After Iowa State strolled into Lincoln on Saturday and knocked off the Huskers 9-7 with the help of 8 turnovers, the Big 12 North continued on with its bizarre season. Not since 1977 have the Cyclones won at Nebraska, and surely it was thought that these were the type of streaks that should have fallen under the Bill Callahan era, not the Bo Pelini era.

Last week, I tried to make an effort to sort things out and come up with an idea of what we could expect from this division moving forward in 2009.  Needless to say, I'm the halfwit who completely omitted Kansas State and Iowa State from that post because reality hadn't hit home with what we're dealing with here.  For that, I apologize.

I'll keep reiterating that 5 conference wins should be more than enough in this junior college-esque division.

It's hard to explain how it's come to this, but Kansas State is in the driver's seat of the Big 12 North short bus right now at 3-1.  Chew on this for a minute.  The Wildcats go down to Lubbock three weeks ago, give up 739 yards of total offense, and lose 66-14 to Texas Tech.  The following week they get Texas A&M in Manhattan, hold them to 324 total yards for the game (A&M #3 in total offense in the NCAA,) and win 62-14.  And then just this last weekend, Texas A&M heads to Lubbock and throttles Tech by a score of 52-30 with the help of 334 total yards in the 1st half.  Insanity.  Things aren't looking half bad for the Wildcats right now considering their remaining schedule:  @ Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and @ Nebraska.  If they win two of those four games, then you're looking at 5-3.  They're entering the slaughter house this weekend in Norman and they probably know that, but they also are well aware of what they have left after - which are three very winnable games.  If you don't know already, RB Daniel Thomas is really good.

Although Iowa State sits at 2-2 in the conference, Cyclone fans have to be nauseated at the thought of a missed extra point vs. Kansas State and a ball that was overthrown by 1 foot at Kansas.  4-0 at the top of the Big 12 North would mean that new coach Paul Rhoads would be the toast of the college football world right now.  For the Cyclones to get to 5-3 in the conference, they need to win 3 of their last 4 which is:  @ Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Colorado, and @ Missouri.  Fr. QB Jerome Tiller wasn't that much of a drop-off replacing the injured Austen Arnaud as he threw 9/19 for 102 yards with 1 TD and rushed 19 times for 65 yards vs. Nebraska.  Winning 3 of those last 4 games is a tall order, but remember, this is a veteran team that keeps getting better by the week.   I'll stop right there - 3 more wins won't happen.

Kansas got one of their three nightmares from the South out of the way last weekend in a 35-13 drubbing at the hands of Oklahoma.  Unfortunately, things aren't getting any easier this weekend @ Texas Tech where the Jayhawks are an early 7.5 point underdog.  Then, it's @ Kansas State, Nebraska, @ Texas, and Missouri in Arrowhead.  It's probably safe to assume that if Kansas falls to the Red Raiders this weekend, any chance they have at representing the Big 12 North in Dallas can be thrown out the window next to my Shawn Watson Fan Club t-shirt.  Obviously, when you have Reesing, Briscoe, and Meier on offense, you can compete with any team.  However, when you have a defense that has given up 36 to Iowa State, 34 to Colorado, and 35 to Oklahoma in Big 12 play, chances aren't good.

After what we've seen offensively from Nebraska, there's not a game on the schedule they can't lose.  Zac Lee in Big 12 play:  50/92 for 534 yards (54% and 178 yards/game) with 3 TD's/3 Int's & 23 rushes for 12 yards and 0 TD's. With Roy Helu hurting and clearly needing time to heal, Dontrayevous Robinson (anyone hear from Mendoza lately?) stepped in and had a nice game, but I wouldn't get real giddy yet.  He's played one game vs. Iowa State at home and now must be ready for the home stretch to help this team contend for a North title?  With a good enough defense to get to the BCS and an offense bad enough to keep them out of a bowl game, it's near impossible to count the many directions this season could still turn for the Huskers.  4 more wins seems like a monumental chore with a head coach that can't seem to understand that his woeful offense needs a new direction.  12 point favorites at Baylor?  Anyone have any ideas as to how Nebraska will score 12 points?

In one week, Colorado went from a contender to a pretender in the Big 12 North race.  Coach Dan Hawkins played both quarterbacks in their 20-6 loss to Kansas State last week and they combined to go 17/37 for 184 yards and 2 INT's.  When Colorado and Missouri meet up this weekend in Boulder, both teams' season will be on the line.  If Colorado can come out with a win, they'll be 2-2 with Texas A&M at home, then @ Iowa State, @ Oklahoma State, and at home vs. Nebraska.  Colorado is always formidable at home and they'll need all three of those remaining home games plus a win at Iowa State.  It's not impossible, but I wouldn't expect much from this team with shoddy QB play.

In three Big 12 games, Missouri has given up almost 34 points/game vs. Nebraska, Oklahoma State, and Texas.  Surprisingly, that's not the alarming thing here.  In Big 12 play, Blaine Gabbert is 47/103 (46%) with 2 TD's/5 INT's and the team has rushed for a combined 233 yards.  Granted they have played three pretty good defenses, but you can't ignore that they still sit 0-3 and will have to win out to have a chance to play in Dallas.  Games @ Colorado, Baylor, @ Kansas State, Iowa State, and vs. Kansas means that things could be worse.  However, if you've seen anything from Missouri this season that would make you believe they are capable of running the table, then clue me in.

I didn't think it was possible, but the Big 12 North might actually be further away from the Big 12 South in 2009 than it was in 2008.  Sadly, this division could still have 5 teams become bowl eligible.

Oh, the humanity.

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