Big 12
North
Colorado
|
Iowa St
|
Kansas
|
Kansas State
|
Missouri
|
Nebraska
South
Baylor
|
Oklahoma
|
Oklahoma State
|
Texas
|
Texas A&M
|
Texas Tech
Past Big 12 Predictions:
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 |
Week 5
Week 6 |
Week 7 |
Week 8 |
Week 9
How'd we do so far? 47-12 straight
up, 21-30-2
ATS
Week
10
Big 12 Fearless Predictions, Part
2 |
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Tickets for These Games
Big 12 Game of
the Week
Missouri
(7-2) at
Nebraska
(6-3) 12 PM EST ABC Saturday
November 4th
Why to Watch: For all intents and
purposes, this is the Big 12 North
championship game. The two teams are
coming off bad loses with Missouri
getting blasted at home by Oklahoma
26-10, and Nebraska getting blown out in
the second half by Oklahoma State in a
41-29 loss. All will be forgotten by the
winner. The Huskers have been good, but
not great with an offense that's having
a hard time exploding, while Missouri is
starting to slip with too many mistakes
and missed opportunities proving costly
with two losses in the last three games.
While each will have work to do with two
more conference games to follow, this is
everything. Either Missouri has finally
arrived as a Big 12 player, or Nebraska
can prove that it's close to being back
to Nebraska.
Why Missouri Might Win: The
Husker secondary has been abysmal all
season long and injuries and
inconsistencies have made things worse
allowing a whopping 1,388 yards (278
yards per game) over the last five.
Worse yet, teams are able to fire at
will with little resistance. Nebraska is
getting hit deep, short, and everywhere
in between. The Tigers should be able to
work its tight ends, Martin Rucker and
Chase Coffman, up and down the field and
occasionally bomb away with Will
Franklin on the outside. Even if
Nebraska gets up, expect Missouri to
make a run at some point. However ...
Why Nebraska Might Win: ...
Missouri's team became way too one
dimensional last week against Oklahoma.
Losing star quarterback Brad Smith off
last year's team was a little bit of a
positive because it meant more Tigers
would be involved in this year's
offense. Against the Sooners, it was QB
Chase Daniel, Daniel, and more Daniel
with no rushing help and not enough
plays made by the receivers. Missouri
might be the best team in the North, but
it's also prone to mistakes lately
getting hurt with turnovers and dropped
passes. At the moment, Nebraska's
offense has the balance Missouri's is
lacking.
Who to Watch: Missouri junior
Tony Temple is the team's leading rusher
with two 100-yard days on the season and
662 yards on the year, but suffered a
dislocated shoulder against Oklahoma and
has lost his starting gig. The injury is
a problem, but the bigger issue is his
fumbling losing two key ones in the last
three games. Earl Goldsmith takes over
in the starting spot after only getting
four carries against the Sooners. A
speed back, he appears all back full
from a knee injury that kept him down
last season. He has to be a featured
player to take the pressure off Daniel.
What Will Happen: Will Missouri
be the tight team that ripped through
the first half of the season, or will it
screw up when the pressure's on? Can
Nebraska actually beat a team with a
pulse? Yes and yes, with the Tigers
coming through with two big pass plays
in the fourth quarter to put it away.
CFN Prediction:
Missouri 24 ... Nebraska 20 ..
Line: Nebraska -7
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Running
with Scissors)
... 4
Baylor
(4-5) at
Texas Tech
(5-4) 12 PM EST Saturday
November 4th
Why to Watch: This came so close
to being the shootout of the year in the
Big 12 with the league's top two passing
offenses (Texas Tech is third in the
nation and Baylor seventh), but that
likely won't happen with BU starting QB
Shawn Bell out for the year with a knee
injury. This is still a vital game for
each team with the Bears needing to win
two of their final three to be bowl
eligible, while Texas Tech needs one
more victory. With Oklahoma and a hot
Oklahoma State ahead, the Red Raiders
want to get the sixth win now. After
losing a 35-31 shootout to Texas despite
a 21-0 lead and 519 passing yards from
Graham Harrell, there can't be a
letdown. Baylor hasn't given Tech too
many problems lately going 0-10 against
the Red Raiders since the Big 12 was
formed with the last win coming in 1995.
