The Aftermath

And I still think that, were you to construct a Power Ranking, Missouri would likely be ahead of us. It might not be fair, per se, but that is how it will likely be done.

In any case, it is clear that the Big 12 has six good-to-great teams; more than the SEC (Vandy, as much as I want them to be, isn’t that good, which leaves only: Florida, Georgia, LSU…Auburn?).

I do agree, now, that are chances are substantially greater now than they were 24 hours ago of beating Oklahoma. Ryan Reynolds’ injury is a big part of it, but also because of our new-found running attack and all of that fun stuff.

Should be a fun Saturday, because Missouri is going to have to win on the road against what will likely be the #1 team in the entire country to not start conference play 1-2. And if we can, someway-somehow, beat OU in Norman, well, then, we have all-but-locked-up at least having a chance, going into Arrowhead, of winning the Big 12 North. We just have to be one game back, at the worst, going into the Border War to win the North, and I think, with MU’s loss last night, we just have to win one of the three power-games left on our slate (@ OU, vs. Tech, vs. Texas) to stay within a game of the Tigers. Actually, that isn’t a thought, that is a fact. As long as we lose only twice throughout, we are guaranteed to at least have a chance of winning the North going into the game.

Much of that last paragraph was likely unneeded, but whatever…

Personnally while I certainly enjoyed the outcomes of the games yesterday they didn’t change my impressions of the season. Yes we did get a blueprint to beat both Mizzou and Oklahoma but I’m not sure we have the ability to execute the blueprint as well as either OSU or Texas did. Yes Jake Sharp seems to be getting going with the running game but clearly Texas and OSU are on another level. That said we are in FIRST PLACE and it is wide open, any given saturday anyone can win. If our special teams could win us the field position battle we could’ve blown CU away yesterday.

A couple other ramblings from me…the one game that did change my impression yesterday was the Nebraska v Tech game. After watching a chunk of that game I feel that the Tech game at home is very winnable. My prediction still lies at 8-4 but I’m cautiously optimistic that we might be able to steal another one somewhere and get to 9-3. It’s going to get interesting and fun in the next month and a half.

My Big 12 Power Rankings.

1.)Texas
2.)Oklahoma
3.)Oklahoma State
4.)Mizzou
5.)Kansas
6.)Texas Tech
7.)Nebraska
8.)Colorado
9.)Baylor
10.)Kansas State
11.)Iowa State
12.)Texas A&M

But I’ll just add to this thread.

First, the Tx Tech game is very winnable, and I think we should be favored at home. Tech has not proved anything but that they can score some points.

rockchalk – I was about to say almost the exact same thing as your last paragraph. Let’s look at our’s and Mizzou’s schedules the rest of the way and, realistically, what we expect from the Hawks.

KU
@ Oklahoma, L – A win is not out of the question, but it will be tough. I would be happy if we just hang with this very talented team, though.

TX Tech, W – We have to win this game. TX Tech’s defense has yet to prove that they can hang with the top teams and they haven’t really had to play a good defense yet. In Lubbock, I might call it a toss-up, but at home, where we should have beat them in 2004, we will get a win at 11 a.m, Oct. 25th.

K-State, W – I don’t think I have to explain this.

@ Nebraska, W – Going to be a very tough game on the road and is by no means a lock, we have to win this game, though to have a chance at the Big 12 North title.

Texas, L – A lot of me really wants to put this down as a W as makeup for the 2003 game that I ran to Memorial Stadium to halfway through the 3rd Quarter for, only to have my heart ripped out by the officials and Vince Young. That being said, TX is really good and are definitely more talented than us. @ Home I give us a fighting chance, though.

Going into Arrowhead
Worst case scenario – 3-2….. 5-2 Big 12
Best case scenario – 4-1, 6-1 Big 12 (asking a lot I know, but I’m a glass-half full type of guy)

Mizzou schedule

@ TX – L, has to happen. Win isn’t impossible, though.
Colorado – W
@ Baylor – W
K-State – W
@ Iowa St. – W

Going into Arrowhead
Best case scenario – 6-1 Big 12
Worst case scenario – 5-2 Big 12

Kansas vs. Mizzou

Mizzou seems to have more talent than us. But we all know that you can throw that stuff out in a rivalry game.

My question is, let’s say Mizzou runs the table from here on out and they are 6-1 going in, and we are 5-2. We win the game @ Arrowhead and we are North Champs right? It seems so obvious that the tiebreaker is head2head but I just want to make sure.

Either way, KU controls it’s destiny early in Big12 play, which is great. There is a LOT of football to be played, though.