Why we'll win the Big 12 title again, by TDTW

[Tear Down This Wall]

Basically, the Big 12 has been in a "We Suck It" pattern for three or four seasons. The suck has gotten so bad that Texas A&M may actually challenge for the Big 12 South this year.

It appears to me that whatever screw job may occur in our secondary, we have the offensive line and running backs to ball control people to death. People will choose their poison, stopping the backs or having Malcom Kelly, Juaquin Iglesias, and Manual Johnson run track meets through their secondaries.

To me the bottom line is this: All our QB has to do is be very Hybl- or Thompson-like. That is, not turn the ball over.

Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Baylor are the epitomy of suck and that won't change in 2007. Texas appears to have OL experience problems and a penchant for having players busted for grass smoking, drinking and driving, and armed robbery. I bet there's not one game this year where there's not at least one 'Horn suspended for something. Austin.

The Big 12 North...well, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Baylor have wet dreams about being a part of the Big 12 North. Nebraska and Kansas State will battle it out like it was in the late 90s. Colorado hired a crappy coach and will continue to pay dearly for it. Mizzou, with its high school offense, will put on its annual underachievement act. And Kansas and Iowa State...well...Kansas and Iowa State.

The only thing working against us is this thing of Stoops only winning conference titles every other year. I say this is the year he breaks the pattern. Hooray.

[CtheB]

I find this to be one of the most unbiased and realistic prognosis of the upcoming season.

[The_Red_Patriot]

I get tired of the whlole Hybl-Thompson qb assumption that they werent good qbs but did enough to win.


They were both good qbs who made plays.

If your qb doesnt make plays, you wont win.

[AlabamaSooner]

I get tired of the whlole Hybl-Thompson qb assumption that they werent good qbs but did enough to win.


They were both good qbs who made plays.

If your qb doesnt make plays, you wont win.

Good point there. That 3rd down play in KC comes to mind off the top of my head. They were no Josh or Jason, but still...

[The Maestro]

It is crazy that no team has ever repeated as Big 12 champions. I am definitely ready for that trend to end.

[TopDawg]

I don't follow Mizzou enough to know...so what is it about their offense that makes it high school? How is it different from our 99 offense (complete with Ninja formation) or were we also running a high school offense back then?

[TopDawg]

It is crazy that no team has ever repeated as Big 12 champions. I am definitely ready for that trend to end.

Well, the south is on a bit of a streak. For the first time in conference history, one division has won back-to-back (-to-back) championships.

The weird thing about our pattern is that, so far, we only win conference titles in years when we play two of our consistently toughest away games (at Stillwater and at College Station). Every year we've played those games on the road, we've won (even in 2002 when we lost BOTH games). When we get those teams in Norman, we don't win the title.

[Tear Down This Wall]

I don't follow Mizzou enough to know...so what is it about their offense that makes it high school? How is it different from our 99 offense (complete with Ninja formation) or were we also running a high school offense back then?

They took it from a high school in Texas.

Mike Leach was a college coach and had been for years when we hired him. So, he had experience running his playbooks against Division I-A college football programs.

Mizzou sucks it. They recruited a QB and installed his high school offense for him. And they still suck it.

[TopDawg]

I forgot about that. I thought "high school" was just a way of baggin on their offense for being kinda gimmicky. I forgot it was meant literally.

[josh09]

Basically, the Big 12 has been in a "We Suck It" pattern for three or four seasons. The suck has gotten so bad that Texas A&M may actually challenge for the Big 12 South this year.

It appears to me that whatever screw job may occur in our secondary, we have the offensive line and running backs to ball control people to death. People will choose their poison, stopping the backs or having Malcom Kelly, Juaquin Iglesias, and Manual Johnson run track meets through their secondaries.

To me the bottom line is this: All our QB has to do is be very Hybl- or Thompson-like. That is, not turn the ball over.

Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Baylor are the epitomy of suck and that won't change in 2007. Texas appears to have OL experience problems and a penchant for having players busted for grass smoking, drinking and driving, and armed robbery. I bet there's not one game this year where there's not at least one 'Horn suspended for something. Austin.

The Big 12 North...well, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Baylor have wet dreams about being a part of the Big 12 North. Nebraska and Kansas State will battle it out like it was in the late 90s. Colorado hired a crappy coach and will continue to pay dearly for it. Mizzou, with its high school offense, will put on its annual underachievement act. And Kansas and Iowa State...well...Kansas and Iowa State.

The only thing working against us is this thing of Stoops only winning conference titles every other year. I say this is the year he breaks the pattern. Hooray.

You forgot to talk about the ags of texas, but thats ok theyre just texas a&m like always, and we play them in norman this year anyways.

[Octavian]

All of these are good reasons...but imo it'll come down to what happens in the Cotton Bowl....who catches the breaks and avoids the unlucky bounces.


I might be wrong, but I don't think the North has actually been favored to win a Big XII CCG since the '90s.


I'm guessing '99: Nebbish over Texas.


