“I'm never disrespectful. I've been pretty direct. I'm a very direct person. I'm pretty black and white. I understand people have a job to do, and you guys have a job to do. I'm very direct, I'm very to the point. That's who I am.”

-- Bo Pelini, Nebraska Football Head Coach.

Read the entire blog, "Bo: I'm Getting Calmer with Media, Zebras" on Husker Locker October 20, 2009.

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Grim and a little frustrated, Missouri Coach Gary Pinkel hustled up to the podium Tuesday at the Big 12 Media Days and immediately apologized for a delay at the Dallas airport that left him tardy for his appointed engagement.

Not long after Pinkel settled in, he was quickly peppered with queries about the immense talent – especially on offense – that he lost in the offseason to the NFL. Chase Daniel. Chase Coffman. Jeremy Maclin.

First, replacing Daniel, that love him/hate him quarterback that put Mizzou in the national spotlight and won two straight Big 12 North titles.

Pinkel shot straight: Former prep phenom (and Nebraska commit) Blaine Gabbert is the guy.

“Any time you have a transition quarterback,” Pinkel said, “everybody sits back and goes, ‘Wow, what's going to happen?’ When you lose a high level guy like that, hopefully, we can replace him with a high-level guy.”

Pinkel said he’ll bring along Gabbert, a sophomore, much as he did Daniel in his corresponding season. Daniel was inconsistent in 2006, alternating between excellent and average. He made “the leap” in 2007. Pinkel’s hoping the same for Gabbert.

He’s not so sure Maclin, the receiving and return whiz, can be replaced. But, he added, this version of the Tigers was his fastest.

On replacing two coordinators, Pinkel referenced the “Bill Belichick approach” of training and promoting from within. Pinkel the admitted he hasn’t lost two coaches, much less coordinators, in nine years at Mizzou.

***

Baylor’s Art Briles delighted the media with clever lines and quick answers. Briles kept referring to “turning hope into happen” throughout his interviews, because, at this point, that the Bears’ next step.

Briles talked a lot of about his quarterback, Robert Griffin, the fast, gifted sophomore quarterback. Griffin has helped with TV exposure, with recruiting, with fan recognition, with everything.

But Griffin, and his Bear teammates, won’t be sneaking up on anyone in 2008. Teams that narrowly escaped with wins – like Missouri, Nebraska and Texas Tech – learned their lesson.

“People are going to approach us differently on the other side, in other staff rooms and on other practice fields because they're going to come into Baylor with a different mindset than they did a year ago,” Briles said. “We understand that. We understand we're going to have to rise up and be better in all facets
of the game, not only physically, to deal with the charges that are going to come our way.”


Briles drew laughs for his stories about accompanying Jason Smith to the NFL Draft, and his comments on the wardrobe of some of his questioners. Briles is going to make an interesting push in the Big 12 South. He’s the first with the raw charm to recruit head-to-head with Mack Brown. His program doesn’t have the facilities, it doesn’t have the tradition, and it doesn’t have any recent success. But Baylor does have Briles.


***


There’s a curious, gentlemanly quality to the way Kansas Coach Mark Mangino handles himself in front of media. You tend to see a lot of different sides of the guy. You see the pride, the attention to detail, the self-made aspect. Just about every coach brings that to the table. But with Mangino it’s something a little more – a vulnerability, perhaps? A love for the little guy?


The coach talked with great care about recruiting quarterback Todd Reesing to KU several years ago, about how Reesing, tiny as he was, just had a confidence, a style, a belief that belied his looks. You could see why that might impress a guy like Mangino, who gets more comments about his appearance than he did his coaching.


Yes, Reesing runs around a little too much – and sometimes gets himself in trouble for doing it.


“But that's what makes him unique, you know, the idea that he believes in himself and that
he can make plays when there's not one,” Mangino said. “Kind of really reflects his personality; that he always thinks he can overcome. He always wants to prove the opposition wrong. Those traits have served him well.”


Good coaches tend to know – what’s best for each player is to fulfill their potential…through their own personality.


Also appreciated that Mangino admitted he likes to recruit “tough” players – read, guys a little rough around the edges – and that “sometimes we fail in that area, but we like kids that love to play this
game.”


***


Mr. Heisman and Big Game Bob was last to appear Tuesday, as Oklahoma took the podium.


