FanHouse Missouri

What happens when the Sweet 16 is comprised entirely of storied powers? You get 16 teams all feeling the pressure to succeed. Ray Holloman takes an in-depth look at the expectations being heaped upon every team left in the Big Dance.

There is no room here for the little guy.

Were the Sweet 16 a country club, Tiger Woods might have to pull some strings to get a tee-time. Meanwhile Goliath might find himself picking splinters out of his warm-up-clad rear on any one of these rosters.

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Even if you phrase it as carefully as a major leaguer testifying before Congress, ask Kansas coach Bill Self who he thinks should be the national coach of the year and you're likely to get about the same answer as if you'd just asked him to explain the economic stimulus plan.

Which is to say a whole lot of stammering and more tap dancing than Broadway's spring season.

It wasn't a bright and shiny day after all for Hendrick Motorsports Saturday at Kansas.

Kyle Busch won Saturday's Busch race at Kansas Speedway over Matt Kenseth by about a car length in his No. 5 Chevrolet. While the victory was nice, it could turn out to haunt Busch for the rest of 2007 season in both the Busch and Nextel Cup series.

Busch's car failed post-race inspection in a major sort of way Saturday evening. And by major sort of way, I mean like Michael Waltrip-type way, not the Carl Edwards-type way.

The intake manifold on the No. 5's engine -- a piece long thought as one of the steepest of infractions when out of bounds -- was deemed illegal in the eyes of NASCAR. The sanctioning body has since taken the part into their possession.

This certainly isn't good news for anyone involved with Busch's Busch or Nextel Cup series efforts. Without a doubt, the penalty will be steep (as Busch Series penalties go) for Busch and Co. The significant "and Co." part of that equation includes the man who crew chiefs for Busch in both divisions, Alan Gustafson.

In case you've missed the FanHouse's awesomely awesome and fantastic Spring Practice Questions, I've cobbled together the "Complete Series" for Big 12 teams.

Seriously, read these, folks. They're about football. And right now the sporting world isn't about football. And you're dying for more football. That's why you're here. To endure this choppy writing of mine. And read these Big 12 Spring Practice Questions. The complete series. Below.

Previously at the FanHouse:
Spring Practice Questions: Texas Tech Red Raiders
Spring Practice Questions: Iowa State Cyclones
Spring Practice Questions: Missouri Tigers
Spring Practice Questions: Kansas State Wildcats
Spring Practice Questions: Oklahoma Sooners
Spring Practice Questions: Texas A&M Aggies
Spring Practice Questions: Texas Longhorns
Spring Practice Questions: Colorado Buffaloes
Spring Practice Questions: Nebraska Cornhuskers

As I was preparing my preview for the upcoming Missouri battle, I was suddenly struck with this thought-- if the Chiefs and Rams switched uniforms on Sunday, would anyone notice?

It sounds crazy, but consider the similarities. Both teams look and play vastly different from 2005. Both teams have heavily emphasized their running games and introduced new philosophies defensively. Both have, for the most part, bid adieu to their star running backs and now feature young, franchise running backs. Both struggled to score points early in the season, but have seen a sudden surge lately on offense. Both defenses looked very strong early on, but have struggled a bit more of late. Both feature new head coaches with very different game plans than their predecessors. Both are 4-3. And, of course, both play in Missouri.


It's almost eerie how similar these teams are. Ah, but there are actually two key differences. The Rams are tied for the lead in their division while the Chiefs are looking up at the Broncos and Chargers. However, the Rams have been reeling of late, while the Chiefs seem to have a lot of momentum going their way.

That momentum might be the advantage the Chiefs need. Sunday's game is big, because the Chiefs need to prove to their doubters that they can win games on the road. If the Chiefs can ride any of their momentum into St. Louis, they have a chance to make a statement against a team that looked very strong a few weeks ago, but has regressed a fair amount lately. The Rams, meanwhile, have failed to take advantage of a division that was severely weakened by an injury-filled Seattle Seahawks roster, so they may be primed for a big-time fight so as not to lose that advantage for good.

If these teams play alike on Sunday, there is no telling who will win. We may see both teams play the same gameplans and score a similar number of points. Let's just hope that the quarterbacks remember which team is which.