Big XII Power Rankings

A week that showed Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma all making their case for the top spot with impressive victories. Elsewhere Texas continued to hang on, and Iowa State climbed out of the cellar with a surprise win.

The Top Tier
#4 Oklahoma (8-1) (4-1) - W - 42-14 vs. Texas A&M
- Oklahoma continued to handle Texas A&M as this one was never in doubt as Oklahoma jumped out to a 35-0 lead after 3 quarters. This week it won't get any harder for the Sooners who will host the Baylor Bears. Oklahoma is just preparing for their final two, a trip to Lubbock and a visit from Oklahoma State. Oklahoma should be able to get by both of them and then get ready for the Big XII North winner.

#7 Missouri (8-1) (4-1) - W - 55-10 at Colorado
- After a close first quarter, Missouri turned it on as Chase Daniel led the way with 421 yards passing and 5 touchdowns. Missouri will now get ready for a visit from the Texas A&M Aggies, which could be slightly challenging now that Missouri no longer receives their insider newsletter. After this week, Missouri has to go on the road to take on Kansas State, before the showdown at #5 Kansas.

#5 Kansas (9-0) (5-0) - W - 76-39 vs. Nebraska
- Kansas was trying to figure out a way to gain respect, and came to the conclusion that dropping 76 points on Nebraska would do it. They were right, as they jumped up in both the human and computer polls. It is still difficult to say whether Kansas has played anyone. They are obviously good, but it would be nice to see them in a close game. There is a chance of that happening this weekend as they travel to Oklahoma State. If they can get by the Cowboys then they will be 11-0 heading for a showdown with #7 Missouri. It could be the first time there has been an important game in the Big XII North this decade.

#14 Texas (8-2) (4-2) - W - 38-35 at Oklahoma State
- Another ugly performance and another ugly win for the Longhorns. This is becoming pretty common place for Texas, who could be one of the worst 8-2 teams in the country. (You know, not counting mid majors) The Horns have Texas Tech and A&M the rest of the way, which will obviously lead to more close, poorly played games. So Texas could end up anywhere from 8-4 to 10-2. Who knows with this team. The only thing for sure is that Robert Killebrew will make you want to jab something in your eye.

The Middle Tier
Oklahoma State (5-4) (3-2) - L - 38-35 vs. #14 Texas
- A terrible loss for the Cowboys who could have absolutely destroyed the Longhorns had it not been for the offense going conservative over the last 11 minutes. The Cowboys offense is high powered and should be a great test this weekend for #5 Kansas. But we've seen what Kansas can do against a terrible defense, and Oklahoma State (despite what the Longhorns would have you believe) has a terrible defense.

Texas Tech (7-3) (3-3) - W - 38-7 at Baylor
- Texas Tech had lost two straight in terrible fashion, with quarterback Graham Harrell throwing 4 interceptions in each of the last two. What better way to get back on track then a game against the Baylor Bears. Tech did just that, and now finish their season with the #14 Texas Longhorns and the #4 Oklahoma Sooners. Either will be considered a major upset, but neither is out of the realm of possibility with the Texas Tech offense.

Kansas State (5-4) (3-3) - L - 31-20 at Iowa State
- After what looked to be a promising season, full of building blocks for the future, Kansas State has started to unravel late in the season. The latest this past week with their loss to the then 1-8 Iowa State Cyclones. An embarrassing loss for the Wildcats, that they will need to recover from quickly because they want to be at full strength when they get their licks in against the now pathetic looking Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Texas A&M (6-4) (3-3) - L - 42-14 at #5 Oklahoma
- Things just keep looking worse for the Aggies, as they lost at Oklahoma a week after losing to Kansas. Franchione appears on his way out at season's end, and if they don't win one of their last two games, this weekend at #7 Missouri, or the finale at home versus #14 Texas, A&M will end up 9th in the Big XII and spending the holidays at home, despite being bowl eligible.

Colorado (5-5) (3-3) - L - 55-10 vs. #9 Missouri
While they were absolutely destroyed at home, things aren't looking all that badly for Colorado. The Buffaloes end the season with Iowa State and Nebraska, and if they can win out, which they should, it would put them in 5th in the Big XII and possibly heading to the Alamo Bowl. That would be an enormous boost for a program that everyone expected to be battling Iowa State and Baylor for the cellar. Kudos Dan Hawkins, kudos.

