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I’ve already hashed out the atrocity that was the Big 12 North of a couple years in the ACC Coastal preview a couple days ago, and now it’s time to actually talk about the current state of the Big 12 North.
Nebraska’s struggles – and the rest of the conference living in the shadow of Oklahoma and Texas – damaged the division’s reputation and respectability, and Missouri and Kansas valiantly tried to help repair that last year.
Mizzou reached the top of the polls heading into the Big 12 Title Game, but lost to the Sooners for the second time last year. Meanwhile, KU used a favorable (to say the least) schedule to roll to undefeated season until a 36-28 loss to the Tigers in KC.
The now-departed Aqib Talib’s pick six led Kansas to an unlikely (and undeserved) Orange Bowl win last year
The Tigers finished by crushing Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. Kansas played in the Orange Bowl they totally didn’t deserve, but shut people like me up by beating Virginia Tech. Even with those two teams, I’m not sure how many people thought Mizzou and KU were all that good, which is somewhat understandable given their respective football pasts.
So while there’s been improvement for the North, there’s still a little ways to go, and that has to do with how Nebraska and Kansas State fare this year (more on them later). I for one think that the Big 12 will move past the Pac-10 for the title of second-best conference (behind the SEC of course).
The Big 12 as a whole should be a powerfully offensive league this year, as only Iowa State (Bret Meyer) and Nebraska (Sam Keller) have to find new QBs. You look at the QBs in this league, and you can only be impressed by not only the talent there, but they’ve put up some pretty good stats as well.
Perhaps the best QB is Missouri’s Chase Daniel. 2008 should be another big year for Daniel and the Tigers. Despite the losses of HB Tony Temple, WR Will Franklin, and TE Martin Rucker, the Tigers are pretty set at the skill positions. They will have a new C and new LT, the two most important OL positions, but there won’t be much of a dropoff.
Defensively, Mizzou has one of the top LB corps in the conference with Sean Weatherspoon, Brock Christopher, and Luke Lambert. Three defensive lineman, including the awesomely-named DE Stryker Sulak, return and FS William Moore anchors the secondary. The only games I see as potential losses for Missouri are the opener against Illinois in St. Louis and trips to Nebraska and Texas. Fortunately, Oklahoma is not on the schedule (yet).
WR Jeremy Maclin was a Freshman All-American last year, racking up 2,776 all-purpose yards to go along with 1,055 receiving yards and 16 total TDs
This needs to be said: I’m partial to Missouri, simply because I almost went there…i.e. if I had to pick a second favorite team behind the Vols, it would be Missouri. No, I don’t live-and-die with whether or not they win on Saturdays like it is with Tennessee, but I certainly enjoy seeing them do well. Plus, I think they are fairly exciting to watch as well.
Kansas surprised everyone last year, using a terribly easy schedule and kind Orange Bowl reps to reach their first BCS Bowl, a 24-21 win over Virginia Tech. While much of that team returns intact, the schedule is more challenging this year, so expect a fall back to reality for Kansas.
The Jayhawks face the South’s three best teams (at Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas at home in a three-week span) and play at USF on a Friday night. They go to Nebraska as well, and still play Missouri. QB Todd Reesing returns and will have some new faces on offense, but the production should be about the same.
Overshadowed by the offense last year, Kansas returns 9 starters from a defense that allowed just 16 points/game last year. They have to replace stud CB Aqib Talib, but the LB group of Mike Rivera, Joe Mortensen, and James Holt rivals Missouri’s.
Nebraska’s certainly had a really, really hard fall the past decade. From dominating everyone with the option (seeing the Gators get owned I can always enjoy) here…
…to playing just horrifically bad defense last year (WARNING: it’s long and a poor choice of music)…
Nebraska had owned Kansas for a really long time before 2005, and KU hung 76 on them last year. Interestingly, Nebraska scored 73 the next week in a win over Kansas State, before returning to form by giving up 65 to Colorado in the finale. On the season, Nebraska gave up a school-record 455 points (38 per game) and 5,722 yards.
Nebraska got rid of Bill Callahan, and hired LSU Defensive Coordinator Bo Pelini, a very good hire in my opinion. Pelini obviously will bring a new attitude to the Husker defense, one that will have to rely on its front four in 2008. The same group that gave up 232 yards/game on the ground all returns and can only get better. It’s a little green in the back seven, but Nebraska can’t be much worse defensively than they were last year with Pelini running things.
