Big12 North Breakdown 2010

#1
TXA&M07

TXA&M07

Roll the dice....
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#1
The Big 12 North Breakdown 2010

After last year’s Big 12 Championship game, and a dominating performance by Pelini’s defense, most folks have jumped back on the Nebraska bandwagon. I’m not buying a t-shirt, but I’ll give credit where credit is due. The leader of the North resides in Lincoln but there will be bumps and bruises along the way.

1.Nebraska. Cornhusker fans should be very optimistic about their future in 2010. Coming off one of the biggest screw jobs I’ve seen in college football officiating, the boys from Lincoln almost put TCU in the National Championship game. Looking at their schedule, the away game at Washington will be their first test. I’m not completely sold that they wont lose to some members of the south either. You have to remember, last year, Iowa State shocked them. My pick is (10-2).


2.K-State. Snyder and company didn’t have a terrible year last year, but the schedule this year is not that as bad. Of course, winning on the road may boost confidence, but getting Okie Lite and Texas coming off of a win in Waco maybe too much. If they open up with a win against UCLA, I wont be shocked, but I don’t expect it to happen. My pick is (8-4)


3.Mizzou. This schedule is weak up front with maybe the exception of the opener. After that, the tigers play a bunch of high school teams till the reach mid October. Then its goes south. I can easily see the heart of their schedule being filled with disappointment after disappointment for Coach Pinkel and Blaine Gabbert, but they should finish up strong enough for a bowl. Of course, that blood bath game at the end of the season against Kansas, may be the deciding factor for that though, provided that don’t stub their toe in September. My pick is (7-5)


4.Kansas. Its sad when a game against Iowa State could be the deciding factor if you make it to a bowl game or not, but that’s the case for the jay hawks. I’m sure its all good though; they get a little more excited when football season ends anyway. Historically, the first year in Kansas has been tough on resumes, but I’m going to give Turner Gill two more wins than the average. The cupboard is bear on both sides of the ball, and he’s got his work cut out for him. My pick is (5-7).



5.Iowa State. Why? Because I’m nuts and I think Colorado sucks. That is why. The magic of pulling off some upsets last year will soon fade away after the first few bloodbaths in October. They Cyclone fans should be back to having no expectations for anything by the start of November. There is light at the end of the tunnel though. They get to beat the Buffaloes in Colorado at the end of the year. My pick is (3-9).



6.Colorado. The biggest football related story going on in the entire state of Colorado during the 2010 season will be Tim Tebow playing for the Broncos. There is absolutely no need to keep track of the Big12’s whipping boy. The good news is, Hawkins will take his act to the PAC10 soon enough and we will be rid of them. That’s is of course if he is still employed after this year. I have my doubts on that one. My pick is (1-11) and no, I’m not kidding. Look at the schedule and find me another win after Sept 4th.


So that’s my big 12 North picks. While I’ll concede that there is little difference between the teams I ranked 4 through 6, I think my first three are pretty solid. I might have looked at the schedules and gave a little too much credit to some schools, but lets face it, it’s Nebraska’s to lose.
 
#5
#5
I took Nebraska to go 10-2, but they could easily slip up and lose 4 games also. I was trying to be Mr. Optimistic.
 
#6
#6
i imagine we'll see this in the our south breakdown, but are you on the a&m bandwaggon? lots of people are predicting they cuold win it this year. seems like a stretch to me.
 
#7
#7
I do not have us taking the south. I should have the South Breakdown up before the end of the day.
 
#8
#8
Zac Lee is a terribad QB (from his '09 season). Matter of fact, Pelini has no clue who his QB is going to be, but all signs point to Lee. Helu was ok at RB, but his numbers are a bit inflated due to a few big games. No Suh, but people are convinced Jared Crick can do it on his own. I'm not. Suh was a beast that fought though double teams...mostly freeing Crick up. Not going to have that luxury this year.

K-State is plugging Carson Coffman back in at QB after a year that he did nothing but fail. Daniel Thomas is a really good RB, but I'm not convinced he'll live up to last year. He should still have 1,100+ yds, but only because there's nothing else on offense. Coffman will be throwing to....? Since Brandon Banks graduated, he's got nothing. Oh, and their schedule is BRUTAL. Three true home games...vs Nubs, Texas, Okie Light.

Mizzou returns a good OLine, a solid DLine, 3 LBs that all played great (might be the best group in the B12, even minus Weatherspoon), Derrick Washington, and Blaine Gabbert, who is either 1st or 2nd team B12 depending on who you talk to. The key will be the secondary, which has blown at times the last few years, and replacing DaNario Alexander. The thing the Tigers have going is the depth at WR over the last few years. The passing game will be more spread out than it was last year. The 3wk stretch of ATM, Oklahoma, and Nubs will be rough, but Mizzou should run the table on the others. This team was young last year, and the main core returns. Personally, this team reminds me a lot of the '07 team the way things have set up.

kU has Turner Gill, who (according to some) has already alienated himself by pissing off HS coaches around Kansas. Kale Pick will probably be their QB, and he'll have to deal with an inexperienced receiving corp. No Briscoe, no Meier. The one thing Mangino really failed to do during kU's couple of good years was recruit. The cupboard is empty for Gill right now, and they are relying on a few D returning starters that got blown up with seven straight losses, six of which they gave up 30+ points. Oh, and they have both OU and Texas on the schedule. I do really like Toben Opurum at RB though. He's a beast.

