Popeye_Card wrote:Not sure if the Big XII is automatically the 2nd best conference. Big Ten and Pac 10 are right there with them.
Yeah. Illinois gave Missouri all they wanted, and they are an also-ran in the Big Ten. I realize that comparison is not conclusive by a long stretch. But I think it shows that the Big Ten is at least right there with the Big XII.
Popeye_Card wrote:Not sure if the Big XII is automatically the 2nd best conference. Big Ten and Pac 10 are right there with them.
Yeah. Illinois gave Missouri all they wanted, and they are an also-ran in the Big Ten. I realize that comparison is not conclusive by a long stretch. But I think it shows that the Big Ten is at least right there with the Big XII.
I wouldn't sell Illinois short. They won't win the B10, but they hung in against Ohio State and MSU with a freshman QB. Their defense is quite good, they can run, and have had very good special teams play. They have a very good shot at going 6-2 in the B10 and going to a major bowl.
Popeye_Card wrote:Not sure if the Big XII is automatically the 2nd best conference. Big Ten and Pac 10 are right there with them.
Yeah. Illinois gave Missouri all they wanted, and they are an also-ran in the Big Ten. I realize that comparison is not conclusive by a long stretch. But I think it shows that the Big Ten is at least right there with the Big XII.
I wouldn't sell Illinois short. They won't win the B10, but they hung in against Ohio State and MSU with a freshman QB. Their defense is quite good, they can run, and have had very good special teams play. They have a very good shot at going 6-2 in the B10 and going to a major bowl.
Oh, I'm not selling them short. I think they're a very good team. But even at that, they will finish somewhere near the middle of the pack in the Big Ten.
I just think it's difficult to say conclusively that one conference is better than another at this point.
I worry about the Big 12 championship game. Beating Oklahoma once was amazing, beating them twice in one season? Is that even possible for Missouri? My hope is that Oklahoma puts up a doozy against Oklahoma State or Baylor and loses the big 12 south. They have a habit of not showing up on occasion and losing a head scratcher under Stoops. Of course, they never do that against Missouri.
Missouri's next four opponents are 19-10. Nebraksa and K-State are definitely good enough to pull off an upset, and Texas Tech / Iowa State aren't exactly terrible this year.
I think 12-1 is like best-case scenario, and I expect 11-2. Even the elite college teams have trouble beating other elite teams 3 times in a season, i'm not going to expect Missouri to do it.
Transmogrified Tiger wrote:"Gave Mizzou all they wanted" is an...interesting way of phrasing the results of that game.
Really, all I meant is that Illinois was within striking distance late into the 4th quarter. I didn't mean to imply that Illinois is or was as good as Missouri.
Beating OU was huge, but means very little if we lose to Nebraska. A loss to Neb makes the OU game a fluke type upset. We'll plummet in the polls and the nation/recruits will believe we're the same ole Mizzou. Beating Nebraska really solidifies the win over OU, moves us up in the polls, and if that happens MU also moves up in the BCS, And would mean that the Tigers rolled through a three game stretch as tough as any other team might face (No offense to the SEC where all their teams have these kinds of stretches it seems).
I'll be honest, I'm afraid of three games.
Next week - we've got to beat NU
if we win, then he week after - have to avoid the let down after beating OU and NU in back to back weeks (just guessing that has never happened).
And then if we are undefeated, that stupid KU game at the end looms. A crappy team with nothing to lose wanting desparately to validate their existence against a national championship contender and oh yeah the rivalry on top of that.
Shoot, then you have to consider the Big 12 championship game and a possible rematch with OU on "neutral" ground. Or a tough OSU, (Don't see Baylor holding it down with their tough schedule remaining - but if they do, then that makes them pretty formidable as well)...
I'll have no fingernails by the end of the season if Mizzou goes undefeated...
