Category Archives: Big 12

Big 12 Football Preview 2013: It’s That Wide Open

newbig12logo

Okay it’s time for another Big 12 preview this year.  So we are are one year in with the newly aligned Big 12 and the dust hasn’t settled yet.  Last year we had a newb contender and apparently with have another newb contender.  Of course, last year’s outcome saw the championship fall to the Big 8 original, Kansas State.  Will they end up repeating this year?  Does anybody else want to stand up and take it?  I kinda agree with everyone else saying it’s a wide open race.  Let’s find out what else I think. Continue reading Big 12 Football Preview 2013: It’s That Wide Open

Pick It And Stick It: It’s A Big One To Finger

This weekend sees the culmination of what looks to be another Cinderella season for my obvious homer cheered Kansas State Wildcats.  They head to Morgantown this weekend to take on the hobbling West Virginia Mountaineers.  This is make it or break time for both programs and Saturday’s game will determine who will stay on the national stage and who will steep back down into the conference championship race. Oh there’s some other games going on this weekend, but this is the big one for me and for most of the nation (Big 12 nation, okay?). Continue reading Pick It And Stick It: It’s A Big One To Finger

A Better Big 12 For 2012

Ah yeah, the Big 12 is back baby!  Oh well, it didn’t really go anywhere.  Compared to last year, this offseason was a walk in the park.  Why is that?  Well, we have some new faces in the mix and some old faces hit the road.  I think truly for the first time in the last 3 years, there is some stability here.  That makes me happy.  What makes me happier is the new season so let’s see how this conference shakes out. Continue reading A Better Big 12 For 2012

Bowl Pick It and Stick It 2011: 6 and 8 Split

Yes, it’s bowl season and I’ve got a hankering for one more Bowl Pick It and Stick It.  This time bowling is more exciting for me outside of the BCS Bowls.  Part of it is the fact that Kansas State got jipped out of an appearance at the Sugar Bowl, but the other part is that the line up BCS wise is just not interesting enough.  The Sugar and the Orange are lame.  The BCS National Championship Game is a rematch of boredom.  The Fiesta and Rose look good but the overall product leaves me underwhelmed.  That’s what I’m stoked for the Cotton Bowl.  It’s non BCS and has a top 10 BCS match up with Kansas State taking on Arkansas.  SEC vs Big 12.  Hell yeah.  Click on through for the Bowl Pick It and Stick It information.

 

Pick It and Stick It Link: http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/bowl/group/2195/invitation?key=8648873bde407264
Group: 2195
Password: gobig12

So here’s the rest of the bowl line up:

