A look at news and notes about Jayhawks and upcoming opponents...

• A look at early reports from the Sharp and Meier injuries.
• Talk of the Insight Bowl begins at Kansas.
• We talked about the biggest losses here earlier in the season and it looks like Mangino would have voted for Talib.
• Kansas regroups and prepares for Missouri.
• OT: Derek Fine feature on his career with the Bills.
• Showdown draws near.
• Border War notes...

My Thoughts...Well I wouldn't be able to consider myself a Kansas fan if I ever picked against us in the Border War so don't expect an unbiased opinion on this one. 

Against Texas the Kansas defense came out inspired and performed admireably against an impressive and balanced attack led by Colt McCoy.  This week in the final Border War for this linebacker corps I expect and equal showing but what will make this week different is the offense will be there to support it. 

Missouri's defense is by no means the Longhorns and Todd Reesing and the Jayhawks will get back on track, back up their defense and give them the support they need to maintain a strong showing throughout the game.  Make no mistake your not going to shutdown Chase Daniel but Kansas needs to find a way stop the big play and create a couple turnovers. 

All said and done Kansas is a better team than their record indicates and they put together their first complete four quarter performance of the year upsetting the Missouri Tigers.

Final Score: Kansas 35 Missouri 31

Full List of Supplemental Notes and Quotes after the jump...

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This week brings the 117th edition of the Border War.  This unique and historically rooted rivalry puts longtime foes in the Kansas Jayhawks and the Missouri Tigers against one another in a battle in Kansas City.  This years version again has two strong teams in this rivalries history and this year pride is a stake for both teams.

Why Kansas?	Edge	Scenario	Edge	Why Missouri?
Kansas and Todd Reesing will have an opportunity to redeem themselves in a matchup against the 111th ranked pass defense in the country.  Look for Reesing and the receiving corps to have a strong game against the Missouri defense and expect a possible Jocques Crawford siting from time to time.		KU Offense vs. Missouri Defense		Missouri can win this matchup in a few instances.  First, if it's poor weather.  Reesing has struggled in cold or rainy weather and hopefully we don't have a repeat of last years forcast.  Second, Kansas was disrupted by Texas and if Missouri keeps Kansas down early doubt could creep into the huddle resulting in another poor performance.
The inspired Senior day performance was impressive, but with little help from the offense it couldn't last.  If the KU defense plays equally inspired and get's some help from the offense, even an early lead, they could force Daniel out of his normal groove and win this matchup.  At least somewhat.		KU Defense vs. Missouri Offense		Different week, same story.  Another top 5 offense on the agenda for Clint Bowen and the Jayhawks.  Chase Daniel and company will be highly motivated in this final Border War appearance and I expect the Missouri offense to ulimately win this matchup.
Kansas needs to put some serious emphasis on this area in the offseason and look to regroup in 2009.		Special Teams		Two names:  Jeremy Maclin and Jeff Wolfert
I still say Mangino is a great coach because he has done more with less than anyone and that certainly includes Pinkel Mangino does have a knack for these rivalry type games.		Coaching		Even with my biased view of coach Mangino I sitll had to call this matchup a draw because Missouri does boast two of the most sought after Coordinators on the market this year

This anlaysis looks very familiar as all year it seems Kansas has been prepared to handle the game from an offensive standpoint but not from a defensive or special teams stance. 

This game will come down to how well Kansas can contain Chase Daniel on offense, Jeremy Maclin on special teams and if the offense can get back on track after struggling to score against a stout Texas Longhorn squad.

All of the networks have it. Everyone has to put together a one-hour special, previewing the all-important upcoming college football season. So, why shouldn't I drop some of my preseason predictiosn on all of you guys? I know, that was lame. What can I say, Dugan is rubbing off on me.

In any case, let's take a break from the all-work, no-play position previews to take a bird's eye view of the college football landscape before we get to the actual football games. And so, here we go, unveiling some projections and predictions, trying to prove how idiotic I really am when it omes to college football. Still, it's all in fun.

All after the break...

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Editor's Note: Not really sure what happened, but somehow, with the site upgrades last night and everything, my Big 12 Roundtable went ka-poof, never to be heard from again. So, here is a re-do of sorts, with me trying my best to give similar, if not identical, answers.

The questions in bold, the answers in normal text.

1) There has been lots of talk this pre-season about scheduling. Colorado has arguably the strongest schedule but who do you think has the weakest and which cream puff on your team’s schedule do you wish wasn’t there?