Offensively, QB Joe Ganz started three games last year, and, in 173 fewer attempts, had more TDs than the highly-touted Sam Keller. The Huskers will rely on the running game this year, and having Marlon Lucky back behind an OL with five players with more than nine career starts. We’ll get to see the new Huskers early – they host Virginia Tech September 27.
After rolling Baylor, Kansas State was 5-3 with a close loss at Auburn and a 41-21 romp at Texas. Then the defense disappeared, giving up 31, 73, 49, and 45 points respectively to Iowa State, Nebraska, Missouri, and Fresno State. Despite just 12 returning starters, K-State should make it back to the postseason.
QB Josh Freeman has led the Wildcats to wins over Texas the past two years
Why? They bring in a whopping 19 junior college transfers. That’s not a typo. 19 junior college players. I’ve never heard of that. QB Josh Freeman and 2006 and 2007 All-Big 12 1st Team DE Ian Campbell returns as well.
Colorado, under first-year coach Dan “Go play intramurals, brother” Hawkins, surprised many and reached a bowl game last year. The highlights included a stunner over #3 Oklahoma on a late FG, a 31-26 win at Texas Tech, and a 65-51 romp over Nebraska. This was pretty cool too…
(Yes, I think South Park’s a great show) CU must replace Charles, Polumbus, Wheatley, and Dizon the Tackle-Machine (he had 173 last year). Hawkins landed Darrell Scott, a highly-ranked RB who could start this year, and his son Cody returns at QB.
I would say Colorado would be a shoe-in for a bowl, but they play a tough schedule: host West Virginia, play Florida State in Jacksonville, play at Kansas, at Missouri, at Texas A&M, at Nebraska, and get Texas at home.
Finally, there’s Iowa State, who started off the Gene Chizik era last year by losing home games to Kent State at Northern Iowa (ouch). It got better, as ISU beat hated Iowa, hung with Oklahoma and beat Kansas State and Colorado late in the year. QB Bret Meyer is gone, there’s improvement everywhere else on the offense. On defense the entire secondary is back, but only three of the front seven return, and the Cyclones have a ways to go to make any noise in the league.
Iowa State’s new logo for 2008
Yesterday I dove headfirst into the ACC Coastal Division and today it’s the Atlantic Division, which has seen three different winners – Florida State, Wake Forest, and Boston College – the three years of divisional play.
Clemson would love to be #4. The Tigers, the media’s preseason favorite to win the ACC and make a run nationally, arguably have the most talented team in the ACC. They have certainly had more success in winning recruiting battles with the SEC powers than any other team in the ACC, to the point where I would say the Tigers talent-wise would be in the top half of the SEC.
Two years, two straight late-season home losses have kept Clemson out of the ACC Title game with all that talent…this year Clemson closes the ACC home slate with Duke…no way…
As good as they are on paper, though, Clemson usually finds ways to…well, to blow it. In 2006, Clemson lost 13-12 at home to a 6-7 Maryland team. Had the Tigers won that, they would have tied Wake at 6-2, won the head-to-head tiebreaker and played Georgia Tech (a team they beat 31-7 earlier that year) for the ACC Title. The Tigers then capped the season off with a home loss to South Carolina and a bowl loss to Kentucky.
Last year is a better example though. Clemson laid consecutive eggs at Georgia Tech and at home to Virginia Tech, recovered, and needed a home win over BC to win the division. Highlights…
Not included was a long pass that went through WR Aaron Kelly’s hands right down near the end zone. Better yet, here’s a view from the Clemson student section of the missed FG…(why one would put that on YouTube I’ll never know, and pardon his language…).
Clemson managed to squeak a W out at Carolina, but lost to Auburn in the Peach Bowl.
Simply based on talent, Clemson has to be the ACC favorite. Cullen Harper, James Davis, C.J. Spiller, Aaron Kelly, Jacoby Ford, and Tyler Grisham form quite the set of athletic skill players. Clemson will have some inexperience along the OL though.
Along with QB Cullen Harper, HB tandem James Davis and C.J. Spiller give Clemson one of the best backfields in the nation
Defensively, LBs Nick Watkins and Tremaine Billie have to replaced. DE Philip Merling is gone too, but freshman spring-enrollee Da’Quan Bowers, ESPN’s top-rated recruit, should fill that spot nicely. The entire secondary returns too.
