2009 Season by the Letter

A - Allen, Drew. Met his dad at the OU-Texas game last year. Will he play in 2009. If he does, it's probably not a good sign for the Sooners.
B - Bengals. OU plays it's first game ever against the Idaho State Bengals. And hopefully the last.
C - Cowboys Stadium. The Sooners play the first meaningful American football game in Cowboys Stadium.
D - Defensive line. With Alexander healthy all year, Granger and McCoy back, and Auston English healthy, as well as many others, this unit should dominate it's side of the ball.
E - Eldridge, Brody. He may be the best center we have. I hope that's Bob screwing with the media. You hate to waste an all-conference fullback like that.
F - Fightin Mormons. The Sooners are winless against the Cougars, with one butt kicking at the 1994 Copper Bowl. This game was Gary Gibbs last as a Sooner. The Sooners look to avenge that as well as the 1984 National Championship, where BYU went undefeated against powerhouses like a 6-6 Michigan squad, Utah State, Baylor and Tulsa. Don't even bring up the Orange Bowl.
G - Gresham, Jermaine. aka Keith Jackson, Jr. Likely to be a primary option for a relatively inexperienced receiving package for the Sooners.
H - Holiday Bowl. If the Sooners are in San Diego in December, it's been a disappointing season.
I - Injuries. Will DeMarco Murray stay healthy the entire year?
J - Jarboe, Josh. Budding rap star is third on the depth chart for the Troy Trojans as a redshirt freshman.
K - Kickoff coverage? Will it be any better this year? We got lots of practice at this last year, and never mastered it.
L - Longhorns. The Oct 17 matchup is a big 'un. The victor gets an inside track to a Big 12 South Division title, though the last two years victories have done nada for the Horns in that regard.
M - McCoy, Gerald. The leader of the defensive line.
N - Nebraska. A trip to Bugeater Stadium on Nov 7 could be the prequel to the Big 12 Championship game.
O - Offensive Line. If I were ranking stories I'm tired of reading this summer, it would be: 1) Brett Favre; 2) Michael Vick; 3) Oklahoma's offensive line.
P - Pooh. The nickname of Adron Tonnell, who we need a big year from in the WR position.
Q - Quentin Carter. A few more hits like this and he'll be a household name.
R - Ryan Reynolds. The most talked about knees since Jason White.
S - Sam Proctor. If Sam has a good year at the Strong Safety position, it could solidify the Sooner secondary.
T - Tulsa. The game where Bradford sets the career mark for passing yards by a Sooner QB.
U - The U. The Sooners travel to play the U in South Florida. Will the Sooners crush the Hurricanes? Or will the offensive staff shakeup launch the Canes into a new era?
V - Vanquish. What the Sooners will do to their foes this year.
W - Woody Glass, Mike Balogun's lawyer. His talents may be more important than Brandon Crow's.
X - x-wife. Former Sooner D-Coordinator Mike Stoops is headed to splitsville with the missus. Apparently coaching at Arizona is hard on a marriage.
Y - Young, Bill. The new Boone State d-coordinator could raise the intensity of the Bedlam series to an actual rivalry.
Z - Zero. The chance of me going to the Idaho State game.

All 2009 Big 12 games predicted

I'm sure you were just sitting around today thinking, "wouldn't it be great if LandThieves would publish predictions for each game involving a Big 12 team"?

You weren't? Well, here it is anyway.

09-03
Iowa State defeats North Dakota State

09-05
Colorado defeats Colorado State
Baylor defeats Wake Forest
Nebraska defeats Florida Atlantic
Oklahoma defeats BYU
Texas defeats Louisiana-Monroe
Kansas defeats Northern Colorado
Georgia defeats Oklahoma State
Illinois defeats Missouri
Texas A&M defeats New Mexico
Texas Tech defeats North Dakota
Kansas State defeats Massachusetts

09-11
Toledo defeats Colorado

09-12
Iowa defeats Iowa State
Missouri defeats Bowling Green
Nebraska defeats Arkansas State
Oklahoma defeats Idaho State
Kansas State defeats Louisiana-Lafayette
Oklahoma State defeats Houston
Texas defeats Wyoming
Texas Tech defeats Rice
Kansas defeats UTEP

