Big 12 Sports Blog by Big 12 Fans

Kansas and Texas, both 9-0 thus far in the early going of the hoops season, are ranked in the top five in both the new AP poll and the new Coaches’ poll.

Bill Self’s Jayhawks picked up comfortable wins over Evansville and DePaul last week to remain perfect, and as a result, remain third in both major polls behind North Carolina and Memphis. On top of their continued excellence, Kansas also got a big boost on Saturday with the return of sophomore guard Sherron Collins, who had been out since the second game following surgery on a stress fracture in his foot.

Texas has gotten off to a great start, and after upsetting highly-ranked UCLA last weekend to move into the top five, the Longhorns convincingly beat North Texas and Rice to get out to their first 9-0 start in more than 25 years, and keep their position at #4 in the AP poll and #5 in the Coaches’ poll.

Texas A&M (8-1) is the only other Big 12 team in either top 25 poll. Mark Turgeon’s Aggies lost to Arizona last Sunday to halt their unbeaten start, but got back to winning ways with a 109-73 rout of Texas State on Saturday.

All of the conference’s members are over .500 with the exception of Iowa St., which is 4-4.

Kansas St.’s Michael Beasley’s monster start is still going, as he’s had double-doubles in all nine of the Wildcats’ games. However, Notre Dame found a way to shut him down in the second half of their game on Tuesday, with their unshakeable defense limiting him to two second-half points after the fabulous frosh poured in 17 in the opening stanza. Without Beasley’s production, Kansas St. fell 68-59 to the Fighting Irish. But, Beasley rebounded from Tuesday’s disappointment to have a strong game against Cal yesterday, shooting 7 for 13 from the field and finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds. He’s fallen to fifth in the naiton in scoring, averaging exactly 25 points per game, but he’s still far and away the nation’s leading rebounder, with 14.3 boards per game for the 6-3 Wildcats.

If Kansas St. wants to challenge for an NCAA tournament berth and potentially be a darkhorse Big 12 title contender, they’ll need more than Beasley to produce consistently. The Wildcats have only three players averaging double figures right now, as opposed to Kansas and Texas both having five players averaging that amount. The Notre Dame game showed that they need to have multiple options in case Beasley gets shut down, or even worse, injured. Bill Walker did score 30 points against Cal, but he needed 22 shots (7 of 22) and 16 free throws (14 of 16) to do it, and excluding he and Beasley, the rest of the team scored only 33 points.

They’re certainly missing the presence of senior David Hoskins, who hasn’t played this season, and very well may not play at all this year, due to a knee injury. And, K-State’s only 7 of 39 from behind the line in the last two games, so they’re going to have to improve their outside shooting, because when the time comes for that big shot, you want to be able to count on your guys to make it.

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.

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.

Beasley the Beast

There’s a good chance that the Big 12 could have the country’s top freshman for the second year in a row, if K-State hotshot Michael Beasley keeps up his Kevin Durant-like pace.

In his debut last Friday against Sacramento St., Beasley scored 32 points, snagged 24 rebounds, and had four assists and four blocked shots in a 94-63 victory.

Then, two days later, Beasley had 31 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 assists before fouling out in a 76-66 win.

He’s doing more than just keeping up with O.J. Mayo (32 points in his USC debut vs. Mercer) and Eric Gordon (33 points, 7-11 from three-point range in his Indiana debut vs. UT-Chattanooga).

The one thing that all three have to work on is the fouls - Beasley has nine in two games, and Mayo and Gordon both had four in their debuts.

Good Starts All Around

It’s been a nearly perfect start for the Big 12 in the early going of the hoops season.

The only conference member to have a loss is Colorado, who lost 54-47 to New Mexico in Jeff Bzdelik’s debut as coach.

Collins Out for Six Weeks

Kansas got a big blow earlier this week when sophomore guard Sherron Collins had to have surgery on a stress fracture in his left foot.

Collins was averaging 16 points in the first two games for the #4 Jayhawks, but now, he’ll have to be laid up for the next six weeks.

But, if there’s good timing for an injury, it’s now. He’ll return just in time for the start of conference play.

But, with Brandon Rush still mending from ACL surgery, where’s the scoring going to come from in the meantime?

Mario Chalmers scored 23 points in Sunday’s win over Missouri-Kansas City, and with Collins out, Chalmers might get more opportunities to score. And, there’s also Darnell Jackson, Russell Robinson, and Darrell Arthur, so…Kansas should be a-okay.

And, Collins’ absence should also give freshman Tyrel Reed a chance to play more minutes. He’s a great shooter (as shown by his 3 of 4 from 3-point range in the season opener vs. Louisiana-Monroe), so he might be able to provide a big boost for the team and hone his skills at the same time.

When you get humiliated, you can do one of two things - you can either go hang your head, feel sorry for yourself, and go into the next game with zero confidence, or you can learn from it, get fired up, and dish it out the next time around.

Judging by today’s performance against Kansas St., it appears Nebraska decided to go the latter route.

