SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable Recap: Week 6 Around the Conference

This week's SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable Recap takes a look at some of the different thoughts expressed around the Big 12 blogosphere. This week's participants included Rock M Nation, Crimson & Cream Machine,  Double T Nation, I am the 12th Man, Rock Chalk Talk, Clone Chronicles, Corn Nation, and Ralphie Report.

The bloggers from Nebraska, Missouri, and Texas A&M are all upgrading their expectations.  The Texas Tech, Colorado, and Oklahoma bloggers are downgrading them.  Even with the downgraded expectations, I get the feeling that the Ralphie Report guys are much more optimistic about the Buffs than the rest of the bloggers.

Oh geez, "10 wins no excuses" ring a bell?  Let's just say all of our preseason predictions have been tarred & feathered. Worst case? The Buffaloes don't win a game the rest of the season (and yes, that's still being reasonable). Best case?  CU beats Iowa State, Kansas State and Texas A&M and then manages to upset one of either Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma State or Nebraska.  I'm going to guess that the Buffs win 2 out of the first group and 1 out of the second to finish 4-8.

2.  In 2010, the Big 12 will send it's 7th place team to play in a new bowl game to be played at Yankee Stadium, replacing the Independence Bowl in Shreveport.  What's your take on this move?  Is it a good move for players?  Is it a good move for the conference?  Is it a good move for fans?

Nobody really is going to miss Shreveport, though some people wish that the Texas Bowl in Houston was the one that got the axe.  There seem to be divergent opinions about whether playing in New York City is good or not.  Crimson and Cream Machine thinks it's a no brainer:

Have you ever been to Shreveport? There's no way that this isn't a good move for the Big 12. I just wish that it was for the 3^rd or 4^th place team instead of the 7^th. As it is we are rewarding the team that just barely finishes ahead of Baylor in the South or Iowa State in Colorado in the North with a trip to Yankee Stadium in New York City.

In year's past that team has gotten what they deserved for barely qualifying to make it to a postseason game. Now why the second place team is in Dallas and the other teams that finished ahead of 7^th in the conference are bound for San Diego, Jacksonville, San Antonio and possibly even Boise this team and their fans are rewarded with New York City.

The options for fans and experience for players in New York, as well as the publicity for the conference, will be unrivaled. Especially when you consider that this is replacing Shreveport.

Clone Chronicles sees it a bit differently:

Fans: It has to suck big time. This game will be played between December 29th and Jan 2nd. Hotels will be hard to come by/expensive due to all of the New Year's fesitivities. Who wants to pay $250-300/night for a hotel, to watch the 7th in the Big 12 vs. The 4th in the Big East? Plus, no one in NYC is going to care about this game. If no one in Houston cared about the Texas Bowl, why would such a pro town like NYC care about two mediocre college football teams?

3.  Oklahoma is now 2-2, with one of those victories coming against a winless 1-AA team.  Will all be well in Soonerland once Sam Bradford returns?

Rock Chalk Talk summed it very nicely:

Nope. The problem runs a lot deeper than Landry Jones, I promise. The real problem was talked about before the season even began, by me and others. The offensive line. 4 starters from last year's nation's-best unit, which gave Sam Bradford hours back there in the pocket, are gone. Bye-bye. That's the real problem.

The defense is good. They held The U's offense in check, for the most part. 21 points is impressive. And Landry Jones isn't bad. They have the runningbacks. They just don't have the O-Line to create holes or give Landry enough time to find his receivers. Of course, the receivers aren't as good as they were last year, either, with only Ryan Broyles presenting a consistent threat, but the vast majority of the blame lies with the big uglies.

4.  This week, Missouri and Nebraska face off on an ESPN Thursday night broadcast at 8 pm.  Last Thursday, Colorado lost to West Virginia.  Missouri and Colorado both have played Friday night road games.  What's your take on non-Saturday games?

Everybody loves watching them on TV.  But mixed thoughts on your team playing in them, especially for the fans in the stadium. I wrote

If it were a home game, I'd have to burn some vacation time to get to Lincoln, then have to head into work the next day on a half-night's sleep.  I remember the 2001 Thursday night game against Rice, and realized that Nebraska football and weekdays simply don't mix.  So yeah, if somebody else wants to do it, fine.  Just leave my Husker football where God intended it to be - on Saturdays.

Clone Chronicles apparently doesn't mind the investment of a day or two of vacation time to gain extra college football on Saturday:

I love them, especially if my team is playing in the game. I get to go to the game (or watch it on TV), and not miss any of the other action. When I go to an ISU game, I miss almost everything else going on in the college football world, from spending the whole day tailgating, going to the game, etc.

5. It seems everybody is in agreement that the bottom three teams in the North are the bottom three teams in the conference. Is the gap growing, and which of these teams is going to break out of the cellar first. Or is it hopeless?

Turns out not everybody agreed with that statement.  Coach Beergut noted the following:

I'm not sure if the gap is growing between teams in the North, because I think there is still a very big gap between teams in the North and teams in the Big 12 South. I think the teams in the North are a lot closer together than some may want to admit. It wasn't that long ago that Nebraska was hideously wretched, much like Colorado is this year. As for which teams will break out of the cellar first, I think you have to look at Kansas State, simply because of their coaching. Snyder will get them palying fundamentally solid football in all three areas; it is just a matter of time for him to recruit the talent he needs to get them winning again. I think if State becomes a challenger in the North again, Kansas will take a step back, and Colorado might also have some issues. Colorado will be down as long as they keep their current coaching staff in place, because they simply aren't getting the job done there.

6.  Rank all of the division 1 football conferences from top to bottom.  Not just the BCS conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big 10/11, Big East, Pac 10, SEC), but the others (MAC, Conference USA, WAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt) as well.  Who's the strongest conference, and who's the pretender?

Everybody (grudgingly) agrees the SEC is tops in college football.  Nobody agrees about the ACC; Ralphie Report has them 2nd, while I Am The 12th Man puts the ACC 6th.

1. SEC
2. Big XII
3. Pac 10
4. ACC
5. Big 11
6. MWC
7. Big East
8. Conference USA
9. WAC
10. MAC
    
11. Sun Belt

7.  PowerPoll time.  Rank 'em 1 to 12 based on who you think would be the victor on a neutral field.

1. Texas (1.0)
   
2. Nebraska (3.5)
3. Oklahoma (3.6)
4. Oklahoma State (4.1)
5. Missouri (4.2)
6. Kansas (4.6)
7. Texas Tech (7.0)
8. Texas A&M (8.0)
9. Baylor (9.0)
10. Kansas State (10.0)
11. Iowa State (11.2)
12. Colorado (11.6)