09-19
UCLA defeats Kansas State
Colorado defeats Wyoming
Missouri defeats Furman
Oklahoma State defeats Rice
Oklahoma defeats Tulsa
Baylor defeats Connecticutt
Virginia Tech defeats Nebraska
Kansas defeats Duke
Texas A&M defeats Utah State
Iowa State defeats Kent State
Texas defeats Texas Tech

09-25
Nevada defeats Missouri

09-26
Iowa State defeats Army
Nebraska defeats Louisiana-Lafayette
Oklahoma State defeats Grambling State
Baylor defeats Northwestern State
Texas defeats UTEP
Kansas defeats Southern Miss
Kansas State defeats Tennessee Tech
Texas A&M defeats UAB
Texas Tech defeats Houston

10-01
West Virginia defeats Colorado

10-03
Arkansas defeats Texas A&M
Iowa State defeats Kansas State
Baylor defeats Kent State
Oklahoma defeats Miami (FL)
Texas Tech defeats New Mexico

10-08
Nebraska defeats Missouri

10-10
Oklahoma defeats Baylor
Texas defeats Colorado
Kansas defeats Iowa State
Texas Tech defeats Kansas State
Oklahoma State defeats Texas A&M

10-17
Kansas defeats Colorado
Baylor defeats Iowa State
Nebraska defeats Texas Tech
Oklahoma State defeats Missouri
Texas defeats Oklahoma
Texas A&M defeats Kansas State

10-24
Texas defeats Missouri
Nebraska defeats Iowa State
Oklahoma State defeats Baylor
Oklahoma defeats Kansas
Colorado defeats Kansas State
Texas Tech defeats Texas A&M

10-31
Missouri defeats Colorado
Texas defeats Oklahoma State
Oklahoma defeats Kansas State
Nebraska defeats Baylor
Texas Tech defeats Kansas
Texas A&M defeats Iowa State

11-07
Texas A&M defeats Colorado
Oklahoma State defeats Iowa State
Baylor defeats Missouri
Oklahoma defeats Nebraska
Texas defeats Central Florida
Kansas defeats Kansas State

11-14
Colorado defeats Iowa State
Oklahoma State defeats Texas Tech
Oklahoma defeats Texas A&M
Texas defeats Baylor
Nebraska defeats Kansas
Missouri defeats Kansas State
11-19
Oklahoma State defeats Colorado

11-21
Missouri defeats Iowa State
Nebraska defeats Kansas State
Texas defeats Kansas
Texas Tech defeats Oklahoma
Baylor defeats Texas A&M

11-26
Texas defeats Texas A&M

11-27
Nebraska defeats Colorado

11-28
Oklahoma defeats Oklahoma State
Texas Tech defeats Baylor
Kansas defeats Missouri

Big 12 Championship Game
Texas beats Nebraska

Big 12 Preview - Travis County Jail

It pains me to write this, but I have the Horns going 12-0 this year. The difference between the Horns and the Sooners for this year: returning offensive linemen and receivers, and Will Muschamp. My Little Pony is the likely Heisman winner this year. A couple of weeks ago, the DMN predicted the Big 12 South would be a 3 way tie again, with Boone State, OU and UT being the co-champions. It was an interesting story line, but not probable. If my prediction of returning o-line and receivers makes the difference in the Red River Rivalry game, then it means the Horns have to lose to someone else in Big 12 play. They’ve lost to the Pokes ONCE since the end of World War II, in 1997. The Horns fired their coach at the end of that year. Mack has lost two conference games in Austin in 11 seasons, so it’s unlikely to happen there. Looking at the Horns road games, they get Baylor in Waco (Mack is undefeated against Baylor); Oklahoma State (ditto); Missouri (ditto); and Texas A&M (Aggies are 2-3 at home against Mack). Unless Colt has another injury, I don’t see this happening. So if UT makes it through the murderous Louisiana-Monroe/Wyoming/UTEP non-conference schedule, wins out at home and beats OU, the table is set for another undefeated season. If not, look for a lot of crying in Austin.

Big 12 Preview - Sooners

Oklahoma – the Sooners only return one offensive lineman starter this year, and also lose Iglesias and Johnson from the receiving corps. Sam Bradford probably won’t get 50 TDs this year, but I’m sure he’ll have an excellent year. To show you how good Sam is, and how the passing record book is still emerging in Norman, in the second game of his junior year, Sam wilI pass Jason White, who got a Ph D in kinesiology while playing seven years, as the career leader in passing yards. Four more TDs and he’s also the career TD passing leader.

