2012-2013 Big 12 College Football

[longviewmo]

For what it's worth, that Klein stat includes games against every other Big 12 team except Kansas. For Manziel, the stat includes a Florida loss (his first game), LSU loss, and wins over Mississippi State and Alabama. Only one of those wins is impressive.

[chaglang]

I think the "body of work" is important so that flash in the pan players don't win this, the most prestiguous award in sports. A freshman might not put up the same numbers as an upperclassman when teams have a year's worth of game tape to study. It's a testament to those players that can continuously perform at a high level year after year.

That's also the argument for giving Montee Ball the Heisman.

[KC-wildcat]

I think the "body of work" is important so that flash in the pan players don't win this, the most prestiguous award in sports. A freshman might not put up the same numbers as an upperclassman when teams have a year's worth of game tape to study. It's a testament to those players that can continuously perform at a high level year after year.

That's also the argument for giving Montee Ball the Heisman.

You're forgetting the ever-important "play for a really good team" criteria. If Wisconsin wasn't 8-5, but rather 12-1, Montee Ball would probably win the Heisman despite the fact that his '12 numbers aren't as good as his '11 numbers.

Fact remains, there is a reason freshmen never win the Heisman. Gotta prove you're not a fluke in the eyes of voters.

[chaglang]

Heisman flow chart:

Freshman? -> Yes -> Sorry
|
v
No
|
v
Playing on a BCS level team? -> No -> Sorry
|
v
Yes
|
v
Playing on a good BCS level team? -> No -> Sorry
|
v
Yes
|
v
QB/RB/WR? -> No -> Please wait over there next to Charles Woodson
|
v
Yes
|
v
Congrats! You may be the best player in all of college football!

[chaglang]

^Skip step 1.

[KCMax]

K-State's Colin Klein, Arthur Brown make Second-Team All-American. Ty Zimmerman makes Third Team.

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/11/39 ... p-all.html

[kcmetro]

DT Marquel Combs picks KU.

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncfrecr ... st?id=6593

[KCPowercat]

DT Marquel Combs picks KU.

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/ncfrecr ... st?id=6593

Dream Team!

[KCMax]

Darren Rovell reports six schools have already sold out their bowl allotments: Alabama, Notre Dame, UCLA, Iowa State, Stanford, Kansas State.

[longviewmo]

Got an email last night that K-State has secured a few hundred more tickets.

[KCPowercat]

Got an email last night that K-State has secured a few hundred more tickets.

Oregon isn't selling squat of their allotment so k-State is picking up the slack. Guess should be expected when they have been to a run of BCS bowls.

[KC-wildcat]

[AllThingsKC]

[bobbyhawks]

C'mon, KSU!

The Big 12 is 4-3 in the bowls and has upset every ranked team (UCLA and Oregon State) it has faced so far. Here is to hoping that is a trend with more even matchups (ranking-wise) for KSU and OU. No ranked team in the Big 12 has the advantage of playing a lower ranked opponent.

The Pac 12 is 3-4 in bowls, and only 1 of their 3 ranked teams to play so far has a victory. The other 2 ranked teams lost to a lower seed (by 10 places) and to an unranked team.

The SEC is 3-3 and has played in only 1 game where they were the underdog to a ranked opponent (and lost). The closest matchup by top 25 rankings was #8 LSU vs. #14 Clemson, and LSU lost. Let's hope that trend continues with an even closer matchup between #9 A&M vs. #11 Oklahoma. I am still conflicted as to what I want from the title game. I hate both outcomes, but perhaps I still hate Notre Dame enough to want them to get crushed.

The B1G was 2-5 and had no upset victories vs. a higher ranked opponent. They only had 1 matchup in which they were the higher ranked team, and they won that game.

[NKC]

I don't think bowl games are always the best indicator of overall conference quality. There are too many bowls and who really cares about winning the BBVA Compass Bowl, et. al. unless your team is in it. That being said, KSU getting spanked by an Oregon team that really had nothing to prove does not show well for the Big 12. OU has an opportunity to save face tonight.

I do not think there were a lot of great teams in college football this year. In fact, I would say there are is a large middle class of teams and Oregon/Alabama are a notch above the rest. I think Oregon should be playing Alabama for the title Monday night. KSU, Notre Dame, and Florida all ended the season in the top five, but they all have serious flaws to their game. Snyder is a great coach, but not even he could find a way to stop Oregon.

[kcmetro]

Snyder has gotten his players to overachieve all season, but eventually you run into a team like Oregon and the talent disparity is too much to overcome. The game kinda went how I expected it to. Figured it would be tough for KSU to win, especially if they dug themselves a hole like they did. Oregon looked unstoppable.

[grovester]

The whole game turned on that last 2 minutes of the first half. KSU was making the Oregon offense look average to the point they felt they had to try a fake punt. KSU whiffed on the field goal to make them pay, then choked on the D at the last minute. Big difference between 15-13 and 22-10 going to halftime.

[AllThingsKC]

Oh, well.

At least K-State gives great pep rallies. So, there's that.

[TheBigChuckbowski]

The whole game turned on that last 2 minutes of the first half. KSU was making the Oregon offense look average to the point they felt they had to try a fake punt. KSU whiffed on the field goal to make them pay, then choked on the D at the last minute. Big difference between 15-13 and 22-10 going to halftime.

This. Especially since it's pretty obvious K-State was going for it on that 4th and 1 when they got called for the false start. They make that and at the very least Oregon isn't scoring and K-State gets a closer field goal attempt but they could have had a touchdown and the lead going into halftime. They came out in the 3rd quarter completely different from how they played during the 2nd quarter after getting punched in the gut.

[TheBigChuckbowski]

I don't think bowl games are always the best indicator of overall conference quality. There are too many bowls and who really cares about winning the BBVA Compass Bowl, et. al. unless your team is in it. That being said, KSU getting spanked by an Oregon team that really had nothing to prove does not show well for the Big 12. OU has an opportunity to save face tonight.

I love it...bowls aren't a good indicator of conference strength but the Big 12 sure looks horrible because of that one bowl game.

I agree with you in terms of specific teams. Certain coaches or teams don't handle the long break well. There are also many things that may work for a team during the regular season that no longer work when coaches are given more than a month to watch tape and practice against it. Bowls aren't a good indicator of team strength.

However, when looking at conferences, there are enough games to balance all of that stuff out so bowl games are a decent indicator of conference strength and the SEC isn't looking so dominating right now.