With ALL of that, can the Tigers finally finish the deal? The opener against Alabama in Atlanta – a game I’m really looking forward to – should tell us quite a bit, about both teams. Clemson plays two I-AA teams (The Citadel and SC State), but play Florida State and Wake Forest, the division’s top challengers, on the road. I just have a feeling it will be the same sad story of underachieving for the Tigers again.
As for the Noles, they haven’t been the same since winning it all in 1999. It’s been two straight 7-6 seasons, highlighted by incompetent QB play spoiling great defensive talent. To top it all off, FSU had over 20 players suspended for the Music City Bowl loss to Kentucky for an academic cheating scandal, and many players will also miss the first two games this season as well.
FSU responded to having half its team suspended by scheduling Western Carolina and Chattanooga to open up 2008
To cope, FSU smartly – but ridiculously – scheduled Western Carolina and Chattanooga to open ‘08. FSU has the schedule to return to glory this year, with basically 8 home games – 7 at home, one in Jacksonville (Colorado). They get Clemson, Wake, Virginia Tech, and Florida all at home.
Drew Weatherford will be the Nole QB, and having a running game might help. The Noles haven’t had a 1,000 yard rusher since Warrick Dunn in 1996. Antone Smith will try to do it this year, but the OL returns just 24 career starts. Talented playmakers at WR, Greg Carr and Preston Parker, are both back.
After some tough years, Bobby Bowden leads FSU back to the top of the ACC and tells his critics to shove it…
Eight defensive starters are back, but is FSU ever really that bad on defense? Mickey Andrews is one of the better defensive coordinators in the nation, but the Noles will be without stud LB Geno Hayes. Will all of this returning talent and an easy schedule, this has to be the year FSU returns to the top of the ACC right? I think they will.
On the opposite end of the spectrum of both FSU and Clemson is Wake Forest. Jim Grobe has been magnificent, leading the Deacons to the ACC Title in 2006, and 9-4 with a bowl win last year with less talented players. Wake’s a contender against this year.
When talking about nationally underrated coaches, you have to remember Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe
QB Riley Skinner is back along with HB Josh Adams. Skinner will have to find some new WRs and the OL lost a good bit of experience, but offensively Wake should be fine. The defense is the area of improvement though, as 9 starters are back, including the top 4 tacklers, including All-American CB Alphonso Smith. Defense will be a strength for Wake in 2008, with the potential to lead them to another ACC Title.
Maryland was 31-8 from 2001-2003 but have had two losing season since. The Terps should change that this year, with eight returning starters. They do lose HBs Keon Lattimore and Lance Ball, but the OL returns 4 starters. Who the Maryland QB will be is still TBD – it’s between Florida transfer Josh Portis, and two guys who played extensively last year, Chris Turner and Jordan Steffy.
Whichever one of three QBs for Maryland will like throwing to the very speedy Darrius Heyward-Bey
A generally solid defense has to find six new starters. Stud LB Erin Henderson is gone, but Dave Philistin, who racked up 124 tackles last year, could help make up for Henderson’s loss.
Expect Boston College to struggle this year, obviously as Matt Ryan is now with the Falcons. His replacement will be Sr. Chris Crane. In addition, there will be new RBs for BC, but top WRs Rich Gunnell and Brandon Robinson should help the inexperenced Crane.
Sr. QB Chris Crane gets the unenviable task of replacing Matt Ryan and his legend
Just four returning defensive starters for BC, as guys like Jamie Silva, Jo-Lonn Dunbar, and DeJuan Tribble are gone. LB Brian Toal, a two-year starter, returns after missing last year with an injury. Including Toal, BC has just three of its back seven back. We’ll get to see how good of a hire Jeff Jagodzinski was this year, and a bowl game should be a realistic goal.
Finally, there’s NC State. The Wolf Pack started 1-5 last year (the 1 was Wofford), won four straight, then lost the last two by a combined 75-18 to Wake and Maryland. The 37-0 home loss crushed NC State’s bowl chances, but fans and players got this to brighten their days…
Classic. NC State has just 10 starters back this year, though, and only four on defense where five of last year’s top six tacklers are gone. The schedule – with trips to South Carolina, Clemson and Maryland, and home games against East Carolina, USF, the Florida schools and Wake – isn’t easy either, so I’ll be surprised if NC State makes a bowl in 2008.
