of all this, expect him to be in the Heisman talk early and often.