Big 12 North Predictions Go Retro

You might want to label this the throwback year in the Big 12 North.

Legendary Kansas State coach Bill Snyder is returning to the Wildcats sidelines this season after a four-year hiatus. And maybe even bigger, Nebraska appears on the way back.

Following a forgettable four years under Bill Callahan, former Cornhuskers' defensive coordinator Bo Pelini stepped in last season and immediately began to restore pride in the one-time powerhouse program, particularly on the defensive side of the football.

Nebraska concluded last season on a four-game winning streak, which included a feel-good 26-21 victory over Clemson in the Gator Bowl. Many are counting on the Cornhuskers carrying that momentum into this season, despite breaking in an inexperienced quarterback and some major question marks on both sides of the football.

But while the rest of the country is counting on an instant return (Nebraska was picked to win the North Division in the Big 12 Preseason Media Poll last month), Pelini isn't declaring that his Cornhuskers are back to the Tom Osborne days when they always seemed to be in the national championship conversation.

"We'll find out this year," Pelini said when asked by FanHouse how close his program was to being the Nebraska of old. "I believe our talent level is better than it was a year ago. I think we are young in some spots. We're not as deep a football team as I would like to be across the board.

"I won't be satisfied until we win them all, until we are playing for the national championship. How close we are to that, I don't know. I know this: I'm looking forward to the challenge of the upcoming year as is the rest of the team."

Just to show how much has changed in the North, Nebraska's biggest challenges use to come from Colorado and Kansas State. But Missouri has won the last two North titles and Kansas is likely to pose the biggest threat this season to Nebraska's return to thrown.

The Jayhawks may have the most talented offense in the North, led by quarterback Todd Reesing and receivers Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier. Defense will be their biggest hurdle.

"There is a lot of enthusiasm and great expectations we have as coaches and as players for this year's team," said KU coach Mark Mangino, whose team has recorded back-to-back bowl seasons. "We're looking forward to it."

NORTH DIVISION

Nebraska

Pros: After losing the Blackshirt mystic under Callahan, the Cornhuskers rebounded immediately under the defensive guru-turned head coach Pelini. Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was a big reason Nebraska went from 116th in the country against the run to 21st last season. Also, safety Larry Asante and defensive end Barry Turner, who returns after missing last season with a broken leg, should be big contributors on a defense that returns just six starters. Offensively, running back Roy Helu should take some of the pressure off first-time starting quarterback Zac Lee as will the reliability of tight end Mike McNeill.

Cons: Joe Ganz is gone after an outstanding year and what's left is an unknown. Even worse there is a depth issue now that one of the projected backups is out for the season. Lee came out of spring ball ahead, but he has thrown just two career passes. The Huskers could turn to highly touted freshman Cody Green if he is ready, but they are preparing former linebacker Latravis Washington to play quarterback after Pellini announced this week redshirt freshman Kody Spano will miss the season. Nebraska also has some unknowns at receiver and the defense has several holes to fill including its entire linebacker corp.

Scheduling: The Cornhuskers will benefit from a very weak North Division round of opponents and the fact Texas is off the schedule this season. The Nov. 7 showdown with Oklahoma in Lincoln should be interesting while the game at Kansas the following week may settle the North.

Kansas

Pros: Quarterback Reesing, listed at 5-foot-11, might be small in stature, but the senior has been huge for the Jayhawks program. He's coming off an impressive season in which he completed nearly 67 percent of his pass for 3,888 yards and 32 touchdowns. He should be able to improve those numbers with what could be the Big 12's top receiving corp. that includes big-play receiver Dezmon Briscoe and possession receiver Kerry Meier. The running game is on solid footing despite the messy departure of former JC Offensive Player of the Year Jocques Crawford. Top rusher Jake Sharp is back after running for 860 yards and 12 touchdowns while averaging 4.6 yards per carry.

Cons: The Jayhawks could be plagued by the same problem that prevented them last season from reaching the levels of 2007's Orange Bowl campaign and that's defense. KU was one of the worst against the pass last season and much of that had to do with the lack of a legitimate pass rush. Defensive end Jake Laptab, who came on late in the season, and All-Big 12 safety Darrell Stuckey headline eight returning starters on defense. But will the unit show significant enough improvement to knock off Nebraska is the major question. Offensively, the Jayhawks have just two returning starters on the offensive line which could slow the offense some.

Scheduling: Kansas should reign supreme in the North this season, marking an unprecedented third straight bowl season. But what will hurt the Jayhawks title hopes most is a brutal schedule that has both Texas and Oklahoma -- two top five teams -- and tough road games at Colorado, Texas Tech and Kansas State. Their showdown with Nebraska in Lawrence should settle the North Division.