I expect the Sooners to run more frequently this year, to take pressure off the green o-line and feature the strengths of one of the better running back tandems in football , Chris Browne and DeMarco Murray. Gresham returns as an all-world TE, and Mossis Madu, Adron Tonnell and Ryan Broyles should provide some fireworks from the outside. On the defense, the Sooners return a fabulous d-line, and a LB corp with Keenan Clayton, Travis Lewis and Ryan Reynolds should be much improved this year. The key questions on the defense are: 1) will DeMarcus Granger stay healthy’ 2) will the dominance of the d-line and LBs compensate for the inexperienced safeties, and 3) what game does Ryan Reynolds blow a knee. The Sooners will miss Lendy Holmes in the defensive backfield, and the inexperience of the safeties and offensive linemen will probably hurt the Sooners in the losses in Dallas to the Longhorns and to the Dust Pirates in Lubbock, and they'll end up second in the Big 12 South. The good news to that is we can play a lesser team in the BCS like the Horns normally do, and win a bowl game.

Here’s hoping I’m wrong, and that we have another successful season, with a Big 12 Championship.

Big 12 Preview - Dust Pirates

In case you’re wondering if TT is going to have a dropoff in the passing game with Harrell and Crabtree's departure, here’s some interesting tidbits for you:

Kliff Kingsbury threw for 5,017 yards and 45 TDs in his senior year with the Red Raiders. The Red Raiders went 9-5 in 2002.BJ Symons succeed K-squared and threw for 5,883 yards and 52 TDs. TT went 8-5 in 2003. Sonny Cumbie succeeded Symons and threw for 4,742 yards and 32 TDs. TT went 8-4 in 2004. Cody Hodges followed Cubmine and threw for 4,197 yards and 31 TDs. TT went 9-3 in 2005. Harrell followed Hodges and threw for 4,555 yards and 38 TDs his sophomore year. TT went 8-5 in 2006.

What all this means is that Harrell has left for the UFL, but you can still expect 35 TDs and 4000+ yards from the next TT QB. And the Red Raiders will win 8-9 games. Unlikely to repeat the magic of last year’s W against Texas, but they’re much more likely to beat OU in Lubbock (won their last two against OU in Lubbock). I have the Dust pirates going 9-3 in the regular season, with their losses coming on the road against Texas, Nebraska and Boone State.

All this to say that Leach and the Red Raiders should have confidence this year won't be a big dropoff in Lubbock.

Big 12 Preview - Boone State

Oklahoma State – It's been an interesting offseason for the Pokes.First of all, Holder suspends the building program because Boone's investments have gone in the crapper; then the Pokes start getting a lot of coverage as a team to watch this year…they tie Ole Miss for the “sleeper picked so much to be a sleeper so they’re really not a sleeper”.

Zac Robinson is back for his senior year, and Dez Bryant returns as a junior. Coach Hair Gel is going to call is own plays again this year, and the Pokes added alumnus Bill Young as defensive coordinator this year. Young also coached for the Sooners during the Blake era, but was let go as Blake “brought his own people in”. Young was d-coordinator under Shamangino at Kansas during their resurgence, and is well-respected in the game. It remains to be seen whether that will translate into success for the Pokes; they haven’t had good defenses there since – well, I can’t remember when. Probably when Jimmy Johnson was coach.

Boone’s boys start off the year hosting Georgia, who will be solid, but lost Stafford and Moreno to the NFL this off-season. It will be the first non-conference game against a BCS foe in Stillwater since 2002. If they pull off the W (it would be the first non-conf W against BCS conf foe since a 1998 W vs Miss St), they’ll be poised to be 7-0 and hosting Texas. I don’t see them beating the Dawgs or the Horns, nor the Sooners at home, so it’ll be 9-3 and on to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl.

Education: If Cowboys go 9-3 in the regular season and win their bowl game, it will be the first time the Pokes finished with fewer than 4 losses since 1988. Gundy would finish the season with 37 wins, and rank as the 3rd winningest head coach in the 109 year history of the program.