The big questions for OU, of course, revolved around its offensive line. Everything else about the Sooners – QB Sam Bradford, the running backs, the extraordinary defense – is in place. But the line, which must replace three starters, remains a weakness.


“Mistakes they were making on day one, day two, they weren’t making on day 14 and day 15,” Bradford said. “I think we still need that progress once we’re in camp.”


Bradford also touched upon the “frustration” of never having won a bowl game. Especially when reporters, who have to find something negative about the kid, ask so often.


“It’s not something we like to do – “oh, we had a good season, let’s lose the last game,’” he said. “It’s starting to really to get to everyone.”



At one time, Bradford didn’t much care for the no-huddle offense, either.


“When we first switched to it, I didn’t it like it,” Bradford said. “It just seemed like chaos, it seemed like no one was on the same page. It sucked. If you would have seen us trying to run it the first couple days, you would have thought it was just a disaster.


“But the more time we spent on it, and the better we got, the more I fell love with it.”

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Mike Gundy breezed into the Big 12 Media Days Monday looking like a lawyer out of a Sydney Pollack movie or something. Light grey suit, purple tie, a little pocket blush to match.

Let his 15 minutes begin.

It’s Gundy’s Oklahoma State crew who goes on the clock in 2009 as the hot upstart team in the Big 12, and it was OSU that got the most attention – just slightly more than Nebraska and Texas A&M - on day one.

The Cowboys have arguably their biggest non-conference game in history on opening weekend, hosting Georgia. Gundy, whose spiky hair can sometimes match his demeanor, was all smiles and business on Monday.

“Oklahoma State is better off now as a football than we’ve ever been,” Gundy said. “Because of where we’re at, the continuity we have and the new facility we have and the direction we’re going. But we’ve got to earn it.”

Gundy fielded questions of all kinds, but two subjects came up the most: Zac Robinson and that last richly-paid assistant that’s supposed to put OSU over the top, defensive coordinator Bill Young.

“He’s mature, confident,” Gundy said. “He’s been great for us in the staff room. He’s a great hire for us. The players like him. They’ll adapt to the system.”

Gundy added Young’s defense will fit his talented trio of linebackers “to a T.”

***

Best story of the day had to go to A&M Coach Mike Sherman, who was watching football games on Thanksgiving weekend – depressed, since his Aggies had just finished a losing season by getting hammered by Colt McCoy and Texas – when his 9-year-old daughter plopped down in his lap, sensing her daddy’s sadness.

Sherman expected to hear those three magic words.

He heard three words, all right.

“She said ‘Daddy, get over it,’” Sherman said to a media room of laughter.

And so Sherman has tried. Sounding a great deal like former Nebraska coach Bill Callahan, Sherman, an offensive line guru and former NFL coach, too, said the Aggies struggled in 2008 in large part because of…wait for it…the transition to a West Coast Style offense.

“You have to put it on me, the transition part of it,” Sherman said. “It didn’t go as well as we had hoped.”

But the adversity of a 4-8 season, Sherman said, “brought the team closer together.” In the spring, A&M finally started acting like a “a team that competed in practice every day.”

As if this didn’t happen under Dennis Franchione, apparently. Isn’t that always the way?

In a Callahanesque manner, Sherman pointed to his most recent recruiting class “as a stimulus package of our own, so to speak,” especially along the offensive line, where the Aggies played hurt and hobbled throughout 2008.

***

Iowa State Coach Paul Rhoads was practically jumping out of his skin with passion at his first Media Days as head coach. Rhoads, a native Iowan whose “mom and dad live 20 minutes” from Jack Trice Stadium, is trying to resurrect, once again, an ISU program from the ashes of an awful season. In 2008, it was an ugly 2-10 campaign that saw the Cyclones lose their last ten games of the year.

Rhoads previously worked under Dan McCarney at ISU in the late 1990s, so he’s seen one coach do it. And Iowa State, in terms of facilities and player development, is well ahead of where it was back then.

“We used have every practice outside in some awful weather,” Rhoads said, and he’s probably not complaining. Trice is set up like a wind tunnel, and, past October, the practice conditions are somewhere close to frigid.

As far as expectations, Rhoads won’t put a win total on it. Good idea. He may want to forego that next year, too, when Oklahoma and Texas move onto the schedule.