Bowl Location Date/Time Network
Gildan New Mexico
Temple vs. Wyoming
Albuquerque, N.M.
University Stadium
Dec. 17
2 p.m.
ESPN
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
Ohio vs. Utah State
Boise, Idaho
Bronco Stadium
Dec. 17
5:30 p.m.
ESPN
R+L Carriers New Orleans
San Diego State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
New Orleans
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Dec. 17
9 p.m.
ESPN
Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg
Florida International vs. Marshall
St. Petersburg, Fla.
Tropicana Field
Dec. 20
8 p.m.
ESPN
S.D. County Credit Union Poinsettia
TCU vs. Louisiana Tech
San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium
Dec. 21
8 p.m.
ESPN
MAACO Las Vegas
Arizona State vs. Boise State
Las Vegas
Sam Boyd Stadium
Dec. 22
8 p.m.
ESPN
Sheraton Hawaii
Nevada vs. Southern Miss
Honolulu
Aloha Stadium
Dec. 24
8 p.m.
ESPN
AdvoCare V100 Independence
Missouri vs. North Carolina
Shreveport, La.
Independence Stadium
Dec. 26
5 p.m.
ESPN2
Little Caesars
Western Michigan vs. Purdue
Detroit
Ford Field
Dec. 27
4:30 p.m.
ESPN
Belk
Louisville vs. NC State
Charlotte, N.C.
Bank of America Stadium
Dec. 27
8 p.m.
ESPN
Military Bowl Presented By Northrop Grumman
Toledo vs. Air Force
Washington, D.C.
RFK Stadium
Dec. 28
4:30 p.m.
ESPN
Bridgepoint Education Holiday
California vs. Texas
San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium
Dec. 28
8 p.m.
ESPN
Champs Sports
Florida State vs. Notre Dame
Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl
Dec. 29
5:30 p.m.
ESPN
Valero Alamo
Washington vs. Baylor
San Antonio
Alamodome
Dec. 29
9 p.m.
ESPN
Bell Helicopter Armed Forces
BYU vs. Tulsa
Dallas
Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Dec. 30
Noon
ESPN
New Era Pinstripe
Rutgers vs. Iowa State
Bronx, N.Y.
Yankee Stadium
Dec. 30
3:20 p.m.
ESPN
Franklin American Mortgage Music City
Mississippi State vs. Wake Forest
Nashville, Tenn.
LP Field
Dec. 30
6:40 p.m.
ESPN
Insight
Iowa vs. Oklahoma
Tempe, Ariz.
Sun Devil Stadium
Dec. 30
10 p.m.
ESPN
Meineke Car Care of Texas
Texas A&M vs. Northwestern
Houston
Reliant Stadium
Dec. 31
Noon
ESPN
Hyundai Sun
Georgia Tech vs. Utah
El Paso, Texas
Sun Bowl
Dec. 31
2 p.m.
CBS
AutoZone Liberty
Cincinnati vs. Vanderbilt
Memphis, Tenn.
Liberty Bowl
Dec. 31
3:30 p.m.
ABC
Kraft Fight Hunger
Illinois vs. UCLA
San Francisco
AT&T Park
Dec. 31
3:30 p.m.
ESPN
Chick-fil-A
Virginia vs. Auburn
Atlanta
Georgia Dome
Dec. 31
7:30 p.m.
ESPN
TicketCity
Houston vs. Penn State
Dallas
Cotton Bowl
Jan. 2
Noon
ESPNU
Outback
Michigan State vs. Georgia
Tampa, Fla.
Raymond James Stadium
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ABC
Capital One
Nebraska vs. South Carolina
Orlando, Fla.
Florida Citrus Bowl
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ESPN
Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl
Ohio State vs. Florida
Jacksonville, Fla.
EverBank Field
Jan. 2
1 p.m.
ESPN2
Rose Bowl Game presented by Vizio
Wisconsin vs. Oregon
Pasadena, Calif.
Rose Bowl
Jan. 2
5 p.m.
ESPN
Tostitos Fiesta
Stanford vs. Oklahoma State
Glendale, Ariz.
U. of Phoenix Stadium
Jan. 2
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
Allstate Sugar
Michigan vs. Virginia Tech
New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome
Jan. 3
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
Discover Orange
West Virginia vs. Clemson
Miami
Sun Life Stadium
Jan. 4
8:30 p.m.
ESPN
AT&T Cotton
Kansas State vs. Arkansas
Arlington, Texas
Cowboys Stadium
Jan. 6
8 p.m.
FOX
BBVA Compass Bowl
SMU vs. Pittsburgh
Birmingham, Ala.
Legion Field
Jan. 7
1 p.m.
ESPN
GoDaddy.com
Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois
Mobile, Ala.
Ladd-Peebles Stadium
Jan. 8
9 p.m.
ESPN
Allstate BCS National Championship Game
No. 1 LSU vs. No. 2 Alabama
New Orleans
Louisiana Superdome
Jan. 9
8:30 p.m.
ESPN

Remember it’s a straight up pick but you can rank your confidence from 1 to 35.  What other bowls are interesting you ask?  Well, let’s start with the Big 12.  Baylor and Washington look good for the Alamo Bowl, thanks to Robert Griffin III’s Hesiman win.  Oklahoma playing Iowa for the first time in forever in the Insight Bowl sees Sooner head coach Bob Stoops head to his alma mater.  What other games look good?  How about the Outback Bowl with Georgia taking on Michigan State, another version of the BCS snub bowl.  That’s about it for me.  The others are decent but they just don’t jump out to me.  Come back every Monday from here on out, though and we’ll go over the picks.

Big 12 Preview 2011: They’re Coming And Going And Going And Coming And Always Too Soon

Oh last year was such a treat.  Nebraska and Colorado decided to leave and the rest of the league was all arms together in solidarity.  After a bumpy season and a dramatic victory for Oklahoma over Nebraska in the last ever Big 12 Championship Game, we are on the cuff of another great season.  Well, not so fast.  Texas A&M didn’t like how Texas threw their weight around in the off season and are about to leave.  It’s a good thing none of the ginormous scandal affected any of the conference schools.  Whether they leave or not, the Aggies have to play this year.  Let’s see where everyone ends up. Continue reading Big 12 Preview 2011: They’re Coming And Going And Going And Coming And Always Too Soon

Big 12 , er 11, er 10 Predictions for 2010

Man what a crazy roller coaster of an offseason for the Big 12. Who would’ve thought a year ago that the Big 12 would be rocked to its very knees and survive probably one of most weirdest advances in college football history.  It was like a whacked out game of Axis & Allies.  Welp Germany didn’t win and neither did the Big 10.  So here we are going into what is the last season we will ever see for this 12 conference league.  Who will come out on top?  Roll dice to find out (er read below).