Second-year coach Tom O’Brien may find matching last year’s five wins fairly difficult in 2008
Remember the pitifulness that was the Big 12 North just a couple of years ago? In a three-year stretch from 2004-2006, the North representative lost in the conference title game by a combined 133-13. The emergence of Missouri and Kansas have more or less saved the division’s reputation.
What does this have to do with the ACC Coastal Division? If it wasn’t for Virginia Tech, this division would be the new Big 12 North. You could also call it a mini-Big East, because it’s a surprise if the Hokies don’t win the division. The competition? inconsistent Virginia and Georgia Tech, fallen power Miami, and basketball schools North Carolina and Duke.
I don’t really know what to say about this…
Look, I’m not going to ruffle many feathers when I say the ACC may be the worst of the major six BCS leagues. It was supposed to be the next super-conference when Miami, VT, and BC joined, but the Canes and perennial power Florida State have struggled, and the league has struggled in non-conference games.
Virginia Tech has won two ACC titles since joining the league in 2004
Yes, the ACC won the most non-conference games of any other league with 10. The wins: South Carolina, Colorado, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Rutgers, Notre Dame (twice), Texas A&M, UConn, and Pitt. However, the league was just 2-6 in bowls last year (this division was 0-3) and is a woeful 1-9 all-time in bowl games.
This probably says just as much…
Yes, the SEC Champions beat the ACC Champion by 41 points. Virginia Tech recovered from that and the late collapse against Matt Ryan to bounce back, win the Coastal in its rival’s stadium, and avenge the loss for the ACC Championship, the Hokies’ second in its four years in the ACC. They then of course lost to Kansas, who had no business even being in the Orange Bowl (uh, Missouri?).
Once again, the Coastal is Tech’s to lose, despite the dismissal of HB Branden Ore, graduation of the top four WRs, and having to find 7 new defensive starters. The two-headed QB attack of Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor return, and the Hokies’ OL, which gave up 54 sacks last year, should be much improved. VT has some tough road games – North Carolina, Nebraska, BC, FSU, and Miami – but c’mon, they have the most talent in this division and Frank Beamer.
CB Victor “Macho” Harris is one of just four returning defensive starters for Virginia Tech, but the Hokies always have good defenses under Bud Foster
The Hokies most likely challenger will actually be North Carolina (don’t laugh). Though UNC hasn’t won a game outside the state since 2002, it’s Butch Davis’ second year and he has the Tar Heel program heading in the right direction. The entire offense returns, including So. QB T.J. Yates, who broke the school records in yards, completions, and attempts last year. The entire secondary returns and the defense should be fine despite losing its top two tacklers.
Could Butch Davis lead UNC into the ACC Title Game in just his second year??
UNC will be tested early, with trips to Rutgers and Miami sandwiching the home game against Virginia Tech, all in the first four games. The Heels also host Notre Dame. They were just 3-6 last year in games decided by less than 7 points, so it’s not like they have that far to go.
Miami was supposed to be Virginia Tech’s main competition, but the Canes have had a rough go in the ACC. The Canes were just 2-6 in the league last year and those wins were UNC and Duke. I would attribute most of the issues to poor QB play and lackluster effort. The current QBs on the roster have attempted as many passes in college as I have – zero. That said, many are high on rFr. Robert Marve and Fr. early-enrollee Jacory Harris. Playmakers like HBs Craig Cooper and Javarris James and WR Sam Shields should help. Oh, they lost five of their top six tacklers from last year too.
Miami said adios to the Orange Bowl by laying an egg against Virginia…maybe the move to Dolphin Stadium will get Miami and all that talent back on track
Seriously, it’s not like Miami is depleted on talent, they had a top 10 class last year. They’re going to be a pretty young team this year, and they play Florida and Texas A&M on the road in the first three games. Still, there’s no reason Miami shouldn’t at least make a bowl game this year.
Quietly, Virginia, led by their defense, had a chance to win the Coastal last year, but lost at home to Virginia Tech in the finale. It’s a rebuilding year for Al Groh, as the Cavs lose much of that defense (six starters including #2 pick DE Chris Long), lose experience along the OL, and must break in a new QB. The Cavs got smacked by Wyoming and were 6-2 in games decided by 7 points or less last year, so they were fortunate to go 9-4.