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I found it to be a small, ironic moment during Bo Pelini’s appearance at the Big 12 Media Days Monday in Dallas.

A clever reporter asked Bo to remember his brush-up with Kansas State coach Bill Snyder after NU’s 38-9 loss to KSU – the loss many believed nailed Frank Solich’s coffin closed for good. Pelini confronted Snyder after the final gun – and rightly so - because he felt the Wildcat coach kept his starters in too long against virtual scout teamers that Pelini had inserted because they were seniors.

“Water under the bridge,” Pelini called it.

Ironic because, as I listened and watched Pelini on Monday, he sounded a lot like, well, Bill Snyder. Guarded. Cautious. Mindful of tempering expectations, or high talk of any kind. Pelini even said it his job to keep the Huskers “grounded.”

“We’re worried about putting in a good, hard day’s work every single day and keep putting that money in the bank, money in the bank, so when it comes to Saturday, we’re prepared and ready to go,” Pelini said.

On his defense: “Our level of execution consistently wasn’t where it needed to be. Part of that is coaching. Part of that is players being held accountable…we played good, good, good and then we’d have a bust and give up an explosive play.”

And Pelini delivered all of his answers in that low, direct tone of his. He doesn’t shirk questions, per se. But he continually gets better at sidestepping them. He won’t spin 15 minutes of coachspeak quite like Snyder will when he takes the podium, but Bo’s tolerance of the media, is, shall we say, mild.

Does that mean Pelini and Snyder are similar on the practice field, or in private? No, probably not as much. Certainly their gameday demeanors…diverge. But their manner in front of the media – focus on the process, play down individual praise, be as vague as possible about roster changes or potential injuries – is like-minded. They both prefer long practices. Both handpicked young, energetic staffs (although nobody works them quite like Snyder) and both have their own recruiting methodology that shuns star rankings.

When Pelini was referring to that “sense of dread” his Huskers felt that first winter and spring, during conditioning drills that his brother, Carl, once said were so hard that even he began to feel sorry for the team, I thought of the meticulous, mirthless, merciless Snyder, who once had Carl Pelini on his staff.

They are two men who love putting their players through tough work – and talking about it.

Again – don’t carry the comparison too far. They come from different backgrounds. Their journeys to the top couldn’t be any different. Pelini has a sense of humor. Snyder reportedly caught it one summer in the Tuttle Creek Reservoir, but threw it back.

Snyder’s original mission at Kansas State – and Pelini’s mission now – are different, and difficult in their own ways. Snyder built nothing into a national title contender, but got a decade to do it. Let’s face it: Husker fans expect Pelini to have NU contending for the BCS title game in 2010, when the schedule stars align and that vaunted Callahan recruiting class of 2007 turns into seniors.

“All of the expectations, that’s for the fans,” Pelini said Monday.

Pelini prefers to measure success in his satisfaction level. And that water mark won’t be met until the Huskers win the Big 12 title.

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As one of three Nebraska representatives at Big 12 Media Days, running back Roy Helu, Jr basically has to answer questions about the entire scope of the offense, including quarterback Zac Lee.

But his most telling comment was about the Huskers' receivers: "Niles Paul is our best receiver. I'll say that right out. And we know that. The explosiveness he has that hasn't been shown yet is amazing. I really hope this is the breakout because he has so much potential."

Helu said NU has been throwing the ball deep in 7-on-7 sessions; not surprising, since Lee has a 70-yard arm. He added that the wide receiver position looks "way different" from 2008 with Paul, Antonio Bell and Marcus Mendoza showing off their jets.

See also: Bo Pelini audio.

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Nebraska’s back?

Not yet, NU head coach Bo Pelini said Monday at the Big 12 Media Days, in Irving, Texas.

While the Huskers certainly enjoyed improvement in 2008 with a 9-4 campaign that included a four-game winning streak to end the season, and while the Cornhuskers took big strides in shoring up the defense, Pelini repeated a mantra he wore out through much of last year: He’s still not satisfied.

And neither are his players.

“Our players don't feel Nebraska's back,” Pelini said to the assembled media. “Our expectations in the program are very, very high. I think (the team) is starting to feel the momentum from last season.”

In an interview with a Big 12 TV reporter, Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Ndamukong Suh agreed.

“Those wins were great to have, but now we have to carry that into fall camp,” Suh said. “And then we’ve got to move that forward into the fall season.”

