Big 12 Sports Blog by Big 12 Fans

The 2008 college football season is just around the corner and College Sports Fans has already begun their 2008 NCAA football previews by starting with th Big 12! All 12 teams from the Big XII Athletic Conference have been researched and previewed by expert college football & basketball writer Joel Welser as College Sports Fans is one of the first sites to release team previews for the 2008 football season. How will your favorite team perform on the gridiron in 2008? We have listed the 12 teams in the Big 12 Conference below so take your pick or read all 12 team previews today!

• Baylor Bears 2008 football preview
• Colorado Buffs 2008 football preview
• Iowa State 2008 football preview
• Kansas Jayhawks 2008 football preview
• Kansas State 2008 football preview
• Mizzou 2008 football preview
• Nebraska 2008 football preview
• OU Sooners 2008 football preview
• Oklahoma State 2008 football preview
• Texas Longhorns 2008 football preview
• Texas A&M 2008 football preview
• Texas Tech 2008 football preview

Big 12 football fans witnessed the emergence of Kansas and Mizzou to the league’s elite in 2007 as Missouri won the Big 12 North and both Oklahoma and Kansas were named to BCS Bowl games, but now three Big 12 football teams have been named as teams to watch in 2008. This Bog 12 programs include the Kansas Jayhawks, Missouri Tigers and Texas Tech Red Raiders. After a 12-1 season and a win over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl, the Jayhawks will look to make even more headlines in 2008. Meanwhile, the Missouri Tigers were the lone team to defeat Kansas in 2007 and only lost to the Big 12 Champion Oklahoma Sooners, albeit two times. Mizzou’s run to #1 ended in a non-BCS Bowl game, but the Tigers blew out Arkansas aen route to a 12-2 season. Finally, the Red Raiders of Texas Tech and their high-flying offense went 9-4 in 2007 with a Gator Bowl win over Virginia on New Year’s Day.

Find Big 12 gear including Mizzou merchandise, Kansas Jayhawks apparel & hats & more from DFN Sports sites.

Even though Missouri may still be feeling the sting of getting snubbed by the BCS, Chase Daniel is getting what he deserves - a trip to New York.

Missouri’s star signal-caller was named one of four lucky Heisman finalists, along with frontrunner Tim Tebow, last year’s runner-up Darren McFadden, and Hawaii’s record-setting QB Colt Brennan. The quartet know that they are the top four vote-getters for college football‘s top individual honor, but only one of them will walk up to the podium as the nation‘s best player (unless something historic happens).

The junior had a tremendous season in leading the Tigers to a Big 12 North title and the #1 ranking heading into the Big 12 title game.

Had he had a big night against Oklahoma and Missouri came out on top, that might have pushed him ahead of Tebow. But, he didn’t have his best night, and his chances to win the award might have been finished. However, if he’s evaluated on the full body of work, he’s got as good of a chance as the others, and it won‘t be a surprise if he‘s named the winner.

Daniel threw for 4,170 yards and 33 touchdowns for the 11-2 Tigers, and added four rushing touchdowns.

He had a great season overall, but he made his Heisman case in the final four games leading up to the Big 12 title game, throwing for 1,418 yards and 15 touchdowns, with only one interception, including a 40 of 49, 361-yard, three-touchdown performance in a 36-28 win over Kansas.

It’s been quite a ‘breakout’ year for Daniel, whose big year really shouldn’t come as a surprise, after he threw for 3,527 yards and 28 yards as a sophomore in 2006. And, if he returns for his senior season, which he should, he’ll be one of the leading candidates for the Heisman in 2008, and very well could be the reigning winner of the award this time next year.

Either way, if Daniel does or doesn’t get his name called on Saturday night, to know that you’re considered one of the best players in all of college football is something to be very, very proud of.

Now Missouri knows how Kansas St. must have felt in 1998 and 1999.

The Tigers were ranked #1 in the BCS heading into the Big 12 title game against Oklahoma, but fell 38-17, and went from potentially having a shot at playing for a national championship to the Cotton Bowl.

It’s the same thing that happened to Kansas St. in 1998, when the Wildcats were #1 heading into the Big 12 title game. After their classic 36-33 double-OT loss to Texas A&M, K-State only fell to third in the BCS, but instead of getting a BCS berth, went to the Alamo Bowl, which they lost to Purdue. The next year, the Wildcats finished sixth, with a loss to Nebraska the only blemish in a 10-1 regular season, but went to the Holiday Bowl. So, in case anyone’s wondering about Nebraska and Oklahoma getting into the national title game through the back door, maybe it was just karma making up for Kansas St.’s misfortunes.

