Today I wanted to just kind of overview the final season of the Big XII as we knew it. There's a few really good games to look forward to. Here in no particular order are the highlights.
Non-Conference Matchups that Interest Me:
1. UCLA at Kansas State, Saturday September 4. A huge game for both teams in their quest to be bowl-eligible. Both figure to be in the five to seven win range. This might be the game that gets one of them to six wins and the postseason.
2. Georgia Tech at Kansas, Saturday September 11. A statement game early on for Turner Gill and the Jayhawks. This is without question the best non-con game in Lawrence since South Florida came to town five years ago. An upset here would go a long ways towards erasing the stench of last season's seven game losing streak to end the season (and then the chaos that ensued afterwards with the coaching firing / hiring / searching).
3. Florida State at Oklahoma, Saturday September 11. Wow. Just ... wow. Two national powerhouses that struggled last year, two trendy sleeper picks to enter the national title discussion. One of those teams hopes likely dies at Owen Field.
4. Nebraska at Washington, Saturday September 18. This is a dangerous, dangerous game for the Huskers. I think Nebraska is a legitimate top six program this year ... but this game would scare me if I was a Huskers fan. Washington is more than capable of winning this game.
5. Hawaii at Colorado, Saturday September 18. Look at Colorado's schedule (provided at the end of this post). This might be the only game they win this season. Their schedule is that brutal.
6. UCLA at Texas, Saturday September 25. The last time UCLA rolled into Austin, they threw the biggest loss in UT history on the Horns. I don't expect history to repeat itself ... but nobody there that day in 1997 thought an 0-2 UCLA squad would be much of a challenge.
7. Oklahoma at Cincinnati, Saturday September 25. Another "wow" game. The defending Big East champions, on the road? Congratulations to OU for not employing the Bill Snyder School of Scheduling. OU should win this ... but that's why they don't play the games on paper. (They play them on TV!)
8. Arkansas vs Texas A&M, Saturday October 9. A statement game for A&M. This could be Mike Sherman's "Bill Callahan's Huskers vs USC" moment. Or it might be his breakthrough win that re-establishes A&M as an elite program. Either way, A&M won't be the same after this game. Either the rebuild is on course, or its time to pull the plug on the Mike Sherman experiment.
9. Utah at Iowa State, Saturday October 9. An intriguing game. A very intriguing game.
10. Houston at Texas Tech, Saturday November 27th. Too bad Mike Leach is gone -- this one might have shattered every NCAA offensive record if he was still around.
Conference Games that Interest Me:
1. Texas vs Oklahoma, Saturday October 2. Normally, you'd expect the winner to start selling tickets to the Big XII Title Game, but each school has three tough road games in the conference to survive as well. Still, I'd be surprised if the winner of this game didn't win the South.
2. Nebraska at Kansas State, Thursday October 7. Will Nebraska get caught looking ahead to the Texas game? Nebraska usually struggles in Manhattan but finds a way to win. I expect that trend to hold.
3. Kansas State at Kansas, Thursday, October 14. The winner gets a berth in the Texas Bowl, the loser sits at home come December?
4. Texas at Nebraska, Saturday October 16. There are certainly games that are "bigger" in terms of national championship factors at this point. But this might be THE game of the year in the sport.
5. Missouri at Texas A&M, Saturday October 16. If the leaders / favorite falter in either division, these are the two teams most likely to step into the void and find a way to make it to Dallas come early December.
6. Oklahoma at Missouri, Saturday October 23. Game two of a brutal four game stretch for MU.
7. Missouri at Nebraska, Saturday October 30. Big XII North figures to be on the line.
8. Kansas at Nebraska, Saturday November 13. Can KU win in its (likely) final game at Lincoln for the first time since 1968? Classic trap game potential for Nebraska -- coming off the Texas and Missouri home games, and the looming roadie at A&M up next.
9. Kansas vs Missouri, Saturday November 27. Three games at Arrowhead, three instant classics that came down to the final possession. No reason to assume anything different for this year's showdown.
10. Colorado at Nebraska, Friday November 26. The two teams that have won the North the most, meet for (possibly) the final time in Lincoln.
Ten Fearless Stevo Predictions:
1. The Big XII will have four games called by Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit: Oklahoma at Cincinnati; Oklahoma vs Texas; Texas at Nebraska; and Oklahoma at Missouri.
2. College Gameday will only appear at one of those contests however: Texas at Nebraska.
3. Colorado will go 1-11, with their only victory coming against Hawaii. Kansas State and Oklahoma State will also fail to finish above .500.
4. The biggest non-conference upset will occur in Lawrence, as the Jayhawks stun Georgia Tech on September 11th. The biggest conference upset will also occur in Lawrence, as the Jayhawks shock Texas A&M on October 23rd.
5. The North team that will shock in the standings (good wise) is Kansas, who will go 8-4, 5-3 in the conference. The Jayhawks will lose at Southern Miss, at Nebraska, and at Iowa State. The South team that will shock in the standings (bad wise) is Oklahoma State, who will plummet to 4-8, 1-7 in the conference. The Cowboys only conference win will come against Baylor.
6. Two Big XII coaches will be fired by the end of the season: Dan Hawkins at Colorado, and Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State.
7. Oklahoma will win the Big XII South. Nebraska will win the Big XII North.
8. Nebraska will beat Oklahoma for the Big XII Championship.
9. Big XII teams going bowling: Nebraska (Fiesta); Oklahoma (Orange); Texas (Cotton); Texas A&M (Alamo); Missouri (Insight); Kansas (Holiday); Texas Tech (Texas); Iowa State (Pinstripe); Baylor (Dallas Football Classic).
10. The over / under for the first bacon potato soup bowl and vodka tonic I'll consume at Quinton's is 4:16pm, Saturday September 4th. The smart money is definitely on the under ...
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