snoodmonger

Big wins for Mizzou and KSU. Hopefully KU can hold serve.

I can't wait for conference season to start. KUs noncon was Duke-ish in its mediocrity. Not entirely our fault, since it was hard to predict Zona, Georgia Tech, BC, and USC would all be this mediocre, but man, we've played a bunch of patsies.

Texas, Illinois, and Kansas are their only real potential stumbling blocks before the Big XII title game, and they should win those. I think they'll get pounded by OU again, though, in the Big XII title game. But who knows. Maybe it'll be the year Mizzou wins its first Big XII title in a major sport.

Mississippi goes down to Tennessee. Didn't see the game, but according to the game log, they missed a bunch of consecutive shots on one possession at the end of the game and clanked the front end of a one and one to boot. Tennessee won by 2.

Very possibly. Texas and USF are the likely candidates if that happens. But you're the one who had them ranked 17th when they were 11-1 and getting beaten by VTech, so I don't know if you're an authority on KU football. They'll lose to OU, Mizzou, Texas and one of {USF, Tech, KSU, Nebraska} They will win three of four from the last set though. I really think we can beat Texas, thought that doesn't mean we will. We won't lose to KSU. That program is in a massive tailspin. Tech and Neb are definite possibilities. It'll be interesting to see if all that Neb talent can start performing under a better coach. Honestly, though, 8-4 + Bowl win would be an acceptable result next year. It's good enough that it would solidify us as a legit Big XII program in a lot of recruits' eyes. At this point, that's what I want. We need to build to the point where we're a true threat to win the conference as opposed to a good team that caught all the breaks.

I'm not gonna complain too much because honestly, a final ranking of 7 is more than I could have ever asked for, but for the only one-loss BCS conference team to be ranked 7 is silly. It's probably karma for us getting the Orange Bowl, which I'll take any day. But we should be top 5, IMO. You can make an argument for #2. At the least, we should be ahead of tOSU, who has a very similar resume but one more loss.

Very possibly. Texas and USF are the likely candidates if that happens. But you're the one who had them ranked 17th when they were 11-1 and getting beaten by VTech, so I don't know if you're an authority on KU football.

Next year will be a huge season for KU. We're returning a ton of players, but our 2 AA are leaving. (Talib and Collins). I honestly think Collins is the bigger loss, as the rest of our secondary played well. Collins was our OL anchor. I'm hoping for 10-2 + a bowl victory, with the season playing out as follows. Obviously, we could lose more than a couple of those I have as wins (@USF, vs Texas), but I think we're capable of winning those. I'm basically writing off OU and Mizzou as losses unless Daniel goes pro. 8-30-08 FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL---W 9-6-08 LOUISIANA TECH---W 9-13-08 at South Florida---W 9-20-08 SAM HOUSTON STATE---W 10-4-08 at Iowa State---W 10-11-08 COLORADO---W 10-18-08 at Oklahoma---L 10-25-08 TEXAS TECH---W 11-1-08 KANSAS STATE---W 11-8-08 at Nebraska---W 11-15-08 TEXAS---W 11-29-08 vs. Missouri @Kansas City, MO---L

He's already averaging 16.5/10.2 which are team highs and is shooting almost 60% from the floor. How much do you expect him to improve? Also, doesn't Kansas play up-tempo basketball (maybe not as much) just like North Carolina? So if UNC is susceptible to a team that can control the tempo, which I think they are, isn't Kansas just as susceptible? I mean, this is the same Kansas team that got taken out by UCLA - a team that likes to control the tempo - a year ago and they lost Julian Wright from that team. I'm not sold on Kansas. Sure, they'll probably roll through the Big 12 again but I don't think they're as good as Memphis, UNC (who is better at playing the same style of game), UCLA and maybe Georgetown. EDIT: I'd probably have Memphis and UNC 1-2 in some combination with Kansas behind them. C'mon, dude. Totally different styles. Kansas plays uptempo off of defense and steals; otherwise we're a screen and roll or high/low offense, not a run and gun. The basis for our game is defense, though. And it's reflected in low OPP FG% and high OPP TO. UNC looks to run off made baskets. If you slow the game down or get back on D, you take away their offensive game. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?id=3178261 This article will explain why you should be far more impressed with KU than you are. As for last year, Julian was good for us as a zone buster, but he also was inconsistent. We have a more traditional team this year with more defined roles, and I think it helps us in the long run. And Collins was injured in the UCLA game, which didn't help. If we stay healthy, we're the best team in the country.

