Maybe it's premature to start trumpeting the return of the Big 12 North, but if the non-conference success of the big-three North teams is any indication this could be an interesting season.
Nebraska and Kansas were expected to dominate the weaker of the league's two divisions, but it appears they will have company. Missouri, which is supposed to be in a rebuilding mode after back-to-back North titles, is off to a surprising 4-0 start that catapulted the program into the Top 25 this week at No. 24.
A year ago, Matt Cassel got his chance to be an NFL starting quarterback when then-Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard blew up Tom Brady's knee. Cassel led the Patriots to 11 wins, and played well enough for the Chiefs to trade for him in the offseason.
Smash cut to Cassel tweaking his knee during Kansas City's third preseason game (God's sense of humor is underrated), which forced him to miss the first Sunday of the 2009 season. Any chances the Chiefs -- an outfit that won six times in their last 32 games -- had against the Ravens were out the window with Cassel on the bench.
A year ago, Matt Cassel got his chance to be an NFL starting quarterback when then-Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard blew up Tom Brady's knee. Cassel led the Patriots to 11 wins, and played well enough for the Chiefs to trade for him in the offseason.
Smash cut to Cassel tweaking his knee during Kansas City's third preseason game (God's sense of humor is underrated), which forced him to miss the first Sunday of the 2009 season. Any chances the Chiefs -- an outfit that won six times in their last 32 games -- had against the Ravens were out the window with Cassel on the bench.
After a strong showing during the 2008 preseason -- specifically the nationally-televised Hall of Fame game -- Colt Brennan became the apple of many Redskins fans' eyes. Forget the investment and talent of Jason Campbell, or the fact that Todd Collins had a three-game winning streak to lead the 'Skins on an improbable '07 playoff run; masses of Colt fanatics pined for the decorated collegiate star from Hawaii to lead their troops at some point.
After not seeing any regular season action in 2008, Brennan was thought to be ready to battle Collins for the backup role this season. Instead, he's struggled and found himself fighting for his life to save a roster spot against Washington's new flavor of the preseason, Chase Daniel.
Turkey Legs to Go is FanHouse's complete travel guide for all of the 2008-2009 college bowl games. Here, we cover the Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, Texas), which pits Northwestern against Missouri.
Overview / Matchup: The Alamo is another example (like the PJ Bowl) of a lower end second tier bowl that lucked out with a pretty beasty matchup; Northwestern and Missouri both finished in the top 25 for the season. And while Northwestern might be a touch overmatched on offense (Chase Daniel is straight sick, son), Mizzou isn't known for stopping anyone. So, at the very least, you can expect a pretty explosive shootout. Which works well given the historical nature of the San Antonio venue.
Hotels: The Marriott Rivercenter is probably the finest hotel in San Antonio and is definitely the most recognizable. The hotel's imposing step-back design and 38-story towers dominate the San Antonio skyline. The Sheraton Gunter Hotel is slightly pricier than our usual midrange suggestion; nevertheless it's the best overall balancing luxury, with cost and stadium proximity. The Red Roof Inn Downtown offers meager accommodations, but more than makes up for it with rooms less than US$100 a night and a location just blocks from the stadium and Riverwalk.
If you turned on the Duke-Purdue game last night in the second half, you probably saw a familiar situation. Greg Paulus was running the point, getting the ball to Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer, the team's playmakers. When he wasn't doing that, Paulus was knocking down some jumpers, and finished with a respectable seven points in 22 minutes.
What you didn't catch is Paulus holding down the bench as the starters took the Mackey Arena floor to start the game. Sophomore Nolan Smith has taken the reigns at point guard for Mike Krzyzewski while Paulus, the face of Duke basketball, and a three-year starter, is coming off the bench to contribute.
If you don't know Paulus' story you don't really know what a freak this guy was. A high school product out of Syracuse, N.Y., Paulus was a star athlete in both basketball and football -- and when I say star, I mean, like, four stars. He was a specimen, a quarterback that could have picked just about any big-time football program over Duke basketball and been throwing passes before anyone realized what he'd done.