Kansas State

Pros: Bill Snyder, the man who built the Wildcats from virtually nothing into a power in the Big 12 North, returns after a four-year semi-retirement. It will be interesting to see if at 67-years-old he has the energy to resurrect a program that began falling apart toward the end of his initial tenure. Ron Prince came in and re-energized the program before his success began to dip. Snyder might not win immediately, but the program is in much better shape than he left it so it might not take long to return to the top.

Cons: The Wildcats are virtually starting over on offense with early departure of quarterback Josh Freeman to the NFL. The lone real offensive threat is senior receiver Brandon Banks, who was last season's Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year after catching 67 passes for 1,049 yards, but he will be hard for a new quarterback to find at 5-foot-7. Junior Carson Coffman has waited patiently for his turn at quarterback and now he has it. He put up a few numbers last season but they came in situations where the game was already decided.

Scheduling: Much has changed around the Wildcats program since Snyder retired from the program in 2005. Scheduling is one of them. Snyder was known for loading up the schedule with Division I-AA teams in non-conference, but he will be treated to road games against UL-Lafayette and UCLA this season due to Prince's insistence that the schedule toughen up. Okay, yeah UMass and Tennessee Tech --two I-AA opponents -- are still on the schedule. But the Wildcats with a mostly young offense will need all the confidence they can get with Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska awaiting in Big 12 play.

Colorado

Pros: The good news about last season's injury-plagued campaign is that the Buffaloes certainly have a lot of experience on sides of the football because they had to rely on whomever was healthy. The most interesting aspect of the Buffaloes could be quarterback where Cody Hawkins returns for a third season, but sophomore Tyler Hansen may push his for his job. Coach Dan Hawkins has vowed to return to more of power running game and he has the horses to do it and an experienced offensive line that brings back four starters from last season.

Cons: This could be a huge distraction year with so much speculation about Dan Hawkins' career. Colorado fans are losing patience and it's understandable, considering Hawkins is 13-24 going into his four seasons in Boulder. Things will get particularly hairy if his son, Cody, takes another step back and the fans begin to insist they want Hansen. Hansen has a stronger arm and is a little more mobile than Hawkins. Defensively, the Buffaloes are going to a 3-4 scheme, but that scheme has had spotty success at the college level.

Scheduling: The schedule is mild enough the Buffaloes should be able to come out with at least seven wins and make a bowl game to ease some of the unrest. But there is trouble early with three should-win home games against Colorado State, Miami University, Wyoming and then later in the season, the Buffs have to win games at Kansas State and Iowa State and at home against Missouri and Texas A&M.

Missouri

Pros: Gary Pinkel's spread offense will need time to find its footing with a new quarterback and a stable of inexperienced receivers, but that may not be such a huge problem with a quality 1,000-rusher returning in Derrick Washington and three offensive linemen returning. Defensively, All-Big 12 linebacker Sean Weatherspoon returns for his third season as a starter. He led Mizzou last season with 155 tackles.

Cons: After an unprecedented run in which the Tigers won back to back North titles and have gone to bowl games in the last five of six seasons, Pinkel is finally starting over. Tigers lost 14 starters last season after they led Missouri to what was once unimaginable success. The biggest loss is quarterback Chase Daniel, who engineered the offense for three seasons. Sophomore Blaine Gabbert takes over after seeing limited action in five games as a true freshman last season. Just four starters return on defense, which also could mean trouble.

Scheduling: This could be a brutal schedule for a rebuilding team with Oklahoma, Texas and Baylor on the schedule from the South, but the Tigers do get North favorites Nebraska at home and play Kansas in a neutral site game in Kansas City to end the season.



Iowa State

Pros: Iowa native Paul Rhoades takes a over a program that has been a little down since Dan McCarney days and is still smarting from the hasty exit of Gene Chizik after just two years, but the Cyclones could be ready to take off. Rhoades has 15 starters returning, the fourth most in the Big 12. This group went 2-10 last season but quarterback Austen Arnaud is better, he has deep and talented pool of receivers to throw to and a talented running back in Alexander Robinson. The Cyclones have a new more exciting offense, which should
really allow Robinson to take off.

Cons: Rhoades' background as a defensive coordinator will come in handy because there are major holes to fill. The Cyclones have just five starters returning from a unit that ranked 112th in the nation in overall defense (453.2 yards per game and 56 touchdowns) and was 116th against the pass (276.7 yards and 31 touchdowns). Their best defender is linebacker Jesse Smith and he's a former walk-on. Fourth-year punter Mike Brandtner may be the defenses best friend after he averaged a career-best 41.6 yards a punt last season.

Scheduling: The Cyclones will hit some rough spots on the schedule, like a three-week stretch in the middle where a home game against Baylor is in the middle of road games at Kansas and Nebraska. But if all goes right, Rhoades could win five or six games in his first season which would amount to a perfect homecoming.