The big questions for Pelini and Co. at Media Day? Zac Lee, the running backs, and that gooey “are you back, really, really back?” question.

Lee, not present for the event, got nothing but praise from his head coach, who called him a “natural leader.”

Pelini dropped one of his lines when speaking about his defense, which never quit last year, but still gave up a ton of big plays, especially in the first quarter of games: “We're not in the same galaxy of where we want to be."

On the team’s overall strength, Pelini said depth remains a weakness – especially on the defensive line – but that enough “resources” are in place to beat any team on the schedule.

“How that equates to wins and losses, we'll see," he said.

And the moment he will be satisfied?

“When we’re playing for a national championship,” he said.

Notes:

*Jaivorio Burkes is no longer on the team, Pelini said. No further explanation. Don’t need any, really. Burkes wasn’t healthy enough to play, and Nebraska probably isn’t the best place for a guy who wants to play, but can’t, and is 1,000 miles from home.

*Pelini confirmed that linebacker Matt Holt will likely redshirt this fall with a shoulder injury.

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Stick with Husker Locker, which will provide stories and commentary from the Big 12 Media Days, starting with Nebraska's appearance on Monday.

Bo Pelini's press conference can be found here.

We'll have audio of it afterward for Locker Passmembers. If you want to be a Locker Pass member and hear this audio as part of a 30-day free trial, click here.

The Media Days are being held in Irving, Texas, which is right close to the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, which will host the Big 12 Championship this year. The high point of the trip, such as it is for media members, will be a tour of the stadium.

Expect to hear a greal deal about it.

Here, we'll keep our nose to the grindstone and give you the news as it comes. Thanks Husker fans!

See also: Due, North

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The season may not bear it out – water has, after all, been turned into wine a couple times – but one should expect the Big 12 Media Days, starting Monday in Dallas, to be a three-day tour and discussion of the Great Divide between the dominant South Division and relatively bedraggled North.

For it’s no longer just a question of Texas and Oklahoma rising above the other ten teams of the Big 12. It is, now, Texas Tech doing so in 2008. And Oklahoma State, poised to do so in 2009. And Baylor, the permanent member of the Big 12 basement, the Gregor Samsa of the bunch, hiring the right coach in Art Briles, who recruited the right quarterback in Robert Griffin, and has the right Texas high school connections. Suddenly, when you check offer lists and comments from the best players in Texas, some of them have Baylor right at the top. That’s how quickly lightning can strike.

Now, it’s not just Mack and “Big Game Bob,” but that West Texas pirate, Mike Leach, getting headlines. Childish or not, OSU coach Mike Gundy’s rant two years ago about a newspaper column won his team attention, and, somewhat surprisingly, praise from other corners of the media. Even Texas A&M, which stunk last year, is putting together a Callahan-style monster class for 2010 – already 18 verbal commitments, many of them top-line players.

The South has the money, the organization, the commitment, and the Mojo.

The North isn’t exactly floundering – Missouri and Kansas have gained a foothold of success, while Nebraska seems to have returned back to its core values, if not that classic option style.

But it is still recovering from its Dark Ages, that period between 2002-2006 when only one Big 12 North team – that 2003 Kansas State squad with Darren Sproles and Ell Roberson – could even manage to compete with the South. Colorado – a team rocked by recruiting allegations and the Katie Hnida scandal – still managed to win three league titles in that span. It then lost its three Big 12 title games by a combined score 141-13. Iowa State blew two North titles on the last day of the regular season, in overtime. Nebraska mostly played Humpty Dumpty during that time, while Missouri couldn’t shake its inconsistency, and KU was in the earliest, ugliest years of what’s become the quite successful Mark Mangino era.

Nebraska had moderate success during this period, but know this: That was more attributable the mediocrity of the competition than the excellence of the Cornhuskers.

Since that awful era, CU hasn’t really moved out of the fog, Kansas State went back to the old master, Bill Snyder, and Missouri and KU gamely filled the vacuum. But the Jayhawks were thumped thrice last year by UT, OU and Tech, while Missouri took its lumps from OSU, Texas and Oklahoma. A game that symbolized the chasm the best was probably Mizzou’s trip to Baylor, a game won, just barely, by the Tigers, 31-28. Here was the most potent team in Missouri history, playing the basement boys in their half-empty stadium. Baylor only had a handful of really good players – maybe eight – and that was nearly enough to win. The best team in the North. The second-worst in the South. Nearly even.

