Big 12
North
Colorado
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Iowa St
|
Kansas
|
Kansas State
|
Missouri
|
Nebraska
South
Baylor
|
Oklahoma
|
Oklahoma State
|
Texas
|
Texas A&M
|
Texas Tech
Past Big 12 Predictions:
Week One |
Week Two |
Week Three |
Week Four
How'd we do so far? 32-4 straight
up, 11-17-2
ATS
Week Five
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Northern Iowa
(2-2) at
Iowa State
(2-1) 7:00 PM EST Saturday
September 30th
Why to Watch: This is hardly a
normal D-I vs. D-IAA matchup as Northern
Iowa is currently ranked 13th in the
nation among D-IAA teams and has a good
history against the Cyclones winning in
1992 and 1994. But that was over ten
years ago and Iowa State is a much
stronger program now. The Cyclones are
saying all the right things about taking
this game seriously, but it's still a
sandwich game between the 37-14 loss at
Texas and next week's must-have showdown
against Nebraska.
Why Northern Iowa Might Win: The
Panthers can move the ball. Mostly a
running team thanks to sophomore Corey
Lewis, UNI will force Iowa State to
stack up early against the run, and that
could pose a problem. Despite not
playing anyone who bombs away like a
Texas Tech or Hawaii, the Cyclones are
giving up 276 passing yards per game and
are having problems in every way. UNI,
led by Walter Payton Award candidate
Eric Sanders at quarterback, can dink
and dunk on the ISU secondary, and it
can bomb away. If Lewis gets a little
room to move, he'll put up some good
numbers.
Why Iowa State Might Win: Iowa
State should be able to get the pass
rush rolling. The Panther offensive line
has good sized tackles, but they're not
all that quick and should have problems
with the Cyclones from the outside. On
offense, this should be when QB Bret
Meyer starts to get rolling. He's been
effective and he showed in the first
four games that he can put up yards, and
now he has to get the passing game to a
more dangerous level and start making
more deep plays. He should be able to do
that against the UNI secondary.
Who to Watch: The 6-0,
187-pound Lewis had a decent freshman
year for the panthers with a few good
performances, and now he's the focal
point of the offense rushing for over
100 yards in the first three games
highlighted by a 196-yard, two touchdown
day against South Dakota State averaging
12.25 yards per carry. He's a quick back
who has to be stopped if Iowa State is
going to avoid the upset.
What Will Happen: Iowa State
will be in for a big-time fight. This
hasn't been the most consistent year on
either side of the ball, and it's going
to take a few tense, big plays late to
finally put this away.
CFN Prediction:
Iowa State 34
... Northern Iowa 23 ...
Line: No Line
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Studio
60 on the Sunset Strip)
... 2
Kansas
(3-1) at
Nebraska
(3-1) 7:00 PM EST Saturday
September 30th
Why to Watch: 40-15. Last year,
Kansas stunned the Huskers 40-15 in a
win that marked the highest point so far
in the Mark Mangino era while breaking a
35-game losing streak to the Big Red. It
also marked the time when Nebraska fans
started to truly fear that the Bill
Callahan experiment really wasn't going
to work out. At the time, the loss was
the fourth in five games for the
Huskers, but it also signaled a
turnaround as they finished the season
with three straight wins and have won
six of their last seven since. Including
last year's win over Nebraska, KU has
won eight of its last ten games with one
of the losses coming last year to Texas
and one this year in two overtimes
against Toledo. A road win in Lincoln
wouldn't just be big for the North
title, it would be historic with the
last road win over the Huskers coming in
1968.
Why Kansas Might Win: The
Jayhawks need to throw Husker QB Zac
Taylor off his game. That might be
easier said than done against a Nebraska
line that's been great in pass
protection so far, but KU has done a
decent job over the first four games of
getting into the backfield. The Nebraska
offense gets rolling when it has time to
operate, and since KU should do a decent
job against the run, don't be surprised
if it's all about whether or not Taylor
is on. If he's not, the Jayhawks will
keep the score low. However ...
Why Nebraska Might Win: ...