Continue reading Big 12 , er 11, er 10 Predictions for 2010

Mascot Monday: Ralphie

When we started doing the Mascot Monday posts here at the KCCGD, we knew we had to go over each and every one of the Big 12 mascots.  Welp, today is the big day.  This is our last mascot we will feature here from the Big 12.  Now, there is some talk that a certain conference that is expressing certain expansion talks, so who knows?  Maybe there will be more teams that we haven’t featured yet be wrapped into the loving arms of the Big 12 and enable us to check out its fluffy cheerleader.  Until then, we saved the best for last.  This week on our last Big 12 mascot, we will be taking a big look at Ralphie from the Colorado Buffalos.

Continue reading Mascot Monday: Ralphie

BCS Title Thoughts and Year End Review

Okay, freshly back from a wedding in California (not MY wedding), I’m now ready to actually talk about the BCS title game and the year that was college football.  We’re going to talk about the game that could’ve been, the season that was bookended by injuries, and some other interesting notes that popped up over the season.  So, while this is a little late, sit back and enjoy us on your little trip through college football memory lane.  Please keep your arms and head inside the windows.

Continue reading BCS Title Thoughts and Year End Review

BCS National Championship Game: Snowed In

We were gonna head out tonight to watch some National Championship flow but then all of the sudden the coldest and snowiest weather in Kansas City that I have ever seen just dumped all over us.  So, in the spirit of the first couple of National Championship games, we will be live blogging tweeting the game that pits Texas against Alabama.  Follow me on twitter @kccgd and be sure to see me when you search for #bcs.  As for who I think will win, I’m sticking with the Big 12 and going Texas.  I’m thinking they make it close and pull out another win similar to the time they won it against USC.  Watch and follow tonight!

Big 12 Bowl Preview and Predictions

Alrighty,  we are in the 1st quarter of bowl season and fortunately we don’t have any Big 12 bowl games until next week.  So we have the opportunity to preview and predict what’s coming up in the next couple of weeks for the Big 12.  We’ll talk briefly about the match up and go into our expert predictions.  Chew on this while you are doing your last minute shopping on Amazon.  Oh and please pick us up something nice while you’re at it.

Continue reading Big 12 Bowl Preview and Predictions

Johnny’s Tavern has the Power and the Light


We were very skeptical when we strolled toward the Johnny’s Tavern setup on the corner of the Power & Light District in Downtown Kansas City.  We’ve been to a couple of places around there before and the experiences were weak.  We had some hope, however, as Johnny’s Tavern came through for us before.  After spending the afternoon there we can say it is the best bar in the district.  The food was great, the poker game was loads of fun, and the games on the screens were stellar.   If you own or work at a bar around that area, read on to see how to make it successful.

