More photos » by Nati Harnik - AP

Now the woodshed I used to take Kansas State behind was down the street, take a left at the blue house and it's right beside the park. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

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So it's late and I'm scrambling. But I have to say that I think Willie the Wildcat is the worse mascot in the Big 12. A close second would be that Jaundice Marlboro Man they have at Okie Lite, but that's another post.

It's a freaking guy with a giant head on. It's like someone activated the big head cheat in college football somewhere and only Willie was affected. His only talents are doing half-assed push-ups, some remedial spelling, and making horrible, horrible videos.

So what say you readers of the corn? Is Willie the worse? Who do you hate? And before all you Kitty fans (and Mike) try and tell me that Little Red is way worse let me say this. He's hilarious, and he can bounce on his head so there.

Corn Blight is busy throwing things at his TV whenever the I'm a PC; I'm a mac commercials come on. So his picks will be up later.

Well the favorites last week all covered, making it an easy week. I pulled the ND-Pitt game from the ATS since I never saw a spread, and since no one wanted either team to win anyway.

Since it's become a tradition we make our picks here again. Please feel free to add your thoughts and insights in the comments section.

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More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

And you may ask yourself How do I work this? And you may ask yourself Where is that large automobile? And you may tell yourself This is not my beautiful house! And you may tell yourself This is not my beautiful wife! And then you may say to yourself My God! What have I done?

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If you're looking for information on the Kansas State Wildcats, go no further than the site Bring on the Cats where TB is in charge. Mike came up with some reasonable football questions for him, while I asked him more existential questions about the state of things at Kansas State. 

Mike: When did you realize that Kansas State realistically could contend for a Big XII North title this season?

TB: After the Colorado game.  The results of the Texas Tech and Texas A&M games were too wild to really predict what was going on, and the win over Iowa State was so close that it wasn't particularly uplifting.  But after we shut down Colorado and won even without a very good offensive effort, moving the conference record to 3-1 on the same day Nebraska lost to Iowa State, Mizzou lost to Texas, and KU lost to whomever it was they were playing, it started to click that hey, maybe we actually do have a shot at this thing.

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So you may have heard (in every article about the game) that if KSU wins they play in the B12 Championship game, and then a bowl. So KSU will be extra motivated against the Huskers. I have seen many message boards express concern over this game because of that. On the other hand people have been saying that Colorado will be dangerous since they have nothing to play for but pride, can let it all hang out, and NU is their bowl game.

So which is it? Is KSU the more dangerous team because of so much on the line, or is it CU with nothing to play for?

Lots of links today-

Not these Links...

Omaha.com - The Omaha World-Herald: Big Red Today - Portland star might follow Suh

Odighizuwa ranks as the top high school player at his position nationally. He’s considering Nebraska in addition to offers from Oregon, Oregon State, Southern California, UCLA, Cal and Florida. How did the Huskers get him to visit?
....
NU coach Bo Pelini and assistant John Papuchis have made quite an impression on Odighizuwa, Wood said. "When you connect with him as a person, it far exceeds any impact of the bling," Wood said. "He has connected with them, and that is what’s really sold him to this point."

Yes please.

Husker Mike's Blasphemy: Suh Falls to #2 in Fan Voting for Heisman

I'm calling shenanigans here. They removed Suh from the choices, so you have to write him in, and then Spiller takes off. I'm willing to bet that someone is running a script to get Spiller's votes up. BOOOOOO Nissan.

Speaking of Suh-

Ndamukong Suh Website

Nebraska Previews Kansas State - Burnt Orange Nation
Talking With the Enemy: Q&A with a KSU Blog - Nebraska Football

TB and Bring on the Cats talks Huskers

Kansas State Previews Nebraska - Burnt Orange Nation

Corn Nation talks Cats

K-State-Nebraska football preview - KansasCity.com

Basic overview of the game, I like to read them every Fri.

Playing Nebraska means something to K-State’s players again - KansasCity.com
Cats know Black Shirts are back | CJOnline.com

So yeah Nebraska used to be good, and KSU used to be good, and now they are both kinda ok. I'll be happy when this stops being a story.

Life in the Red's Blog | Breakfast with Beck

Beck also showed the crowd a psyche-up video coaches will show the team before the game. The video begins by showing the definition of "opportunity." Then you see the words: "Goal #1: Dominate the Big 12 North."

