2013 Football Previews – Big 12 – Jayhawks
Lawrence, Kansas is the home to the University of Kansas, whose reputation is unquestionably as a basketball powerhouse. Year in and year out, it tends to stay that way.
Lawrence, Kansas is the home to the University of Kansas, whose reputation is unquestionably as a basketball powerhouse. Year in and year out, it tends to stay that way.
The Cyclones hope to stake improvement on a blue-collar offensive line and an effective running game. Starting RB James White must bounce back from injury, but he brings veteran experience.
Baylor head coach Art Briles has a fantastic pedigree developing signal-callers, but it’s the running backs in Waco that have everyone talking. The duo of Lache Seastrunk and Glasco Martin might just be the best in America.
There’s no doubt that Kansas State has some talented players sprinkled on its roster. There is also no doubt that aging head coach Bill Snyder deserves all the credit in the world, as he has more than once made this program contend nationally – at a football school that could well be a Bowl Subdivision team (or worse) – without him.
The departure of longtime starting QB Geno Smith signals the departure of a gifted passer and a gifted athlete who put up some mind-numbing statistics. Moreover, it’s not just Smith who says goodbye to Morgantown for the greener pastures of the NFL.
Texas Christian University is in better shape than most Big 12 teams at the quarterback position, although its success still rides on a massive “what-if”.
The Sooners have their usual wealth of talent on the roster, but it’s unlikely that the transition from longtime starting QB Landry Jones to bulldozing goal-line threat Blake Bell will occur without some (likely considerable) growing pains.
Texas’s main advantage this season is being able to feature the most pedigreed, most accurate – and really, just downright best – QB in the Big 12, with junior David Ash. Ash had a poor outing against hated rival Oklahoma (which is mildly concerning) and TCU, but he played against the Horned Frogs while nursing a broken rib.
Over the past couple of seasons, Oklahoma State has become more than just an offensive juggernaut that dumps points on the opposition. The Cowboys have a chance to be a very respectable defensive team in ’13, thanks to the athleticism of DT Calvin Barnett and LBs Shaun Lewis and Caleb Lavey.
The Big 12 should offer an exciting conference race this year, the kind that just when you think you know who the winner will be they lose and you have to think about somebody else. There is talent in the league for sure but only one of the ten teams (Texas) is returning their primary starting QB from a year ago.
In the ever-growing movement of college football – whether you look at TV dollars, conference re-alignment or points on the scoreboard – 2013-14 promises to be another enthralling season in the race for BCS hardware. .
The Big 12 enters the 2012 football season with the same number of teams it ended last year with, but the entire face of the conference has changed. The perennial Big 12 powers remain intact, but both Missouri and Texas A&M have jumped-ship for the SEC.
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Before we start the Big 12 preview, let’s put the confusion to rest. After realignment, the Big 12 actually has 10 teams now.
We’re to the tenth and final Big 12 team preview. It seems crazy to have a ten team Big 12 Conference and a twelve team Big 10 Conference, but that’s how it is after the past year’s expansion.
Gene Chizik bolted from Iowa State to Auburn just a couple years ago, and it was Paul Rhoads who took over the Iowa State program. Rhoads is from Iowa and the fan base seems to really like his coaching style.