Continue reading Johnny’s Tavern has the Power and the Light

Crib Sheet: Going Prime Time

prime time

Hey guess what?  The Crib Sheet is BACK for the regular season.  We enjoyed digging up some tasty news nuggest during the offseason so much that we are going to roll it into the regular season rotation.  That’s great news alone.  So for those of you not familiar with the format, let us explain what the Crib Sheet is all about:  We scour the interwebs for stories not hears too well and stories that are local to the Kansas City area, adding our unique twist on it.  So rejoice in its return and enjoy this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • Indiana is cashing in big time by giving up a home game in 2010 and playing Penn State at FedEx Field, home of the NFL Washington Redskins.  It looks like this trend is here to stay with college teams playing in pro football (and baseball) stadiums.  I guess it will work out for schools that get major payouts, $3 million for Indiana, but it still sucks that hometown fans have to travel or miss out on games.
  • Tennessee running back Bryce Brown is cleared of any NCAA violations for questions in his recruiting process.  Now he can focus on becoming yet another highly touted athlete with a dark, questionable past.  Sometimes the news just writes itself.
  • John Malkovic: Actor chimes in on the upcoming college football season.  He doesn’t say anything too outrageous and we’re glad to see that hoity toity actors can enjoy the grid iron as well.  We’re not so sure, however, how coaches turned actors will fare.  Yikes!
  • So, everything is big in the new Cowboys stadium.  Check.  Tons of college football teams are playing there as well.  Check.  The Oklahoma vs BYU game is sold out.  Check.  $25 for outside concourse access only.  WHAT?  We get that the mega stadium will draw mega bucks, but when you’re not even in the dang stadium, you shouldn’t have to drop that chunk of change just to be there.
  • Mike Gundy’s blackout to prepare for Georgia led to an arrest for one player and another leaving the team.  Doh!  It looks as though locking things down loosened up the team a bit.  Will they get it together before their big opener?  Tune in this weekend.
  • St. Paul, a division II school, canceled its season opener because they don’t have helmets or pads.  WHAT?  It’s not that they couldn’t afford it, but the numnuts who ordered waited a little bit too late.  They should put that guy in a tackling dummy and let the team try out the new gear on him.
  • Blaine Gabbert locked up the starting job at Missouri.  Now the fight for number 2 just got easier.  The other Blaine, Blaine Dalton, was booted off the team for a DUI arrest.  That’s alright, though, as it sounds like the Tiger’s focus this year may be more running intensive.
  • The Alamo Bowl replaced the Big 10 opponent in favor of a Pac 10 number 2. That should heat up the competition for the Big 12 and give more legitimacy as big time conferences for both parties involved.
  • Apparently Jim Harbaugh, with help from a booster, now has a $50-$70k toilet to do his business in at Stanford.  So I guess when their season goes into the crapper, at least it will be comfortable and plush.
  • Bill Snyder 2.0 named Carson Coffman as his starter going into the opener for the Kansas State Wildcats.  Competition is a good thing, but he’s being consistent on this one.  If anything, Snyder 2.0 is known to switch things up and play people in rotations.  Grant Gregory, you still have a shot.
  • Rich Rodriguez is taking it from all sides these days.  We find out that current and former players are complaining about working too many hours for the football team, even though everyone does it and they he has an ally in Ohio State Buckeye players.   An investigation is coming to get to the bottom of a rule no one follows.  Now we hear him getting sued in a failed deal for land development in Virginia.  Notice that the piece came from the Ann Arbor news website.  Seriously, wait until half the season is over when they are looking to finish the same way they did last year.  By then RichRod won’t be able to fight back the tears.

Big 12 Preview 2009

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Most folks outside of the midwest believe that the Big 12 Conference is 2nd nationally amongst conferences in terms of football strength.  Much of the talk points toward the Big 12 South.  As we roll into the 2009 season, we find some teams reloaded, some teams are out of ammo, and the rest either misfired or are shooting blanks.  We’re gonna see where they all stack up and how they will finish in 2009, according the Purple Yeti’s crystal ball.  There are some shifts in power, but the top stack will stay the same and most of the close calls will still be close.  Hopefully the crystal ball pulls through.

Continue reading Big 12 Preview 2009

Crib Sheet: Strapping It On

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Here we go people!  We’re strapping on the helmet and hunkering down for another season of college football.  To get us ready, we have a cavalcade of previews and a new redesign coming down the pipe.  Until then we’ll produce another news heavy Crib Sheet for all of you to digest.  Depending on the schedule, we may be dropping the Crib Sheet  here and there during the season.  There’s always news to munch on.  So grab a bib and some silverware and chow down on this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • It’s the wave of the future for the Texas Longhorns and monitoring football players.  They make select players swallow temperature pills to make sure their body temperature doesn’t get too high during practice.  The NCAA should take a look at these little doo-wops for all of the players that have a high risk for sickle cell disease.
  • There’s a big jumble and shuffle going down in Manhattan.  Kansas State coach Bill Snyder is moving around transfer Daniel Thomas from quarterback to running back, among other movements that also saw running back Logan Dold moving to safety.  It seems that ‘Wildcat’ might mean more than just a team this year in Snyder-land.
  • It seems Florida State is getting a head start on the 2 game series with Oklahoma by being the snitcher on old guy type linebacker Mike Balogun.  Balogun is suing the NCAA for eligibility because of some issues with semi-pro playing before he joined Oklahoma.  One of the Seminole officials noted the story of Bolgun during last year’s national championship game and dug further after the Big 12 was okay with Oklahoma’s ‘light’ investigation.  Ruh roh.  Seems like there will be some major unsportsmanlike penalties in this two game series.
  • Oklahoma State has gone dark until the week of their opener against Georgia, at least to the media.  They need to prepare all they can for the big game because it will set the tone for the Cowboy’s whole season.  It should be a great game and has the potential for being the game of the week.
  • Oklahoma backup linebacker Tom Wort went down with an ACL injury and is out for the season.  Combine that with the questions of Tom Balogun’s eligibility and we’re looking at a depleted linebacking core for the Sooners.  This may affect their chances of going all the way this year.
  • Joseph Kassanavoid, redshirt freshmen quarterback for Kansas State, up and got arrested for domestic battery.  Officials for Kansas State stated that the incident will be handled internally.  We won’t be surprised if this guy gets booted from the team.  Tune in to find out.
  • The Associated Press Top 25 Preseason Poll came out over the weekend and in the biggest non-surprise of the year, the Florida Gators are number one, followed by the Big 12’s Texas and Oklahoma.  Everyone and their mother are picking the Gators but the ball is up in the air for who will meet them in the title game.  We’re not sure who will be there, but tune in for our preview in the next couple of days.
  • Meanwhile, Lou Holtz gives his analysis on the AP poll and pulls a prediction of all predictions out of his always sounding drunk mouth.   According to Holtz, Notre Dame will be in the national title game.  Give to Lou for being a homer.  He makes a good case pointing to 11 returning offensive starters, 7 home games, and a weak opponent’s schedule.  The schedule is going to kill them and we’re not to sure they are that big on offense.  Nice to hear Lou slur his words again, though.
  • Husker running back Quentin Castille was dismissed from the Nebraska squad due to team rule violations.  That’s a shame as it will hurt their chances to live up to the preseason Big 12 North title prediction.  Even ESPN Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin is switching his prediction.  Indeed, maybe the media were drinking the red kool-aid, but there are questions all over the North this year.  Again tune in for our Big 12 predictions in the next couple of days.