After getting one of their worst beatings in school history, the Huskers obviously decided they’d had enough of taking it on the chin, and dished out like the Huskers of old did (well, minus the fact that they threw the ball all over the field), blowing the helpless Wildcats out of Memorial Stadium in a 73-31 rout.

They did exactly what Kansas did to them last Saturday, blowing open a close game with a big second quarter, and then, after the game was well in hand, kept the starters in to put a few more scores on the board.

This is the performance Nebraska fans have been waiting for all season long, and for that matter, for the last several years. But, is it too little, too late though?

Bill Callahan’s fate hasn’t been sealed yet, but even with today’s impressive win, the Huskers still have to beat Colorado to be bowl-eligible.

Even if they do win that game, they’ll only be 6-6 and 3-5 in conference play, and that means, at best, a trip to the Insight or Independence Bowl.

After last year’s trip to the Cotton Bowl and all of the expectations coming into the season, a holiday trip to Shreveport is a letdown, to say the least.

And, it still appears that Nebraska is going to need some defense if they’re want to be more than a .500 team, or at least not make Joe Ganz have to throw the ball 40+ times every game. Even in today’s win, they gave up 31 points and more than 400 yards, and who can forget that game against Ball State, where they had to eke out a 41-40 win?

But, the last couple of weeks have shown that Ganz (school-record 510 yards, 7 TD today) - has the ability to succeed in Lincoln, especially if Marlon Lucky (181 yards rushing/receiving, three total TD) decides to stick around for his senior year, and also, defense has been addressed thus far in their 2008 recruiting class, getting several talented high school and junior ocllege players who can come in and contribute immediately.

If Nebraska can beat Colorado and then make and win a bowl game, it may well provide enough to give Bill Callahan one more year to make things work.

But, if they’ve waited until now to wake up, it might still be too late to save Callahan, because the entire body of work looks shaky, no matter what.

However, today’s win was a definite step in the right direction, and it shows, if anything, that the team is going to fight for their pride, for their season, and for their coach. Desperation certainly brings the best out of some people, doesn’t it?

Before Kansas and Missouri can tangle for the Big 12 North title in two weeks, they each have two more obstacles to climb.

Neither team can underestimate their opponent this weekend, as 9-0 and #4 Kansas has a daunting trip to Stillwater to face an Oklahoma St. team that can score points in a flourish - but has to work on their finishing skills. 8-1 and new #7 Missouri, meanwhile, welcomes Texas A&M to town. It could go two ways for A&M, given the recent development with their coach maybe, possibly, maybe not getting push out of the door - either the Aggies will go out and play fired up, in the hopes that they can somehow save Coach Fran’s job, or they’ll go in with little confidence and get beaten up and down the field.

Oklahoma St. is one of three conference teams looking to become bowl eligible this weekend. Colorado (5-5, 3-3) goes to Iowa St. in search of their sixth win, but as Kansas St. learned last week, the Cyclones aren’t going to give them anything. The Wildcats will take their second crack at getting win #6 when they go to Lincoln to take on the hapless Huskers, who, believe it or not, could still make a bowl, if they win their last two games.

The matchup of the weekend might be Texas-Texas Tech on Saturday afternoon in Austin. Last season, the Red Raiders led 21-0 after a quarter, but Texas battled back for a 35-31 win in Lubbock. Texas Tech will be looking for a little revenge, and they might be able to pull it off, given Graham Harrell’s success against the Longhorns last year (519 yards, three touchdowns) and the fact that Texas’ defense has had its share of issues this season. But, Tech’s going to have to get a lot more than -1 yard rushing, like they did in last year’s heartbreaker.

In the other game on the schedule, Oklahoma hosts Baylor, looking to improve to 9-1 and keep themselves in the national championship hunt.

While the football season is winding down towards the final few weeks of the regular season, the college hoops season is just tipping off this week.

There are four Big 12 teams ranked in the top 25 in the AP poll, led by #4 Kansas, who, as usual, is considered one of the main contenders for the national championship. Some Texas fans may be sad that Kevin Durant is now in Seattle, but Rick Barnes still has a pretty talented team in Austin, and the Longhorns are ranked 15th, with Texas A&M, in its first season with former Wichita St. coach Mark Turgeon, is 16th. Kansas St., despite losing coach Bob Huggins to West Virginia, brings in highly-touted recruit Michael Beasley, who will join forward Bill Walker in a frontcourt that should make the #25 Wildcats a contender for a spot in the Big Dance.

In the ESPN/USA Today poll, Kansas is 4th, with Texas A&M tied for 14th with Gonzaga, and Texas is 16th. Kansas St. is just outside the top 25, with their 94 votes putting them at 26th.

Oklahoma is the first conference team to get their season underway, as Jeff Capel’s Sooners take on San Francisco tonight. Six more teams tip off their seasons on Friday night, with everyone else tipping off on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

It should be an exciting season, and while many people’s attention will be on football until January, their focus will shift right in time for the start of conference play.