The Bottom Tier
Nebraska (4-6) (1-5) - L - 76-39 at. #8 Kansas
- It was tempting to move them down on the sole preface of giving up 76 points in a conference game. But this team isn't that bad, but it certainly appears they have quit on Coach Callahan and the season. It is shocking and unthinkable that a team this rooted in tradition and with such a dedicated fan base could ever quit. It is just dismal in Nebraska right now, and Callahan is pretty much gone after the season. That is if Tom Osborne doesn't strangle him for ruining his baby before the season ends.

Iowa State (2-8) (1-5) - W - 31-20 vs. Kansas State
- A testament for not quitting on your coach and your season, as near misses the past two weeks finally turned into an upset victory for the atrocious Iowa State Cyclones. But it is apparent that Gene Chizik has had this team playing much better since the Texas loss. They have a chance to get another upset against Colorado before they have to face #5 Kansas to end the season. At least they have something to build on for next year as opposed to...

Baylor (3-7) (0-6) - L - 38-7 vs. Texas Tech
- With #4 Oklahoma and Oklahoma State on tap to end the season it appears that the Bears will find themselves in a somewhat familiar place. Winless in the Big XII. Hoping to make their first bowl game since the Nixon administration, the Bears season quickly fell apart in conference. Some will say that it was due to a new quarterback learning a difficult offensive system, but most likely they will say unacceptable and look for Guy Morriss' replacement. Does it seem like they have a season like this, fire their coach and in Year 3 or 4 he peaks at 5-6, before having another season like this?

Clutch or Holding on for Dear Life?

For the second straight week, the Longhorns made a furious fourth quarter comeback to win by 3 against an inferior opponent. At least this week, it was on the road against a formidable Oklahoma State team that has played well since switching to Zac Robinson at quarterback. While it wasn't as bad as pulling out a home win against a Nebraska opponent that win on to lose 76-39 to Kansas, it was still very bad.

Perhaps the only area that Texas didn't struggle was in the kicking game, as Ryan Bailey continued his exceptional season, kicking a game winner as time expired earning himself the Big XII Special Teams player of the week award for the second consecutive week. Justin Moore had a solid game punting the ball as well. You know it's never a good sign when you have to start your recap of the game off talking about the kicker and punter.

Oklahoma State should get as much credit for this victory as Texas should. Through three quarters, Oklahoma State marched up and down the field on Texas, getting whatever they wanted offensively. The secondary had no answer for Adarius Bowman and Brandon Pettigrew, but even more alarming was the way they were able to shred the defensive line, picking up yards on the ground. Texas was especially poor on first down, consistently giving up 4 or 5 yards, making it easy for the Cowboys to march down the field. I think we've hammered home how terrible the linebackers are, and the absence of Sergio Kindle was evident as Scott Derry and Robert Killebrew got unhealthy amounts of playing time. I think the only amazing thing is that I would take Scott Derry over another player, that's how bad Killebrew is. However, once the 4th quarter rolled around, aggressive coach Mike Gundy called the dogs off and went into a milk the clock conservative offense. This strategy allowed Texas to load the box, make the necessary stops and put the ball back in the offense's hands. Oklahoma State continued to stay in this mode until Texas tied the score at 35. Then the Cowboys marched back down the field like they had in the first 3 quarters, until they missed the 32 yard field goal. It is unbelievable that Gundy went into an offensive shell, and if he hadn't, this game would've ended 56-28 OSU.

Offensively, Colt McCoy continues to struggle. He is getting to the point where he is due for a few bad decisions or bad throws per game. It doesn't help that his receivers are playing inconsistently and dropping balls, like the sure touchdown pass to Cosby and the interception that Nate Jones should have held on to. Part of the problem is Texas' decision to establish the pass before the run. In the 1st quarter Texas had 3 carries by running backs, and had 2 carries by running backs in the 3rd quarter. It's not surprising that Texas didn't score in either of those quarters. Texas is coming back to their most effective part of the team too late in games. The line is improving each and every game, and Jamaal Charles is playing the best football of his career, and Vondrell McGee has taken the short yardage and goal line pressure of Charles. Together, Texas has formed a powerful running attack that has been showcased in the 4th quarter of their last two games.