Fast forward back to 2007, where another Big 12 North team is hurtin’. While the Tigers got the short end of the BCS stick, two teams that they beat in the regular season, Illinois and Kansas, both received invites to BCS bowls. Both of those teams were also ranked lower than Missouri in the BCS - the Tigers were sixth in the final BCS standings, while Kansas was 8th, and Illinois was 13th.

The Kansas snub might have been the most painful to take, not only because the two are bitter rivals, but also because Missouri had beaten Kansas just a week earlier to win the Big 12 North title.

But, the same could be said for Illinois getting a BCS berth as well (Arizona St. could have a gripe too, being 10-2 and two spots ahead of Illinois in the BCS standings), because the Tigers beat the Illini in the season opener, one of Illinois’ three losses.

But, given the fact that OU received the automatic berth, and Kansas received the at-large berth, that left Missouri as the odd man out, due to the rule against having more than two teams from the same conference in BCS bowls.

Unfortunately, as deserving as Missouri may be, they picked the worst time to lose. Things don’t usually bode well for your fortunes if you go down in a conference championship game, but if you lose the week before, it might not be so bad, as Kansas and the 2001 Nebraska team can attest to.

Should there be a change in the BCS rules, that allows three teams from a particular conference to be in BCS bowls? In some years, that wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially when the conference in question is tremendously strong.

There still might end up being some situations where the individual bowl committees might pick the team they want for their matchup, and not necessarily the team that may be most deserving.

This isn’t to say that Illinois isn’t deserving - the Illini beat #1 Ohio St. on the road and also beat #5 Wisconsin and #21 Penn St. And, because they fit the necessary criteria, they made the perfect candidate to give the Rose Bowl its desired Pac-10 vs. Big Ten matchup.

And as for Kansas, they likely would have been in the same position as Missouri had they beaten the Tigers then lost to Oklahoma - the only better situation for Missouri than to have won the Big 12 title game was to have lost to Kansas, because the loser of that game was going to be in a better position than the winner, if things shook out as they wound up doing.

But, in the end, if you want to assure your place in the elitest of the elite New Year’s and post-New Year’s games, you’ve got to take care of business week in, week out - or at least avoid the ill-timed loss.

This week could have been one of great celebration for Missouri. But, on the way to the national championship game, Oklahoma happened. And, instead of playing Ohio St. for the national title, the Tigers will have to settle for the Cotton Bowl (which isn’t too shabby, but come on, national championship or Cotton Bowl? No contest!), while seeing their fiercest rival - who they beat the previous week - play in a BCS bowl.

After Oklahoma’s 38-17 win over Missouri in the Big 12 title game, you could say order was restored after Mizzoui and Kansas dominated headlines recently, and rose past the Sooners in the national polls. But, even though OU wasn’t a national title contender anymore, they certainly played spoiler to Missouri’s hopes, and got a BCS berth out of it.

Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas are three of the eight Big 12 members to be playing in the postseason. OU will look to reverse last year’s disappointment in the desert when they play Big East champ West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2. Kansas, a BCS first-timer, will take on ACC champ Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl the next day. As for their unhappy rivals, they’ll have to find a way to slow down Darren McFadden as they tangle with Arkansas on New Years’ Day.

As for the other matchups…

Gator Bowl (Jan. 1): Virginia (9-3) vs. Texas Tech (8-4)
Insight (Dec. 31): Oklahoma St. (6-6) vs. Indiana (7-5)
Independence (Dec. 30): Colorado (6-6) vs. Alabama (6-6)
Alamo (Dec. 29): Penn St. (8-4) vs. Texas A&M (7-5)
Holiday (Dec. 27): Arizona St. (10-2) vs. Texas (9-3)

There are a lot of intriguing matchups in the mix - Arkansas-Missouri because of the regional implications, Arizona St. and Texas because the Holiday Bowl is always a treat, and promises to be again, with two excellent offensive teams on display - I’ve always thought that the game could be on a different day, but with it being the only bowl game on the 27th, it’s got the spotlight to itself, which it deserves), and Penn St. and Texas A&M because of the two big names looking to finish disappointing seasons on a high note.

