Ocho mas dias...

I've got to be honest; I'm worried about the South Florida game. I'm not quite sure if they're rally a top 10-20 team (the same could be said of KU), but I know that Raymond James is a tough place to win at night (see: West Virginia). And more importantly, Matt Grothe has damn near cut Chick-fil-A out of his diet. Any man that can reduce his delicious goodness intake from 7+ times per week all the way down to one is obviously someone very serious about becoming a better football player. Grothe was pretty good when he came to Lawrence a couple years back and he obviously hit the national stage last year, but now as a nearly Chick-fil-A free Grothe, he seems primed to take over college football. Add to all of that Jim Leavitt being certifiably insane and this has the makings of a damn tough non-conference game. Where hath thee gone, Toledo?

Speaking of improving one's diet, it seems Sherron Collins kind of went the other way. It's August so I'm not worried. And obviously I can understand him just wanting to spend a little time with his kid. But if he has hopes of making the League, I would strongly recommend removing his ass from the couch and instead finding his way to a treadmill.

Back to football, the KC Star ran a story this morning in which KU players were at the very least toying with the fact that the secondary could be even better this year. As we mentioned during our preview we definitely don't expect this to be an issue area, but we still wonder how much inherent value you lose simply on account of the fear factor. I have little doubt Harris can perform similarly to Aqib, but actual performance aside, QBs simply didn't want to throw to his side of the field if they didn't have to and you can't undervalue the effect that has on an offense. (Note: Don't confuse this reticence with me not being downright giddy that the team thinks this way. Let me reiterate; I know nothing. Trust them, not me.)

Speaking of what the team thinks. Apparently Crawford, along with others, aren't too happy with their ratings on NCAA '09. I've yet to play it, but I'm sure that despite the perceived slight they are still more than capable of winning most games 76-39.

Next up is a link to the Bleacher Report where Mitch from Miami has a detailed report of why the Big XII is overrated. Feel free to read it if you want (make sure to click the link at the bottom for some more details), but the crux of his article is the league has been bad out of conference. There are certainly valid points, but he also glosses over some big accomplishments. And more importantly, you have to remember that you can do this with every conference (even the SEC to extent since none of them ever travel during OOC) so while his report is accurate; it's also skewed by the point he wanted to prove. For example, if I wanted to prove that the Big Eleven was bad last year I could point to the fact that the league's best win was Ohio State at Washington. And it's not even close. Now obviously the Big Eleven did suck last year so that point resonates. But just because Ohio State (or any of the other 10 teams) didn't beat anyone better than Washington doesn't prove they weren't any good. All it proves is that they didn't play anyone. Now if you want to point to Michigan's loss to App. State (then again, they did also beat Florida) or Minnesota's to FAU then you have yourself an argument. By far the most entertaining part of this link though is his dispute with commenter Evan in the comments that follow his piece.

And finally, we are providing two links to the blog, Mizzourah. The first is the more recent and depicts the Big XII north Co-Champs trophy Kansas displays in the Anderson Family Football complex. As you would expect, it's extremely clever. Secondly, we'll send you to one from earlier in the week that was submitted by one of their readers. In an attempt to emulate the Bud Light: Real Men of Genius commercials they have come up with a KU football version. Though a clever idea, the most comical part to me was the irony. Is there a more over-confident-for-no-reason fan base than Methzou? Talking to some of them, you would think they have done a lot of winning in their time. Or at least some winning. In honor of the fact that they of course have not, we put together our own quick (read: shitty) version of the jingle…

Bud Light Presents: Real Men of Genius
(Real Men of Genius)
Today we salute you, Mr. Delusional Methzouri Sports Fan
(Mr. Delusional Methzouri Spoorrrts Fan)
You've got a Booger eater and you're going all the way!
(Who cares if he's really a pizza delivery guyyy)
Sure, you've never won anything of any importance
(Significance is overrated)
Who cares if you've accomplished nothing nationally
(Occasionally we beat our riiiivals)
So when you fail, you'll have to hang your hat on something
(Arrowhead '07!!!)
So crack one open, you eternal disappointment you. After all, you might win something someday…OK, probably not, but still.
(Mr. Delusional Methzouri Sports Fan)

Bud Light, InBev, Leuven, Belgium