Big 12 North: Wild, wild race
The leaders of the Big 12 North are Kansas State and Iowa State. When the sun rises next Sunday morning, the leaders might very well still be Kansas State and Iowa State. Who would have thought?
The crazy results of Saturday — Iowa State’s 9-7 upset of Nebraska in Lincoln; North favorites Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas all losing for the second straight week — means literally any of the six teams could play in Arlington, Texas, on Dec. 5.
Here are the six teams and their remaining schedules:
Kansas State 3-1: at OU, Kansas, Missouri, at Nebraska. If the Wildcats can sweep those two home games against KU and Mizzou, they will finish no worse than 5-3 and probably win the division. But if KSU splits those games, it could be looking at 4-4.
Iowa State 2-2: at Texas A&M, OSU, Colorado, at Missouri. The Cyclones, only one win shy of becoming bowl eligible, could go anywhere from 2-6 to 6-2. The best guess would be 4-4.
Kansas 1-2: at Texas Tech, at Kansas State, Nebraska, at Texas, Missouri in Kansas City. The Red Raiders suddenly seem vulnerable, but the Jayhawks have a rough schedule. Getting to 4-4 would be a major feat.
Nebraska 1-2: at Baylor, OU, at Kansas, Kansas State, at Colorado. Again, no telling. The Huskers play great defense and horrid offense. Nebraska should win in Waco, but otherwise, who knows? Again, 4-4 would be a solid finish.
Colorado 1-2: Missouri, A&M, at Iowa State, at OSU, Nebraska. I figured the Buffs had two automatic wins in conference — A&M and Iowa State. Not now, not after Saturday, when the Aggies rolled in Lubbock and I-State pulled the Lincoln shocker. I still think Colorado has an excellent chance to get to 4-4 or even 5-3.
Missouri 0-3: at Colorado, Baylor, at Kansas State, Iowa State, Kansas in KC. The schedule finally softens for Mizzou, but it might be too late. If the Tigers can win in Boulder, they just might play KU at the end of the season with a shot at the title. Lose to CU, and the season is in official free-fall.
So, how should we analyze the North? Let’s do this. Let’s project the standings with games we’re pretty sure about, then list the remaining games.
K-State 3-2: KU, Missouri, at Nebraska.
Iowa State 2-3: at A&M, Colorado, at Missouri
Kansas 1-3: at Tech, at KSU, Nebraska, Missouri
Nebraska 2-3: at KU, Kansas State, at Colorado
Colorado 1-3: Missouri, A&M, at Iowa State, Nebraska
Missouri 1-3: at Colorado, at Kansas State, Iowa State, Kansas.
So Kansas State has a clear advantage. A game or two edge. We could project further and just give the home team a win in the tossup games, though home teams certainly didn’t earn such consideration with their performances Saturday.
Doing that leaves us with standings that look like this:
Kansas State 5-3
Colorado 4-4
Iowa State 3-5
Nebraska 3-5
Kansas 3-5 (winning vs. Mizzou at Arrowhead)
Missouri 2-6 (losing vs. KU at Arrowhead)
So there you have it. Kansas State appears to be in the driver’s seat, with Colorado next in line.
Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel.
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huh?
you say the “best bet” for the Cyclones is 4-4 and then say they’ll go 3-5?
you’re also probably one of the “sports writers” that predicted they’d go 0-8 too.
this coach Paul Rhoads is something special. my son is on the team and we are having a blast this year. just keep counting them out like everyone else is Tramel. count them out all the way to the Championship game.
colorado next in line? dream on Barry.