Taylor has been terrific. Husker fans
are still mystified by the the USC game
plan that had Taylor only throwing it 16
times considering he's been almost
flawless throughout the first part of
the year completing over 75% of his
passes with eight touchdowns and two
interceptions in the three wins. Does
Kansas have the firepower to keep up if
this gets into any sort of a shootout?
The Huskers scored an average of 54
points over their three wins, and while
the Jayhawk D is a step up from
Louisiana Tech, Nicholls State and Troy,
it's not a brick wall.
Who to Watch: Who'll be under
center for Kansas? This is Kerry Meier's
team, but he's been hampered by an arm
injury. Barmann, a one-time starter who
all but fell off the depth chart,
stepped in and completed 25 of 35 passes
for 273 yards against South Florida. He
didn't win the game, but he didn't lose
it, either. No matter who's at
quarterback, it's going to require a
full team effort to stay with the loaded
Huskers.
What Will Happen: KU's defense
will keep things close for almost a
half, and then the Husker running game
will start to work. Expect at least two
long pass plays from Taylor to break
things open.
CFN Prediction: Nebraska 38 ...
Kansas 17 ...
Line: Nebraska -20.5
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Studio
60 on the Sunset Strip)
... 2.5
Kansas State
(3-1) at
Baylor
(1-3) 7:00 PM EST Saturday
September 30th
Why to Watch: Is this the
anti-Big 12 title game? While Colorado
and Kansas will likely be in the mix for
the No. 6 spot in the North, you could
argue that these are the two worst teams
in the conference with each looking at
this game for a key chance to pull off a
win. Kansas State would bristle at the
notion of this possibly being the
Basement Bowl since it started the year
3-1 with only a loss to mighty
Louisville. While wins over Illinois
State, Florida Atlantic, and Marshall
might not be anything to do cartwheels
over, they were important for a young
team trying to rebuild. Baylor has been
one of the hard luck teams of the season
so far battling hard in an opening
weekend 17-7 loss to TCU, losing to
Washington Stat by two, and losing last
week in overtime to Army. This is the
fourth home game in the first five weeks
for the Bears, and they must take
advantage of it.
Why Kansas State Might Win:
Louisville might have been without Brian
Brohm and Michael Bush, but it's still a
dangerous offense and was held to only
173 passing yards by the KSU D. The
Wildcats couldn't handle the Cardinal
ground game, but Baylor doesn't run. The
Bears run a pure passing attack that's
completely ignoring the ground game
averaging a nation's worst 29.75 yards
per outing. The passing game is putting
up yards, but they don't seem to be
leading to anything. Kansas State's
defense has been excellent so far with a
tremendous pass rush that's camping out
in opposing backfields.
Why Baylor Might Win: Baylor's
offense might be sputtering, but Kansas
State's is going nowhere in a big hurry.
RB Thomas Clayton is a keeper and Dylan
Meier is a decent quarterback, but this
isn't an explosive attack and it's not
built for a big comeback. That's a
positive since Baylor's big problem has
been hanging on to leads with all three
losses coming after being up at
halftime. If the the Bears can somehow
get up by double digits, this should be
over.
Who to Watch: Is Meier still the
starting quarterback for Kansas State,
or is it time to sink or swim with star
of the future Josh Freeman? Freeman, a
true freshman, hasn't been sharp so far
struggling mightily with his accuracy,
but as the franchise player in the
program for the next few years, the
coaching staff might be inclined to take
their lumps now to get him the most
experience possible. Meier is a gritty,
hard-nosed player who's effective when
he gets time. He didn't get any room to
work against Louisville and came up with
a lousy day. Both players might see
time.
What Will Happen: Baylor has been
just this close to coming up with
some big wins, while Kansas State's
victories have come against no one. The
Bears will finally hold on to a second
half lead and the passing game will
finally start to click.
CFN Prediction: Baylor 23 ... Kansas
State 17 ...
Line: Baylor -3
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Studio
60 on the Sunset Strip) ...
2.5
Week Five
Big 12 Fearless Predictions |
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