clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Big 12 Roundtable: Kansas is the Last Undefeated Team in the Big 12

That isn't the official header, but I couldn't help myself. And I won't be able to until we lose, which might have to wait a while. Hopefully.

1. If you could steal another coach at any level (head, assistant, etc.)
from another school, who would it be and why?

In the past, I have kind of, I don't know, underestimated the coaches here at Kansas. I have
always jumped at the opportunity to exchange coaches and the like, when in fact I realized over the weekend that we have the world's best staff.

Or at least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Forever and ever.

2. What two teams will play for the Big XII Championship and why?

Kansas and Oklahoma.

Real simple, those are the two best teams in the Big 12. Missouri might be better than Kansas, we will find out November 24th in Arrowhead Stadium, but they struggle to stop the run. And they can have trouble running the ball, and it is hard to be successful often if you struggle to do both.

Kansas has no clear-cut weakness (at least that has been exposed thus far), and Oklahoma is absolutely loaded. It should be a good game, and another chance for this season to make no sense.

3. What is the best bowl game your team has a realistic shot at and, if
your team has a shot, who would you like to play in said bowl?

A BCS bowl, non-championship division. I'll say the Sugar Bowl, but it could be any of them.

Who do I want to play? Easy, USC. I live in southern California, and I have discovered that USC fans are very annoying, or at least the vast majority of them are. This has caused me to hate USC tremendously, so a Kansas football win over U$C would be tremendously enjoyable. Plus, they were the preseason #1 team in the country, and that would be amazing for the Kansas Jayhawks to beat the preseason #1.

4. If given the opportunity, would you keep the Big XII status quo or
kick out a team and go to a Big 10-style conference play?

If I were to kick anyone out, it would be to allow everyone to play everyone every year. The Big 10 makes less sense than the Big 12 IMO, they don't have divisions so who plays who when seems way to arbitrary.

But, let's say we could cut down to 9 teams in the conference so everyone could continue to play 4 non-conference games, and also play everybody in-conference year-in and year-out. To get down to 9, I would kick out Baylor, Iowa State and Colorado. Iowa State and Colorado being kicked out really isn't fair, but they are at the extremities of Big 12 Country and aren't at the top of the list when you think 'Big 12'. Colorado could go into the MWC, which is basically centered in Denver (I think), and Iowa State could become the 12th team in the Big 10/11. Baylor is Baylor, so they should join like the Sun Belt or something so they can play teams of equal talent level every year. I'm only half-joking too, which is sad.

5. Rank the Big XII teams

  1. Oklahoma (1) -- Best team in the Big 12; proved it Saturday night.
  2. Kansas (3) -- We are for real. I promise. We have no glaring weakness.
  3. Muzzurrah (2) -- They have the best offense in the Big 12, but their defense just isn't good enough. Have a great chance to beat Kansas in the 'Head.
  4. Texas Tech (6) -- Looked great killing A&M; could be a dark horse candidate in the South.
  5. Kansas State (8) -- Demolished Colorado. Still have a chance at the North, but need Kansas to lose AND beat Muzzurrah.
  6. Oklahoma State (9) -- Their offense is scary with Dantrell Savage back, but their coach freaks me out. Another dark horse in the South.
  7. Texas (7) -- A down year for the Longhorns got better by demolishing the Cyclones. They won't catch up and win the South.
  8. Colorado (4) -- Got absolutely rocked in Manhattan, need a big bounce back win with the 'Hawks coming to town.
  9. Texas A&M (5) -- Probably too low, although they looked flat-out awful on Saturday. Still have the talent on both sides of the ball to be a challenger in the South, and will probably have to win the South and/or beat Texas for Coach Fran to keep his job.
--------BIG DROP OFF IN PLAY---------
  1. Nebraska (10) -- They fired their AD today, and Callahan would be gone except for his incredibly large buyout. The Corn might never recover and get back to their glory years.
  2. Baylor (11) -- Got demolished, but at least it was on the road. Could go winless in the Big 12 this year.
  3. Iowa State (!2) -- They looked like crap on Saturday. They will most likely finish with only one win, although it was against Iowa so the fan base shouldn't be too upset.
The Big 12 this year is essentially 9 great-to-pretty good teams and 3 really crappy teams. Not a whole lot different than most years, except for the fact that Nebraska is one of the 3 really crappy ones.

ROCK CHALK!