Big 12 Update

Will Missouri leave? BYU join? Who knows, but I do know that as the Big 12 scrambles just to keep the conference alive, the play on the field has been superb. The Big 12 is 26-2 in non-conference play--the best in the country--with wins over Florida State, TCU, Iowa and Miami. There are a whopping 7 undefeated squads, although a couple play each other this weekend so that number will soon decrease. Four of the nation's top ten passing attacks, statistically, reside in the conference and the star power is evident on a weekly basis. Who needs Nebraska or Colorado?

But as I have mentioned before, play on the field does not seem to matter during these volatile times. Still, as college football fans, we can sit back and enjoy the show.

The race for top spot in the conference--and there will not be a end-of-the-season title game of course--is certainly wide open and play this weekend will do nothing to alter the perception that Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are the front runners. OU plays Ball State, while OSU is off. Still the good slate of games Saturday will go a long way to determining who is up for challenging those big two.

Texas travels to Ames to take on Iowa State with the winner sporting an undefeated mark. The same is true for the winner of Baylor at Kansas State. The other undefeated team in the Big 12 is Texas Tech and they travel to Lawrence to play Kansas. So, expect five teams to go to sleep Saturday night with perfect records. Will Texas avenge last season's home loss to ISU or are the Cyclones their equal? Can KSU stop Robert Griffin and the explosive Baylor offense? Can Kansas finally beat Tech at home after going 0-6 so far against the Red Raiders?

Texas A&M may have had a setback in the second half Saturday, but plan to make plenty of noise the rest of the way. They will look to remain highly ranked with a win Saturday over Arkansas. The Razorbacks have swept the first two games of what was a mini series against A&M, but will now be a full-time rivalry with the Aggies move to the SEC. The game may be as important for the A&M psyche as their ranking after the Oklahoma State loss.

Is the Big 12 the best conference (on the field)? It is too early to tell, but it certainly looks the part. Perhaps a collective hatred of Texas is good for the quality of play.

Boulder Blues

Well, it did not take too long into the month of September—11 days in fact—for the first major program to have its season begin to take on the look of a death march. After two bad losses as a favorite, to rival Colorado State and middling Toledo, Colorado is in trouble. Big trouble. Now Sunday Morning Quarterbacks does not believe in getting coaches fired and we will leave the subject of job security in Boulder to others. Their jobs were at risk even before the season began, so stating the obvious is not solving any problems.

The question is, where does the team go from here? While coach Dan Hawkins talked before the season of rankings and double digit victories, the more realistic goal for this squad remains: the Big Twelve North crown. It may seem that the Buffs have hit rock bottom. But, in reality, they are 0-0 in conference play. They have four weeks to recover and possibly turn around their season as conference play begins October 10 when they travel to, gulp, Austin for a match-up with current no. 2 in the nation Texas. Later in the year they do play Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska at home, so a turn-around is not impossible. The kids said all of the right things following the Toledo loss. It is now time to put in the work before the season truly becomes lost.

As for the state of the program, is there a witch doctor in the house? Anyone know how to remove a voodoo curse? Is Dan Brown available to write about the dark secrets that lay at the root of this team’s problems? Whatever pact with the Devil someone signed 20-odd years ago that allowed the Buffs to shoot to the top of the rankings culminating with a shared national title in 1990, only to crash and burn amid numerous scandals and dreadful performances, it is time to say enough is enough. The debt has been paid. The good people of Boulder deserve better.