Alright all you Big 12 fans out there, the season's finally over and we have a long boring wait until August rolls around again but let's talk about your teams and briefly summarize the returning and incoming talent.
dr. freeze, DNOMYAR, Combato, Red Raider and whoever else I forgot to mention...give me your input as well.
Based on the returning talent of the major powers in the Big XII, I believe Texas is poised to dominate the conference. I'll do my best to start a thread with some basic analysis (I'm very ignorant of our competition's 2-deep charts, so hopefully the above mentioned names can fill in with more useful info).
Nebraska:
Major losses - Eric Crouch, Fonoti, Craver
Replacements - Lord, a bunch of beefed up redshirted linemen, ?
Summary - Lord is no Eric Crouch. He's not even Carlyle Holliday. They will hurt at QB next year. They should be able to replace any losses on the OL respectably. Their defense, which was AWFUL against decent offenses this past season, will be even worse next year. Without Craver, they will have big problems stopping the pass.
Colorado:
Losses - just about damned near everybody. Hopefully a Buff fan can shed some light on details, but they lose 3/5 of their line, their AA TE, Pesovento, Sykes, their All-B12 safety, and Cortlen Johnson.
Replacements - the cubbard is bare behind the departing Neuheisel recruits. If they intend to fill in holes with their "top 5" recruiting class, then they'd better use the remaining 2 scholarships to sign a couple of super-blues (they don't have a single player in the top 10 at his position)
Summary - The Buffs were the most over-hyped and over-rated team at the end of the season. They beat the stuffing out of an overrated NU. We exposed them for a drive and a half, and then proceeded to hand them the Big 12 title on a silver platter. Anyway, they will be pretty bad next year.
KSU:
I have no idea, but it wasn't pretty this season. All I know is that Snyder is toying with moving Ell "next Michael Bishop" Roberson to WR. That can't be good news.
OU:
Key Losses - Roy Williams, Rocky Calmus, Wilkerson(?)
Replacements - They had a talented, well-rounded recruiting class last year that should start filling in the holes, but they'll only be sophomores and RS frosh.
Summary - They lose 2 top stars, and the heart of their defense. I expect Tommie Harris to pick up some of the slack on D, but he can't do it all. They should be little improved on offense, and their defense will take a step back.
A&M:
Major losses - Gamble (not much else to lose)
Replacements - nobody
Summary - the Ags were mediocre this year, and will be just as mediocre next year. They no longer have the most talented defense in the South, and sure as hell don't have any talent on offense. They will continue to decline to the point that every other year A&M will be bowl ineligible.
Texas:
Major losses - Q. Jammer, A. Brooks, Mike Williams, Antwan K-H, Applewhite, DD Lewis, E. Rawls, T. Jones
Replacements - Griffin or Ross, Pearson, Garr or Scott or Bates, Simms, DJ, Lee Jackson, Satchell, OJ McClintock
Summary - Texas loses a lot, but has very talented replacements. The biggest losses will be Q. Jam, who will be replaced with a talented but untested player, and the linemen. I think we will feel early growing pains on the offensive line next year. Our most talented players at that position are very young. We lose all 3 "starters" at LB, but DJ and LJ were arguably 2 of the 3 best LBs last season anyway. I wouldn't be surprised to see 2 true freshmen in the LB rotation next season.
Basically, although Texas loses a LOT of talent next year, it can replace it better than anyone else in the conference. Colorado loses about as much as the Horns, but has no one to fill in the holes. NU and OU lose 3-4 of their premier players each, with no superstars ready to fill in the void. A&M had nobody to begin with, but won't improve on last year. The wild card is KSU, who could have restocked with JUCOs without anyone noticing (that's how they built that program in the first place)
Thoughts?
dr. freeze, DNOMYAR, Combato, Red Raider and whoever else I forgot to mention...give me your input as well.
Based on the returning talent of the major powers in the Big XII, I believe Texas is poised to dominate the conference. I'll do my best to start a thread with some basic analysis (I'm very ignorant of our competition's 2-deep charts, so hopefully the above mentioned names can fill in with more useful info).
Nebraska:
Major losses - Eric Crouch, Fonoti, Craver
Replacements - Lord, a bunch of beefed up redshirted linemen, ?
Summary - Lord is no Eric Crouch. He's not even Carlyle Holliday. They will hurt at QB next year. They should be able to replace any losses on the OL respectably. Their defense, which was AWFUL against decent offenses this past season, will be even worse next year. Without Craver, they will have big problems stopping the pass.
Colorado:
Losses - just about damned near everybody. Hopefully a Buff fan can shed some light on details, but they lose 3/5 of their line, their AA TE, Pesovento, Sykes, their All-B12 safety, and Cortlen Johnson.
Replacements - the cubbard is bare behind the departing Neuheisel recruits. If they intend to fill in holes with their "top 5" recruiting class, then they'd better use the remaining 2 scholarships to sign a couple of super-blues (they don't have a single player in the top 10 at his position)
Summary - The Buffs were the most over-hyped and over-rated team at the end of the season. They beat the stuffing out of an overrated NU. We exposed them for a drive and a half, and then proceeded to hand them the Big 12 title on a silver platter. Anyway, they will be pretty bad next year.
KSU:
I have no idea, but it wasn't pretty this season. All I know is that Snyder is toying with moving Ell "next Michael Bishop" Roberson to WR. That can't be good news.
OU:
Key Losses - Roy Williams, Rocky Calmus, Wilkerson(?)
Replacements - They had a talented, well-rounded recruiting class last year that should start filling in the holes, but they'll only be sophomores and RS frosh.
Summary - They lose 2 top stars, and the heart of their defense. I expect Tommie Harris to pick up some of the slack on D, but he can't do it all. They should be little improved on offense, and their defense will take a step back.
A&M:
Major losses - Gamble (not much else to lose)
Replacements - nobody
Summary - the Ags were mediocre this year, and will be just as mediocre next year. They no longer have the most talented defense in the South, and sure as hell don't have any talent on offense. They will continue to decline to the point that every other year A&M will be bowl ineligible.
Texas:
Major losses - Q. Jammer, A. Brooks, Mike Williams, Antwan K-H, Applewhite, DD Lewis, E. Rawls, T. Jones
Replacements - Griffin or Ross, Pearson, Garr or Scott or Bates, Simms, DJ, Lee Jackson, Satchell, OJ McClintock
Summary - Texas loses a lot, but has very talented replacements. The biggest losses will be Q. Jam, who will be replaced with a talented but untested player, and the linemen. I think we will feel early growing pains on the offensive line next year. Our most talented players at that position are very young. We lose all 3 "starters" at LB, but DJ and LJ were arguably 2 of the 3 best LBs last season anyway. I wouldn't be surprised to see 2 true freshmen in the LB rotation next season.
Basically, although Texas loses a LOT of talent next year, it can replace it better than anyone else in the conference. Colorado loses about as much as the Horns, but has no one to fill in the holes. NU and OU lose 3-4 of their premier players each, with no superstars ready to fill in the void. A&M had nobody to begin with, but won't improve on last year. The wild card is KSU, who could have restocked with JUCOs without anyone noticing (that's how they built that program in the first place)
Thoughts?
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