2009 Midseason Report & Picks - Big 12

The best Big 12 players, coaches, surprises of the midseason and more. Scroll down for predictions for every team and every game.

2009 CFN Big 12 Midseason Look

- CFN Midseason All-America Teams 2008 | 2007 | 2006
 
North Colorado | Iowa St | Kansas | Kansas State | Missouri | Nebraska
South Baylor | Oklahoma | Oklahoma State | Texas | Texas A&M | Texas Tech

2009 CFN Midseason Reports  
- ACC | Big East | Big Ten | C-USA | Pac 10 | SEC 

Coming Friday: Midseason All-America Team, MAC, M-West, Sun Belt, WAC

Scroll Down For Predictions For Every Team For The Rest Of The Season 

Offensive Player of the Midseason
Todd Reesing, QB Kansas

Defensive Player of the Midseason
Ndamukong Suh, DT Nebraska

Ten best Big 12 players of the first half
1. Ndamukong Suh, DT Nebraska
2. Gerald McCoy, DT Oklahoma
3. Todd Reesing, QB Kansas
4. Jordan Shipley, WR/PR Texas
5. Dezmon Briscoe, WR Kansas
6. Russell Okung, OT Oklahoma State
7. Perrish Cox, CB Oklahoma State
8. Jeremy Beal, DE Oklahoma
9. Colt McCoy, QB Texas
10. Jesse Smith, LB Iowa State

Biggest Surprise – Kansas State 62 - Texas A&M 14
The Wildcats had lost to Louisiana-Lafayette, two of the wins were against UMass and Tennessee Tech, and the other victory came in the final moments against Iowa State. And then came the 66-14 blasting by Texas Tech with a backup quarterback, Steven Sheffield, setting a school record for passing in the first half in one of the ugliest games of the Big 12 season. One week later, Texas A&M, with one of the nation's highest-octane offenses, came into Manhattan and got obliterated in a 62-14 shocker. Now the Wildcats, in Bill Snyder's first season back at the helm, have an outside shot of getting to a bowl with three of the final five games at home.

Biggest Disappointment – The Big 12
Texas is the standard-bearer and will likely end up in the national championship, but it has been underwhelming with QB Colt McCoy failing to live up to the preseason Heisman hype and the team not quite looking like a world-beater. And that's the star of the show. The rest of the Big 12 has been a bit of a disaster, with Oklahoma State losing some star players and getting stunned by Houston. Oklahoma had Sam Bradford for less than six quarters and the team lost its three big games by a total of five points, including the opener to BYU. Texas Tech lost to Houston, Baylor's turnaround season went bye-bye when QB Robert Griffin suffered a knee injury, Texas A&M stunk it up after a hot start against horrible competition, Kansas State lost to a Sun Belt team, Nebraska lost to Virginia Tech and got pasted at home by Texas Tech, and Colorado lost to Colorado State and Toledo. The league needs to have a good bowl season to bring back the national respect.

The Big 12 Champion will be ... Texas
The Longhorns should roll through the South, and will end up winning the division title even if they lose to Oklahoma State, but don't be shocked if they blow it in the Big 12 Championship. Nebraska has the type of team that can get red-hot for one big game, and Kansas has the offense to hang around with anyone. It's going to be one of these two against the Longhorns, and it's going to be extremely interesting. 

Best Game of the First Half

Colorado 34 … at Kansas 30, Oct. 17
Colorado, led by new starting quarterback Tyler Hansen, got up 24-3 in the first half, and then it was the Todd Reesing show. The Kansas quarterback was sacked six times, but he threw for 401 yards and two touchdowns with a 25-yarder to Dezmon Briscoe giving the Jayhawks a three point lead in the fourth quarter. But Colorado took the lead for good with a 13-yard Rodney Stewart scoring run with 8:36 to play. Reesing wasn’t finished with two more shots deep into CU territory, but they both came up empty including a last-second pass in the end zone that went through Briscoe’s hands. Hansen ran for a one-yard score and connected with Riar Geer for a 12-yard touchdown in the second quarter, but he didn’t lead the Buffs back into the end zone again until the fourth. KU finished with -8 rushing yards but outgained CU 423 yards to 322.

Worst Game of the First Half

at Texas 64 … at UTEP 7, Sept. 26
Texas rolled at will as the offense cranked out 639 yards of total offense and the D allowed just 53 yards in the dismantling. Colt McCoy threw three touchdown passes, but he also threw an interception that was returned by Melvin Stephenson for a touchdown. The Longhorns made up for the error with a D.J. Monroe return for a touchdown on the ensuing kickoff. Eight different Longhorns scored touchdowns and Hunter Lawrence kicked three field goals.

Coach of the Midseason – Iowa State's Paul Rhoads
It was a bad situation to walk into. Gene Chizik had bailed for Auburn in a stunning departure leaving the cupboard nearly bare, along with a ten-game losing streak. The Cyclones won two games in all of 2008, the first two games of the season, with one coming against South Dakota State. the defense had allowed 453 yards per game, the secondary was a disaster, and the offense never came through clutch. This year, after just seven games, the Cyclones have four wins, the defense has allowed almost 70 fewer yards per game, and the offense has been more consistent. It's going to take a few upsets to get to a bowl, and the loss to Kansas State was a killer, but this team has the potential to do it.