The other reason Texas needs to utilize the running game more is the disarray of the passing game. Texas is sorely missing Limas Sweed's deep threat as Billy Pittman has been non-existent this season, and Jordan Shipley is not the imposing physical receiver that Texas has relied on over the past several years. Texas has also hasn't exploited Jermichael Finley deep down the middle of the field as he was able to do against Oklahoma. He is definitely involved in the offense now, but he still hasn't been able to break off the large chunks of yardage like he did on his touchdown reception in the first half. Without Limas Sweed drawing safety help, Finley is being covered in the middle of the field. But most importantly Colt McCoy is still trying to do too much and making too many mistakes.

Last season he played within himself and used the weapons that were around him. Texas ran the football and let Colt distribute the ball to his weapons. This season, the plan to make Colt the focal point has backfired as Colt has been inconsistent, gotten hit too many times, and is trying to make up the difference in the weaknesses in his receiving corps. The last two weeks Texas has won football games because they pounded the ball with Jamaal Charles late in games. Facing weak defenses with high powered offense, Texas needs to be pounding the ball throughout the game to keep the defense fresh, and better yet, off the field.

The past two weeks Texas has resembled a team playing on borrowed time. The human polls have recognized that this is not a very good football team despite the 8-2 record, by dropping Texas in both the Coaches and Harris polls. You could make the case that Texas should not have beaten Nebraska, but they definitely should not have beaten the Pokes. Texas needs to improve to be able to win against Texas Tech and the season finale at College Station. The only problem is, I don't think the improvement is there. I think this is our team, and we're going to have to squeak out a way to win the rest of the season.

Hold the Phone! Fran Not Accepting Reality

There is a new press release that one can only assume came from Fran, who has locked himself in his office, with the lights out, huddled in a corner, stroking his putter for protection. Anyway, Fran is denying the fact that he has been fired.

I'm Not Leaving!

I can imagine Fran's firing went something like this:

Byrne: Ok, Fran, we need to talk. We have decided to fire you.
Fran: No you didn't.
Byrne: Um. Yes, we did actually.
Fran: You can't do that. [mouth full of little debbies]
Byrne: No, Fran. I can fire you.
Fran: No you can't!
Byrne: Fran, I am the athletic director. My position is over yours.
Fran: Thats what she said! [giggles]
Byrne: [sigh...]

Why do I have a feeling that this is going to play out exactly like Milton's firing in "Office Space" where they just had to stop sending him checks and moved his office to the basement, so eventually he would figure out that he was fired?

"Have you seen my headset?"

A&M to Fran: It's Not Me, It's You...

It's a sad day in Longhorn land. Coach Dennis "Hold the Rope" Franchionne has accepted a buyout of his contract from Texas A&M and will no longer coach the Aggie football team, per CBS.

Rope not held...

I guess last years upset against Texas was not enough to keep Fran around for even one more year. After 4 embarrassing losses this year and a 6-4 record, A&M will once again fall into delusions of a golden coaching hero marching into College Station and reviving a sputtering A&M program. The biggest (legitimate) coaching name being tossed around to replace Fran is Auburn's Tommy Tuberville. But I look for A&M to settle on a big name coordinator, looking for his first coaching job.

A&m has not said if Franny will finish the season as a lame-duck head coach.

Dallas Griffin Done for Year

Some unfortunate news out of the Texas comeback win over Oklahoma State is that Texas Center, and all-around great guy, Dallas Griffin was injured in the 1st quarter and is now out for the year. Fortunately Dallas is the smartest guy on the team and is already on his way to a highly successful business career.

Griffin Done.

Week 10 Spotlight

Plain & simple, Charlie Weis' Stomach Staples need to win by 15 points this week. Period.


QB- Dennis Dixon- Dixon is still the best dual-threat QB in the nation. The Ducks are fresh off a win against USC and now face another top 10 team in Arizona State. Dixon may just pull himself into the Heisman lead if he can attack the Sun Devils on the ground and through the air. I really hope he does.

QB- Colt McCoy- After coming off another week where Colt hit the ground more times than he hit receivers, he finally gets to face a team that gives up tons of passing yards. Hopefully Colt can stay off the turf and exploit the very poor Poke pass defense. McCoy has also gained some big yards on the ground.

RB- Darren McFadden- Could he be the Heisman favorite? McFadden is rushing for 125 yards a game and has scored 11 TDs. McFadden is going to see the ball quite a bit as he is Arkansas' work horse. Darren should help the Hogs beat the Cocks this weekend.

RB- PJ Hill- Even though Hill is going against Ohio State's tough defense, he is going to get his yards. Hill is averaging almost 120 yards a game and has been the best thing the Badgers have had on offense all year. Wisconsin may not win, but PJ will pack on some stats.

