2008 Big 12 Discussion

[BB73]

Can Oklahoma and Sam Bradford stay on top in the South?

Will Texas and Colt McCoy bounce back without Jamaal Charles?

Can Graham Harrell at Texas Tech be a serious Heisman threat, or will he be considered a "system QB"?

Can Mike Sherman restore the glory of aTm's "12th Man"?

Can Mike Gundy do anything to make people remember him for something besides "I'm a man! I'm 40"?

Can Chase Daniel win a Heisman at Missouri?

Was Mark Mangino's Kansas squad a 1-year top-10 wonder?

How long will it take Bo Pelini to get Nebraska back to the Big 12 CCG?

Will Colorado continue to improve under Dan Hawkins?

Can 20 JuCo players make Kansas State competitive again?

Does anybody care that I didn't mention Iowa State or Baylor?

cfn

If you thought last year's Big 12 race was interesting, wait until this season when Kansas and Missouri will be good again, Texas and OU will be great as always, and Texas Tech is loaded. Here's an early look-ahead at each Big 12 team with what needs working on and why to be excited and grouchy.

Cont'd ...

 

[MD Buckeye]

Can Oklahoma and Sam Bradford stay on top in the South?

Yes

Will Texas and Colt McCoy bounce back without Jamaal Charles?

No

Can Graham Harrell at Texas Tech be a serious Heisman threat, or will he be considered a "system QB"?

System QB

Can Mike Sherman restore the glory of aTm's "12th Man"?

Yes

Can Mike Gundy do anything to make people remember him for something besides "I'm a man! I'm 40"?

Nothing will top that....in his boook

Can Chase Daniel win a Heisman at Missouri?

Yes

Was Mark Mangino's Kansas squad a 1-year top-10 wonder?

Yes

How long will it take Bo Pelini to get Nebraska back to the Big 12 CCG?

Won't happen.

Will Colorado continue to improve under Dan Hawkins?

Yes

Can 20 JuCo players make Kansas State competitive again?

Not with the top teams in the Big 12 and certainly not Nationally.

Does anybody care that I didn't mention Iowa State or Baylor?

Only if Seneca Wallace returned to Iowa State

 

[GrizzlyBuck]

Can Oklahoma and Sam Bradford stay on top in the South?

Will Texas and Colt McCoy bounce back without Jamaal Charles?

Can Graham Harrell at Texas Tech be a serious Heisman threat, or will he be considered a "system QB"?

Can Mike Sherman restore the glory of aTm's "12th Man"?

Can Mike Gundy do anything to make people remember him for something besides "I'm a man! I'm 40"?

Can Chase Daniel win a Heisman at Missouri?

Was Mark Mangino's Kansas squad a 1-year top-10 wonder?

How long will it take Bo Pelini to get Nebraska back to the Big 12 CCG?

Will Colorado continue to improve under Dan Hawkins?

Can 20 JuCo players make Kansas State competitive again?

Does anybody care that I didn't mention Iowa State or Baylor?

cfn

Man I hate this time of year sports wise. No football, College BBall in sort of a lull awaiting conference tourney's and the big dance. I don't care for pro winter sports, and baseball hasn't started yet, tho being a Reds fan, this just delays the inevitable disappointment.

I wonder when/if OU's lackluster efforts/results in bowl games will carry over into the regular season, probably not this year.

Mack Brown reminds me more every year of John Cooper, except Coop never got his Vince Young. Good guy, great recruiter, but somewhat underachieving on the field (based on supposed talent on the teams)

Unless TTech can compete for a title (B12) I think Harrell will be seen as a system QB, I look forward to seeing him hook up with Crabtree (? astounding frosh reciever)

Mike Gandy, who cares, he gets some props for standing up for his players though.

Mike Sherman, the next Pete Carrol or Chan Gailey (no clue, but personality reminds me more of Gailey, sorry about that 12th man)

Daniel looked awfully good for Mizzu this year, but man oh man did the B12 north suck last year.

Kansas played an awful schedule last year (including in the bowl game) so this year should be tougher with Mizzu again, the Buffs tougher and Bo haveing the Huskers defending at least a little.

Nebraska could challenge for the B12 North title with some discipline on defense and enthusiasm across the whole team (it doesn't hurt that the division still isn't real good IMO)

Hawkins may have turned the corner with the Buffs and his son has a year under his belt. Did pretty well recruiting as well.

KSU could challenge as well what with a year under their QB's belt as well and one would hope an infusion of mature talent from the JUCOs

Hopefully the Hawkeyes get their heads out of their a$$e$ and make Iowa State and Baylor completely irrelevant.

Pretty good thread to get my mind back on the gridiron BB73, danke

 

[Sportsbuck28]

Man, is it just me or does it seem like no one in the Big 12 knows how to play defense?

 

[MD Buckeye]

Rivals.com College Football - Texas gets early start on spring practice

Only 45 days have passed since the season ended with LSU's victory over Ohio State in the BCS national championship game. And almost a month remains until spring officially starts.
Yet spring football begins today when Texas, a perennial early bird, and Louisiana-Lafayette become the first of 11 NCAA Division I-A programs to begin their 15-practice session in February.
Arkansas State, Auburn, East Carolina, Louisiana-Monroe, LSU, Miami, Mississippi State, Nevada and Stanford also begin this month, with the remaining programs following throughout March and early April. Most programs conclude spring drills with their annual spring games, the majority of which are scheduled April 19.
Starting today with a capsule on Texas, Rivals.com will provide spring breakdowns of each team in the "Big Six" conferences, identifying strong suits, areas of concern and emerging prospects. Hey, even though it's February, it's never too early for college football.

Contd.....