Why Baylor Might Win: Will Baylor
get good Texas Tech of bad Texas Tech?
The Bear secondary can be thrown on
deep, but it's decent at the dinkers and
dunkers and is great at blasting
receivers after they get the ball. If
Harrell isn't successful early with the
deep ball and isn't getting enough early
production from his midrange passes, the
overall machine could break down like it
did against Colorado and TCU. However
...
Why Texas Tech Might Win: ... if
the Red Raiders are on, it might be
over. Without Bell, the Baylor passing
game won't be nearly as potent, and
there's no running game whatsoever to
fall back on. Paul Mosley is a nice
back, but the Bears are dead last in
America running the ball and aren't
going to get things magically on track
now. The BU defensive front doesn't get
into the backfield nearly enough and
shouldn't be too much of a bother for
Harrell.
Who to Watch: With Bell out,
it'll be up to redshirt freshman Blake
Szymanski to carry the Bear offense.
He'll have a scaled down version of the
offense to work with and won't be asked
to do nearly as much, but he'll still
have to be the one who makes the attack
go with no other options to count on.
He's a tall, pure-passer with a little
more mobility than Bell. While he's not
going to be Vince Young any time soon,
he'll get to use his feet to move the
chains by any means necessary.
What Will Happen: Don't be
shocked if Szymanski is able to connect
on a few big passes and keep up the pace
in the firefight for a few quarters. In
the end, BU won't have enough to
overcome 400+ yards from Harrell.
CFN Prediction:
Texas Tech 38 ... Baylor 24 ..
Line: Texas Tech -17
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Running
with Scissors)
... 3
Kansas
(4-5) at
Iowa State
(3-6) 2 PM EST Saturday
November 4th
Why to Watch: Kansas is still in
the hunt for a bowl bid even after it
took four weeks before winning its first
Big 12 game of the season against
Colorado. Needing to win two of the
final three games against Iowa State,
Kansas State and Missouri, there's
almost no margin for error this week
against a reeling Iowa State team coming
off a 31-10 loss to Kansas State. The
Cyclones have lost four straight and
have gone 0-5 in Big 12 play, but can
still get to a bowl game by beating
Kansas, Colorado and Missouri.
Why Kansas Might Win: Iowa State
has been flat-out awful. One of the big
disappointments of the Big 12 season,
the Cyclones haven't been nearly
consistent on offense, while the defense
can't stop anyone. How bad have they
been? Try three plays away from being
winless. The offense has loads of
talent, but it's not going to be on the
field with RB Stevie Hicks suffering a
knee injury, Jon Davis suffering a
collapsed lung, and Todd Blythe, who's
questionable, getting hit with a viral
infection. In other words, Iowa State
was bad before, and now it's worse.
Why Iowa State Might Win: You
could get deep on the Kansas secondary.
If Iowa State QB Bret Meyer has any
weapons to work with, he should be able
to go nuts on an awful Jayhawk secondary
that got a brief respite last week
because Colorado can't throw the forward
pass. Meyer, even with the team's
problems, has still thrown for 2,023
yards with 280 coming last week against
the Wildcats.
Who to Watch: Who the heck will
the Kansas quarterback be? Head coach
Mark Mangino is keeping mum on the
subject forcing Iowa State to prepare
for all three options. Kerry Meier is
the future of the Kansas offense and is
the starter when 100%, but he got dinged
up with a shoulder injury early in the
season and hasn't been right since.
Senior Adam Barmann is always decent off
the bench and a last-ditch starter at
best, so if Meier isn't ready to handle
the work, freshman Todd Reesing could be
the man man again after stepping in for
Barmann in the third quarter of the win
over Colorado completing seven of 11
passes for 106 yards and three
touchdowns while rushing for 90 yards.
What Will Happen: Any of the
three KU quarterback options could beat
Iowa State. The Cyclones are way overdue
for a breakout, sharp performance,
especially at home, but it's not going
to happen.
CFN Prediction:
Kansas 34 ... Iowa State 27 ..
Line: Kansas -3
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Running
with Scissors)
... 2
Week
10
Big 12 Fearless Predictions, Part
2 |
Get
Tickets for These Games