Telling.

So was this: On the Big 12 media’s all-conference squad, just five of the 26 members were from the Big 12 North. Not even 20 percent.

And for good reason: The South has most of the big-name talent in 2009. Certainly four of the five best quarterbacks in Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, Robert Griffin and Zac Robinson. Certainly the best offensive linemen. Certainly the best running backs (although I’d take Roy Helu over any one of them except Kendall Hunter).

This divide of talent and experience is big enough as to inform which team will win the Big 12 North. Kansas, presumably the strongest club with a crucial home game vs. Nebraska, has to face OU, Texas and Texas Tech in the same year. That alone may take the Jayhawks out of the race. Missouri probably has the best go of it, getting Texas and Baylor at home. Meanwhile, Iowa State harbors realistic hopes of a bowl season simply by avoiding UT, OU and Tech.

Do you see any pundits piecing together the Big 12 North games for Oklahoma, Texas and Oklahoma State?

So. How to fix it? We’ll look at both solutions both socialist – stuff the Big 12 can do to level the playing field - and free market-based – stuff the North teams can do to help themselves.

Close the Divide: An interesting argument, put forward most recently here, is to dissolve divisions and just go at it, much like the Big Ten and Pac 10 do. But, then, determining the contenders for a conference championship game becomes iffy, and some teams (you can bet it’ll be NU, OU and UT) will be penalized for being popular, and thus playing each other year in, year out. In turn some team – think Wisconsin in the Big Ten – will benefit from avoiding one or more of those teams. We’ll pass.

Better Revenue Sharing: The SEC recognized several years ago that in order to promote competition within the league – to spur schools to stay motivated – it had to make sure they all shared equally in the TV money pot, which, as many of you know, is getting sweeter for the SEC all the time. The Big 12’s structure effectively helps the stronger, more popular teams more.

Some capitalist-types cringe at this kind of socialism, but think of it more as a significant tax break to the Big 12’s smaller businesses, Iowa State, Colorado and Baylor. ISU, in particular, is inching toward morphing into the Big 12’s first MAC school. It doesn’t have the local fanfare in Iowa or the advertising opportunities to realistically get its name out there.

Do Something about Holding: Big 12 fans were confused when the high-powered offenses of Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas Tech suddenly looked “less than” in their bowl games. With the refs no longer jamming their hands in their pockets, like they did during the Big 12 season, it suddenly became a lot harder to stave off blitzes. Holding isn’t called nearly enough, but it was an epidemic in 2008. And all it does is help the better team.

Build at Home: There’s nothing wrong with hiring an assistant coach with great ties in Texas. But, sooner or later, all you’re doing eating the leftovers Texas, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and, yes, Baylor don’t want. The Texas pipeline will never be closed. But the entrance is a little narrower than it used to be.

Which is why Big 12 North programs have to do a better job of reaching into the high school levels to begin integrating their style of play and telling the coaches specifically: This is the kind of guy we want. And not just preferred walk-ons. Guys who are worth giving a scholarship to.

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One day after the media selected Nebraska to win the Big 12 North, it tabbed NU defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh its Preseeason Player of the Year in the league. Suh finished 76 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss and two defensive touchdowns.

No Blackshirt has won the award since Grant Wistrom in 1996 and 1997.

Suh is also on the Big 12's preseason first team.

He's joined there by kicker Alex Henery. Henery made 18-21 field goals last year, including a 57-yarder - The Kick Heard Round Nebraska - to help beat Colorado 40-31. Henery has a shot to be NU's punter in 2009, as well.

Sam Bradford beat out Colt McCoy for Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Baylor defensive tackle Phil Taylor - featured in our BU breakdown - won Newcomer of the Year.

On the entire first-team itself, there are only four players from the entire Big 12 North: Henery, Suh, Kansas receiver Dez Briscoe and KU defensive back Darrell Stuckey. Texas, surprisingly, only has four players. Oklahoma has twice as many, with eight. Oklahoma State boasts five.

Read the entire list here.

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In preparation for Big 12 Media Days, Husker Locker will be counting down and breaking down each of the teams in the conference. We hope you view this series as more interesting, comprehensive and definitive than what you may find elsewhere. Where we can make strong takes – we will.

