1. With only two or three games left, how are you feeling about your season? Disappointed, elated, surprised, a little violated?
Elated is a good word. Ecstatic, maybe. In any case, this has been one of the most enjoyable college football seasons of my lifetime, and the best one from a pure Kansas-perspective.
2. I have to ask, how do you feel about the (possible) buyout of Fran at Texas A&M?
Good move by the Aggies. Franchione isn't anything special, and he now has accumulated quite a bit of baggage (the way he left Alabama and now the whole email-scandal), baggage he isn't worth. Of course, it all depends on who they hire to replace him, but I think it will be the first step of a new, direction at A&M. Of course, that new direction will continue to under-perform according to talent.
3. We've picked coaches, players, stadiums and everything else from other teams. Now, we get down to something even more near and dear: mascots. If you could pick another Big 12 mascot other than your own - who would it be and why?
First off, I would choose to keep our own logo. I love unique names, if you say 'Jayhawks' everyone knows who you are talking about. Tigers or Wildcats? Not so much. But, in any case, if I was forced to pick another mascot from the Big 12, I would take the Cyclones.
You want to go up against a natural disaster? Plus, it is mostly unique.
4. Unexpected Greatness, Unexpected Suckage. Who surprised you this year? Who did you get really excited about, only to be let down? (The first Roundtable asked who was the face of the franchise - do you still feel that way?)
Three different questions in there, so I will answer it in three different parts...
Unexpected Greatness: So many to choose from, and in fact, I am going to take a look at the 10 biggest reasons we have performed better than expectations later today. But #1 has to be Todd Reesing. I figured he would be good, but no one knew what really to expect, and he has outperformed everyone's expectations. Incredible.
Unexpected Suckage: This one will be nitpicky. When you are 9-0 and ranked #4 in the country the same year you were predicted to finish 4th or 5th in your division preseason, it is hard to find a tremendous underachiever. If anyone, though, it would probably be Kyle Tucker or Derek Fine. Tucker had a couple of really crappy games strung together, but he seems to have found his stroke again and is punting just as he did last year. Fine has played fine, get it, but has seen numerous passes go through his hands.
Face of the Franchise: Umm, yes and no. Aqib Talib is still the heart, soul and mouth of this defense, team and program, but he is no longer the most widely known Jayhawk. No, that would be QB Todd Reesing, so technically he is the 'Face of the Franchise'. I will stick with the Talib pick though, he has performed up to expectations.
- Pick `em.
Colorado @ Iowa State - CU
Texas A&M @ Mizzou - Mizzou
Kansas State @ Nebraska - KState
Texas Tech @ Texas - Texas
Baylor @ Oklahoma - OU
Kansas @ Oklahoma State - Kansas
- Rank `em.
- Kansas
- Oklahoma
- Missouri
- Oklahoma State
- Texas
- Kansas State
- Colorado
- Texas Tech
- Texas A&M
- Iowa State
- Baylor
- Nebraska