Last season, I don't know if you know or not, but we had a pretty bad schedule. I know nobody ever really talked about it or anything, just kind of gave us a pass while they continually hammered tOSU for their schedule, but it still happened.

In any case, this season the weakest schedule is obviously Texas Tech. They are trying to be "this year's Kansas", only just about every single person sees them coming. So, not quite. Try again later. However, they do have the schedule of last year's Kansas, as they face Eastern Washington (as opposed to LSU), @ Nevada, SMU and UMass. I mean, last year, at least we had the defending and future MAC champion in Central Michigan come in to Lawrence; the best the Red Raiders will face is the always dreaded Nevada Wolfpack. Scary.

As far as our schedule is, I'm fine with every team. I mean, sure, I would love for there to be no FCS teams on the slate, especially Sam Houston State with their QB Rhett Bomar, but it serves a purpose of getting some experience for younger kids. Honestly, I don't see the harm.

2. 2) As a whole the Big 12 has the best quarterbacks in the country. Make a case for your quarterback being one of the conference’s top signal callers and tell us which other conference quarterback you would pick to replace him if you had to.

Todd Reesing is a beast. He is a man among boys. He is this school's greatest QB, hands down. And he does all of that 5'10".

Yet, given all of that completely factual knowledge, it's hard to make a case for him to be any higher than 4th. Harrell, Daniel and Bradford sit comfortably atop the upper echelon of Big 12 QBs. That is obvious. The order is debatable, sure, but those three are the top tier of Big 12 QBs. However, there is one more member to their tier, and that is Todd Reesing. So, a better way to look at it is there are four dominating QBs at the top of the rankings, then there are a couple more 'good' ones (McCoy, Ganz, Robinson, Freeman) and then a pile of decent ones. But Reesing's stats and record clearly prove that he belongs at #4 at the lowest, and a mild contender for one of the top three spots.

As far as trading him out, that has to go to Chase Daniel (yuck!). I don't really like Booger all that much, but he is the best (or second best) QB in the Big 12, and he would be a near-perfect fit for our system, which is quite similar to the one he is currently running. As tough as it is for me to pick a Mizzou player, he is clearly the best option. Well, him or Graham Harrell...

3. 3) Going into the season which unit for your team are you most confident in, offense or defense?

Tough question. You have the starpower on offense, with Todd Reesing and Jocques Crawford and Dez Briscoe and Kerry Meier, but they lost their leading rusher (Brandon McAnderson), Todd Reesing's favorite dumpoff guy (Derek Fine) and leading receiver yardage-wise (Marcus Henry) along with the two starting offensive tackles. On defense you have the nine returning starters and the best LBer crew in the Big 12 (Joe Mortensen, Mike Rivera, James Holt), but they lost their two best players, hands down, in Aqib Talib and James McClinton.

With all of that said, I've got to go offense. Sure, the LBer crew is the best unit on the entire team, but there are major questions about the defensive line, particularly the pass rush and the D-Ends. On offense, you have adequate replacements for every position, and while the offensive tackles still scare me, I feel more confident in them than I do Brorsen and whoever else starts across him (Jeff Wheeler or John Larson).

4. 4) Who is the new guy on you squad that will be a household name among your fan base before the season ends.

Jocques Crawford is the obvious answer, but I would say he is already well-known enough, both by the MSM and our casual fanbase, to be disqualified from selection. And so, I'll go with Daymond Patterson, I guy I absolutely love. He is really short, only 5'9", but he is dynamite out of the slot and, as a true freshman, figures to see plenty of action. He is also the starting punt returner, and figures to be a large improvement over the guys we threw out there last year.

He is turning more heads in practice than anyone else, and has solidified his status, even as a true freshman with only a couple weeks worth of practice. I can't wait to see him out there.

5. 5) Prediction time! Tell us how the north and south divisions will wind up.

NORTH

Missouri (11-1, 7-1)

Kansas (10-2, 6-2)

Colorado (8-4, 5-3)

Nebraska (6-6, 3-5)

Kansas State (5-7, 2-6)

Iowa State (4-8, 1-7)

SOUTH

Oklahoma (12-0, 8-0)

Texas Tech (10-2, 6-2)

Texas (8-4, 4-4)

Oklahoma State (7-5, 3-5)

Texas A&M (6-6, 3-5)

Baylor (1-11, 0-8)

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ROCK CHALK!

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