We rank the teams 12 to 1 in overall strength. Then we’ll provide for you the North/South breakdown – and the preseason All Big 12 team, as well.

Enjoy!

Today: No. 9 Baylor

Coach:Art Briles
2008 Record: 5-7

What’s Changed Since 2008: Expectations! All of the sudden, the national media knows where Waco is. Thank Briles and QB Robert Griffin, who wowed a lot of folks in a lot of losing causes. There’s now talk of the first Baylor bowl since 1994. The Bears have been the doormat of the Big 12 since its inception. Now, for once, there’s tangible hope.

2009 Non-Conference Schedule: It seems harder than it is, and is the key to BU’s bowl hopes. A game at Wake Forest isn’t only winnable – Baylor should win it; Wake’s due for a hard fall in 2009. Similarly, Connecticut lost a ton of talent to the NFL Draft and is starting at a five-win season. Northwestern State and Kent State are pushover wins. But take note: Pundits will be fooled if Baylor starts 4-0.

2009 Conference Schedule: And here’s why: BU still plays in the Big 12 South, and we don’t honestly see Baylor winning more than three league games. The schedule isn’t in the Bears’ favor. Home games vs. Oklahoma State and Texas don’t do Briles much good; Baylor won’t win them. Games at Missouri and Oklahoma don’t look promising either. That boils it down to winning three of these four: vs. Nebraska and Texas Tech (in Dallas) and at Iowa State and Texas A&M.

Offense: Spread/Mulitple
Coordinator:Briles, for intents and purposes. He’s smart, creative and a gambler. He incorporates elements of the old veer offense, Texas Tech’s “Air Raid,” I-formation, option football, and good, old-fashioned single-wing. Unlike some spread offenses, Briles has a package for short yardage situations. His offense is hard to stop, period. An NFL team should hire him.

Strength: Sophomore Griffin, the heir apparent to the Vince Young throne. In fact, Griffin (2,091 passing yards, 843 rushing yards) has more raw tools, if not the surrounding cast and offensive line. Griffin is faster and a smarter passer. But he doesn’t have Young/Tommie Frazier’s “literally impossible to sack” quality, though. Griffin tends to run around – a lot – East-West, and he got sacked 26 times last year. And now he won’t have that the franchise left tackle around to protect him. At running back, Jay Finley is a decent, bruising compliment.
Weakness:The offensive line needs to replace the two best tackles in recent school history, most notable Jason Smith, the first-round NFL Draft Pick who covered Griffin’s backside. The other tackle, Dan Gay, was a three-year starter.
Defense: 4-3
Coordinator: Brian Norwood, a Penn State guy who returned the Bears to some sanity in 2008, with a base scheme that takes advantage of the Bears’ talented safety Jordan Lake and a solid linebacker corps.

Strength: It’s really individual players, but expect Baylor to be pretty tough against the run. It has the 360-pound defensive lineman (Phil Taylor, a transfer from Penn State) to gum up the trenches, the tough-as-nails middle linebacker (Joe Pawelek) headed who reminds so much of Nebraska’s Barrett Ruud, and a free safety (Lake) who plays more like a strong safety against the run. The Bears will stack the box and force teams to beat them over the top

Weakness:Which teams will do. Baylor showed little ability to get to the QB in 2008, and teams completed 67.4 percent of their passes against the Bears. BU got a lot of turnovers, but 10 of them came in two games vs. Washington State (the worst major conference team we’ve ever seen) and Texas A&M. Always beware of the small sample size.

Special TeamsThe league’s best punter in Derek Epperson (38.8 yard average), and an up-and-coming kicker in Ben Parks, who made 6-of-9 tries last year. As a kick returner last year Mikail Baker average 25.3 yards per return and scored a touchdown. We expect receiver Kendall Wright to take over as the punt returner.

Intangibles: Casey Stadium is a morgue to play in, often half full of dispassionate, reasonably wealthy fans looking for a suntan. It’s simply no kind of home field advantage. It might be in 2009. But we’ll see. Usually, it’s home for the opposing team’s getaway day.

