Hello world. I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while, but couldn't decide on a theme. I could write (or talk) for hours about football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. But, I will probably include some random thoughts from time to time, as mentioned in the title. My first post will be my thoughts on the upcoming college footbal season, specifically the Big 12.
I think that the final year of the Big 12 as we know it will be exciting. Three teams will really battle it out for supremecy, with Texas pulling out back to back wins over OU & Nebraska. OU could pull off a 10-2 or even 11-1 season, but I don't see them beating Texas and that is enough to cement them at #2 in the South. Nebraska could struggle with KSU on the road or Missouri, but I think they'll be strong enough at home to beat Mizzou and will pull off the win aginst KSU before the game against Texas. Baylor will make a bowl game this year for the first time since 1994, if RBIII can stay healthy. Texas Tech and Missouri will climb back in to the 2nd tier of the conference which will help give creditability to it's strent when Nebraska and CU leave. I do have a Texas bias but the polls have them at #4 or #5 to start the season so it's not a stretch to see 12-0 on the horizon.
My predicted order of finish:
Big 12 South:
Texas (12-0, 8-0) Important wins against Tech, OU, and Nebraska
OU (9-3, 6-2) Losses to Texas, A&M, + FSU or Cincinnatti
Texas Tech (9-3, 6-3) Losses to Texas, Mizz, and OU
Baylor (7-5, 4-4) Losses to TCU, Tech, Texas, OU, CU
Texas A&M (6-6, 3-5) Losses to Ark, Tech, Bay, Neb, Texas, KU
OSU (4-8, 0-8) Loss to every conference team
Big 12 North:
Nebraska (11-1, 7-1) Loss to Texas
Missouri (9-3, 5-3) Losses to OU, Neb, A&M
Kansas (8-4, 4-4) Losses to A&M, Bay, Neb, Mizz
KSU (6-6, 3-5) Losses to UCLA, Neb, Kan, Bay, Texas, Mizz
CU (3-9, 2-6) Losses CSU, Cal, Ga, Mizz, tech, OU, Kan, KSU, Neb
ISU (2-10, 0-8) Losses to Iowa, KSU, Tech, Utah, OU, Texas, Kan, Neb, Mizz, CU
I see Texas winning the Big 12 Chapionship Game over Nebraska with superior Defense and a strong but young offensive unit with a renewed emphasis on the running game. Nebraska may return most of its offense, but that's not a good thing when your offense ranked 8th in your conference last year in scoring and #11 in total offense.
Players everyone will be talking about:
Garret Gilbert, QB Texas
Blake Gideon, S Texas
Keenan Robinson, LB Texas
Sam Acho, DE Texas
Jerrod Johnson, QB Texas A&M
Von Miller, LB Texas A&M
DeMarco Murray, RB OU (they already won't shut up about this guy)
Jared Crick, DL Nebraska
Rober Griffin III, QB Baylor
Taylor Potts, QB Tech
Kendall Hunter, RB OSU
Blaine Gabbert, QB Missouri
Prince Amakumara, CB Nebraska
Roy Helu Jr, RB Nebraska
I'm looking forward to this weekend!
Next up: I think I'll take a game by game look at the Texans and Cowboys. I'll probably thrown in the Tennessee Titans too.
