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Kansas and Nebraska both seem to be improved over last season. So does Colorado, but that only means they can beat Boulder HS. Mizzou will need to come up with a credible offense if they are gonna challenge for Big 12 North.

Not sure it really matters who wins the north, though. Just decides who gets squished in the conference championship game - again.

That's not good. It's obvious your defense isn't going to keep you in the game based on last season's stats.

No worries, they will finish 4-4 or 3-5 in conference...which is good for 2nd or 3rd in the Big 12 North.

Back to mid level for the tigers?

I've seen the beautiful (not) state of Missouri, and I was once an 18 year old kid (three, four hundred years ago). I can't see anything that would make an 18 year old kid want to spend time there, can't help with recruiting.

There are top notch programs that go thru down periods (Michigan, Notre Dame come to mind). Missouri is a mediocre program that's had a few "up" seasons. They seem to have ended.

C'mon! When will someone in the North field a team to challenge the South?

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 08:55 AM ET  04.20 by JRM74

C'mon! When will someone in the North field a team to challenge the South?

JRM - I don't think it will happen for quite a while. The Big 12 should have split the divisions East/West. With the exception of Nebraska, most of the North teams didn't have the football history to compete for recruits with the Tx/Ok teams.

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 08:55 AM ET  04.20 by JRM74

I've seen the beautiful (not) state of Missouri, and I was once an 18 year old kid (three, four hundred years ago). I can't see anything that would make an 18 year old kid want to spend time there, can't help with recruiting.There are top notch programs that go thru down periods (Michigan, Notre Dame come to mind). Missouri is a mediocre program that's had a few "up" seasons. They seem to have ended.C'mon! When will someone in the North field a team to challenge the South?

You're over 400 years old? That's amazing, what do you guys put in the water in Virginia?

QUOTE(#7):

Originally posted 09:10 AM ET  04.20 by VolFanHenry

You're over 400 years old? That's amazing, what do you guys put in the water in Virginia?

That was an exaggeration - I'm really only 120.

Missouri was supposed to have their best team ever last year and they fell on their face. It was great seeing KU beat them 40-37 though. The North will be better this year. KU should be a top 15 team and Nebraska should be top 25. Colorado is better and KState cant get any worse. But, OU and Texas are still the big boys!

QUOTE(#6):

Originally posted 09:09 AM ET  04.20 by MountainGator

JRM - I don't think it will happen for quite a while. The Big 12 should have split the divisions East/West. With the exception of Nebraska, most of the North teams didn't have the football history to compete for recruits with the Tx/Ok teams.

Big 12 was formed when OU and UT were both in "down" periods. No one else in the South has much of a history, though Oklahoma State and Texas Tech have had a couple of good years. Maybe they can sustain them, maybe not. Texas A&M usually has a couple of good seasons every few decades. In the North, only Nebraska is really a storied program, and they've got their work cut out for them getting back to where they once were. Gotta re-develop a viable recruiting base. Not sure where it's gonna come from. I wish them the best, though. Colorado has good teams from time to time, though not lately. Kansas was traditionally a basketball school, but they've been building a pretty good football program. Maybe recruits are drawn in by T-Rex Mangino's gravitational field. Remains to be seen whether they can establish a long term top notch program. This year's conference championship game looks to be a major blow-out. Again.

QUOTE(#9):

Originally posted 09:36 AM ET  04.20 by jayhawkfan11

Missouri was supposed to have their best team ever last year and they fell on their face. It was great seeing KU beat them 40-37 though. The North will be better this year. KU should be a top 15 team and Nebraska should be top 25. Colorado is better and KState cant get any worse. But, OU and Texas are still the big boys!

RRSO will be a war, as always. Tech, OSU and Bayolr will be good enough to trip up anyone, even us, who has an off day. So there are no guarantees in the Big 12 South. But I'm hopeful of playing Kansas twice in 2009.

Nebraska's offense didn't sputter and they had about 80,000 fan there. but the tigers are the more interesting story. how many tiger fans were at the spring game? about 23?

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 08:55 AM ET  04.20 by JRM74

I can't see anything that would make an 18 year old kid want to spend time there, can't help with recruiting.

Being from Kansas?

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 08:55 AM ET  04.20 by JRM74

I've seen the beautiful (not) state of Missouri, and I was once an 18 year old kid (three, four hundred years ago). I can't see anything that would make an 18 year old kid want to spend time there, can't help with recruiting.There are top notch programs that go thru down periods (Michigan, Notre Dame come to mind). Missouri is a mediocre program that's had a few "up" seasons. They seem to have ended.C'mon! When will someone in the North field a team to challenge the South?