Have you ever been watching a football game with your wife or girlfriend and gotten annoyed by the fact that she keeps commenting on the quarterback's rear end? Doesn't she know that the only ogling to be done during a football game is of the cheerleaders?
Well, if your woman gets on your nerves while watching a game, you probably don't want to watch a game with Missouri's Chase Daniel either.
Whether or not Daniel's approval of Colt McCoy's ass will help swing Heisman votes in Colt's favor remains to be seen. (Pat on the well-sculpted ass of ESDBS)
Dude! We're awesome! Jeremy Freaking Maclin! Psst ... did last year really happen? And psst! Are we really ranked No. 6 in the preseason AP poll? Why yes, we are. Also: why didn't this happen a few years ago under Brad Smith?
Welcome to the manic world of Missouri football where, yes Virginia, it really did happen last year. But uh, let's try and beat Oklahoma this time boys?
Why They'll Win
Momentum. After years of frustration, of big tease 6-0 type starts before collapses, Missouri turned the corner last year. The psychological value of that is immeasurable.
A total of 14 starters return including Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Chase Daniel and All America quality defenders William Moore and Sean Weatherspoon. Missouri showed a lot of poise in beating Illinois and Mississippi early, then hanging close to Oklahoma to open at 5-1. They never lost again until the Big 12 Championship Game.
The schedule actually lightens up a bit this year, as Oklahoma is replaced with Texas and the non-conference slate includes Southeast Missouri, Nevada and Buffalo.
Echoing Messr. Cook's sentiment's, it's difficult to single out many overrated players so we'll mix it up with one player and several "concepts" if you will. You know what's not overrated? This list. Dig in.
TEXAS
Watch, they'll go out and prove me wrong this year, but we need something to talk about, right? Texas has earned this though. This year aside, they start nearly every year in the top five and do well for themselves but rarely look like world beaters. I sort of predicted this a few years ago, that once the program got its title it'd get fat and happy and cruise for a good long while.
Yeah, Vince Young's departure has something to do with Texas' step down from the elite, but there's more at work. They'll be talking about that 2005 team for several decades, it might as well have happened yesterday which makes it difficult to move on, psychologically.
Once again they'll be a good football team this year, maybe even break into the top 10 at the end of the year, but they're no longer scary good on a consistent basis.
Oh, and the helmets are overrated, too. Give me Michigan's, Florida State's, Alabama's or Notre Dame's anyday.
First Gary Pinkel was scheduled to throw out the first pitch for the Cardinals on Opening Day. Then Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin had to take his place. Now another of the Big 12's coaching brethren has gotten his shot on the mound for a ceremonial first pitch. Kansas coach Mark Mangino got the call on Tuesday at the Kansas City Royals home opener at Kauffman Stadium. In addition, Gary Pinkel was actually involved in this ceremony as well, albeit only by way of the stadium's video board (that guy really needs to relax his off-season schedule).
"I'm honored that the Royals would even consider me for Opening Day," Mangino said. "When I was a kid I waited for Opening Day like you waited for Christmas."
Challenged by Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, who in a video presentation expressed his confidence that "coach Mangino will start the season successfully with a strike down the middle," Mangino met the challenge with a pitch down the pipe.
"It might have been a high strike to Frank Thomas," Mangino said. "Gary wanted one down the middle, but he's got to understand: A pitcher has to work the corners."
It sounds like Mangino's attempt fared better than that of Chase Daniel, who bounced his effort to the backstop. It's also good to see Mangino has a little baseball knowledge, although the Frank Thomas reference might have been a tad dated.
After a strong showing during the 2008 preseason -- specifically the nationally-televised Hall of Fame game -- 
Turkey Legs to Go
Watch, they'll go out and prove me wrong this year, but we need something to talk about, right? Texas has earned this though. This year aside, they start nearly every year in the top five and do well for themselves but rarely look like world beaters. I sort of predicted this a few years ago, that once the program got its title it'd get fat and happy and cruise for a good long while.
