Big 12 Sports Blog by Big 12 Fans

What a crazy schedule for Big 12 football! All six big 12 football teams ranked in the Top 25 are in action today, as all six ranked teams (OU, Mizzou, Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas & Oklahoma State) face the six unranked teams. In what could help or hurt the conference, depending on your view, five of the six ranked teams play on the road with only the Texas A&M @ #21 Oklahoma State game having the home team as the ranked team. While the Big 12 scores can be found on the college football scoreboard online for later reference, here is today’s lineup of games:

• #16 Kansas @ Iowa State
• #1 Oklahoma @ Baylor
• #7 Texas Tech @ Kansas State
• #5 Texas @ Colorado
• Texas A&M @ #21 Oklahoma State
• #4 Missouri @ Nebraska

Athlon Sports has released their annual college football preview and their Preseason Top 25 consists of five Big 12 football schools. Beginning at #3 in the nation, Athlon like the Oklahoma Sooners. Coming off their impressive 2007 campaign, the Mizzou Tigers rank 3 spots below OU at #6 in the nation followed by Texas at #11. Mark Mangino’s Kansas Jayhawks rank #13 after thier 1-loss season and Orange Bowl victory and the Red Raiders of Texas Tech are #18.

Instead of staying for his senior season or transferring to a lower-division school, Oklahoma St. QB Bobby Reid is reportedly declaring for the NFL draft.

Reid entered his junior season highly-rated after a sophomore season that saw him throw for 2,266 yards and 24 touchdowns (with 11 interceptions) and run for 500 yards and five touchdowns.

But, after going down with an injury in a win over Florida Atlantic, Reid lost his job to sophomore Zac Robinson, who, like Reid, is a dual-threat QB.

Robinson went on to throw for 2,847 yards and 23 touchdowns, and run for 847 yards and nine touchdowns, while Reid saw action in only three more games, finishing his season 26 of 49 passing for 275 yards, with one touchdown and one interception.

He might have gained more national recognition for anything that he ever did on the field for coach Mike Gundy’s infamous rant after a 49-45 win over Texas Tech, when he vociferously defended Reid over an article by a local columnist that seemed to question Reid’s manhood. Gundy famously said, ‘I’m a man! I’m 40!’ in a video that yes, even I, have seen on Youtube.

Boy or not, Reid has the talent to be an NFL quarterback, though it may not have hurt to go to a small school, where he could have had a big year and greatly built up his draft stock.

However, with his size and skills with both his arm and his legs, Reid should garner some attention, especially if he can perform well in workouts leading up to the draft.

Some might say that Reid could have stayed in Stillwater and fought for his job, but given how things took such a turn for him, and that he’d be fighting an uphill battle to replace Robinson, though given how Robinson overtook Reid after the season that Reid had in ‘06, anything’s possible.

One factor that may have played into Reid’s decision is the fact that he’s already graduated from OSU, so he may just be content to move on and try to get his shot at the NFL, even if it is a year earlier than expected.

My oh my, Virginia Tech just got out-Beamer Balled.

Upstart Kansas proved that they were anything but, using great defense, big special teams plays, and offensive efficiency to topple Virginia Tech 24-21 in the Orange Bowl.

The Hokies did have an 84-yard punt return for a score in the third quarter, and they also sacked Todd Reesing five times.

That might be good enough on most nights, but not on this one, because Kansas was just a little better at every facet of the game.

On defense, the Jayhawks registered five sacks and picked off three passes, including one that star corner Aqib Talib returned 60 yards for a touchdown, and another that Justin Thornton returned to the two, setting up Todd Reesing’s decisive two-yard touchdown run that made it 24-14 early in the fourth.

Despite giving up the punt return for a score, Kansas also came up big on special teams, blocking a field goal and using a fake punt to get a first down on another drive.

And, on offense, the Jayhawks didn’t crumble against the tenacious Tech defense, turning the ball over only once and picking up 343 total yards against a defense that was allowing only 293.3 coming into tonight.

All of those efforts combined to lead Kansas to one of the biggest victories in school history, and dispelled any doubts about whether or not they deserved to be in the BCS.

And, there’s a good chance they could be here again this time next season.

They’ll lose a lot of offensive production in Brandon McAnderson and Marcus Henry, but they’ll return receivers Dexton Fields and Kerry Meier (who’s also the backup QB), running back Jake Sharp, and most importantly, Reesing, who threw for 33 touchdowns and only seven interceptions in his first season as a starter.

And, on defense, they may lose Talib to the draft, but will nearly all of the unit’s key players and leading tacklers.

They will have to replace placekicker Scott Webb and punter Kyle Tucker, but that might be the only unit that will see drastic changes.

