I've been inspired by the boys at the Big Ten Blog, and this should be a fun walk through each week in the new-look Big 12 next season. I'll pick one game a week during the season that I'd attend if it were entirely up to me. I don't make the call, and things change as games are played of course, but right now, this is how it'd look if it were up to me. I'll include road nonconference games, too.
Week 1: West Virginia vs. Marshall
Here's the week 2 slate in the Big 12:
Iowa State at Iowa
Kansas vs. Rice
Kansas State vs. Miami
Oklahoma vs. Florida A&M
Oklahoma State at Arizona
TCU vs. Grambling
Texas vs. New Mexico
Texas Tech at Texas State
My pick: Kansas State vs. Miami
Last year's game was a classic, and this should be a good one, too. The Hurricanes will have played a Big 12 team in three of the past four seasons and the last two have been great. Kansas State got a big jolt to its season when it beat the Hurricanes (then in an upset--K-State was a double-digit underdog) on a goal-line stand in the game's final seconds.
Of all the teams in the top half of the Big 12, K-State, which will start the season somewhere around the top 15, is the most likely to underachieve. Its unorthodox style in contrast to the rest of the Big 12, paired with success in close games means duplicating last year's 10-win season could prove difficult.
Want to shut that idea up? Beat Miami and do it soundly. Kansas State should be favored in this one, and the Hurricanes are still dealing with this spring's NCAA scandal. At some point in every season, every top 15 team gets its chance to give people some proof that its preseason ranking is deserved. This will be K-State's first real opportunity.
I'd love to be there and check it out in person. Where would you want to go?
