Thanks to Crimson and Cream Machine for putting together this week's Big 12 Round Table. Let's go.
The Big 12 conference has only four unbeaten teams left and has endured numerous embarrassing performances on television. State where you believe the Big 12 ranks among the BCS conferences.
Give me the SEC first. Typically, week-in and week-out, they have some of the most exciting games going and with LSU, Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama in the top 25 they're tough to beat. I love the Oregon Ducks and think they are immensely talented, thus, along with USC, California, and Arizona State, give me the Pac-10 next.
I'm torn between the Big East, the Big 12 and the Big 10. Right now, give me the Big 12, Big East and then the Big 10. Putting the Big 12 ahead of either of the other two conferences is that I think OU is a dominant team and I don't think that either the Big East or the Big 12 have a team as dominant.
What has been the conference's best victory and worst defeat so far this season?
I initially thought that the Iowa State loss to Northern Iowa was the worst loss, but from a conference standpoint, the Aggies' loss to Miami I think hurt the conference more than the Iowa State loss. I thought the Ags had turned the corner a little bit and as I do when most Big 12 teams play out of conference, I want the conference to do well because it reflects better on the conference as a whole. The first thought I had when Aggie lost was that this reflects so poorly on the conference as a whole.
I'd nominate OU's drubbing of Miami as the most impressive. OU dominated what appeared to be a pretty talented Miami team 2 weeks later when they played the Aggies.
Who is the worst coached team in the conference?
Aggie. I think that Michael Goodson is one of the most talented running backs in the country and it baffles me that the Aggie coaching staff can't get Goodson the ball. The offensive line was supposed to be great, but it's not. The defense with Harrington and Bryan aren't necessarily leading that team. There's a lot of talent on that team, I'm just not sure that it's being used properly.
With the regular season already a third of the way over, which players received too much hype in late August and which players didn't receive enough?
Colt McCoy was supposed to be the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, but I'm not sure that's true. Texas ranks 8th in the league in passing offense (33rd nationally) and 45th in passing efficiency, behind Big 12 quarterbacks, Sam Bradford, Graham Harrell, Todd Reesing, Chase Daniel and Sam Keller. Granted, UT, I think, has tried to run the ball a little more and the part of the season where one's mettle is tested is about to begin, but I just don't think he's lived up to the preseason hype.
As far as the most underrated, I was preaching the greatness of Michael Crabtree a long time ago, but thinking outside of the Red Raiders I'll nominate Kansas DB/WR Aqib Talib. He already has 2 interceptions and returned one for a touchdown, 2 pass break-ups, and 18 tackles. I'm also assuming that the opposing team doesn't throw to his side any more, which makes those stats even more impressive. This doesn't even take into consideration that on offense he has 6 receptions for 169 yards, 3 touchdowns and a 42.3 yard per catch average.
Conference Power Rankings. The best part of the roundtable is voicing how we believe the conference teams rank each week, from top to bottom. So, go ahead, let us know who's up and who's down in your book this week.
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- Missouri
- Kansas State
- Nebraska
- Kansas
- Texas Tech
- Oklahoma State
- Texas A&M
- Colorado
- Baylor
- Iowa State