A re-occuring topic on this blog is the art of playing defense in the Big 12. The league is known for its offenses while the defenses often have scorn heaped on them, sometimes justifiably, but it’s clearly hard to play great defense in this league and the teams that can do it tend to stand … [Read more…]
Later today I’ll have my column up on Inside Texas that will cover K-State and some of their issues this season (now up!) but in the meantime, here’s a podcast I recorded with “the short side option” on the Texas-KSU battle and what I’ve been seeing from either team: The latest edition of The Short … [Read more…]
I like to watch film before I give too many sweeping opinions on a weekend’s action but I tuned in closely enough to the various B12 games to come up with a few strong impressions. Gundy throttles Boise State Not only was I expecting this to be a massive Boise win but I even related … [Read more…]
This is probably the biggest week of the year for the Big 12 in terms of their standing as a national conference unless the league puts a team into the playoffs (doubtful). For reasons I’ve articulated here a few times, the Big 12 can’t quite compete with the other major conferences. The demographics of the … [Read more…]
I had a chance to look at Iowa vs Iowa State finally and wanted to get a few thoughts down on week two and the prognosis for the Midwest teams before circling back (tomorrow perhaps) to break down all of the enormous week three games around the league. Kansas actually won and they have that … [Read more…]
It’s a crucial week for the Kansas schools and Iowa State. Kansas State is hosting fellow spread QB run game enthusiasts Mississippi State and are being given eight points at home. David Beatty is as good as fired after opening the year (predictably) losing to Nicholls. The Kansas media, such as it is, has already … [Read more…]
Evidently Lane Kiffin’s FAU team may need a few games to put it all together, much like in 2017. They were totally overmatched against the Sooners, obviously, and made an ass of yours truly. My B12 title pick didn’t do me any favors either, dropping a road game with a sloppy performance against the Terrapins. … [Read more…]
This always seems like a good way to talk about the various teams across the league, to look at the Vegas odds and make comments in one direction or another. I’ve typically been about as good as picking against the spread as I’ve been at picking playoff teams. I’m always a sucker for making the … [Read more…]
I guess technically the playoffs will be in 2019 but whatever, this will be clearer. My picks are normally pretty terrible, last year I took a somewhat serious stab at it after years of throwing out some interesting picks and missed wildly once again. The picks? USC, Auburn, Florida State, and Wisconsin. Of course it … [Read more…]
Everyone loves models these days. Not the kind that post pictures of themselves on Instagram and somehow derive a career from that enterprise, but the kind that forecast upcoming events in complex systems. For the most part, the good models are awesome and super useful for creating a picture of likely outcomes. My man Bill … [Read more…]