Story lines. As fans of the Big 12 Conference we have heard the same ones over and over again for the last eight months. Oklahoma vs Texas. Sam Bradford vs Colt McCoy. That whole tiebreaker, flyover thing. Who can challenge from the North? Bill Snyder came back?!?! Baylor might win some games?? We get it, we've heard it, and we're ready for the season to begin so that we can hear about some real football games. We're ready for some new story lines. We're ready for a brand new college football season.
Welcome to the 2009 SB Nation Big 12 College Football Preview. All of the Big 12 SBN sites have put together an "outsiders" preview for all of you to learn about each of the conference teams. They have picked their projected finish, and we have aggragated it below. Finally, each conference site has answered a few vital questions about the pending outcomes we expect to see on the field over the next five months. Dive in, check out each of the sites and their previews and make sure and chip in if you feel like we have missed the boat. We are glad to have you join us for the beginning of the 2009 college football season.
Projected order of finish:
North
1) Kansas (Team Report)
2) Nebraska Team Report)
3) Missouri (Team Report)
4) Colorado (Team Report)
5) Kansas State
6) Iowa State (Team Report)
South
1) Texas (tie) (Team Report)
1) Oklahoma (tie) (Team Report)
3) Oklahoma State
4) Texas Tech (Team Report)
5) Baylor
6) Texas A&M (Team Report)
Click here to see some key questions going into the 2009 season:
Key questions for the 2009 season:
1) Who is going to win the Big 12 North?
Kansas - 5 votes
Nebraska - 2
Missouri - 1
2) Who is going to win the Big 12 South?
Texas - 4
Oklahoma - 4
3) How many Big 12 teams will finish the season bowl eligible?
Eight - 4
Nine - 2
Seven - 2
4) Which conference team will show the most improvement from last year (in record only)?
Baylor - 4
Colorado - 2
Kansas State - 1
Iowa State - 1
5) Who will be the non-quarterback Big 12 player of the year?
Dezmon Briscoe - 3
Ndamukong Suh - 2
Earl Thomas - 1
Kurtis Gregory - 1
Gerald McCoy -1
6) Which Big 12 coaches will be gone (fired or hired elsewhere) after this season? (Everyone answered with at least one coach and no one suggested that someone might be hired away)
Dan Hawkins - 8
Mike Sherman - 3
Mike Gundy - 1
7) What would be the better third "best" Big 12 bowl game. The Holiday or Alamo Bowl?
Holiday Bowl - 6
Alamo Bowl - 2
8) Better defensive lineman, Ndamukong Suh or Gerald McCoy?
Ndamukong Suh - 7
Gerald McCoy - 1
9) Better wide receiver, Dez Bryant or Dezmon Briscoe?
Dez Bryant - 4
Dezmon Briscoe - 4
10)
What's the worst non-conference loss (an upset) that the Big 12 will suffer?
Nevada over Missouri - 4
Lousiana Lafeytte over Kansas State - 2
Southern Mississippi over Kansas - 1
Houston over Texas Tech - 1
11) Who will be the BCS title game participants and champions?
Florida over Texas - 2
Texas over Florida - 2'
Oklahoma over Virginia Tech - 1
Oklahoma over Alabama - 1
Florida over Penn State - 1
Florida over Oklahoma - 1