The regular season may be over, but the season is far from it. So, superglue yourself to your sofa, load up on the Tostitos and your favorite beverages, put the pizza places on speed dial, and get ready for a bowl seasons that, if it’s anything like the regular season was, will be worth watching all the way through.

Things hasn’t been this good for the Big 12 North since 2001, when Nebraska (controversially) played for the national championship, and Colorado won the Big 12 title.

It’s a lot less controversial this year, though there’ll be a tad bit of resentment between Missouri fans if the Tigers fall in the Big 12 title game and Kansas winds up in a BCS bowl game with Oklahoma.

But, it’s a resurgent year for the division, which hasn’t been much of a force in the last several years, nationally or in conference, where the South has been superior, with Oklahoma and Texas perennially national championship contenders and taking four of the last five conference titles, with 2003 being the lone exception (Kansas State over the #1 Sooners).

Strangely enough, it’s coming in a year where Nebraska experiences a defensive implosion of massive proportions, goes 5-7, and fires its head coach after an embarrassing end to a promising season.

Instead of the South having the title contenders, as it was expected to, it’s the North, as Missouri and Kansas moved towards the top as many big names fell nationally.

And now, after #4 Missouri made Kansas the latest victim of the ‘#2 Curse,’ the Tigers are #1 and on the brink of playing for a national championship, if they get past the Sooners in the Big 12 title game on Saturday.

Not only that, but the two have produced a couple of unlikely Heisman contenders, and if Chase Daniel can have another big game and lead his team to a historic win, possibly the Heisman winner.

This isn’t going to be a one-year thing, either. Both Kansas and Missouri should be near the top again next season, and you’d have to think that it’s only a matter of time (and a good coaching hire) before the Huskers are contenders again. Also, Colorado should improve even more in 2008, and Kansas St., despite the disappointing end to its season, should contend for postseason play. Iowa State made strides towards the end of the year as well, and won’t be a pushover in Gene Chizik’s second season.

The North’s resurgence is not only good for the division, but for the conference as well. With both divisions strong again, things will be a lot more competitive in the North vs. South matchups.

So, regardless of where your allegiances lie, you should be beaming as a Big 12 fan right now, because the future is very, very bright.

The Mizzou Tigers, fresh off their impressive win over Kansas on Saturday night, have jumped into the #1 spot in the BCS rankings. The Tigers took over the #1 spot in the Harris Poll and improved to #2 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll and #1 across the 6 computer rankings. As a result, with a BCS average of .9781, the Mizzou Tigers are the #1 team in the nation ahead of #2 West Virginia (.9713). The Tigers will face the #9 Oklahoma Sooners with the winner being guaranteed a BCS Bowl game. Should Mizzou avenge their lone loss of the season, the Tigers will likely play either #2 WVU or #3 Ohio State in the BCS National Championship game. Mizzou merchandise & apparel is flying off the shelves, so be sure to get your Mizzou gear today!

The Kansas Jayhawks and Mizzou Tigers are both in the midst of a magical season as the two teams square off in Kansas City, Missouri on Saturday with a Big 12 North title on the line. The winner of Saturday night’s 8 pm ET game on ABC will advance to play the #10 Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Championship game next week.

Kansas is now the #2 team in the BCS rankings at 11-0, but they have just 3 wins over teams with winning records and 1 win over a ranked opponent, then #24 Kansas State who is now just 5-6 on the season. Missouri has not received nearly as much national praise and comes into the game at 10-1 and #4 in the BCS rankings. The Tigers lone loss on the season was a 41-31 loss @ Oklahoma. The Tigers are 3-1 against teams with winning records and 2-1 against ranked opponents.

Big 12 Fans and DFN Sports partner sites features Missouri Tigers clothing & hats, Kansas Jayhawks apparel & gear and much more.

There are only four games on the conference schedule this week, as we look towards the final week of regular season action next week.

While Kansas-Missouri, Texas A&M-Texas, Oklahoma-Oklahoma St., and Nebraska-Colorado will headline next week’s slate, there are a few noteworthy matchups this week.

Oklahoma visits Lubbock on Saturday to take on a Texas Tech team looking to repeat its 2005 feat (but maybe not as controversially). The last time the Sooners and Red Raiders tussled in Lubbock, Texas Tech’s Taurean Henderson scored a touchdown on the final play of the game to hand the Red Raiders a 23-21 win. He may well have been stopped short, but that’s irrelevant now, isn’t it? Tech would love to repeat the feat and put an end to Oklahoma’s national title hopes, but if Oklahoma keeps the ball rolling, it’ll not only help themselves, but it’ll also help Kansas and Missouri’s hopes as well. After getting a $10,000 fine from the Big 12 for his comments about the officials in Tech’s 59-43 loss at Texas last Saturday, will luck be on his side if there’s a crucial call at the end of Saturday’s game.

