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Last year, for the second time in six seasons, the Big 12 South produced a National Champion.
Books have made Big 12 teams as long a shot as ever to capture the title this season. The Texas Longhorns are the top favorite out of the division, and the sixth favorite overall, with +1137 odds to take home the title.
Their Red River rival, the Oklahoma Sooners, are the only other Big 12 South team listed, at +1348.
One team’s title hopes will almost certainly be squashed on Oct. 7 when they meet at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The early line is out and the Longhorns are –2 ½-point favorites.
Baylor Bears (+15000 to win the Big 12 championship)
The Bears’ offense could surprise this season with the acquisition of former Marine Lee Hays at offensive coordinator.
Hays spent the last three seasons calling plays at Division II West Texas A&M. During that time, he would often make the drive to Lubbock, Texas, notebook in hand, and take in Texas Tech practices with the intent of learning the record-setting “Air Raid” offense.
After the staff at Texas Tech learned he was serious, they took him on as a sort of protégé, teaching him the intricacies of the system.
It paid off last season, when Hays’ offense set a slew of Division II records. The Buffaloes had their best record ever, 10-2, and led the nation with an average of 368.2 passing yards per game.
The success was noticed by Baylor head coach Guy Morriss, who worked with Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach at Valdosa State and later at Kentucky, where they turned Tim Couch into a record-setting quarterback.
Prediction: 6-6 straight up, 9-3 against the spread
Oklahoma Sooners (+301)
Rhett Bomar is out and Paul Thompson is in as the Sooners quarterback. The former was kicked off the team after accepting money for hours he didn’t work at a Norman, Oklahoma car dealership.
Bomar’s departure caused books to greatly inflate the Sooners’ odds to win both the Big 12 and the National Championship, but Thompson, a senior, saw action in nine games as a backup in 2003 and started the Sooners` first game last season. Though he was expected to play wide receiver in 2006, Thompson will be no stranger under center for OU.
The biggest question for Oklahoma won’t be at the quarterback position, but how well Heisman front runner Adrian Peterson will be able to perform behind an inexperienced offensive line (the Sooners return just one starter). The Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2004, Peterson was hobbled by injuries last season, and he often faced nine and 10-man fronts as the Sooners’ only offensive option.
If Thompson can provide at least a threat and free things up for Peterson, Oklahoma’s offense will still be dangerous.
Not many teams can go 8-4 (6-6 against the spread) while rebuilding, and a football factory like the Sooners will never do worse than that. Look for a much-improved performance from the vaunted OU defense this season. Oklahoma was young on defense last season and returns seven starters in 2006.
Prediction: 12-0 straight up, 8-4 against the spread
Oklahoma State Cowboys (+6000)
The Cowboys already know who their MVP is this season. It’s not a player, or even a coach, but a booster.
Oil tycoon J. Boone Pickens, a Class of ’51 OSU grad, kicked off the football season by donating $165 million to the university’s athletic department, $120 million of which is expected to go towards the football team for new offices, new locker and training rooms and additional seating in a newly enclosed west end of its stadium.
It should benefit the Cowboys in the long run, but will do little to immediately help a team that finished last season just 4-7 straight up and 3-7 against the spread.
OSU returns 13 starters – eight on offense and five on defense – to a team that finished 97th in the nation in scoring offense (20.2) and 97th in the nation in scoring defense. (31.3).
Things don’t look to get much better this season. Highly touted quarterback Bobby Reid has been a constant disappointment. Injuries have limited the sophomore to just seven games, but during that time he has just two touchdowns passes and has completed just 48 percent of this throws.
Any hope the Cowboys offense will have this season will be by the feet of another sophomore, tailback Mike Hamilton. At a school that’s produced Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas and Tatum Bell, Hamilton set an OSU freshman record with 961 rushing yards last season.
Prediction: 3-9 straight up, 3-9 against the spread
Texas Longhorns (+154)
It’s rare that the National Champions are also the nation’s top team against the spread, but the Longhorns pulled off the impressive double last season going 11-2 against the spread and, of course, defeating USC in the Rose Bowl to capture the program’s first National Championship since 1969.
If Texas wants to repeat that feat this season, it will have to do so without top players on both sides of the ball. Top offensive player, quarterback Vince Young, left a year early and was the third overall pick in the NFL draft. Top defensive player, safety Michael Huff, wasn’t far behind him, going seventh.
Of course, these are still the Longhorns and, as always, they are stacked on both sides of the ball. The looming question in Austin remains: who will replacing Young at quarterback? Redshirt freshman Colt McCoy is reported to have the lead on true freshman Jarvis Snead, but it’s expected both players will see playing time early in the season.
That could be a problem for the Longhorns, who have very little time to get their quarterback situation in shape – they have a date with preseason No. 1 Ohio State in Austin on Sept. 9.
Uncertainty behind center puts the pressure on a defense that ranked eighth in the nation in scoring defense last season and returns seven starters. Texas will also be expecting a big season from sophomore tailback Jamaal Charles.
Charles ran wild in the Longhorns first five games of 2005, rushing for 563 yards and six touchdowns. An ankle injury slowed him the rest of the season and, though he played in every game, he carried just 56 times over Texas’ last eight games. He still managed to finish the season with 878 yards on 119 carries, a 7.4-yard average.