 

[MD Buckeye]

Rivals.com College Football - Work begins anew across country

 

[MD Buckeye]

NCAA overturns ruling that stripped Oklahoma football of 8 wins in 2005 - NCAA Football - Yahoo! Sports

NCAA overturns ruling that stripped Oklahoma football of 8 wins in 2005

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)?Oklahoma will have wins reinstated from the 2005 Holiday Bowl season after an NCAA appeals committee partially overturned a ruling in the infractions case involving former quarterback Rhett Bomar.
The NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee released a ruling Friday that Oklahoma should not have been found guilty of separate violations for failing to detect that football players were working at a Norman car dealership and failing to monitor those students? employment.....

Contd....

 

[MD Buckeye]

ESPN - Texas-Texas A&M game returns to traditional Thanksgiving night date - College Football

Texas-Texas A&M game returns to traditional Thanksgiving night date

The Texas-Texas A&M football rivalry will move back to its traditional Thanksgiving slot for the next two years.

The longtime Thanksgiving event was moved to the day after in 1996. The switch back accommodates a Thanksgiving night ESPN broadcast, Texas athletic director DeLoss Dodds said Monday.

The news comes on the heels of Monday's announcement that ESPN will continue to televise regular-season Big 12 games through a new two-year agreement with Fox Sports Net.

Contd

 

[BB73]

Ron Prince talks about his philosophy of relying heavily on JuCo players.

sportsline

Junior achievement: K-State counting on transfers for revival

MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Coming out of Dodge City (Kan.) Community College 20 years ago, Ron Prince, a spunky offensive lineman, just wanted that scholarship from Kansas State -- the lifeline that would take him 20 miles from his native Junction City to Manhattan.

"Coach Snyder didn't give me a scholarship," Prince said of legendary Bill Snyder, who transformed K-State from dust bunny to a national power in his 15 seasons. "I had no place to go."

Cont'd ...

 

[BB73]

John Harris of BFN previews the Big 12.

cfn

2008 Spring Preview - The Big 12

With the coaching change at Texas A&M, is this finally the year Mike Goodson and the Aggies get over the hump? Just as spring ball gets underway, here are the big questions, the most important positions and more for each Big 12 team in the CFN Spring Preview.

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Spring Q & A

cfn

[FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif]2008 Spring Preview[/FONT][FONT=verdana, arial, sans serif][SIZE=+1]

Key Big 12 Questions Answered[/FONT][/SIZE]
- 2008 Big 12 Spring AnalysisYeah, Bill Callahan was bashed, but his Nebraska offense was putting up numbers. Bo Pelini will quickly change the defense, but will the offense be more efficient? (Subquestion: really, how far is Nebraska away from being back to a national title level?

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[BB73]

cfn

Five teams that could be this year's Missouri and go from good to special ...

Texas Tech

Oh ... my ... goodness. The nation's No. 2 offense and No. 1 passing attack loses WR Danny Amendola. That's it. Everyone else, including [SIZE=-1]Biletnikoff [/SIZE]Winner Michael Crabtree and QB Graham Harrell are back. Lost in all the fireworks was a defense that finished third in the Big 12 and 45th in the nation, and while there are a few significant losses, especially up front, but the holes should be patched by a few JUCO transfers. While road games at Texas A&M, Kansas and Oklahoma aren't going to be easy, Texas, Nebraska and Oklahoma State have to come to Lubbock. The rest of the schedule is no big whoop.

 

[BB73]

si.com

Bradford gives Sooners QB stability

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) -- For the first time since Heisman Trophy winner Jason White ended his career, Oklahoma enters spring practice without any questions at quarterback.

Except perhaps this: How can Sam Bradford possibly improve on his record-setting freshman season?

Bradford had one of the best freshman seasons ever by a quarterback, completing 237 of 341 passes (69.5 percent) for 3,121 yards and an NCAA freshman record 36 touchdowns. He threw only eight interceptions as Oklahoma went 11-3 and won the Big 12 title before falling to West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl.

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[DaytonBuck]

Ron Prince talks about his philosophy of relying heavily on JuCo players.

sportsline

Can't believe how many Jucos they took. JC guys from my myopic knowledge of CFB seem to a big hit or miss route to go. Even with your job on the line.

 

[Gatorubet]

Ron Prince talks about his philosophy of relying heavily on JuCo players.

sportsline

It can work sporadically. Jackie Sherrill at Mississippi State used Juco to field some great teams, some that beat Florida, but there was never a consistent team chemistry, and the improvement of one year was never followed up with sustained success. But he did succeed at a school with low enrollment, a poor stadium, and low budget facilities. Put another way, while never able to achieve the success of top teams, it was the only way he could have a winning year in the SEC. It is indeed desperation, and a sign, like the article says, that it is the only way to overcome the glaring deficiencies in facilities and budget.

 

[BB73]

The 'Horns are looking for a star at RB.

[xrarrandy] I can't believe Sergio Kindle isn't playing both ways for this team. [/xrayrandy]

si.com

Longhorns in search of No. 1 back

AUSTIN (AP) -- This season, there's a different competition brewing within the Texas offense.

And this one's a little more important to the Longhorns than John Chiles and Sherrod Harris battling for the backup quarterback spot in 2007.

With the early departure of Jamaal Charles to the NFL, the Longhorns are in search of a running back to fill the void left by Charles. The three-way battle between Chris Ogbonnaya, Vondrell McGee and Foswhitt Whittaker has tightened even more after Texas' annual spring scrimmage Saturday.
Both Ogbonnaya and McGee split time at the back-up spot last season and were used more in short-yardage situations. Whittaker redshirted but could become an integral part of the Longhorns offense in 2008 as a change-of-pace back.

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