Crib Sheet: Running Some Gassers

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Practices are rocking this week as the schools are getting ready for some real hitting here in a couple of weeks.  Some may think that we’ve been practicing every week in this but column but it’s been prime time, every time.  We are still deliberating as to whether or not we’ll continue the Crib Sheet in the regular season.  Feel free to drop a comment below to let us know.  Here’s this week’s Crib Sheet:

  • The Michigan Defense couldn’t mow him down last year, so Appalachian State’s quarterback Armanti Edwards did it himself.  Yup he’s out a couple of weeks with a foot injury.
  • The 12th Man talked a Montana punter to transfer to Texas A&M.  Ken Wood was big on the NFL Seattle Seahawks and when A&M sued them for the use of the 12th Man moniker.  Wood saw this and fell in love.  It’s great, too, because the punter will probably be the MVP on that team this year.
  • The USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll for the preseason came out today and Florida eats the top spot.  Big 12 wise we have Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Nebraska at 2,3, 11, and 22 respectively.  That’s great and all, but the better poll/list for the week was put out by Fox Sports in their Top 10 most annoying fans list.  Oklahoma’s number 4 on that one.  It’s a good list even though it trends to teams that have been traditional powerhouses, sans Clemson.
  • Speaking of Clemson, they are docked two practices for a non conforming uniform modification under NCAA rules.  The crime?  Wearing girdles at  practice.  Let’s hope they don’t catch them wearing leggings or panties.  Yikes!
  • Dezmon Briscoe from Kansas is no longer stupid.  Er, no longer too stupid not to play football that is.  He completed summer courses and can play this fall for the Jayhawks.  He’s sorely needed, too, as he is expected to be a top receiver in the conference this year.
  • Bobby Bowden wants another national title before he retires from Florida State in a couple of years.  Bobby, it’s not gonna happen but we wish you the best of luck.  If only your conference was stronger.
  • There’s a great article about Kansas State quarterback Carson Coffman.  Carson comes from a long lineage of NFL tight ends, with his dad Paul and now his older brother Chase.  So this version of Coffman will try his hand a quarterback this year, but don’t be too excited because he has alot of transferred competition coming his way.
  • Utah spend the offseason crying to everyone that would listen about how they were screwed out a title game and now they a shutting off communication for ‘instantaneous reports’ from any staff and media.  BYU is doing it too.  So, are they breeding whiners or hypocrites up there?
  • Everybody is high on Notre Dame this year, but Charlie Weiss is more interested in walk than talk.   That’s kinda paradoxical when you think about it.  Then again, he was running his mouth from day one so let’s see if a quieter Weiss will help the Fighting Irish live up their hype.   Maybe he’s learning all about walking from his new-found buddy, St. Louis Cardinals’ player Albert Pujols.
  • Ron Prince and his lawyers are asking for an additional $3 million on top of the $3 million he’s already owed by Kansas State after they canned him last year.  The reason?  They state that the school knew of the buyout terms and even went as far as saying that the school wanted Prince to keep terms of the contract confidential.  With that much money on the table originally, it would seem very weird that top brass overlooked that.  Plus it’s punitive.  The way K-State is trying to weasel out of the deal forced Prince’s hand.   This is very ugly indeed.  A contract is a contract no matter how insane it is.  The quicker this goes away the better it will be for the school.  With this lawsuit, the chances are it will stick around for a long, long time.