Kansas vs. Minnesota Tale of the Tape

			VS.
Conf	National	Actual	Category	Actual	National	Conf
Rank	Rank				Rank	Rank
9	80	128.92	Rushing Offense	105.83	104	11
4	8	302.33	Passing Offense	216.42	57	4
7	22	431.25	Total Offense	322.25	91	10
8	27	32.67	Scoring Offense	23.42	82	9
5	32	126.67	Rushing Defense	146.83	70	7
4	70	129.92	Pass Effic. Defense	125.44	60	8
8	93	402.17	Total Defense	378.42	74	10
9	87	29.50	Scoring Defense	23.33	49	6
9	95	33.02	Net Punting	36.18	43	6
3	22	11.95	Punt Returns	10.24	43	3
12	118	17.40	Kickoff Return	23.46	22	2
6	T-46	.25	Turnover Margin	1.00	10	2
10	113	275.5	Pass Defense	231.58	88	10
7	20	146.12	Passing Efficiency	127.95	51	5
6	47	2.08	Sacks	2.5	T-25	4
4	34	6.33	Tackles for a Loss	6.75	22	3
9	T-94	2.33	Sacks Allowed	2.25	86	10

A lot of interesting matchups in this one and how they play out will tell us a lot about each of these leagues.  Are Big 12 offenses the reason for Kansas' low ranking defense or are they just a sub par unit.  The opposite question applies to Minnesota who while running a spread has been less than impressive with the 91st ranked offense in the country.  Is that due to their own shortcomings or is the Big 10 a much stronger defensive league. 

Small battles that will also be interesting to see play out include the Jayhawks lack of a pass rush vs. the Gophers apparent mild struggle to pass protect.  The other that strikes me is how the Gophers lower scoring offense does against a Kansas team that allows a lot of points. 

It's always hard to do a conference to conference comparison but if the common belief that the Big 10 is inferior at the moment to the Big 12 holds true I think Kansas' apparent on paper advantage should carry over to the game.  Again we'll see on Wednesday but I do like this matchup.