Big XII Banter (and a question for you)

It was another strong week for the league, with Friday's end result being the only disappointment (no offense, Cyclones - it was expected). OU and MU have been nothing short of spectacular and could be heading toward a battle of unbeatens in Arrowhead, while UT (though idle), KU, & Tech have proven very deserving of their ranking. Hell, even OSU, Nebraska and KSU are banging on the door. Even Baylor is above .500, in impressive fashion no less. Now if we could just get rid of those Aggies...

First, for the good…

Oklahoma (1): I probably could throw them in the expected column and not be called out for doing so. However, when you go on the road to face a BCS opponent (albeit one that wouldn't finish in the top 12 in the Big XII) and you dominate like they did, you get a gold star. Also pushing them here was the line of Sam Bradford (who still hasn’t been breathed on): 18-21 for 304 and 5TDs (+1 running) and their absurd (and deflated) 5.8 yards per rush without ever breaking off a long run or anything resembling a sweat.

Methzou (2): Obviously they won't score on their first 10 possessions once they play a defense that has an idea of how to play football. But in all honesty, they aren't going to see a ton of those even once they get into Big XII play. I still have a hunch they're losing in Austin (see: Mack Brown's record following a loss to OU) and I still have very little confidence in their defense, but jesus tits, what an offense. In the last two weeks, Booger has more touchdown passes than incompletions.

Baylor (10): That's right, two straight weeks for Baylor in the good column. Thank you, Robert Griffin. 11 carries, 217 yards and 2 TDs. You know he's their quarterback, right? So yes, he did also throw the ball; for 127 yards and another TD. If he can figure out how to do something similar (or at least pull out a W) at Connecticut this week, he'll really make a statement for both Baylor and the league.

Now, to the bad…

Kansas (4): The result isn't anything too bad. Even nationally they don't seem to be being written off just yet. But despite their ability to comeback after blowing what should have been a plenty comfortable lead, they still showed some horrible gaffs that are sure to catch up to them again. Obviously there still isn't a running game, and from the looks of it, the line isn't exactly suited to match up against a good pass rush just yet either. Perhaps even more concerning was the stuck-in-molasses performance of the d-line. More than anything, I wish I had been wrong on this. But if you have seen any of the Big XII offenses yet this year, you'll know why this was my biggest fear heading into the season. And thus far, they've done nothing to invalidate that notion.

And finally, the expected…

Texas Tech (5): I didn't watch it, so I won't pretend to be able to analyze what happened with anything other than the numbers. Obviously, their offense clicked as they put up nearly 700 yards. And it's very hard to complain when you put up 43 points. Especially when you only give up a meaningless 7. But just know that Rice also beat SMU this year and they beat them 56-27. Rice. For now, they're still on upset alert in Manhattan.

Oklahoma State (6) Balance considered, there aren't ten better offenses in the country. But we have seen nothing from the defense far and they've yet to play anyone remotely capable. I have a feeling they're in for a pretty rough day on 10/11. Talk about an offensive show though – that's a game I want to watch.

Nebraska (8): They get the bump over Colorado simply because they're taking care of business. Personally, if I were a Husker fan, I'd be pretty worried about allowing NMSU 339 yards (6 per pass and 4 per rush), even if they only converted it into 7 points. And despite that worry, I actually think they'll beat VT. But if the defense intends to play like that against Big XII offenses, they better be damn sure they can keep putting up 500+ themselves or they're in for a similar collapse.

Iowa State (12): I didn't want to watch this game. So I didn't watch this game. And now I'm ecstatic that I chose not to watch this game. Remember when these two teams were perpetually overrated and always disappointing. Now they're just the latter. I can't wait for that trip to Lames.

And now for those that didn't play…

Texas (3): Schedule change sure sucked for them. Still, they'll have two easy ones until we get a chance to see what they're all about.

KSU (7): I think I have them a little overrated, but all they can do is beat the teams in front of them and thus far they’ve done that. Sure, there have been some glaring weaknesses (anything resembling tackling and offensive line play, to name a couple big ones), but J-Free finally looks competent (we'll see if that holds) and for the time being they're unbeaten. Embarrass the league in Louisville on Wednesday and it's time to take a tumble.

Colorado (9): They fell for basically no reason this week, other than the lingering of their piss poor performance against EWU. They'll have a couple of chances over the next 2 weeks to disprove me though (v. West Virginia and @ FSU).

Texas A&M (11): Yep, they're below Baylor. And they're probably going to get murdered against Miami on Saturday. Not actually murdered, because they’ll still be in College Station, but you know, the figurative type that happens on the football field. I'm still not convinced they win another game against a team not named Army.

And that concludes our Big XII banter for the day. But before we go, we'd like to pose you one question: How many Big XII quarterbacks could manage a game better than anyone on the Chiefs roster? Our guess: 7 (Bradford, McCoy, Daniel, Reesing, Robinson, Harrell and J-Free).