Speaking of Kansas and Missouri, they have one hurdle left before their big showdown on the 24th. The Jayhawks host Iowa St., and even though the Cyclones are 3-8, there shouldn’t be any underestimating them, because they’ve won their last two games, and played Oklahoma and Missouri tough.

As for Missouri, they go to Kansas St. in a game that could see some big numbers put up all around. Chase Daniel and the Tigers would love to repeat what Nebraska did last week (73 points, 720 yards, 510 passing, 7 TD by Joe Ganz), but the Wildcats will be looking for the big upset to not only end Missouri’s Big 12 and national title hopes and get themselves back on track after that humiliating defeat, but also become bowl-eligible.

In the other game in the conference, Oklahoma St. looks for their sixth win and bowl eligibility when they go to Waco to take on Baylor. It will be the season finale for the Bears and the final game of coach Guy Morriss’ five-year tenure at the school, and if the Bears can send him out on a positive note with a victory, it’ll throw OSU’s bowl hopes into jeopardy, with the Cowboys having to to Norman for their regular season finale.

With only a couple of weeks left in the regular season, the bowl picture is beginning to take shape.

The conference may have as many as ten bowl opportunities (seven direct tie-ins, three other potential opportunities) - an assured BCS bowl berth for the conference champion, then the Cotton, Independence, Insight, Alamo, Holiday, and Texas bowls for direct tie-ins, and then the Sun and Gator bowls, which will choose between a Big 12 and a Big East team for one of their spots, and a BCS at-large berth.

And, as it stands, nine conference teams may be able to hit the magic six-win mark needed to qualify for bowl participation.

In the North, Kansas and Missouri are locks, and in the South, Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech are locked in. Texas A&M is already bowl-eligible at 6-5 with a rivalry game against Texas left, but the Aggies will be sputtering towards the postseason (but that’s another story entirely).

The only teams actually eliminated from postseason contention are Baylor, who is 3-7, and Iowa St., who has knocked off two potential bowl teams in a row, but is still only 3-8.

That leaves four teams - Kansas St. (5-5), Nebraska (5-6), Colorado (5-6), and Oklahoma St. (5-5).

Ron Prince’s Wildcats looked all set to wrap up a bowl bid a couple of weeks ago, as they were 5-3 with Iowa St. and Nebraska looming.

But, they lost 31-20 on the road to the 1-8 Cyclones, and this past Saturday, were on the short end of a 73-31 beatdown against Nebraska.

Oklahoma St. was 5-3 two weeks ago as well, with two tough, but very winnable home games upcoming. And they were a quarter away from that all-important sixth win, taking a 35-14 lead into the fourth quarter against Texas. But, the Cowboys wound up losing 38-35, and on Saturday, couldn’t make any early lead stand up in a 43-28 loss to the Jayhawks.

The Nebraska-Colorado game will decide if the conference winds up with nine bowl-eligible teams.

But, will all of those teams be suiting up for the postseason?

Whether or not that happens depends on a few things - if the Big 12 gets two teams in the BCS, if the Sun and/or Gator bowls go with Big East teams, and if the first two don’t work in the conference’s favor, if another bowl in need would want to take a chance on a 6-6 Big 12 team, or perhaps a 7-5 or better team from another conference (like the Big 12, Big 10, ACC, SEC, or one of the non-BCS conference that might have more bowl-eligible teams than tie-ins).

CBS Sports currently has the Big 12 getting two BCS bids (Oklahoma and Kansas) and eight bids overall, with Kansas St. being the lone bowl-eligible team left out (and Nebraska getting in over Colorado).

In Stewart Mandel’s projections on SI.com, he has nine conference teams getting in (Oklahoma and Texas in the BCS), including Kansas St.

Kansas St.‘s fate rests on beating either Missouri at home this week or win at Fresno St. in two weeks to be bowl-eligible, which isn‘t an enviable position to be in.

In the end, the Big 12 should be more than well-represented in the postseason, no matter who gets in and where they go.

Where will they go? Well, we’ll know after these next few exciting weeks of action.