How the Big 12 football season could turn upside down
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Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant could be the most dangerous offensive player in the Big 12. (Icon)
By Ben Cook
When the Big 12 football season gets underway this fall, there will be a few things that are going to be taken for granted.
For example, the Oklahoma-Texas winner will be expected to represent the Big 12 South, unless there could be another of those funky three-way ties.
Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy will be expected to be in the top three of the Heisman Trophy finalists again.
The Texas Tech quarterback (that would be Taylor Potts in case you don’t know) will finish with unworldly passing numbers.
All 12 defensive coordinators will be sweating job security by the end of the season in a league that plays almost no defense.
But what happens if things don’t go the way we expect? Would the Big 12 be any less entertaining if the Sooners and Longhorns finished in the middle of the pack? Or what if Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy should have mediocre seasons or Texas Tech went to a running game? Or Nebraska’s Black Shirts earned their jerseys from the opening kickoff and dominated the league?
What if night were day?
But just for fun, let’s look at some possible scenarios if the unexpected happens in the Big 12 this fall?
Granted it is not likely that Oklahoma and Texas aren’t the conference bullies again this year, but what about Oklahoma State? The Cowboys could sneak up and deal the division fits. Zac Robinson, Kendall Hunter and Dez Bryant give Okie State enough offense to play with anybody and if they can give Perrish Cox and Andre Sexton some help on defense, then the Cowboys could sneak in there. They get Texas in Stillwater, but have to go to Oklahoma to close the season. That game could decide the Big 12 South.
Bradford won the Heisman last season and McCoy finished second, so it’s a good bet the two of them will be in New York City again in December. But what if one of them has a bad year or—Heaven forbid—one of them gets hurt? It’s doubtful that the first option will happen, both are quality quarterbacks with plenty of help around them. But in the rough and tough Big 12, teams might not be strong defensively but defensive players still hand out some pretty hard hits. Bradford or McCoy could see his season end in a flash with a blind-side hit or a crushing tackle.
If that happens, there is plenty of quarterback firepower to pick up the slack with Oklahoma State’s Robinson available, Robert Griffin of Baylor and Todd Reesing of Kansas just to name three. There are more quarterbacks in the Big 12 than there is cactus in the Texas desert. And even looking past the quarterback position, Oklahoma’s DeMarco Murray and Jermaine Gresham and Oklahoma State’s Hunter and Bryant could all be top Heisman vote-getters. But let’s be real, here. Gresham might be the best tight end in the country but unless a slew of people get hurt, he won’t win the Heisman. Bryant, though, could be the most dangerous overall player in the conference and if the Heisman voters notice, he could be in New York for the trophy presentation as well.
Defense doesn’t get mentioned much in the Big 12, but it really isn’t a bad word. If a team suddenly embraces it and learns to shut down the high-powered offenses that abound in the league, that team could make a strong run at the conference championship and the coveted BCS Bowl bid that goes along with it.
Should that team be a Texas or Oklahoma, who play defense about as well as anyone in the league, they could put a stranglehold on the conference. But what if it is not one of the expected top two teams? Is there anybody out there capable of showing off a strong enough defense to carry it to the top? If there is such a team, it just might be Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers have to replace five defensive starters, but they just might have enough depth on that side of the ball to pull it off and Bo Pelini knows defense about as well as any head coach in the country. Nebraska’s biggest problem will be scoring, but its defense just might shoulder the load until the offense gets going.
So let’s look ahead to the Big 12 Championship Game. How about—just for sake of argument—a Nebraska vs. Oklahoma showdown? It would conjure up memories of some of those great Nebraska-Oklahoma games of the 1960s and ’70s. It could happen.
When the Big 12 football season gets underway this fall, there will be a few things that are going to be taken for granted.
For example, the Oklahoma-Texas winner will be expected to represent the Big 12 South, unless there could be another of those funky three-way ties.
Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy will be expected to be in the top three of the Heisman Trophy finalists again.
The Texas Tech quarterback (that would be Taylor Potts in case you don’t know) will finish with unworldly passing numbers.
All 12 defensive coordinators will be sweating job security by the end of the season in a league that plays almost no defense.
But what happens if things don’t go the way we expect? Would the Big 12 be any less entertaining if the Sooners and Longhorns finished in the middle of the pack? Or what if Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy should have mediocre seasons or Texas Tech went to a running game? Or Nebraska’s Black Shirts earned their jerseys from the opening kickoff and dominated the league?
What if night were day?
But just for fun, let’s look at some possible scenarios if the unexpected happens in the Big 12 this fall?
Granted it is not likely that Oklahoma and Texas aren’t the conference bullies again this year, but what about Oklahoma State? The Cowboys could sneak up and deal the division fits. Zac Robinson, Kendall Hunter and Dez Bryant give Okie State enough offense to play with anybody and if they can give Perrish Cox and Andre Sexton some help on defense, then the Cowboys could sneak in there. They get Texas in Stillwater, but have to go to Oklahoma to close the season. That game could decide the Big 12 South.
Bradford won the Heisman last season and McCoy finished second, so it’s a good bet the two of them will be in New York City again in December. But what if one of them has a bad year or—Heaven forbid—one of them gets hurt? It’s doubtful that the first option will happen, both are quality quarterbacks with plenty of help around them. But in the rough and tough Big 12, teams might not be strong defensively but defensive players still hand out some pretty hard hits. Bradford or McCoy could see his season end in a flash with a blind-side hit or a crushing tackle.
If that happens, there is plenty of quarterback firepower to pick up the slack with Oklahoma State’s Robinson available, Robert Griffin of Baylor and Todd Reesing of Kansas just to name three. There are more quarterbacks in the Big 12 than there is cactus in the Texas desert. And even looking past the quarterback position, Oklahoma’s DeMarco Murray and Jermaine Gresham and Oklahoma State’s Hunter and Bryant could all be top Heisman vote-getters. But let’s be real, here. Gresham might be the best tight end in the country but unless a slew of people get hurt, he won’t win the Heisman. Bryant, though, could be the most dangerous overall player in the conference and if the Heisman voters notice, he could be in New York for the trophy presentation as well.
Defense doesn’t get mentioned much in the Big 12, but it really isn’t a bad word. If a team suddenly embraces it and learns to shut down the high-powered offenses that abound in the league, that team could make a strong run at the conference championship and the coveted BCS Bowl bid that goes along with it.
Should that team be a Texas or Oklahoma, who play defense about as well as anyone in the league, they could put a stranglehold on the conference. But what if it is not one of the expected top two teams? Is there anybody out there capable of showing off a strong enough defense to carry it to the top? If there is such a team, it just might be Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers have to replace five defensive starters, but they just might have enough depth on that side of the ball to pull it off and Bo Pelini knows defense about as well as any head coach in the country. Nebraska’s biggest problem will be scoring, but its defense just might shoulder the load until the offense gets going.
So let’s look ahead to the Big 12 Championship Game. How about—just for sake of argument—a Nebraska vs. Oklahoma showdown? It would conjure up memories of some of those great Nebraska-Oklahoma games of the 1960s and ’70s. It could happen.
