Boomer Sooner / credit: photo mojo (flickr CC)
ALL OU, ALL THE TIME
Well, I don't think anyone was surprised by the 62-21 smash-up of Missouri by Oklahoma. Jason Whitlock is right on one account, the Sooners have the spread figured out. It's not too challenging. If you have better athletes at every position on the defensive side of the ball, you pretty much suck the life out of these prima donna style offenses. It starts with good cover skills in the secondary and then you mix in a d-line that can get pressure with four guys and you're pretty much set. Once the seconday is warmed up and sticking like glue, you can start blitzing just to make it more fun.
THE FUTURE
Too me, the future is Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson. Of course, defensive coordinators that can recruit top talent and coach the fundamentals are like the Holy Grail right now. However, if you can solve the defensive side of the equation, an old-style running attack is going to be very effective and morally crushing in the future. They'll eat the clock and run straight at these defenses that will be built on speed.
OKLAHOMA vs FLORIDA
On this one, Jason Whitlock is wrong. OU is going to demolish Florida. Why? Simple repetition. The Sooners have played their offense against teams that know how to defend them. Florida may have the athletes, but they don't have a season's worth of preparation. On the other side, again OU's defense has been doing this all year. They'll get more of a challenge out of their scout team. The only way OU fails is if they read, watch and listen to the media hype as they will be spinning this as an even matchup. As a Big 12 fan, here's my take -- OU, you better deliver the message because I think there are about four additional teams in the conference that would be more than willing to eat up the Gators. No screwing around, get your job done.
OU vs TEXAS
Yep, that would be the real championship game. I say the players set an informal date at some high school in Texas around February 1. OU can bring their trophy and the winner takes all.
NEBRASKA vs MU
I'm kind of surprised that MU isn't a little sore about being picked after Nebraska in the Big 12 bowl pecking order. You know, after trashing the Huskers in Lincoln. Of course, everyone understands how it works in the bowl system and the Tigers probably feel pretty good about playing in Texas for recruiting purposes.
KU vs NORTHWESTERN
The Alamo Bowl did miss out on a potential game that would have had some serious appeal to KU football fans. We'd all like to get another shot at the variation of Wildcat. Still, playing at an outdoor venue in a warm weather location has a ton of appeal.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
I could not find an online version, but the KC Star had a really cool two-thirds page photo/text summary of of all the Big 12 Championship games. It would have been much better in color but it packs a lot of information. Like there are five teams that have never played in the game -- KU, ISU, Tech, Baylor and OSU. Also, of the seven teams that have made it, they've all been in more than once. I want in.