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About the Author - Disciple

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Big XII Conference Openers Preview (Oct. 4th)
10/3/08

Conference play finally begins this week.  No more wondering how good or bad teams really are, it's time to face up head 2 head with some of the best teams in the nation within one of the toughest conferences in the country.

There are SIX ranked teams in the top 25 this week from the Big XII.  Four of those teams occupy the Top 7 spots.  That's simply amazing & is a testament to how difficult this league is.  Sure, the bottom half of the conference has a lot of catching up to do and that can start right now as, coincidentally, all six of the ranked teams face off against the six unranked teams this week.  Five of the six ranked teams will have to take the show on the road, so it's a chance to make a statement for the home teams.
Alot of the talk nationwide about this conference centers around the QB play, & rightfully so.  The Big XII has 4 of the top 5 and 5 of the top 8 QB's in Div. I-A Football in passing efficiency.  Add to that any heisman list you look at will be splattered with these guys and you can see why the Big XII has been flipped upside down from the football played in this area pre-2000.
Here is this week's upcoming schedule, we'll break them down game by game:
 
TIME (ET)
 MATCHUP      
12:30 PM ET
 No. 1 Oklahoma at Baylor      
12:30 PM ET No. 16 Kansas at Iowa State      
3:30 PM ET No. 7 Texas Tech at Kansas State      
7:00 PM ET No. 5 Texas at Colorado      
7:00 PM ET Texas A&M at No. 21 Oklahoma State      
9:00 PM ET No. 4 Missouri at Nebraska      
 
 
 
          BIG XII GAME OF THE WEEK       
                      Missouri
                                 @                                        
                       Nebraska           
      Thanks to our inhouse Husker reporter and loyal fan Hskrdave  for this weeks look from a Nebraska fan's perspective on the upcoming game against Heisman candidate Chase Daniel and the #4 ranked Missouri Tigers.  Here is his take on the matchup:
 
                                                        Missouri vs Nebraska 9ET
How do I sound intelligent about this game, and not be homer? Nebraska has won 15 straight against Misery in Lincoln, including two wins under Callahan. (Yes Callahan won some games.) Missouri comes into town with the leading Heisman Contender, Chase Daniel. Nebraska is countering with a Defense that looked good at times against Virginia Tech, but had blown secondary coverage too many times that resulted in the loss. I’m thinking Daniel to Maclin or Cofflin will be a popular call on Saturday night. Especially since I (a completely non biased Husker fan) think we will be able to contain Daniel and stop the rest of the rushing game. For the Huskers offense, Joey Ganz is leading what can be a high powered game. Missouri’s pass defense is ranked 112 in the nation, and Ganz has thrown well since taking over for an injured Zac Taylor last year. Lucky and Helu have balanced the running attack this year, rushing for 186 and 164 this year respectively. But Missouri’s defensive strength is their run game. I’m not great at analysis, but since the game is at Home, (and hopefully Pelini beat the stupid mistakes out of them this week) I’ll go against Q blogger extraordinaire Critical Fanatic and say this will be a close game. No upset against the Tigers, but a respectable showing against the #4 team in the country. Misery 31-Huskers 28.

                                     
 

Thank you for that nice breakdown Dave, the Q really appreciates it.  I agree with the basis of your points, I think the home crowd will be raucous, and Pelini is an outstanding coach.  However, I do not believe the extremely well-oiled Missouri offensecan be totally contained, and Pelini has not yet had enough time to restore Nebraska defense to the glory days of the blackshirts.....so my prediction is the game will be close for a quarter but the talented offense of Mizzou will prevail 37-24.

  Although, she brings up very good points & makes me rethink my position.



From here, let's break the games down starting with the highest ranking and working our way down:
  
OU comes into the game with the #1 ranking attached for the first time this year, but NCAA record 97th time since the AP poll began in 1936.  Oklahoma has beaten the Bears 12 straight in conference play & 17 straight overall by an average of over 24 points a game.  Baylor has freshmen sensation Robert Griffin is a world-class sprinter that has brought excitement to Waco, but it won't be nearly enough.  OU wins big 44-17.
 
  
Texas @ Colorado
#5 ranked Texas has raked their opponents over the coals so far this season, winning by a combined score of 198 to 43.  Whoa!  That's good even if you're playing the sisters of the poor.  Colorado has lost 5 of the past 6 meetings with the Longhorns, including the last two in Boulder but fans of the Buffaloes need not look past last year when their team was in a similar situation facing a Sooners team riding high, having destroyed everyone in their path, coming to Boulder as a big favorite.  I'm not sold on Texas completely yet, & Colorado has already defeated W. Virginia at home, but......the Longhorns are favored by 13 on Saturday & I like the line.
Texas34  Colorado 20

Texas Tech @ Kansas State
The Red Raiders have achieved their highest ranking of all-time and brings the high-flying circus act to a tough place to play where Kansas State has a big home field advantage.  It should be a high scoring affair since Tech averages over 570 yards of offense and 45.8 pts./game.  K State is no slouch offensively either, averaging 47 pts./game.  Vegas has set the line as Tech being a 7 pt. favorite, it seems low & I think they are trapping betters here.  UPSET ALERT!  UPSET ALERT!  Neither team has a defense worth mentioning and Tech has looked shaky this year, not running on all cylinders yet.  I'm not saying the Wildcats are the better team, but they have all the intangibles going for them this week.      I'll pick the upset special here with Kansas State winning straight up 34-33 over  Texas Tech

Kansas @ Iowa State      Remember, Mangino is always hungry for a booger "W".
Iowa state is getting better under Gene Chizik, I really believe that.  It will be a slow, long process but he is a guy that can have them competing for the Big XII North title.  Cyclones fans need only look to Lawrence to see a man turn a program around, given time.  Iowa state can hold the Jayhawks down for a bit with just plain ugly football, but the Hawks pull away in the end.  Kansas34  Iowa State  17

Texas A&M @ Okie State
The only ranked team in the conference to play at home this week.  Not much to say about this one, osu is pretty, pretty, pretty good & A&M just flat out isn't.  In fact, they may be the worst team in the Big XII South.  Can they stop the vaunted Cowboy offense?  I don't think so.    Oklahoma State  44      Texas A&M 17


Just for fun fact of the week -- The Tulsa/Rice game is set at 80 pts. for the over/under...what's your take on that?   I might just bet on the over!

Thanks for reading, let me know what your thoughts on the games this week are in the comments below.  Have fun watching!