00: OU - Kstate

01: UT - Colorado (upset)

02: OU - Colorado

03: OU - Kstate (upset)

04: OU - Colorado

05: UT - Colorado

06: OU - Nebbish



Yeah, the North has won twice but they've both been upsets ('01, '03).


Conventional wisdom would say the RRS winner should roll to the Big XII title --especially since it wont be in the frozen tundra this year. But if we were to lose the RRS...I like our chances of getting to the title game better than I would of Texas getting there should they lose because of the schedules.


At least now on paper, our schedule seems more friendly than the horns' after the trip to Dallas.


We get both aggies (and mizzou) at home. Texas has to play Nebraska and go on the road to play both aggies.


The tree times this decades that the RRS winner has not won the Big XII title (01, 03, 06) there's been a monumental implosion that no one expected. Our schedule --at least right now --looks like it sets us up in a better position than Texas to avoid another implosion.

[OSUAggie]

1 reason OU won't win the Big XII title - It's an odd year.

[goingoneight]

... and on what years does OSU win 'em?

[soonerloyal]

1 reason OU won't win the Big XII title - It's an odd year.

1 reason we don't take you too seriously.

[JPNSKER]

The Big 12 North...well, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Baylor have wet dreams about being a part of the Big 12 North. Nebraska and Kansas State will battle it out like it was in the late 90s. Colorado hired a crappy coach and will continue to pay dearly for it. Mizzou, with its high school offense, will put on its annual underachievement act. And Kansas and Iowa State...well...Kansas and Iowa State.

The only thing working against us is this thing of Stoops only winning conference titles every other year. I say this is the year he breaks the pattern. Hooray.

TDTW, I would have to say you are one of the most level-headed fans on a majority of the boards I frequent. (no man crush jokes ) The only thing I'm not sold on, is the purple reign junk the "prince" is selling. He also has, IIRC, nine new coaches this year, as well as an overweight QB.... BTW, did you see Freeman was up to 250-260 lbs??

Spot-on for the rest of the North as well. I truly think it's ours to lose, as Mizz'cuses will fold like a tent after an "impressive" run in the ooc schedule.

The ONLY other thing OU has going against them this year (other than what you stated), is the fact that they don't have a returning starter at QB. This has been a pretty reliable fact every year in the Big12. Yes, you guys did it with PT, but I would also put him in a different category, since he did start out at QB.

I don't know.... I think ut will be salty as long as CM stays healthy and the rest of the team stays away from the law. But, here's to another OU win in the RRS & a rematch "old Big 8 style"!

[Tear Down This Wall]

. But, here's to another OU win in the RRS & a rematch "old Big 8 style"!

Yes!

[IndianJack]

1 reason OSU won't win the Big XII title - It's a year.

[stoopified]

I get tired of the whlole Hybl-Thompson qb assumption that they werent good qbs but did enough to win.


They were both good qbs who made plays.

If your qb doesnt make plays, you wont win.

True if you wanna talk mediocre ,Bomar is the man.

[PLaw]

I get tired of the whlole Hybl-Thompson qb assumption that they werent good qbs but did enough to win.


They were both good qbs who made plays.

If your qb doesnt make plays, you wont win.

After the GB Packer report yesterday, PT has a great shot at making the roster - as a QB, no less.

So I'd say being like to NFL QB's is a pretty darn high standard. I'd love it if any of the current three are as a capable as Nate or PT.


BOOMER
PLaw

[Tear Down This Wall]

Basically, the Big 12 has been in a "We Suck It" pattern for three or four seasons. The suck has gotten so bad that Texas A&M may actually challenge for the Big 12 South this year.

It appears to me that whatever screw job may occur in our secondary, we have the offensive line and running backs to ball control people to death. People will choose their poison, stopping the backs or having Malcom Kelly, Juaquin Iglesias, and Manual Johnson run track meets through their secondaries.

To me the bottom line is this: All our QB has to do is be very Hybl- or Thompson-like. That is, not turn the ball over.

Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Baylor are the epitomy of suck and that won't change in 2007. Texas appears to have OL experience problems and a penchant for having players busted for grass smoking, drinking and driving, and armed robbery. I bet there's not one game this year where there's not at least one 'Horn suspended for something. Austin.

The Big 12 North...well, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, and Baylor have wet dreams about being a part of the Big 12 North. Nebraska and Kansas State will battle it out like it was in the late 90s. Colorado hired a crappy coach and will continue to pay dearly for it. Mizzou, with its high school offense, will put on its annual underachievement act. And Kansas and Iowa State...well...Kansas and Iowa State.

The only thing working against us is this thing of Stoops only winning conference titles every other year. I say this is the year he breaks the pattern. Hooray.

My midyear grades:

The Secondary: B+, we're actually decent here for a change...but I can't decide if it's us or that we've played crappy teams whose QBs couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat - UNT, USU, ISU

Offensive Line: B+, still too many presnap penalties for my liking for a group of veteran guys.

Running Backs: B+, we already have two over 500 yard for the season, we could have two over 700 and another over 500. That's pretty dadgum good. The only problem is, they all seem to get tweaking injuries. How do you get those injury splitting times with three backs? Weird.

