Big XII Week 1 RoundUp

Well the first week of picks are in the books and for the most part, things went as expected. I heard something about one of the favorites having a shaky start, but ultimately prevailing. Whatever the case may be, we ended the week 6-0 straight up and 4-2 against the spread, with Texas covering and Kansas not. On to the round-up…

(1) OU @ (9) Baylor 17

Oklahoma looked the part of the conference dominator in running out to a quick 28-0 lead on their first four possessions. Total yards for OU: 594, Baylor: 269. That should pretty much tell you all you need to know. Consider me very bummed that I won't be able to watch them take on the Longhorns this weekend.

(2) Methzou 52 @ (8) Nebraska 17

I don't have the time, energy or motivation to look this up, but are we sure that this year's Nebraska's defense is any better than last year? In consecutive weeks – at home – they allowed Virginia Tech to score 35 points and did not force even one Methzouri punt. Next up for the Huskers is a trip to Lubbock (if memory serves, they lost 70-10 last time down there). As for the Tigers, they get Boone Pickens State in what should be the highest scoring game of the year. Hold that offense in check and I'll consider them worthy of their ranking. In better news, Spit-gate has been declared "over" by both coaches. Whew! I was pretty worried there for a moment. Props to LSUFreak for capturing the moment as only he can.

(3) Texas 38 @ (7) Colorado 14

Colt just keeps on humming, now accounting for 20 touchdowns and only 27 incompletions on the year. What should worry Longhorn fans is that he threw two picks against the first competent defense he'd seen yet this year (he'd only thrown 1 prior). I'd be willing to bet he'll see some pressure next week. As for the Buffs, they travel into beautiful Lawrence, KS to take on the Hawks for an ESPN2 caused 11:30 kickoff and will be hoping to avoid their third straight loss in the process (they opened as 2 TD dogs).

(4) Texas Tech 58 @ (11) Kansas State 28

Wow, Ron Prince really is running that program into the ground. First, he drove away his assistants. Before too long, the players and fans will start following suit. At halftime, Tech was on pace for 76 points, 834 yards, 46 first downs and 10 TD passes for Graham Harrell. Lucky for the Wildcats, they eased up instead. Tech now gets to have two more extremely fun weeks with Nebraska and A&M next on the docket (then comes their trip to Lawrence, which hopefully won't be quite as fun). Meanwhile, KSU faces an absolute must-win in College Station next week if they have any hope of reaching .500 and bowl eligibility.

(5) Kansas 35 @ (10) Iowa State 33

As you all know by now this one was a tale of two halves. ISU won the first 20-0, while Kansas took the second 35-13. The Jayhawks have now officially exhausted their schedule of games they can take a half off and still win. ISU, meanwhile showed me some things. Don't get me wrong, there's a good chance they won't win again this year. But they have some players and if they can develop some consistency and play as hard as they did to start yesterday, they'll be a tough out on more than one occasion.

(6) Oklahoma State 56 v. (12) Texas A&M 28

Some (almost all) would have the Cowboys above the Hawks as of now. And with the way that offense is playing, I could hardly blame them. But despite the incredibly lopsided score, OSU was playing their starters the entire game (Zac Robinson scored with a minute left) and that defense still gave up 28 points that couldn't get past 21 on Army and only did as well as 28 against New Mexico. In fact, A&m actually out-gained the Pokes (402-401), but coughed up five turnovers to make it as easy as possible for OSU. Until proven otherwise, same old Cowboys. Sign me up for a spot in front of a TV next week though when they visit Columbia. Defenses need not bother attending.