Big 12 Preview - Baylor

Art Briles and Robert Griffin return for their second season in Waco, and they’ve also added Coppell stud Tyler DeLoach to the roster this year. Bruce Feldman had a nice article in ESPN the Magazine about the Baylor resurgence, and I can't figure out how to link to it. Defensive stalwarts Pawelek and Lake return on the defensive side for another year of Bear excellence. I see the Bears finishing 7-5 this year for their first winning record since 1995 and first trip to a bowl game since 1994. The Bears will win their four non-conference games, then go 1-3 in their next four against OU, Iowa State, Boone State and the Bugeaters. The Bears will then beat Mizzou, scare Texas before falling, beat the Aggies in College Station (this first Bear W in College Station since 1984) and then lose to the Dust Pirates at Cowboy Stadium to end the regular season. The big news at the season finale will be either a) Bear fans in shock that parking at Cowboys Stadium costs more than a ticket at Floyd Casey, and b) they made a home game an away game by allowing all the DFW based Tech alumni easy access to a Red Raider game.

The problem for the Bears will be they will be participating in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, where the Baylor fans will hit the casinos and hope not to be noticed by their Baptist brethren. It’ll look like Halloween in with all the people wearing Art Briles masks. The last time a group of people were so excited to be in Shreveport was 1999, when the Sooners went there in the first year of Stoops reign.

Briles' focus on fundamentals will be the key to the Bears resurgence this year.

Big 12 Preview - Cash Machine U

I would imagine some Aggie fans are ready to name the stadium after RC Slocum. RC lost 37 games while winning 84 in the final 10 years of his 14 year career. In the six seasons since, the Aggies have gone 36-37. The Aggies have the erratic-to-date Sherrod Johnson at QB, and there’s no Wrecking Crew for the time being. The only thing that’s wrecked is the bowl hopes of the Aggie faithful. Coach Sherman may turn this thing around, but how long will it take? Last year, Baylor was picked last in the conference by all but one voter. This year, it’s the Aggies in that slot. I’m projecting a 6-6 record for Cash Machine U, with the Ags losing to Arkansas, and going o-fer against the Big 12 South. Aggies our proud of their history, and it’s a great university. They won’t look back fondly upon this era.

Now, you readers get to pick the footall poster for the Aggies this year. Click through to the website to vote for Pressure, Tradition, or History

Big 12 Preview - Nebraska

Nebraska gets year 2 of Bo Pellini this year, combined with a weaker North division, and I expect them to end the season as the North Division champion. They’ve got to replace the QB, but expect Zac Lee to fill in capably for Joe Ganz. Defensively, the Huskers have had a full season and two springs to acquaint themselves with the Pellini defense, and I expect the Bugeaters to continue to improve there as well. I’ve got the Bugeaters going 10-2 overall and 7-1 in conference play, with their lone loss in regular season Big 12 play coming at the hands of Sooners. The non-conference loss is on the road at Virginia Tech. If my prediction of 10-2 is correct, this gent will have plenty to celebrate in Lincoln.

Big 12 Preview - Kansas

Phog U lost the heart of their defense with the departure of their linebacking corp to the NFL and CFL, and only return one of their top 4 tacklers from last year. However, Todd Reesing is back, as is the entire receiving RB corps. Kansas first four games are against Northern Colorado, UTEP (on the road!), Duke and Southern Mississippi. I see them winning those and their first two conference games, but then the wheels come off with as they lose four of their next five, with the losses coming to the Sooners, Dust Pirates, Bugeaters and Austin County Correctional Facility. The Jayhawks will end the season at 8-4, second in the Big 12 North and in a bowl game. If Mangino’s team can sneak in a couple more upsets, perhaps this lady will change her tattoo to incorporate the football team.

Big 12 Preview - Missouri

The Tigers lost six players to the NFL last year, in addition to college great Chase Daniel. The Tigers hadn’t had that many players go to the NFL since the 1981 draft. After that draft, the Tigers went 8-4, but didn’t match that win total again until 1998. I don’t expect the Tigers to be very good this year (they lost a lot on offense, and not enough on defense), but the bottom has fallen out of the Big 12 North again. The Tigers will lose on the road to start the year against the Illlini, on the road to Nevada, to the Bugeaters, Boone State, Austin County Correctional Facility, at home against Baylor (!), and to border rival Missouri. Just don’t tell this guy. That’s still good enough for 3rd in the Big 12 North.