But BU has some intangibles in its favor. One of them is Briles, who is, right now, a smarter football coach than a lot of the guys in the Big 12. And he had the guts to put Griffin out there right away. Against all logical odds, Griffin rarely turned the ball over. And that’s because Briles put him in plays to succeed. It helped Baylor stay in a lot of games last year. A lot of coaches are just too stubborn to limit their playbook.

Best-Case Scenario: Baylor goes 4-0 in the non-conference and wins all four of those swing games, including beating Nebraska. We see at least four losses on Baylor’s slate no matter what.

Worst-Case Scenario: Griffin falls into a sophomore slump, and that defense is forced to bear too much of the burden of winning. Trust us: The defense can’t do it. The line isn’t good enough yet.

Our Take: It’ll come down to the last two games – A&M and Tech – as to whether Baylor makes a bowl. We think they do – at 6-6.

See other Big 12 Breakdowns: No. 12 ISU, No. 11 A&M, No. 10 CU, No. 9 BU, No. 8 KU, No. 7 KSU, No. 6 Texas Tech

Agree? Disagree?Tell us about it.

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In preparation for Big 12 Media Days, Husker Locker will be counting down and breaking down each of the teams in the conference. We hope you view this series as more interesting, comprehensive and definitive than what you may find elsewhere. Where we can make strong takes – we will.

We rank the teams 12 to 1 in overall strength. Then we’ll provide for you the North/South breakdown – and the preseason All Big 12 team, as well.

Enjoy!

Today: No. 10 Colorado

Coach:Dan Hawkins
2008 Record: 5-7

What’s Changed Since 2008: CU lost its offensive coordinator to Oregon, the Buffs switched back to the West Coast Offense, QB Matt Ballenger bolted, WR Josh Smith, the team’s most dynamic player, chose to bolt, too, in order to pursue a rap career (and play football). Hawkins, believing the only place a rap career can flourish, apparently, released Smith only to USC and UCLA. Top-notch running back recruit Darrell Scott lost 30 pounds. Hawkins made a “10 wins and no excuses” guarantee. He’d better have the excuses ready. An old lady left all of her money to CU upon her death. Hawkins went in the hospital for kidney stones.

2009 Non-Conference Schedule: Easier than it has been, but still no cakewalk. The toughest game on paper is a Thursday night trip to West Virginia after a bye date, but a Friday game at Toledo could be tricky, too. CU hosts Colorado State and Wyoming, the latter of which we identified as a potential upset.

2009 Conference Schedule: Tough road games at Texas and Oklahoma State practically bookend the schedule, but CU gets to host Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. That schedule advantage has led some pundits, most notably Phil Steele, to suggest the Buffaloes are headed for an upper division finish.

Offense: West Coast/Spread
Coordinator:Eric Kiseau, another young guy who takes over for the departed Mark Helfrich, who kept CU in the shotgun much of the time, using a modified spread rushing offense. Kiseau is a high-energy guy, but he prefers the control of the West Coast Offense. Kiseau has openly said his offense will resemble that of California, where he coached under Jeff Tedford.

Strength: Running backs. Colorado has three pretty good ones, and two of those three are potential stars. Sophomores Darrell Scott and Rodney Stewart – the first is built like a bowling ball, while the second is a 5-7 scatback - are an effective 1-2 punch, and senior Demetrius Sumler is good around the goal line. The offensive line, while young, has the potential, later in 2009, to be CU’s best in years. Sophomore guards Ryan Miller and Blake Behrens are both all-league candidates over the next two years.

Weakness:There just no way around it: Cody Hawkins has been the worst starting quarterback over the last two years in the Big 12. He gets sacked a lot, his adjusted yards per attempt average is under five – which is anemic, among the nation’s worst – and he throws interceptions. He may be smart. He may be Dan Hawkins’ kid. But he is not a good passer, and there is no indication that the more mobile Tyler Hansen, who is recovering from a broken thumb, is ready to replace him. Hansen looked awful in a 40-31 loss to Nebraska – like he didn’t belong on the field.

Beyond that, CU will have to adjust to a new offense. It’s going to take time, and the front of the Big 12 schedule, which includes games at Texas and vs. Kansas and Missouri, will be a tough test.

Defense: 4-3
Coordinator: Brian Cabral, the longtime CU assistant who has lasted through four different head coaches. It speaks to his personality and his talent of getting a lot out of a little. After going through some rough patches in 2003 and 2004, his defenses have been pretty solid, considering the anemic nature of the CU offense under Hawkins.