Prediction: 9-3 straight up, 5-7 against the spread
Texas A&M Aggies (+5007)
How disappointing have the last few years been at College Station? Two websites have popped up calling for the termination of third year head coach Dennis Franchione, FranUnderFire.com and FireDennisFranchione.com.
The fifth winningest active coach in Division I-A, Franchione is just 16-18 in three seasons with the Aggies. However, he is an impressive 22-10-1 against the spread during that time.
Texas A&M’s focus this season is on improving its defense. Shouldn’t be too difficult – the Aggies ranked dead last in the nation last season in pass defense allowing 304.6 passing yards per game.
They’ll try to do so under new defensive coordinator Gary Darnell and his unique 4-2-5 defense. The formation will take advantage of a big, talented defensive line that by all accounts underachieved last year, as well as provide the necessary manpower to make up for their deficiencies in the secondary.
A favorable early season schedule could have the Aggies in good shape heading into the season’s last three games. Problem is, those last three games are against the top three favorites to win the Big 12 title – Texas A&M hosts Nebraska and Oklahoma before traveling to face Texas in its season finale.
Prediction: 8-4 straight up, 7-5 against the spread
Texas Tech Red Raiders (+1203)
Texas Tech is one of the programs that will be least affected by the NCAA’s new rule that restarts the clock as soon as the ball is put in play. Head coach Mike Leach’s offensive philosophy is to score often and quickly. The Red Raiders run exclusively from the hurry-up, with the quarterback often calling plays at the line.
It’s never a problem to replace an outgoing quarterback at Texas Tech. Four different quarterbacks have combined to lead the NCAA in passing each of the last six seasons.
This year’s job is still technically up in the air, according to Leach. Sophomore Graham Harrell is said to have a small advantage over redshirt freshman Chris Todd.
Either way, Leach’s unique spread offense is expected to keep putting up huge numbers, though the team will be missing one of it’s biggest offensive weapons after losing Taurean Henderson to graduation. Henderson was a four-year starter and the Big 12’s all-time leader in receptions and points by a tailback. The role is expected to go to sophomore Shannon Woods, who averaged 7.7 yards on 33 touches last season and scored four touchdowns.
The Red Raiders are stacked at wideout, returning four members of an extremely productive receiving corps. The quartet of Jarrett Hicks, Joel Filani, Robert Johnson and Danny Amendola combined to catch 231 balls for 3,203 yards and 25 touchdowns last season.
Prediction: 10-2 straight up, 9-3 against the spread
Books have made Big 12 teams as long a shot as ever to capture the title this season. The Texas Longhorns are the top favorite out of the division, and the sixth favorite overall, with +1137 odds to take home the title.
Their Red River rival, the Oklahoma Sooners, are the only other Big 12 South team listed, at +1348.
One team’s title hopes will almost certainly be squashed on Oct. 7 when they meet at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. The early line is out and the Longhorns are –2 ½-point favorites.
Baylor Bears (+15000 to win the Big 12 championship)
The Bears’ offense could surprise this season with the acquisition of former Marine Lee Hays at offensive coordinator.
Hays spent the last three seasons calling plays at Division II West Texas A&M. During that time, he would often make the drive to Lubbock, Texas, notebook in hand, and take in Texas Tech practices with the intent of learning the record-setting “Air Raid” offense.
After the staff at Texas Tech learned he was serious, they took him on as a sort of protégé, teaching him the intricacies of the system.
It paid off last season, when Hays’ offense set a slew of Division II records. The Buffaloes had their best record ever, 10-2, and led the nation with an average of 368.2 passing yards per game.
The success was noticed by Baylor head coach Guy Morriss, who worked with Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach at Valdosa State and later at Kentucky, where they turned Tim Couch into a record-setting quarterback.
Prediction: 6-6 straight up, 9-3 against the spread
Oklahoma Sooners (+301)
Rhett Bomar is out and Paul Thompson is in as the Sooners quarterback. The former was kicked off the team after accepting money for hours he didn’t work at a Norman, Oklahoma car dealership.
Bomar’s departure caused books to greatly inflate the Sooners’ odds to win both the Big 12 and the National Championship, but Thompson, a senior, saw action in nine games as a backup in 2003 and started the Sooners` first game last season. Though he was expected to play wide receiver in 2006, Thompson will be no stranger under center for OU.
The biggest question for Oklahoma won’t be at the quarterback position, but how well Heisman front runner Adrian Peterson will be able to perform behind an inexperienced offensive line (the Sooners return just one starter). The Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2004, Peterson was hobbled by injuries last season, and he often faced nine and 10-man fronts as the Sooners’ only offensive option.
If Thompson can provide at least a threat and free things up for Peterson, Oklahoma’s offense will still be dangerous.
Not many teams can go 8-4 (6-6 against the spread) while rebuilding, and a football factory like the Sooners will never do worse than that. Look for a much-improved performance from the vaunted OU defense this season. Oklahoma was young on defense last season and returns seven starters in 2006.
