2007 BIG 12 Rankings?

[BIG_IKE]

I know it's early and the season is not over. But what kind of conference do you anticipate for next year? Will the North finally get it together. How will the RRS turn out? Who will make great strides and who will probably be down next year?

Let's discuss :pop:

[auto]

My SWAG is the RRS will decide the South:D

[soonervegas]

Well......without knowing much about returning starters outside of OU/texas/OSU/and A&M, I think the conference is gonig to be a bear next year. Lot's of yound talent around the league....specifically in the South. So if I had to rank:

1. Texas/OU - I can't make a call right now, but OU will find a QB (with this schedule) that can get them to 11 wins, can he get them to 12?
3. Nebraska
4. Oklahoma State - yes, I said it.
5. Kansas State
6. Texas Tech
7. Texas A&M - will be better, but play Tech, OU, and Nebraska away from KF.
8. Missouri
9. Kansas
10. Colorado
11. Baylor
12. Iowa State

[MiccoMacey]

I know it's early and the season is not over. But what kind of conference do you anticipate for next year? Will the North finally get it together. How will the RRS turn out? Who will make great strides and who will probably be down next year?

Let's discuss :pop:


Texas

The question about Texas will be how well McCoy can QB when he doesn't have an all-world line protecting him. Three of their studs (Seindlein, Studdard, and Blalock) will be gone. The other one (Dockery, will be coming off an ACL injury. Another loss is Selvyn Young, which is going to force Jamaal Charles to prove he can be an every down back. They still get all their receivers back, and Finley is developing into a great TE.

On defense, they return their two DT's, but lose both DE's. They return all their LB's, plus Sergio Kindle, who was the top LB recruit last year.

Unfortunately for them, they lose four of their top DB's (Ross, Brown, and both Griffins). This coming from a secondary that is sucking right now.



A&M

A&M has at least eight starters coming back on both offense and defense. They should be considerably better next year, especially on offense. And they get Texas @ Kyle Field.

I think they lose a WR, a RB (Courtney Lewis), and one OLineman. McGee, Goodson, and Lane all make up a pretty good set of skill players. I think two of their receivers come back as well.

Their defense should also be better, with possibly nine starters back. They lose Bullitt (SS) and Warren (LB).


Texas Tech

I think they sold their soul for this season and it backfired. They are loaded with seniors this year. They will return four both on offense and defense. That's not a lot.

The good news for Tech is that they have a returning QB. That means as much in their system as linemen do to us. Unfortunately, they lose four linemen, so we'll se how well Harrell can scramble.

They play Texas in Austin, but get us in Lubbock. They play OSU in Stillwater, and OSU has had some success against them at home as of late.

Their defense loses everybody (three DL, all three LB, and a CB), but Leach has never been known to worry about defense, so the impact won't be known until play starts in 2007.



That's my quick wrap-up so far.

[OSUAggie]

I agree with TX/OU being even next year... It's never good to have a QB situation like the one OU is facing, but everybody else on the O is good enough to make up for it.. Texas will have more ?'s on D (especially in the backfield), but they should have enough ponies to make up for it...
That being said

1. OU/TX - I lean towards Texas but if the RRS was later in the year I'd say OU
3. Nebraska - b/c they get OSU in Lincoln
4. OSU - will challenge for South if TX beats OU, not so much if OU beats TX
5. Colorado - I'm sure I'll get negged for that
6. Tech
7. A&M
8. K-State - don't get to play 9 games in the state next year
9. Mizzou
10. Kansas
11. Iowa State
12. Baylor

[MiccoMacey]

South
1. Texas
2. OU
3. A&M
4. OSU
5. Baylor
6. Tech

North
1. Missouri
2. Kansas State
3. Colorado
4. Nebraska
5. Kansas
6. Iowa State

[BIG_IKE]

Marcus Griffins is only a junior for UT.

Dont look now, but the Big 12 might have 9 Bowl teams THIS year

[BIG_IKE]

WOW...you expect Nebraska to REALLY drop off huh?

[OSUAggie]

I think Zac Taylor is very ineffective and holds them back... Nebraska's only direction offensively is up... plus their receivers still aren't any good other than Purify..

[MiccoMacey]

Marcus Griffins is only a junior for UT.

Dont look now, but the Big 12 might have 9 Bowl teams THIS year

Crap, you're right. Me and my sight issues. Thanks for the correction.

And I don't see Nebraska dropping off so much as I really see KSU and Colorado improving that much. Hawkins is a heck of a coach and Prince is doing better than anyone thought he could.

Nebraska loses Taylor, and much of their defense. I've always thought Taylor kind of carried Nebraska, and as he went so did Nebraska. Who's going to replace him...Beck? I just can't see them having as much success as they did this year.

[poke4christ]

I'm not that up on it, but I don't see many teams droping off next year.

Teams that might drop to lower records:

Tech
A&M - I think they performed above their ability this year
Missouri - might not know enough to make this call though

Teams that will get better:

OSU - Obvious youth and quality building. Needs better D. Might challenge for south.
KSU - Up an coming
Colorado - They don't suck as bad as advertised, they just had a bad start.