Strength: Cabral is a linebackers coach at heart, and he’s always got a pretty good crew. No exception in 2009, as the team’s two leading tacklers, Shaun Mohler and Jeff Smart, both return. Jon Major, one of the nation’s recruits in 2008, redshirted last year, and may fill a starting role now. Also look for former NU commit Doug Rippy, a redshirt, to get some playing time. The secondary could be pretty good if two new safeties can support solid corners Cha’pelle Brown and Jimmy Smith.

Weakness:The defensive line was raided by graduation. Gone is George Hypolite, Brandon Nicolas and Maurice Lucas. That’s more than 100 tackles. You don’t just replace that in a few weeks of play, no matter how talented the replacements are. And there’s some evidence that they may not be as talented. Colorado will struggle to generate a pass rush without blitzing.

Special Teams The big weapon in the kickoff and punt return game, Josh Smith, is off working on his flow. Matt DiLallo wasn’t much of a punter for the alititude he kicks in (just a 34.0 net average) and Aric Goodman was positively awful at kicker last year, missing 9 of 14 attempts.

Intangibles: Colorado seems to play Nebraska well since Hawkins arrival – even that awful 2006 team hung with NU for a half - and that may color Huskers’ fans concern for the Buffs. In recent years, however, CU seems utterly flummoxed when playing Missouri. Hawkins is an emotional leader, and his teams tend to go into the Big 12 conference with some emotion. Then it hits a brick wall. There’s just a lot of bad voodoo around this joint in general. Hawkins is probably getting fired after this year. Then…expect a full push for Turner Gill.

Best-Case Scenario: It’s not 10 wins, that’s for sure. Maybe eight. CU isn’t going to sweep KU, NU and MU and it’s got no shot on the road at Okie State and Texas.

Worst-Case Scenario: The Buffs drop two before the Big 12, lose to Texas and Kansas, and Hawkins goes on execution watch. Colorado won’t mess around waiting for the Hawk to make it work. His offenses have stunk thus far. And it’s not all Gary Barnett’s fault for leaving the cupboard bare.

Our Take: We just don’t get Phil Steele’s vision here for picking CU No. 2 in the Big 12 North. While the Buffs might have a pretty good running game, it’d better be wondrous to account for a below-average passing game. On defense, Colorado’s small defensive line figures to get shoved around. We see four, five wins, depending on whether Iowa State upsets CU in Ames.

See other Big 12 Breakdowns: No. 12 ISU, No. 11 A&M, No. 10 CU, No. 9 BU, No. 8 KU, No. 7 KSU, No. 6 Texas Tech

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Even though some writers in Missouri find it absolutely nuts to do so, the media went ahead and did it anyway, picking Nebraska’s football team to win the Big 12 North in a preseason poll released Thursday.

NU got 17 of 32 first place votes and 172 points overall. Kansas was picked second with 12 first place votes and 164 total points. Two-time defending North champion Missouri, Colorado, Kansas State and Iowa State rounded out the North side.

In the South, Texas and Oklahoma technically tied for first with 174 total points, but UT got two more first-place votes. That means some voter placed the Longhorns third, presumably behind Oklahoma State. OSU finished third in the South poll, followed by Texas Tech, Baylor and Texas A&M.

The votes:

North Division
1. Nebraska (17) 172
2. Kansas (12) 164
3. Missouri (3) 124
4. Colorado 100
5. Kansas State 81
6. Iowa State 33

South Division
1. Texas (17) 174
1. Oklahoma (15) 174
3. Oklahoma State 130
4. Texas Tech 89
5. Baylor 75
6. Texas A&M 33


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Nebraska's first up at the Big 12 Media Days, showing up in Dallas on July 27.

And if you had any doubt about the importance and leadership of junior running back Roy Helu, you shouldn't: He was one of the three head coach Bo Pelini chose to speak on behalf of the team, along with center Jacob Hickman and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

We knew it wouldn't be Zac Lee, as he hasn't "officially" won the QB job until sometime this fall.

But Helu, just a junior, has emerged as a unique role model on this NU team. The guy wears his faith and heart on his sleeve, and he's become what Shawn Watson and, yes, Bill Callahan, thought he would: A complete back. Plus, he should be an interesting interview down there. He doesn't always give the most likely answer.

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