Bring On The Cats is the host of this week's Big 12 Roundtable, and, I must say, the best damn Kansas State blog on this network.
1. Some teams are coming off a big win or wins (Oklahoma, Colorado, KU, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Missouri), while others are dealing with the sting of a tough loss or losses (K-State, Texas, Nebraska, Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma State). Tell us where your team is headed in the wake of the first two weeks of conference play.
Well, I, along with a lot of other people, thought that the Cyclones had been showing some nice improvement through the Nebraska game. We coulda closed within one score of the Huskers late, and we saw what a well-executed gameplan could do for us.
Sure seems like a lot of good was undone last Saturday in Lubbock, as Graham Harrell picked apart the Iowa State defense and the ISU offense proved anemic once again, completely stalling out until the last five minutes of the game. Truly, it was an ugly affair that I hoped the team learned from.
The worst part is that it doesn't really get any easier, although I actually do think that the Horns are a better matchup for the Clones.
2. Colorado and Texas A&M have emerged as unlikely conference leaders at 2-0 (give yourself a cookie if you predicted that), while preseason darlings Texas (0-2) and Nebraska (1-1 and not playing well) are floundering. Do the current leaders have the wherewithal to make it to San Antonio, or will somebody from elsewhere in the pack overtake them?
For starters, I think that the preseason darlings were probably Oklahoma and Missouri. That being said, I don't think anyone expected it to be these two schools on top. I can't imagine A&M is long for the top spot; I don't believe they'll get past Oklahoma, and they'll Fran some game to finish in the middle of the pack. Colorado, on the other hand, is growing with confidence every week, and the winner of the Big 12 North may come down to their matchup with Mizzou in a couple of weeks.
3. A few weeks ago we did a ranking of the six BCS conferences, with most bloggers picking the Big 12 in the middle of the pack, which would be a big improvement over the last couple years. Have the middle and bottom teams of the conference improved significantly, or have the teams at the top declined significantly? Or is it something else?
Kinda tough question to address properly, but I don't think the top of the conference is as strong as a few years ago, namely in the South. I do think the North has pulled itself up as a group, and I don't know if there will be any huge surprises at the end of the season in the South.
4. Getting waaaaay ahead of ourselves: What if Missouri or KU goes undefeated and wins the Big 12 Championship Game? Would they get a shot at the national championship game?
With the craziness that is the Top 25 this year, they just might have a chance. That being said, I think the fact that neither team has been in a position to actually succeed like this in a long time, and the pressure would likely get to either one before it becomes a problem.
5. Rank the conference teams
- Oklahoma
- Missouri
- Colorado
- Kansas
- Texas Tech
- Texas A&M
- Texas
- Kansas State
- Oklahoma State
- Nebraska
- Baylor
- Iowa State