And pray tell what makes Ashburn, VA or South Bend, Indiana such compelling places for a young athlete? Missouri as per almost any state has its pretty places and it's not so, and don't try to tell us that Virginia is all gorgeous, LOL, or for that matter Indiana.

Anyway, me thinks Mizzou will have a tough season this year, they'll likely go 7-5. The North is definitely going to be a bit inept vs the South. Hmmm, could be the year Nebraska snaps back into power but I would guess that Kansas is going to be favored...

QUOTE(#13):

Originally posted 10:28 AM ET  04.20 by Huitzilopochtli

Being from Kansas?

Is that where he's from? Yikes...you get away from eastern KS and you want to yell, CAN I BUY A TREE?, lol.

Ah, Vitamin B12. I'd like the RRSO to be a throat clearin', a.s.s. kickin', down-to-the-last-second heart attack of a game every year until well after my death. No matter what kind of season either school is having, I hope and pray that the Kansas-Mizzou game is always a blood-on-the-uniforms contest that keeps the fans standing and screaming even after the game clock hits zero. I want Nebraska to rise again because this will please my brother-in-law, and make his burdens seem lighter. Sadly (but honestly), I foresee TAMU's dreams dashed by their own bumbling without surcease. After the date rape and other dark controversies, I wanted Colorado to go without a football program for four years and have to start over. Not entirely heartless, I wanted the Buffs' band to get gigs during that time and gain a rep all their own. But, rumor has it that their head coach skydives, so, may CU have a mass epiphany and become an exemplary institution in all ways possible. As for the other schools, may the cities and town that host them continue to benefit from their presence.

QUOTE(#8):

Originally posted 09:26 AM ET  04.20 by JRM74

That was an exaggeration - I'm really only 120.

Spring chickens.

When was my last decent sacrifice? 1,000 years ago? It seems like yesterday....

QUOTE(#14):

Originally posted 10:32 AM ET  04.20 by rhymeister

And pray tell what makes Ashburn, VA or South Bend, Indiana such compelling places for a young athlete? Missouri as per almost any state has its pretty places and it's not so, and don't try to tell us that Virginia is all gorgeous, LOL, or for that matter Indiana.Anyway, me thinks Mizzou will have a tough season this year, they'll likely go 7-5. The North is definitely going to be a bit inept vs the South. Hmmm, could be the year Nebraska snaps back into power but I would guess that Kansas is going to be favored...

Ashburn, VA is a good place to work, because unemployment in the DC area doesn't suck as bad as most places. Nearest major schools are Virginia Tech and University of Virginia, both pretty decent places, I think. University of Maryland is close too, but it's in the DC metro area, not its own college town.

Austin, on the other hand was one step this side of heaven. Maybe there's a correlation between that fact and our recruiting success. Ditto SEC and California schools. Warm weather means coeds wear less clothing. As best as I can remember from when I was 18, that prob'ly means something to HS kids being recruited.

QUOTE(#17):

Originally posted 11:22 AM ET  04.20 by Huitzilopochtli

Spring chickens.When was my last decent sacrifice? 1,000 years ago? It seems like yesterday....

yeah, JRM and I can remember breakin' wind at the veterans parade near the end of the 19th century, but no one has ever sacrificed a defeated enemy or a virgin to us... Is that your recollection too, JRM?

QUOTE(#18):

Originally posted 11:31 AM ET  04.20 by JRM74

Ashburn, VA is a good place to work, because unemployment in the DC area doesn't suck as bad as most places. Nearest major schools are Virginia Tech and University of Virginia, both pretty decent places, I think. University of Maryland is close too, but it's in the DC metro area, not its own college town.Austin, on the other hand was one step this side of heaven. Maybe there's a correlation between that fact and our recruiting success. Ditto SEC and California schools. Warm weather means coeds wear less clothing. As best as I can remember from when I was 18, that prob'ly means something to HS kids being recruited.

JRM - I've been on a hunting ranch west of Austin for the last 15 years. I know what you mean about "one step this side of heaven". It's my desire to retire to that neck of the woods one day. My wife sees things a bit different - she's an okie so her idea of heaven is located somewhere north of the red river. When we travel there her eyes glaze over with childhood memories of her grandfather's farm. This causes here to become somewhat blind to the meth labs and abandoned trailer homes that litter the flattened landscape.

It's all a matter of perspective.