So, it might be a strange sight right now, but get used to it, because these Jayhawks don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.

Kansas may be a newcomer to the BCS, but they’re certainly not playing like it.

The Jayhawks have gotten off to a fast start on both sides of the ball, and are up 17-0 over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl.

All-American corner Aqib Talib has been active all night, as he returned an interception 60 yards for a score to get the scoring started, returned a punt 17 yards to set the Jayhawks up with a short field, which they capitalized on to get into the end zone to take a 17-0 lead, and he also had a long return on a missed field goal.

The Kansas defense has been a nightmare for the Virginia Tech offense, with two interceptions and four sacks already.

And, on offense, Todd Reesing is 12 of 19 for 107 yards and a touchdown, with his 13-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Henry setting a new school record of 36.

There’s still plenty of time to go, but the Jayhawks are certainly off to an excellent start all-around.

Pat White and West Virginia’s offense was just too much for a depleted Oklahoma defense last night as the Mountaineers trounced the Sooners 48-28 in the Fiesta Bowl. 

Oklahoma was missing starters Reggie Smith (injury), Lendy Holmes (academic ineligibility), and DeMarcus Granger (sent home for shoplifting), and the Mountaineers capitalized, rushing for 349 yards and totaling 525 yards. 

It was the Sooners’ fourth straight loss in a BCS bowl game.  There was one bright spot in the loss, however, in junior wide receiver Quentin Chaney, who came into the game with only five catches for 56 yards and one touchdown on the season, but caught four passes for 129 yards and a touchdown last night. 

Tonight, 11-1 Kansas looks to cap their storybook season with a happy ending as they take on ACC champion Virginia Tech (11-2) in the Orange Bowl. 

It’s a two-score game yet again, as Oklahoma quickly drove down the field, with Bradford hooking up with Iglesias on a 15-yard score to close the deficit again.

It’s now 41-28 West Virginia with 10 minutes to play. A quick stop for the Sooners is a must.

Just as I say that, the Mountaineers may have just sealed the win, as Devine goes 65 yards for a score.

It’s 48-28 with nine minutes to play, and OU is now in need of a minor miracle, or to at least come up with a couple of quick-strike scores of their own, along with a turnover or two..

Just when OU looked to be getting back into the game, pulling within 34-21 on a Sam Bradford touchdown pass to Quentin Chaney, West Virginia may have all but sealed the victory with Pat White’s 79-yard touchdown pass to Tito Gonzales on the next play from scrimmage.

It’s 41-21 West Virginia with 13 minutes to play. Still not over, but the Sooners are going to have score quickly and buckle down on defense to give themselves a chance to make a comeback.

As quickly as Oklahoma got themselves back in the game, they may have lost it.

After the questionable onside kick call that backfired, and the resulting touchdown by West Virginia, a penalty on the kickoff gave the Sooners bad field position, and after a three-and-out, the Mountaineers needed only three plays to get into the end zone, with receiver Darius Reynaud scoring on a 30-yard run.

34-15 Mountaineers at the end of the third. The Sooners aren‘t going to lay down though, as Juaquin Iglesias just returned the kickoff near midfield, and the Sooners are already inside the West Virginia 30 after a pass interference penalty.

Oklahoma got off to a slow start, falling behind 20-6 at halftime to West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl, but it looks like the Bob Stoops lit a fire under his guys in the locker room, as they’ve stopped the Mountaineers on two straight possessions coming out of the locker room, and trimmed the deficit to 20-9 with a Garrett Hartley field goal on their first offensive possession.

The Sooners were down 28-10 in the third quarter against Boise State in last season’s Fiesta Bowl, and came back to take a 35-28 lead before losing 43-42 in overtime, so there’s plenty of time and plenty of fight left in OU.

They’re moving the ball yet again, and are already at the West Virginia 15. Make that the 1-yard line after Chris Brown just broke off a 14-yard run, and now they’re into the end zone as Brown finished off the drive by getting in from one yard out to make it 20-15 with 6:27 to go in the third.

Oklahoma went for the two-point conversion and didn’t get it, but they’ve quickly tightened this one up. The onus is now on the Mountaineers to get something going on offense, and for the defense to start getting to Sam Bradford like they did in the first half, when they sacked him three times.

That blocked field goal at the end of the first half, when WVU could’ve gone up 23-6, was a real momentum swinger, because it put a good capper on a subpar first half on both sides of the ball.

OU just gave back all the momentum they’d gotten by attempting an onside kick that West Virginia recovered, and with the short field, the Mountaineers fully capitalized, as freshman running back Noel Devine went 17 yards for a touchdown, and it’s 27-15 West Virginia with 3:40 to go in the third.

Time for the Sooners to respond.