Sounds like Helu is still not 100%, but Rex is back

Rivals.com College Football - Weekend preview of the Big 12

Scout.com: 2009 Big 12 Fearless Picks - The North Title

What will happen: The Husker defense will pitch a near-perfect game to overcome a shaky performance from the offense. The turnaround won’t be complete under Pelini, but it’ll be a big step forward.

Steven M. Sipple: Keeping an eye on the coaching carousel

Sipple's weekly column where he covers what he wants, from NU football, to KSU, to the Heisman race; this week he neglects to mention when it's ok to put up your Christmas lights.

Ex-Kansas Jayhawks players: Coach Mark Mangino said 'hurtful' things - ESPN

Former KU players air their dirty laundry about Mangino. (Husker Mike: The concerns about physical abuse fall flat with me. You're football players; far worse happens on the field. But some of the things Mangino is alleged to have said are outrageous, to say the least.)

Source: A.D. 'undercutting' Mangino

Another story by John Taylor at NBC Sports has a source talking about how KU athletic director is behind all the bad stuff about Mangino. Is this a blood bath for KU or what? How much worse can it get than this? - CB

Joc Crawford is Willing to Drive The Bus Over Mangino

More Mangino? You bet. Joc Crawford was a JUCO transfer who left this season, obviously over playing time. There's no credibility here, only another angle of a train wreck. - CB

Sweet Lew Just Might Be an Evil Genius

Regarding Mark Mangino, Lew Perkins, and how this all might have happened. Worth a look. Really. Unless you're already tired of the Mangino thing, but hey! This is like a soap opera for dudes (okay, I can't take credit for that line, It was BRN's Brandon Vogel on twitter), completely stolen. - CB
Please note that Sweet Lew is not related to me, though I may be an evil genius as well - JLew

More photos » by DAVE WEAVER - AP

Expect greatness to shine through Suh as he plays his last home game in front of Nebraska's sell-out crowd.

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- Strength vs Strength

Kansas State's primary offensive strength in their running game. They lead the nation in time of possession and they're accustomed to slugging it out, sustaining drives and maintaining ball possession.  25 of their 42 scoring drives this season have gone for over 50 yards, and 12 of those consisted of ten or more plays.

Running back Daniel Thomas is of the big bruiser variety, at 6'2", 227 pounds. He's complemented by Keithen Valentine who has more speed and moves than Thomas, but at 5'8" and 193 pounds, doesn't have his size. Bill Snyder will pound Thomas at the Husker defense repeatedly, hoping that something will break. Thomas has had five 100-yard games this season, his high of 185 yards coming against in-state rival Kansas when he averaged 7.71 yards per carry. Thomas is a receiving threat as well, with 21 receptions for 206 yards.

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More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

Is that a legal tackle? Arrrghhh!!!

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It's safe to say that the game against Kansas State is being viewed with cautious optimism. The cautious part comes from still not having a real solid handle on what's going to happen with our offense, while the defense, even after the defensive line disappeared against Kansas, should give Husker fans plenty of optimism no matter the opponent.

Statistics obviously don't tell the whole story about a team, but looking at them can give you a good idea about what they do well and don't do well. Most of that is after the jump. KSU went 2-2 in non-conference, then picked up wins against Iowa State, Texas A&M, Colorado, and a surprising rivalry win over Kansas, a team that's coming apart.

I don't feel bad about this game. There's nothing that says we shouldn't beat Kansas State by double digits. Their primary offensive strength, the running game, plays right into our primary defensive strength. Their defensive weakness doesn't necessarily align with our offensive strength, running, unless Zac Lee and Niles Paul can duplicate the big play display they put on against Kansas.

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Really a quiet week still, and it's Thurs. Could be the respect from NU fans to a Snyder coached team. KSU fans have been mostly quiet as well. Either they accept that they don't have a good chance against us, or they are just biding their time. Maybe we need to declare this a Hate Week, find a purple blogger that hate, hate, hates NU and it's fans, and tell KSU they are not our rival... What do you guys think?

Practice report: Freshman Burkhead returns
Superman Returns! KSU has a good O-Line, and Pelini gives the D-Line a grade higher than Suh's F

Superman Returns, or is this SUH-perman?

Kansas State insider
LJS breaks down KSU

Omaha.com - The Omaha World-Herald: Big Red Today - Nickel and diming its way to success
Hagg and Gomes have played great this year. A look at NU's nickle and dime packages.