WR- Adarius Bowman- Possibly the most physically imposing receiver in the nation. Luckily for OK St, Bowman has proven to be the best receiver in the Big 12. Bowman is averaging over 100 yards a game and looks to exploit a young Texas secondary who let Nebraska pass for over 300 yards last week.

WR- Quan Cosby- Quan has to be one of the most underrated receivers in the Big 12 and maybe the nation. He is a quality possession guy, with incredible hands, who can also make the big play. Oklahoma State is horrendous in pass defense and Quan is Colt's go-to-guy. Should be a big day.

O- Oregon- The Ducks face a decent Arizona State defense, but Heisman candidate Dixon and the Ducks will be at home, where they beat USC last week, and look win a typical, high-scoring Pac-10 matchup.

D- Virginia Tech- The Hokies are 2nd in the ACC in total defense, and faces a Wake Forest offense that has been somewhat inconstant this year. Va Tech proved they could handle a great offense by literally shutting down Heisman candidate Matt Ryan and the Boston College offense for all but the last 2 minutes of their game last week.

#11 Virginia Tech	(6-2)
Georgia Tech	(5-3)
#21 Wisconsin	(7-2)
#1 Ohio State	(9-0)
Purdue	(7-2)
Penn State	(6-3)
#24 Wake Forest	(6-2)
#23 Virginia	(7-2)
Cincinnati	(6-2)
#18 South Florida	(6-2)
#15 Texas	(7-2)
Oklahoma State	(5-3)
#3 LSU	(7-1)
#17 Alabama	(6-2)
#4 Arizona State	(8-0)
#5 Oregon	(7-1)
Rutgers	(5-3)
#13 Connecticut	(7-1)
South Carolina	(6-3)
Arkansas	(5-3)

Week 10 Spotlight

Week 9 was a second consecutive poor showing by the Stomach Staples. They fell by a score of 154-135. Dropping behind Joe Pa's Stadium Cleaning Crew 53 points. The Stomach Staples are running out of time to make their comeback, so this week looms large. On to the picks for Joe Pa....

Quarterbacks
Arizona State continues to keep winning, and it's behind the play of Rudy Carpenter that is getting it done. Despite an injured thumb on his throwing hand he will be ready to go this weekend against #5 Oregon. While it is two top teams, it is still a Pac-10 game, so we'll be sure to see some points. In other action, Penn State takes on Purdue, and Penn State's defense has been shreaded in consecutive weeks. Look for the pass happy Boilermakers to try and take advantage, and for Curtis Painter to have a big day.

Runningbacks
Don't expect Jamaal Charles to have another week like he did against Nebraska, no defense is that bad. But Charles has appeared to regain his confidence, and it's just in time, as the Longhons travel to Stillwater to face a defense that can give up a lot of points, in Oklahoma State. With all the injuries Oregon has faced this season, the stars have had to pick up the slack. Jonathan Stewart already has 1,000 yards on the season and will look to add to that total against Arizona State.

Wide Recievers
Rutgers is traveling north this weekend to take on the newest Big East cinderella, Connecticut. While UConn is a solid team, they don't have the talent to match up with Rutgers superstars. Win or lose, Tiquan Underwood should have a big day. South Carolina has been on a slide over the last few weeks and will look to rebound against Arkansas. Arkansas' defense has been suspect, and Kenny Mckinney should have a big day outside.

Offense/Defense
When Texas and Oklahoma State get together it is pretty much a certainty that both teams will score in the 40s. Who will score more, I think Texas, so I have their offense. As for defenses, Ohio State has a great one, though it helps that their competition isn't amazing. Wisconsin is a pretty one dimensional team, so look for the Buckeyes to stop PJ Hill and stop Wisconsin.

Picks (Home team in BOLD)
#11 Virginia Tech (6-2) over Georgia Tech (5-3)
#1 Ohio State (9-0) over #21 Wisconsin (7-2)
Penn State (6-3) over Purdue (7-2)
#24 Wake Forest (6-2) over #23 Virginia (7-2)
Cincinnati (6-2) over #18 South Florida (6-2)
#15 Texas (7-2) over Oklahoma State (5-3)
#3 LSU (7-1) over #17 Alabama (6-2)

#5 Oregon (7-1) over #4 Arizona State (8-0)
Rutgers (5-3) over #13 Connecticut (7-1)
Arkansas (5-3) over South Carolina (6-3)