A strength a year ago, Virginia returns just five starters, but all three LBs – including Clint Sintim – are back
Playmaking HBs Cedric Peerman and Mikell Simpson are back, and QB Peter Lalich did play in 8 games last year.
It’s a whole new start for Georgia Tech, as new coach Bobby Johnson is bringing the triple option offense to Atlanta. Last year’s starting QB Taylor Bennett transferred to Louisiana Tech since he was certainly not an option QB. So. Josh Nesbitt, though, is an option-style QB. Proof:
Stud HB Tashard Choice is gone but Jonathan Dwyer scored 9 TDs last year, yet there are some questions on the OL. Seven starters and Jon Tenuta, one of the best defensive coordinators in the game, are all gone. 1st Team All-ACC Vance Walker anchors a defensive line that should be solid.
And finally, there’s Duke. The Blue Devils have just plain sucked for a really, really long time (see 1-31 ACC record since expansion in 2004). But they hired David Cutcliffe away from Tennessee and look to be showing some vested interest in making a concentrated effort on improving the football program. Cutcliffe won at Ole Miss, but can he win at Duke, a place where only Steve Spurrier has won?
(Sincerely) Good luck at Duke, Coach Cut, you’re gonna need it…
Simply because of what Cutcliffe has done for Tennessee, I hope so. Cutcliffe has always been an excellent QB coach (see the Mannings and moreso Erik Ainge 2005 vs. Erik Ainge 2006-2007) – maybe less so as an offensive coordinator (not touching that dead horse). He’ll now be working with Thaddeus Lewis, who’s entering his third year as Duke’s starter.
The rushing and receiving leaders from last year both return, but the Devils averaged just 64 yards rushing/game last year. They do have 10 starters back on defense, though, including 100 tackle LBs Vincent Rey and Michael Taualiili.
Duke’s won 4 games the past four years, and I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch for them to win that many this year.
Tennessee starts its fall camp Saturday, which means it’s really really close to being football season. The already high anticipation level just continues to rise, as it’s officially less than a month until we have college football again – that is, if you count the opening Thursday night games.
I’m doing my part, embarking on a long, long journey through all the conferences and all the teams in I-A and how they look heading into the season. Yes that’s right, I’m tackling this task with reckless abandon – 21 days straight of conference preview posts.
Some notes about these previews: first, I get most of my information on who’s back for which teams from Phil Steele’s magazine. Yes, he picked Tennessee behind South Carolina in the East (absurd if you ask me) but there’s too much straight information in that book for me to not use. So thank you Phil.
Secondly, I realized as I began writing these that these posts will be quite long. Honestly, I don’t expect anybody to read every word on these posts – if you’re just looking for a quick overview, read my introducing words, and look at the pictures and captions (there’s one for each team).
However, if you’re the betting type and need to know about a particular team you might not know much about, this could help. Also, if for example you’re a Gator fan wanting to know what Hawaii will look like without June Jones and Colt Brennan, or a UGA fan looking to see what kind of challenge to expect from Central Michigan, then just check out those particular teams in the previews. The plan is to do more in-depth previews of Tennessee’s opponents the week leading up to those games.
That said, I must admit the posts will get better as I go along, since obviously I’m going to know more, and likewise have more opinions about, the BCS conference teams than the non-BCS leagues. The BCS conference posts will be less structured and less boring facts, and will have more pictures, YouTube documentations, and biased-but-supposedly-objective musings from my own head.
Here’s the actual schedule. The fun of this journey begins Friday and concludes the Thursday the week before the season gets going…
Aug 1: Army/Navy Aug 2: MAC West Aug 3: MAC East Aug 4: Sun Belt
Aug 5: WAC Aug 6: C-USA West Aug 7: C-USA East Aug 8: MWC
Aug 9: Big East Aug 10: ACC Coastal Aug 11: ACC Atlantic Aug 12: Big Ten
Aug 13: Big 12 North Aug 14: Big 12 South Aug 15: Pac-10
The SEC gets its own week more or less, with an East team being paired with its yearly West opponent for six straight days, culminating with my take on my beloved Volunteers. I would imagine those posts would be the best out of all of the previews. Those will go as follows:
Aug 16: Vandy/Ole Miss
Aug 17: South Carolina/Arkansas
Aug 18: Kentucky/Mississippi State
Aug 19: Georgia/Auburn
Aug 20: Florida/LSU
Aug 21: Tennessee/Alabama