Tight ends: B+, Gresham is good, still drops some. Joe Jon...dadgummit, you're an f'n senior! Quit dropping passes. Why? Why, why, why do they ever throw to Brody Eldridge? The guy could sit naked in an igloo for a week and not catch a cold. Don't throw the ball to him. I give this group a B+ instead of a B because even though they drop quite a few, at least they're in the game plan for the first time in five seasons.

Wide receivers: B, Malcolm Kelly can be spectacular...or he can be double teamed and taken out of a game. Juaquin Iglesias...DEAR JUAQUIN: Hang on to the ball! Beyond that, someone please wake up Manuel Johnson. I mean, seriously. If this guy was getting it done, we'd still be lighting up the scoreboard. Because he isn't, teams are able to cheat over and double Kelly.

Defensive tackle: A excellent stuff from these guys. My only complaint is that they seem to get gassed by the second half. Never saw Tommie, Dusty, Kory, Jeremy, or anyone former DT's get winded as much.

Defensive end Auston English: A+, MVP of the first half of the season.

Defensive end on the other side of the line: F, nothing. A big bag of nothing on the other side of English.

Linebackers: C+, gashed by the run a couple of games. Embarrassed in pass coverage many times. Curtis Lofton is for real. Everyone else needs to get on board with whatever it is he is doing - eating Wheaties, putting a lucky rabbit's foot in his pocket...whatever. The other LBs need to follow.

Quarterback: A, Sam Bradford has played like an upperclassman. An overthrow here and there keeps him from getting an A+. I'm a tough grader, as you can see.

Punter: C, Cohen is average, or above average on some day. I don't get the feeling with this guy like I did with the Feguson brothers who simply buried teams deep in their end of the field.

Kicker: C, missing alot this year for a guy who has kicked for four season.

Punt returns: C, Smith is trying too hard. He also needs to fair catch sometimes. Colorado game, anyone? And, the guys who block the gunners...come on, BLOCK THE GUNNERS!

Kickoff returns: B, we do a good job here. Juaquin had a fumble that hurt us, but overall, we're getting good field position for the offense.

Texas: C, they suck as I suspected they would. They've reverted completely back to form. If USC weren't so damn arrogant, they'd have kept their lead in the Rose Bowl a couple of years ago instead of going into celebration mode with 6 and a 1/2 minutes left. Pete Carroll sucks. If he'd just kept coching that game to it's conclusion, the car dealers and plaintiffs attorneys who run the UT athletic department would have already bought out Marijuana Mack and replaced him with some other puppet.

A&M: D, they really suck. I can't believe I said these clowns might challenge for the South. What a bunch of flaming suckfarts these guys are.

Oklahoma State and Texas Tech: C, they both suck. How do you only put up 10 points against half-assed Mizzou? Answer: you run your gimmicky, spead offense. Oklahoma State defense...what Oklahoma State defense? And, while we're at it...what offense except against crappy defenses? They suck it hard.

Baylor: F, this Sun Belt team is still in our conference?

Kansas: A, I was wrong about Kansas. Congrats to Mangino on the first half of the season. Now, the bull's eye is on his boys. Let's see if they can put on their Big Boy pants and finish the deal.

Kansas State: B+, about what I expected. They're dicey on defense, but have the best QB in the North. They rise and fall on his performance. I hate that we have to face him as a junior and senior. As a freshman and sophomore, he whipped the paper tigers from Austin. What an f'n joke. Losing by 20 at home to that defense. Did I say if USC weren't so stupid Mack would already be retired and sitting next to Mark May or Jim Donnan in an analysts booth somewhere? I did.

Missouri: B, they choked against us...as usual...and still have many more oppotunities to choke their seasons away. I expect them to take full advantage of those opportunities.

Nebraksa: F, all I can think of about the Huskers are those first two plays from scrimmage against USC were the guy ran for like 95 yards. Please, please Nebraska, can that staff and hire real coaches. Please!

Colorado: C, even though they beat us, they still find ways to crap away games. They are terrible. That we lost to them really says more about us than them. It also underscores my point in August about how we could win it all in the Big 12 because the conference is a big sh*tpile for the fifth consecutive year.

Iowa State: F-, Northern Iowa beat them. Oh, look...there's Brandon Keith, a former OU signee that Schmidt ran off being named player of week with the rest of his Panther line mates http://unipanthers.cstv.com/sports/m...102107aaa.html . Hey, look, they're still I-AA to me, and they got up on the Cyclones. And, again, that we damn near let them get up on us says more about us than them.

How crappy is the Big 12, you ask? Northern Iowa beats the team coached by former Longhorn defensive coordintor Gene Chizik's who shut us down two consecutive years while he was at Queer Pride U at Austin. So...Northern Iowa can find more ways to score on Chizik's defense than we can? Pathetic.

Folks, the Big 12 sucks.

The Bottom Line:
If we can keep from going Colorado or Iowa State in November, we can wrap this baby up. If not...well, it wouldn't be shocking, just disappointing.

Rock me.