I really like what Paul Rhodes (sp?) has going on in Ames. Now, he doesn't have the talent there yet, but he has the Clones being competitive. Ames is a house of horrors for most B12 teams, and Mizzou, Nubs, and kU all go to Jack Trice this year. ISU will pull off at least one upset this year. Not sure it'll be in Austin or Norman, which they have back-to-back. Not sure if I'm bold with this, but I see ISU bowling again this year.

I'm not sure how Colorado has sucked this bad. Maybe everyone over-estimated Dan Hawkins. Maybe he's just tripped up himself, and hence, the entire program. Tyler Hansen has the talent to be a really good QB, maybe the 2nd best in the B12 North this year. Scotty McKnight is a really good WR, and is one of the top two returning WRs in the North too. The problem is, outside of them, this team is awful. Right now, I only see three possibilities at W's on their schedule, but they always seem to play the Nubs tough too.

1st- Mizzou/Nebraska. The game in Lincoln could decide the North.

3rd- kU. The way their schedule sets up, it's almost too easy to not have them 3rd. Probably have the 5th most talent in the B12N, but that schedule is just simple. Bottom could fall out again though. They had one B12 win with a far superior team last year.

4th- ISU. Iowa State could play spoiler to Mizzou or Nebraska. Remember- ISU beat the Nubs in Lincoln last year.

5th- K-State. Have you seen that schedule? Bad. I think K-State has the 3rd most talent in the North, but it's just not happening. If they pull a couple of upsets, K-State could easily be in the driver's seat though.

6th- Colorado. Damn, they are bad. I only see a few possibilities at W's.
 
#9
#9
I don't think Kansas or Mizzou are as good as you do.
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#10
#10
TXVOL07 said:
I don't think Kansas or Mizzou are as good as you do.
Posted via VolNation Mobile
Click to expand...

I don't think kU is good. Their schedule is just easy. I actually think they have the least amount of talent other than Colorado in the North.

Mizzou returns pretty much everyone but DaNario Alexander and Sean Weatherspoon, and the Tigers already had a logjam of talent at LB. More importantly, a 100% Blaine Gabbert at QB. He played about half the season banged up with that sprained ankle.

With K-State, I'm just not buying stock. No Brandon Banks at WR, and Carson Coffman was godawful at QB. He had TWO touchdowns in 171 attempts. TWO. Oh, and that pair of scores came against UMass. He is really bad. That's why Daniel Thomas got a ton of carries.

And K-State hits the road for kU, Colorado, Mizzou, and Baylor. They won ZERO away games last year. Heck, they barely won the one "neutral site" game in KC vs Iowa State. They have Nebraska, Okie Light, and Texas at home. K-State could easily go 1-7 or 2-6 in conference. It's pretty generous to even think 4-4. They could beat Colorado, kU, and Baylor, but even then, I could see them losing all three of those and going 0-8 in the B12.

If Snyder can figure out how to use Chris Harper (Oregon transfer) instead of Coffman, and can get Arthur Brown and Bryce Brown on campus and eligible this season, they might have a shot at 5-3. That's asking a lot. I'm looking more 2-6 or 3-5.

And I still think K-State has more talent for '10 than kU does. That schedule just makes that difference up.
 
#11
#11
K-State's losses will be at home this year. That's just my opinion, and I know that includes your beloved Tigers.
 
#12
#12
TXVOL07 said:
K-State's losses will be at home this year. That's just my opinion, and I know that includes your beloved Tigers.
Click to expand...

So you're saying K-State wins every B12 road game this year after losing every road game last year?

Colorado, Baylor, and Mizzou have all improved from '09. Baylor has a healthy RG3, and Colorado couldn't get worse...and K-State never put the beatdown on the Buffs in Manhattan last year. On paper, kU's fallen off big time. I'd be surprised if K-State went 2-2 against those four, and they'll probably go 0-3 at home this year. In Farmaggedon vs ISU, I would say K-State could be favored.

On paper, here's what KSU has: A horrible QB, no WRs, and a D that really got blown up in most games last year. Other than Daniel Thomas at RB, this team has nothing going for it.
 
#13
#13
They'll be better than you're giving them credit for. Im not saying they're "World Beaters", but they should win on the road this year.
 
#14
#14
i think nebraska can win it. by beating OU. they lose in the season to a&m but get to the champ game and beat OU. putting bama and ohio st in teh bcs game
 
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