Teams that will maintain same level

-Baylor - lossing a good QB. Good coaching, but it might not be good enough.
-Texas - They can reload and maintain. McCoy will only get better.
-OU - New QB, but plenty of depth to maintain at RB. Will again challenge for south.
-Nebraska - Great team being built up there. Offense might be a little too complicated though IMHO.

Rankings

1. Texas
2. OU - lack of QB pushes them out of tie for first
3. Nebraska
4. OSU
5. KSU - Maybe, we'll see how they finish the year
6. A&M
7. Colorado - I see them improving
8. Missouri - not much love for them, they can't finish
9. Baylor
10. Tech
11. KU
12. ISU - new coach + bad year = very bad year

[FaninAma]

If OU can't reestablish their dominance with 8 starters(+ Patrick Allen) coming back on offense and 8 starters (+Ryan Reynolds) coming back on defense then I don't know when we'll be able to get back to the top of the Big 12 South.

That's why I am very confident that next year begins another Sooner winning streak.

And I'm still po'd our coaches didn't try to exploit UT's secondary more than they did this year. All the teams who have had success against UT this year have followed Ohio State's game plan.

[OSUAggie]

Nebraska loses Taylor, and much of their defense. I've always thought Taylor kind of carried Nebraska, and as he went so did Nebraska. Who's going to replace him...Beck? I just can't see them having as much success as they did this year.

Sam Keller? No?

[tommie15]

Nebraska's offense should be lights out next year. We return all but 2 of the 3 deep on the O-line. Keller should improve the QB position. Zac is good when he has time, but he has the worst mobility in the pocket of any QB I've ever seen. All 4 RBs return and all the receviers. We lose the FB Todd and Herian, who hasn't done much this year. TE still looks to be a bit of a weakness.

Defense returns all but 1 of the 2 deep at LB and hopefully we can get healthy there. The DL loses all 4 starters. This unit is a question mark, but the potential is there and Blake always does a nice job. The secondary should be much improved with the return of Bowman and the maturation of the young DBs.

I don't know why some of you folks are listing us 4th in north when we have beat every north team this year. Next year looks to be our year, with a step back in 2008.

[RRWSooner]

That's why I am very confident that next year begins another Sooner winning streak.

And I'm still po'd our coaches didn't try to exploit UT's secondary more than they did this year. All the teams who have had success against UT this year have followed Ohio State's game plan.

I agree with this statement. But, it seemed like nobody really knew about their weak secondary until the Nebraska and Tech game. Now its a free-4-all.

Hook 'em

[Mike4OU]

Excuse me, what is RRS?

Thanks!

[MiccoMacey]

I don't know why some of you folks are listing us 4th in north when we have beat every north team this year. Next year looks to be our year, with a step back in 2008.

Tommie,

Thanks for the great analysis of NU. I thought you lost more on defense than you've posted. Great to hear you're well stocked except at DL.

I base Nebraska's 4th place on three factors:

1) Zac is a proven two-year starter. Knock him if you want, but to think someone can just waltz in and take his spot without a drop off is crazy, IMO. He's gotten you this far. He makes good reads. So he's not mobile; he has experience at reading defenses and that's not something you can just coach or watch a few hours of game film and bring someone else up to speed. Trust us (see 2005).

2) It's not so much as NU dropping waaaay down, as it is that I believe CU and KSU are going to rise up. I like their coaches and KSU is already having more success than anyone thought possible.

3) The North is a crazy bunch. There is no dominant team, and there won't be for a few years. Heck, ISU looked real good on paper and look what they've done this year. This is after choking away the North Division title two years running.


It's not a slam on Nebraska. It's just the way I see it.

[tommie15]

Tommie,

Thanks for the great analysis of NU. I thought you lost more on defense than you've posted. Great to hear you're well stocked except at DL.

I base Nebraska's 4th place on three factors:

1) Zac is a proven two-year starter. Knock him if you want, but to think someone can just waltz in and take his spot without a drop off is crazy, IMO. He's gotten you this far. He makes good reads. So he's not mobile; he has experience at reading defenses and that's not something you can just coach or watch a few hours of game film and bring someone else up to speed. Trust us (see 2005).

2) It's not so much as NU dropping waaaay down, as it is that I believe CU and KSU are going to rise up. I like their coaches and KSU is already having more success than anyone thought possible.

3) The North is a crazy bunch. There is no dominant team, and there won't be for a few years. Heck, ISU looked real good on paper and look what they've done this year. This is after choking away the North Division title two years running.


It's not a slam on Nebraska. It's just the way I see it.

It's definitely possible.

KSU, I agree, will be strong next year. We get them in Lincoln, however.

CU will have a RS Frosh QB. I guess he can't be much worse than what they have now. CU is in a situation NU was in 3 years ago, Barnett's lack of recruiting has caught up to them. They are about as devoid of talent as we were in 2004.

Mizzou, I think, is a perennial pretender. Sure, there gimmick offense will hang 40 on MAC teams, but come BigXII time, they don't look so tough.

The north does appear to be getting stronger, which I think we would all agree is a good thing.

[KingDavid]

Excuse me, what is RRS?

Thanks!

Red River Shoot-out. Before you go too much further, I would check out the FAQ on the site and it will help you out with all the acronyms, etc. It helped me out quite a bit. Good luck and welcome to the board.