Big games for the Big 12

Texas vs. Baylor- Despite the score, I am very upset at the performance by the Longhorns. McCoy, while setting a school record for passing TDs, still looks like a freshman QB with his throws. If not for great WRs, he would have a much higher TD to INT ratio. Luckily, none of our Big 12 opponents have an all world defense to expose his lack of arm strength. (I know I'm committing the Longhorn sin of ragging on a QB, but don't put on the burnt orange jersey if you have soft skin.) Our pass defense needs to do wind sprints until they vomit. They were completely embarrassed by Shawn Bell. Sans one play, our run defense was stellar which makes the faux TD at the end of the game all the more upsetting. The knee was clearly down on the 2 with 18 seconds left in the game, the clock would have started moving when the ball was set and Baylor was out of timeouts. With the way we were playing, the final score could have easily been 63-24 Texas. In such a tight BCS race, those 7 points could haunt us. Especially when you consider that no other team, including the #1 team in the nation, had put those kinds of points on Texas thus far.

But, I'm a Texas fan...and I'll gripe about anything.

Texas Tech vs. Colorado- I admit, I didn't see this one coming. In a way, I'm glad that Tech gets a bad season under Leach to come back to reality. On the other hand, we play Tech later on and they already have 3 losses. This does nothing to help our strength of schedule with the BCS. The fact that their starting QB, Graham Harrell, was on the bench in the second half says it all. Colorado flat out dominated Tech in all aspects of the game. The bright spot is that a trip to Jones Stadium looks more like a road bump than a pothole.

Texas a&m vs. Mizzou- Mizzou has looked pretty damn good this year. Since I have a boss that is a Mizzou grad, I have paid particularly close attention to the progress of their team as I believe we will eventually meet them in the Big 12 championship game. Yesterday, the Tigers just ran out of gas. Out of the gate, they looked stellar. The score should have been 14-0 before a&m knew what hit them. But, a mishandled run at the 1 yard line and Jovorski "The Hut" Lane would have none of that. With this loss, Mizzou has dropped out of the Top 25 despite several 2 loss teams being ranked in the teens. As much as some Mizzou fans hate to admit it, this speaks volumes about their competition thus far. When your best win just lost to a winless team, and you have no history of being a player, it's hard to get respect. As much as it pains me, I am cheering for the aggies to run the table until the Texas game. With the Big 12 south stinking up the joint, we need to win a showdown against ranked competition. I am also rooting for Mizzou to run the table to give us that little extra schedule buffer.

Iowa State vs. ou- Oklahoma rebounded nicely from their loss in Dallas. But, the score is secondary for them at this point. Adrian Peterson broke his collarbone by hot-dogging it into the endzone with a dive ending his season. If his intent was to make Sportscenter...mission accomplished. As much as I hate the guy, and ou in general, I never like to see kids go down. He truly is an excellent running back and I do not wish serious injury on any college athlete. But, this just magnifies the stigma that Bob Stoops has of running his players into the ground. It's really a judgment call: You have the game well in hand and decide that you want to pad your Heisman candidate's stats. The fact that AD's dad was in the stands certainly added fuel to the decision I'm sure. As you can see, there is a risk involved with this. It is the exact reason Vince Young came in second in the voting last year. Now Peterson will leave ou with no Heisman, no national championship and a 1-2 record against Texas. I'm sure that the millions that will be shoved at him will help him cope. But, the ou football team is in a world of trouble...which will hurt the credence of our win.

Nebraska vs. Kansas State- Not much to talk about with this game. K-State is where it was predicted as was Nebraska. I caught bits and pieces of the game, but I think that Nebraska is more than beatable. As long as Texas can win the turnover battle, we will win.

OSU vs. Kansas- Neither team is a factor, so no analysis.

The Good- Florida lost to Auburn which moves Texas up another spot. Georgia lost to Vanderbilt and Iowa lost to Indiana giving us a little more breathing room. Ohio State remains undefeated which we desperately need at this point.

The Bad- USC, Michigan and Louisville all escaped close games. With more than half the season already over, time is starting to run out. Luckily, the meat of their schedules are coming up in the second half. Cal and West Virginia won convincingly. WVU is more problematic than Cal, but after the 2004 season, I do not want to be in another head-to-head against the team Mack Brown "whined" against.

And Miami should really evaluate the priorities of their program.

Update: The BCS computers can stick it where the circuts don't shine!

You ranked ND, Auburn, and Florida above Texas? Texas was whipped at home by the #1 team in the country, ND was embarresed by Michigan, Auburn was embarressed by Arkansas, and Florida was dominated by Auburn. I take issue with Louisville, but that will take care of itself.

Well, I guess the goal is to get to a BCS game this year. The road ahead doesn't look too rosey...excuse me, Fiesta-y.