Big 12 Quoteboard: Ranking The Big 12 After The First Month

It pretty much seems like everyone is coming out with their own version of Big 12 Power Rankings (ours will be out later today) and why not, after all we are bloggers and that sparks conversation. Big XII Hoops has their version out. 

1.     Oklahoma: The high tempo offense of the Sooners has the entire country outside of SEC territory graveling. Their passing attack is among the top ten teams in the country and after a little tune up game with Ball State, they are ready for Texas next week.

2.     Oklahoma State: The Brandon Weeden to Justin Blackmon show has Oklahoma State in the BCS conversation. Their running game has also picked up the slack for the pass combo. Running back Joseph Randle has seven touchdowns this season and could reach at least 15 by season's end.  

3.    Texas: The Longhorns are still the king of football in Texas. Their defense have allowed an average of 15 points per game, which is good for 16th in the country. They play their archrival Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry and their two-quarterback system might cost them the game next week.

Of course Big XII Hoops isn't the only conference site out there ranking the teams. 

1. Oklahoma 

Last Week Result: W vs Ball State
Last Rank: 2 
Votes:
#1 - Sam, Royal, King
#2 - Cincy, Yachoff
Comments:
Sam- I know. I know. I still think we have a 1a and 1b, but right now, Bedlam on a neutral field, with my life on the line, I would probably take OU.
Cincy - How good are they?
Royal -  Best resume so far. I've got them barely edging out our beloved Pokes. The RRR should tell us a lot more.
King - FSU is trying to doom the sooners SOS and are doing a fine job of it. Ball state w means nothing, that was more of a pre-Texas scrimmage. What will it take for me to put OSU number 1? Well, A&M and zona not completely sucking would have helped, but regardless of what OU does this week, if we get through @UT and @mizzou and are 7-0, OU gets downgraded. 
Yachoff - This is a reflection of OU falling in the real polls, too.

Cowboys Ride For Free

The SBN Iowa State blog has a new editor and a new name. They are stoked about the latest BlogPoll rankings. 

Yep, you read that right. Somehow Iowa State got 2 votes in the Top 25. Thanks to Cowboys Ride For Free and Eagle in Atlanta for getting super wasted before filling out their ballots. - Wide Right & Natty Lite    

Rock Chalk Talk has been one of the most consistent sites out there when it comes to Big 12 Power Rankings. They've also consistently had Oklahoma at #1. 

1. Oklahoma

How They Fared: 62-6 win over Ball State

Previous Ranking NC

It was as if the Sooners had a bye week this week.  Ball State put up very little fight in Norman and the Sooners had an opportunity to take it easy and put the finishing touches on things before the Red River Shootout against Texas.  Looks like this game matters once again.  Not that it ever stopped, but it sure felt like it had maybe lost some luster headed into this year.  Not the case anymore.

With the OU/Texas game just days away the anticipation is building and questions are in the air. SBN's Texas site does a pretty good job at education Texas fans and entertaining just about everyone else. They would like you to think its tongue-and-cheek but I really think they might just be that dumb. 

It's the best week of the year: Texas vs OU in the Cotton Bowl.  The Texas State Fair, corn dogs, football, carnies working the fair, carnies wearing crimson... It's all wonderful.  Even the 50% of it that's awful is wonderful.  After all, you can't have pretty without ugly.

For many of us, the Red River Shootout is a birthright, but there are always a number of questions about the big game. To help you out, I've put together a handy FAQ for your reference, touching on the rivalry overall, as well as a bit on this year's Oklahoma team.  These are all facts, verifiable on Wikipedia. Maybe.

Q:  What is the all-time series record between Texas and Oklahoma?

A:  The 2011 game will be the 106th meeting in the rivalry.  The Allies lead the series over the Axis 59-41-5.

Q:  Um, didn't Hank Williams Jr. just get cut from Monday Night Football for comparing the President to Hitler? Should we refrain from making comparisons between Oklahoma and genocidaires?

A:  We were as surprised as you were that Hank Williams Jr. didn't know that Hitler was reborn in the body of Bob Stoops.  - Burnt Orange Nation

Here at CCM we're taking a little more of a business approach to the game. 

Much like the Florida State game earlier this season, the OU offense vs. their opponent's defense will once again be the marquee match-up this Saturday.  The Sooners success, especially in this game more often than not, is establishing the run and using that to set up play action pass game.  The advantage they have again this year is the multitude of options available to them in the pass game.  Texas, under the leadership of new DC Manny Diaz, has proven to be and sure to continue to be just as multiple however.  The Longhorns have shown a plethora of looks on the defensive side of the ball all the while surely holding some special little wrinkles back for this game just like both teams do every year.  - Crimson And Cream Machine

Texas Tech is prepping for Texas A&M this weekend. I just wonder if the coaches are telling their players, "we'll win if we play four quarters"?

WHAT TEXAS TECH CAN EXPECT | An offense that's still really good, led by two near 100 yard rushers in Christine Michael (102 YPG) and Cyrus Gray(90.75 YPG). The Aggies have the 9th best offense in the nation in total yards and the 15th best rushing offense and the 23rd best pass offense. QB Ryan Tannehill is struggling a bit (just a bit) in that he's thrown 6 touchdowns and 5 interceptions and he's completing 68% of his passes, but only averaging 7.7 yards per attempt. He's been good, but not as good as I thought he would be. The Aggies do have a veteran offensive line that helps lead the aforementioned rushing attack. Perhaps the best way to explain the Aggies defense is that in the first half, the Aggies are only permitting opposing quarterbacks to complete 60.8% of their passes and only allowed 2 touchdowns and have 2 interceptions. In the second half, it's a different story as the Aggies permit 69.7% completion rate, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. The TAMU pass defense only gave up 268 passing yards against SMU and 131 against Idaho, but it was quite different the past two weeks. Against Oklahoma St. the Aggies gave up 438 yards and a passer rating of 150.65 (that's pretty good) and and 510 yards against Arkansas and a passer rating of 162.23 (that's outstanding). So let's see, Texas Tech likes to pass and has been a very good second half team. I smell a reason to win. The rush defense for TAMU is stingy and still hasn't give up more than 80 yards in any game thus far. The one thing that the Aggies having going for them from a passing perspective is that they will get to the quarterback and lead the nation in sacks at 4.50 per game. Those numbers are a bit skewed as TAMU had 8.0 sacks against SMU, but to have 18.0 sacks and have at least 3.0 sacks in every game is pretty good. - Double T Nation    

Rock M Nation agrees with me that it should be Alabama and not LSU atop the BlogPoll. 

I wish that the Blogpoll software offered an option to tie teams instead of having to make clear declarative differences between them. Of course, if it could do that, I would probably have six teams numbered 20 each week at the bottom of the poll.

However it would allow for me to hedge a little bit about Alabama and LSU, although based on the performances this past week, I have the Crimson Tide as number one. While LSU didn't lose to Kentucky or anything, I feel better about Alabama's performance in the Swamp at night than I did about LSU's daytime win at home over the Wildcats. - Rock M Nation