Snyder has united the Wildcats - KansasCity.com
Another long article about how great Snyder is. I really hate for NU to end their season.... oh wait no I don't

Big 12 predictions, Week 12 - Big 12 Blog - ESPN

Nebraska 28, Kansas State 17: The North Division title is up for grabs in this winner-take-all battle. The Cornhuskers’ running game will be tested by Kansas State’s gritty defensive front which has overachieved all season. Roy Helu Jr. has been Nebraska’s key offensive threat in recent weeks, but Zac Lee needs to continue to build on his strong effort of last week against Kansas to balance the Cornhuskers’ attack. Kansas State figures to struggle against the Cornhuskers’ defensive front and will need to stay ahead of the chains to keep Grant Gregory from too many long-yardage situations. Bill Snyder will try to dictate the pace by shortening the number of possessions and keeping the game away from the Cornhuskers as much as possible. But Nebraska has too much defense to let the division title slip away.

Week 12 College Football Picks From WhatIfSports.com
They ran many prediction models and....

Nebraska Cornhuskers win 75.6% of the time with an average score of 24-13

Dave Rimington Podcast: Trophy a True Honor – LostLettermen.com
Nice conversation with Dave Rimington about the trophy that bears his name.

What to watch for in the Big 12, Week 12 - Big 12 Blog - ESPN

Can Roy Helu Jr. continue his recent running binge? Helu has bounced back from an earlier shoulder injury to become the Cornhuskers' most consistent offensive threat, averaging 147 rushing yards per game in his last two games. His strong effort last week seemed to perk up the Cornhuskers’ entire offense in a 31-17 triumph over Kansas. Another big game will be important as the Cornhuskers attempt to claim their first championship game berth since 2006.

Nebraska sweeps Baylor for fourth straight win

Coach John Cook described his team’s overall effort as rough around the edges, but thanks to 32 digs from Banwarth, the No. 9 Huskers rolled to a 25-16, 25-21, 25-20 sweep of No. 24 Baylor at the sold-out NU Coliseum.

Truth be told, while I didn't give Kansas State much chance of being in position to win the Big XII North this season,, I'm not sure I missed too badly.  Carson Coffman only lasted a few games at quarterback before being replaced by Grant Gregory.  Daniel Thomas turned out to be a top-notch running back for the Wildcats, and has become a "slash" type player in the "everybody runs it now" Wildcat formation.  The Wildcats disappointed the Big XII by losing to Louisiana in September, but then pulled off upsets of Iowa State and Texas A&M to position themselves to compete in the North.

Defensively, the Wildcats still generally rank in the bottom half of the conference except in one key statistic: the Wildcats are +8 in turnover margin this season, good for 2nd in the Big XII.  In a division where it seems everybody seems to be trying to lose at times, the Wildcats have been able to make their move by simply not making the mistakes everybody else is.

So just for giggles, here's my preview of the Wildcats from this summer.

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More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

Nebraska's Quincy Hankins-Cole, left, and Saint Louis' Cory Remekun, right, watch as a ball bounces out of bounds during the second half of Saint Louis' 69-55 victory. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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Husker fans who tuned into tonight's Nebraska/Saint Louis game to see what Brian Diaz looked like will have to wait until another game to get that impression.  Diaz took a hard shot to the mouth in the opening minute and broke a tooth.  He didn't return until late in the second half, and only played a few minutes.  He came in cold and shot a couple of awkward hooks that missed badly, and headed back to the bench.

All told, it was an ugly night.  Nebraska started cold and the Billikens jumped out to an early "double the score" lead on the Huskers.  The Huskers fought back and pulled to within one at 28-27 at halftime.  Ryan Anderson scored to open the second half, putting the Huskers into the lead and apparently annoying the Billikens, who went on a 14-2 run to take command of the game.

Not a lot of positives to take from tonight's game; without Brian Diaz, the Huskers don't look much bigger than last season and seem to really miss a guy like Paul Velander.  Doc Sadler hasn't been too happy with the defense in his Twitter comments, so there's a lot of work to be done.  I'm interested in seeing a little more out of Lance Jeter down the line; he caught my eye a couple of times in the limited time I had to watch tonight.

This looks like a rebuilding part of the season early on; things could get interesting when Christian Standhardinger becomes eligible in January.

More photos » by Orlin Wagner - AP

Todd Reesing tries to protect himself while the KU program comes down around him. It won't help. If that's Mangino above him he'd better run now. The impact crater will be enormous.