Player who'll step up in the second half – Tyler Hansen, QB Colorado
It's not that the sophomore is anything special, he can't throw and he has two career touchdown passes and five interceptions, but it's that he's not Cody Hawkins. Hawkins seemed to press way too much and made too many mistakes the team couldn't rebound from. He wasn't the reason Colorado came up with a miserable start, but he didn't help the cause. Hansen is more of a runner and has the ability to make things happen when a play breaks down. While he'll have some ugly stretches when he'll look like he couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat, he has the potential to be the catalyst of an incredible turnaround. As ugly as things have been, Colorado is only 1-1 in conference play with the loss coming to Texas. The North stinks, and CU could certainly get hot and be a player in the race.

Best performance so far – Kansas WR Dezmon Briscoe caught 12 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns and Kerry Meier caught 16 passes for 142 yards and two scores in the 41-36 win over Iowa State.

Top Freshman – Uzoma Nwachukwu, WR Texas A&M
Quickly becoming one of the league's most dynamic playmakers, the coaching staff is looking for more ways to get the ball in his hands. He caught three passes for 101 yards and three touchdowns against Utah State, and while his two scores against Kansas State came in garbage time, he still had a strong game. With 445 yards and six touchdown on 21 carries, he has proven himself as a scary deep threat and will only get more work as the year goes on.

Coach who needs to have a big second half – Mack Brown, Texas
He has it. He has a team that's good enough to get to the national championship, and he'll have to make sure there isn't a letdown. The Longhorn offense hasn't been all that impressive or consistent, but it leads the nation in scoring (even though the special teams have helped the cause). The defense has been fantastic, the special teams have done their part, and with wins over Texas Tech and Oklahoma, it's all set up in the South to get to the Big 12 title game. However, keeping the team's focus will be an issue for Brown with dangerous road games ahead against Missouri, Oklahoma State, and against Texas A&M to end the year. Throw in a home date with Kansas, and Brown still has a lot of work to do to make sure the team plays up to its talent level each and every week.

Player who needs to have a big second half – Zac Robinson, QB Oklahoma State
With the status of Dez Bryant still up in the air and with RB Kendall Hunter trying to come back from a knee injury, Robinson will have to negotiate through a tough stretch of games by being even better. Everyone has forgotten about the Cowboys, but they're 2-0 in Big 12 play and get Texas at home. To get by the Longhorns, and to stay alive in the Big 12 title chase. Robinson will have to run a little more, he'll have to be a bit more decisive an his throws, and he'll have to make everyone around him better. That started to happen last week against Missouri, but Texas, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma are still on the slate.

Best remaining conference game – Texas at Oklahoma State, October 31
Texas A&M has the offense to potentially pull off a shocker, but realistically, this is the only stumbling block between Texas and 12-0. The Longhorns always seem to find ways to rip the hearts out of the Cowboys, and now the favor can be returned. If OSU pulls off the win there's still work to do with Texas Tech coming to town a few weeks later and with a date at Oklahoma in the regular season finale. Yes, it's possible for Oklahoma to beat Oklahoma State, Oklahoma State to beat Texas, and Texas has already beaten Oklahoma ... there could be another three-way tie for the Big 12 South title.

Team Mid-Season MVPs & Predictions

North

Colorado - Midseason MVP: LB Jeff Smart, Sr.
predicted wins: at Kansas State, Texas A&M, at Iowa State
predicted losses: Missouri, at Oklahoma State, Nebraska
predicted record: 5-7

Iowa State - Midseason MVP: LB Jesse Smith, Sr.
predicted wins: None
predicted losses: at Nebraska, at Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Colorado, at Missouri
predicted record: 4-8

Kansas - Midseason MVP: QB Todd Reesing, Sr.
predicted wins: at Kansas State, Nebraska, Missouri
predicted losses: Oklahoma, at Texas Tech, at Texas
predicted record: 8-4

Kansas State - Midseason MVP: RB Daniel Thomas, Jr.
predicted wins: None
predicted losses: Colorado, at Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, at Nebraska
predicted record: 4-8

Missouri - Midseason MVP: LB Sean Weatherspoon, Sr.
predicted wins: at Colorado, Baylor, at Kansas State, Iowa State
predicted losses: Texas, at Kansas
predicted record: 8-4

Nebraska - Midseason MVP: DT Ndamukong Suh, Sr.
predicted wins: Iowa State, at Baylor, Kansas State, at Colorado
predicted losses: Oklahoma, at Kansas
predicted record: 8-4

South

Baylor - Midseason MVP: LB Joe Pawelek, Sr.
predicted wins: None
predicted losses: Oklahoma State, Nebraska, at Missouri, Texas, at Texas A&M, Texas Tech
predicted record: 3-9

Oklahoma - Midseason MVP: DT Gerald McCoy, Jr.
predicted wins: at Kansas, Kansas State, at Nebraska, Texas A&M, at Texas Tech, Oklahoma State
predicted losses: None
predicted record: 9-3

Oklahoma State - Midseason MVP: OT Russell Okung, Sr.
predicted wins: at Baylor, at Iowa State, Texas Tech, Colorado
predicted losses: Texas, at Oklahoma
predicted record: 9-3

Texas - Midseason MVP: QB Colt McCoy, Sr.
predicted wins: at Missouri, at Oklahoma State, UCF, at Baylor, Kansas, at Texas A&M
predicted losses: None
predicted record: 12-0

Texas A&M - Midseason MVP: QB Jerrod Johnson, Jr.
predicted wins: Iowa State, at Baylor
predicted losses: at Texas Tech, at Colorado, at Oklahoma, Texas
predicted record: 5-7

Texas Tech - Midseason MVP: QB Taylor Potts, Jr.
predicted wins: Texas A&M, Kansas, at Baylor
predicted losses: at Oklahoma State, Oklahoma
predicted record: 8-4