Big 12 Preview - Colorado

Phil Steele points out that Cody Hawkins became the first 1-A QB to play for his father since Rodney Bryant played for Steve Bryant at Ohio in 1989. The Ohio Bobcats went 1-9-1 that year, and Bryant was replace by Tom Lichtenberg. Anytime you’re replaced by someone whose name rhymes with the Hindenberg, that’s not a good sign. Anyway, back to the Buffs. The Buffs return nine starters on an offense that – to put it mildly – sucked. They were last in the conference in rushing and points per game, and 11th in passing. I’m not sure it’s a good thing to return starters in that instance. I see Colorado finishing 4th in the North and going 4-8 this year, with losses at Toledo, at West Virginia, at Texas, to Kansas, Missouri, Cash Machine U, at Boone State and to the Bugeaters. There's little margin for error at this point in the Buffs history, so they need to make sure they listen to the coaches.

I would expect this from the Big 10

The LandThieves Investigative Team was unsuccessful today in the search for the truth. You see, here are the preseason poll results for the North

Bugeaters 172
Phog U 164
Mizzou 124
CU Later 100
Willie and Friends 81
Iowa State 33

This totals 674. Problem is, it should tally 672 (32*[6+5+4+3+2+1]). I sent a message to a spokesperson at the Big 12, but they apparently are getting ready for a media conference or something, and completely blew me off.

Same problem, except different, in the South:

Texas 174
Sooners 174
Boone State 130
Dust Pirates 89
Baylor 75
Cash Machine U 33

This totals 675. Again, we should get to 672, but we're three points off here. Where are the three extra points? Well, we can presume they are NOT in the Texas Aggies total, unless someone else voted them seventh in the division.

If the conference responds, you'll be the second to know.

Big 12 Media Poll 2009

Last year, I broke down the pre-season media poll for your. This year, it's a little tougher, as the math doesn't work, but the LandThieves Investigative Team is on the case. Here are some quick highlights from the release:

• Only 32 votes this year, as opposed to 51 last year.
• 31 of 32 voters picked Texas A&M last in the South.
• Baylor has several fourth place selections as well, my guess is around 12 writers selected Baylor 4th, with Tech 5th.
• OU and Texas were picked tied for first. I don't know what the tie-breaker format is for the Preseason poll. Mack Brown will be politicking to be declared the champion on College Football Live later today, I'm sure.
• Four voters picked someone other than OU and Texas to be in second place. These votes appear to be split between Boone State and the Dust Pirates.

In the North:

• Three voters selected Missouri for first. These voters must have mistakenly mailed in last year's ballot.
• Iowa State was the nearly unanimous pick for last in the division, with the Wildcats presumably garnering the other last place vote.
• While Nebraska and Kansas were selected the top 2 teams in the North, there were at least ten writers that has someone else in the 2 slot.
• Second place in the Big 12 North is a crapshoot to figure out without the detail of number of votes for each team for each slot. However, from the information I could back into, it looks like Colorado had the most second place votes, and the most fifth place votes.

With the handing chads/math mistake, it's tough to break down with more certainty.

As the LandThieves Investigate Team finds out more on this story, we'll keep you advised.

Big 12 Preview - Iowa State

Our number 5 prediction for the Big 12 North is Iowa State. Gene Chizik parlayed last year’s victories against Kent State and North Dakota State into a higher-profile job at Auburn. Let’s let that sink in for a minute. Cyclone coaching legend Dan McCarney, who turned the program into a competent BCS program, is LHAO, showing people his National Championship ring at Florida. Iowa State got back at Auburn for stealing their coach by hiring their fired defensive coordinator, Paul Rhoads. The last hire with Auburn DC ties worked out so well for the Cyclones. It’s Rhoads first head coaching gig, and he inherits 15 starters from last year’s team. I don’t know if that’s a good thing. I see the Cyclones going 4-8 this year, with wins against North Dakota State, Kent State, Army and Kansas State. I used to refer to Iowa State as Baylor North, but that’s insulting to Baylor.

Big 12 Preview - Kansas State

We're starting off our Big 12 preview today with Kansas State, our pick for cellar dwellar in the Big 12 North this year.


Back in the day, I think Bill Snyder did the single best coaching job ever by breathing life into the Wildcat football program. However, the coaching staff of Leavitt, Mangino, Venables and Stoops is gone. Josh Freeman is gone. Snyder has his customary mix of juco transfers to close the gap, but I see too much turmoil in the program, and Ron Prince just wasn’t a good hire (note to self: don't hire an offensive coordinator as a head coach if his last three teams have decreased production from the prior year). I see the Wildcats as 3-9 this year, with wins against UMass, Louisiana-Lafayette and Tennessee Tech. They might suit this guy up.