I think the absence of Afflalo puts UCLA a step below KU and Memphis. So far, I haven't seen anyone on that team fill his shoes adequately. Definitely a FF team, but they don't scare me this year like they did last year. That may change as Love continues to improve, though. I still think they're better than UNC, though.

I'm biased, but I'd put us at #1. Hard to argue with Memphis, though. Where is it? We never play well in Columbia. Either way, we have no business losing to you guys this year.

UNC shouldn't be ranked #1. And I don't say that based on tonight, which was a good win on the road against a solid team. I just don't think they D up enough, and like all Roy teams, I think they're very susceptible to a teams that can control tempo.

KU looked amazing against a middle-of-the-road Boston College team.

Georgia was maybe the hottest team heading into the last month of the season. Missouri simply didn't match up well with OU. Kansas had never been there before. USC can beat anyone in the nation, but the loss to Stanford was more embarrasing than WV losing to Pitt. I hope that wasn't the reason why we were left out. I hope it was because of our weak resume and inability to get to even the Big XII champ game.

That still sounds good to me. Congrats on the win. Great season for you guys. Thanks. They couldn't have done it without me. Another thing about Talib is that he bites on the double move a lot. I think that's part of his "overaggressiveness." My feeling RE his CB skills are that he won't be a "shut down" guy in the NFL. He'll be serviceable. And NFL guys are very high on him, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about and he'll be better than that. But just thinking back, when he faced surefire NFL guys (Purify from Neb, Nelson from KSU, the Mizzou guys), he wasn't a lock-down guy. He did do a nice job on Bowman from OSU before Bowman got injured, though. HE did a nice job tonight, too (except when he got burned on the double move), but I don't know how highly regarded VaTech's reveivers are.

I'm so glad we won this game. Really legitimizes this season. My observations: We didn't play our best but still won. That says a lot. We're still a few legit lineman (on both sides) from being great. I agree with the idea that Talib won't cut it at CB in the NFL unless he learns to gamble less. But he's a very good tackler, despite what someone said, and he's fast and big. He can make it at CB if he tightens his game. Otherwise, he'll be a good safety i'm glad Scott Webb (FG kicker) is graduating. V Tech had the best defense we've played, but overall Mizzou was easily a better team than them. The announcers kept saying ST won the game for us. I thought we broke even on ST (FG kick blocked, fake punt for us, TD and big returns for them). It was the D that won it. Aqib felt like Deion on that play! Like Deion!

I have to work during the game tonight. BOO. Guess I'll have to TIVO and hope nobody says anything.

Since OU's resurgence, I bet most OU fans probably are disappointed when they drop out of NC (or at least BCS) contention. I assume it's similar to rooting for KU's hoops teams. I enter most seasons with a realistic expectation of going to the Final Four. So it's hard to get excited about sweet 16s or Elite 8s. Doesn't mean I look at those seasons as failures, but I'm not making scrapbooks over them, either. For a team like OU, a Cotton Bowl is pretty much the same thing. It's well short of expectations, so it's hard to get too excited about it. Mizzou (or KU), on the other hand, should get excited over a Cotton Bowl berth. We don't go to bowls that good very often. Maybe in a few years, it will be different. Who knows.

Florida lost? I only watch BCS games.

That much was very obvious by the end of the 1st quarter. :shock: Their offense is amazing. They have no D, though.

Indiana and Kansas had a great series in the early 90's. I miss it. I really, really wish Indiana would pick up Kansas again (or at least someone of their ilk). Stupid Jacque Vaughn. That was a GREAT game.

we're in the middle of one vs Mich St, but we haven't been able to fulfill the back end (@MSU) for a long time. We do it next year, i believe. I wouldn't mind playing Indiana or Illinois, too.

Big Ten is owning the Big 12 this year. meh, 7-4 by my count, but aside from the two texas victories, the rest was amassed against bottom dwellers. (2 vs Mizzou, 1 vs OSU, 1 vs CU, 1 vs ISU)

On my way.

geez. ugliness.