Prediction: 12-0 straight up, 8-4 against the spread
Oklahoma State Cowboys (+6000)
The Cowboys already know who their MVP is this season. It’s not a player, or even a coach, but a booster.
Oil tycoon J. Boone Pickens, a Class of ’51 OSU grad, kicked off the football season by donating $165 million to the university’s athletic department, $120 million of which is expected to go towards the football team for new offices, new locker and training rooms and additional seating in a newly enclosed west end of its stadium.
It should benefit the Cowboys in the long run, but will do little to immediately help a team that finished last season just 4-7 straight up and 3-7 against the spread.
OSU returns 13 starters – eight on offense and five on defense – to a team that finished 97th in the nation in scoring offense (20.2) and 97th in the nation in scoring defense. (31.3).
Things don’t look to get much better this season. Highly touted quarterback Bobby Reid has been a constant disappointment. Injuries have limited the sophomore to just seven games, but during that time he has just two touchdowns passes and has completed just 48 percent of this throws.
Any hope the Cowboys offense will have this season will be by the feet of another sophomore, tailback Mike Hamilton. At a school that’s produced Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas and Tatum Bell, Hamilton set an OSU freshman record with 961 rushing yards last season.
Prediction: 3-9 straight up, 3-9 against the spread
Texas Longhorns (+154)
It’s rare that the National Champions are also the nation’s top team against the spread, but the Longhorns pulled off the impressive double last season going 11-2 against the spread and, of course, defeating USC in the Rose Bowl to capture the program’s first National Championship since 1969.
If Texas wants to repeat that feat this season, it will have to do so without top players on both sides of the ball. Top offensive player, quarterback Vince Young, left a year early and was the third overall pick in the NFL draft. Top defensive player, safety Michael Huff, wasn’t far behind him, going seventh.
Of course, these are still the Longhorns and, as always, they are stacked on both sides of the ball. The looming question in Austin remains: who will replacing Young at quarterback? Redshirt freshman Colt McCoy is reported to have the lead on true freshman Jarvis Snead, but it’s expected both players will see playing time early in the season.
That could be a problem for the Longhorns, who have very little time to get their quarterback situation in shape – they have a date with preseason No. 1 Ohio State in Austin on Sept. 9.
Uncertainty behind center puts the pressure on a defense that ranked eighth in the nation in scoring defense last season and returns seven starters. Texas will also be expecting a big season from sophomore tailback Jamaal Charles.
Charles ran wild in the Longhorns first five games of 2005, rushing for 563 yards and six touchdowns. An ankle injury slowed him the rest of the season and, though he played in every game, he carried just 56 times over Texas’ last eight games. He still managed to finish the season with 878 yards on 119 carries, a 7.4-yard average.
Prediction: 9-3 straight up, 5-7 against the spread
Texas A&M Aggies (+5007)
How disappointing have the last few years been at College Station? Two websites have popped up calling for the termination of third year head coach Dennis Franchione, FranUnderFire.com and FireDennisFranchione.com.
The fifth winningest active coach in Division I-A, Franchione is just 16-18 in three seasons with the Aggies. However, he is an impressive 22-10-1 against the spread during that time.
Texas A&M’s focus this season is on improving its defense. Shouldn’t be too difficult – the Aggies ranked dead last in the nation last season in pass defense allowing 304.6 passing yards per game.
They’ll try to do so under new defensive coordinator Gary Darnell and his unique 4-2-5 defense. The formation will take advantage of a big, talented defensive line that by all accounts underachieved last year, as well as provide the necessary manpower to make up for their deficiencies in the secondary.
A favorable early season schedule could have the Aggies in good shape heading into the season’s last three games. Problem is, those last three games are against the top three favorites to win the Big 12 title – Texas A&M hosts Nebraska and Oklahoma before traveling to face Texas in its season finale.
Prediction: 8-4 straight up, 7-5 against the spread
Texas Tech Red Raiders (+1203)
Texas Tech is one of the programs that will be least affected by the NCAA’s new rule that restarts the clock as soon as the ball is put in play. Head coach Mike Leach’s offensive philosophy is to score often and quickly. The Red Raiders run exclusively from the hurry-up, with the quarterback often calling plays at the line.
It’s never a problem to replace an outgoing quarterback at Texas Tech. Four different quarterbacks have combined to lead the NCAA in passing each of the last six seasons.
This year’s job is still technically up in the air, according to Leach. Sophomore Graham Harrell is said to have a small advantage over redshirt freshman Chris Todd.
Either way, Leach’s unique spread offense is expected to keep putting up huge numbers, though the team will be missing one of it’s biggest offensive weapons after losing Taurean Henderson to graduation. Henderson was a four-year starter and the Big 12’s all-time leader in receptions and points by a tailback. The role is expected to go to sophomore Shannon Woods, who averaged 7.7 yards on 33 touches last season and scored four touchdowns.
The Red Raiders are stacked at wideout, returning four members of an extremely productive receiving corps. The quartet of Jarrett Hicks, Joel Filani, Robert Johnson and Danny Amendola combined to catch 231 balls for 3,203 yards and 25 touchdowns last season.
Prediction: 10-2 straight up, 9-3 against the spread