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I got tired of waiting for Corn Blight to give me a nomination so the heck with him I'm going to do one of my own. Maybe it's not fair to Husker Mike and Jlew because it didn't happen last week but it happened because of last week. I going to make this nomination because its the 800-pound gorilla ha ha ha that can't be ignored even though everyone in Kansas want us to.

Q: Can Mark Mangino fit under a bus?

A: Only if it's a really big bus.

My nomination goes to Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins. It's pretty clear by now that Perkins wants Mangino gone, to the point that he's released university documents detailing an example of Mangino's bad behavior. Oh. Maybe Perkins didn't release those they were leaked! We've heard about Mangino "putting his finger in the chest of a player" as if its a bad thing. First he could have put his finger somewhere else we'd have to hear about and second there are 300 pound guys running into each other as part of the sport. If some player can't handle his coach putting his finger in his chest perhaps he could take up a board game like Clue or better yet Chutes N Ladders. 

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Looking like it should be a nice day on Sat, and I'm hearing that tickets are getting hard to find.
If you want tp probe the depths of a K-State fan you can Ask TB in a fan post. Just be nice, he didn't choose to be a Wildcat, well he did, but he is from Nebraska and some people just have to be different. (Join us TB! Come back to the Red Side it's not too late...)

This is how KSU plans on blocking Suh. Power Fat Cat. Hmmmm maybe two fat cats would be better?

Steven M. Sipple: Osborne's influence shows Bo's desire to grow
Sipple looks at the relationship between Pelini and Osborne

Practice report: Suh gives line play a failing grade
McNeill is questionable after he got blown up after a catch against KU as well

Omaha.com - The Omaha World-Herald: Big Red Today - KSU offense expected to run at Suh

The run-oriented Kansas State offense is exactly the type of unit that senior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh would prefer facing.

When Suh's happy, I'm happy. More notes about practice at the link as well-

NE StatePaper.com - The Swagger Returns

Among the many conversations Bob Lee had with his son, Zac, about playing quarterback, the former NFL signal-caller once said this: You're not a true quarterback until you've been run out of at least one town.

Zac could have shut down after being benched, but he didn't. That's quality right there folks, and it's another reason this team is on the rise.

Wildcats embrace all-or-nothing attitude - KansasCity.com
Does KSU have more to lose than NU? Will that affect their mindset in the game?

Hey Husker Fans: Admission, Not an Apology | Campus Corner

I ADMIT I was wrong to say that people picking Nebraska to win the Big 12 North were "abso-tooting-lutely nuts."

Blow it out your ass. I don't care what you think or what your reasoning is that NU isn't really that good.

Husker Mike's Blasphemy: Nebraska vs. Boise State: Scheduling I Can Believe In
Husker Mike likes the idea of playing Boise State, sometime soon.

Tuesday mailbag: Who should be the Big 12's Coach of the Year? - Big 12 Blog - ESPN

Ashtyn Beek of Jefferson City, Mo., writes: A lot of different people and sports websites are predicting Nebraska to meet Stanford in the Holiday Bowl. I think this would be a great match-up between two physical teams, led by two confident, competitive coaches. Suh/Crick vs. Gerhart would be a great battle. Anyway, I can think of Nebraska playing just about everyone from the Pac-10 in recent history, except for Stanford. What's the history between these two teams?
Tim Griffin: These two teams have met only once and it is the fewest times that the Cornhuskers have played any Pac-10 opponent. Their only game came in 1940, when Stanford notched a 21-13 home victory over the Cornhuskers. Also, I agree with you. A matchup between Bo Pelini and Jim Harbaugh would be intriguing. And, the matchup between the bullish Stanford running game and the dominant Nebraska defensive front would be a good one, too.

Headlinin': Don't bother tracking the friendly skies for Flying Irish - Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo! Sports

• Weis Watch. Another sign of Charlie Weis' impending demise: Notre Dame has blocked the university plane from appearing on flightaware.com (see for yourself), a proactive effort at cutting off the breathless surfers intent on tracking its path to Cincinnati or Gainesville or Vatican City or wherever ND's next coach is waiting. That comes on the heels of the athletic director assuring reporters that Weis' huge buyout won't affect whether he stays or goes and the two most notable Irish-centric newspapers both calling for his head almost simultaneously, completing the Holy Trinity of "You're Fired." [South Bend Tribune]

Oh that's not good at all...