So I’m standing in KCI looking for a quick rag to read.  I was bumping out to California to see my big brother, Purple Baldy Yeti, for a little R&R before strapping down for the college football season.  After quick scan of weak rag material, I spied the good ole Athlon College Football preview and snatched it right up.  Apparently it’s regionally directed so they had Big 12 slapped on the cover as well.  I tossed down a beer with my lil bro, Purple Bumpy Yeti, and stepped on the flight.  Here’s Athlon’s fly by of the college football horizon, including the westcoast-midwest Big 12.

Takeoff

Strapping into the flight and trying to avoid the stewardess’ lame jokes, I cracked open the page and read direct from the editor about how cool and dead on Athlon is in their predictions.  I could have predicted that.  So in between bits about the best cheerleader and the hot new coaches in the rank, they actually dropped a bucked trend and went with Florida as numero uno.  Most everyone is barking up Georgia as number one but it wasn’t exactly as tricky seeing they are both in the same conference.  Bah SEC.

The Athlon preview actually did a decent job on talking about recruits.  I remembered that Missouri nabbed an in state quarterback Blaine Gabbert and the K-State dropped the Juco ball hard, but I didn’t see that Colorado picked up the number one running back recruit in Darrell Scott.  What’s even sweeter is that the Buffs stole him from Texas.  Athlon was even nice enough to rank recruitings by conference and for the nation.

Inflight

What really perked my interest in this rag was the extensive coverage of the Big 12 conference.  Before they talked about each division and where the Plinko chips fall for them, they tossed out a piece about the wealth of gunslingers the Big 12 sported.  They included the usual suspects (Daniels, McCoy, Reesing), but I was a little surprised about Josh Freeman being in there.  Yes, he had a great year last season but it didn’t really result in W’s.

Starting in the South, Athlon jumped on the Boomer Sooner wagon and rode it all the way the Big 12 title game.  What I didn’t know was that Oklahoma is returning not only the entire offensive line but two backups as well.  They touted the hype that is Texas Tech and how their offense will make them tough again.  Texas, according to them, will fall short again and scrub for another bowl.  That and they have a wide receiver named Quon Cosby.  It almost sounds like a Muslim Bill Cosby.  Assalam-O-Jello-Puddin-Pop.

Here up in the North, Athlon again take a dark stab at predicting that Missouri will once again win the division.  The well oiled machine that Pinkel tricked out for offense should drive them to the title game.   Athlon’s view of Kansas again aligns with what everyone else is saying about the Jayhawks:  the real schedule this year will put them in their place.  With K-State, all they are saying is crap.  The Wildcats will be crap.  Rounding out the North, Athlon says that Colorado is on the rise, Nebraska is rebuilding, and Iowa State will fill the gap.

Landing

With as daring and efficient as the editor touts, I was a little disappointed that they predicted the same outcome for the Big 12 Championship game from outcome.  Oklahoma over Missouri at Arrowhead in Kansas City, MO. If that actually happens, I wonder if more Tiger fans will travel as opposed to last to give Missouri a better fan push.  I guess we’ll have to find out come December.

Baggage Claim

All in all, the Athlon College Football Preview – Big 12 edition kept my attention for the over 3 hour flight.  Of course it wasn’t just football they talked about.  Like I mentioned earlier there were plenty of ads as well as articles discussing tailgating and my apparent desperate need to purchase a trailer hitch grill.  I do not own a pick up and I do not have a trailer hitch attached to my Protege, but somehow I feel the need to purchase said grill. 

I also enjoyed the rankings of the top cheerleaders of the nation.  Athlon’s Sideline Spirit spread offered a nice distraction while I was flipping through football stuff and tossing peanuts down my throat.   The only shot of a Big 12 cheerleader was from Oklahoma.  Excuse me, but if they roll down into Texas, they can see some of the most beautiful women.  What’s up with no cheerleaders from the four schools down there?

Lastly, Trace Adkins pretty much called me a wussy for not signing up for Athlon’s College Football Pick ‘Em league.  I use Yahoo for all of my fantasy sports goings, so it was going to take alot more than a washed up country singer to get me to join.  That didn’t stop Trace from showing up on every other page of this preview.  Sheesh, Athlon, maybe you can try selling some more ads than pushing your league.  I get it, okay?

So what I took away from the preview was that they are the bomb and everything will stay the same except Florida over Georgia.  The Big 12 Preview was very informative from the recruits to other teams scout reports.  I got a little sick of tailgate grills and Trace Adkins, but the cheerleaders even things out.  If anything, I’ll be ready to call out the editor at the end of the year with their lazy predictions