ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

And you just thought that The Wall Street Journal was good for the stock tables and stories about fiduciary accounts.

The Journal has a very underrated sports section and an emerging blog. Staff writer Darren Evenson had an intriguing post a few days back that detailed how experience in the offensive line usually is a pretty good indicator of a college football team's eventual success.

The study indicates that eight of the teams that finished last season in The Associated Press' final 2008 top 10 poll had at least 65 combined offensive line starts at the beginning of the season.

And three of the more notable disappointments last season -- Missouri, Clemson and Georgia -- all had fewer than 40 starts.

The study also broke down the offensive line starts for nearly every FBS team in the nation, including all of the Big 12 teams. Here's how teams in the conference rank heading into the 2009 season, courtesy of the The Wall Street Journal:

• Texas: 91
• Oklahoma State: 86
• Baylor: 66
• Iowa State: 61
• Nebraska: 61
• Kansas State: 57
• Missouri: 56
• Texas A&M: 56
• Texas Tech: 52 
• Colorado: 48
• Oklahoma: 29
• Kansas: 26

The statistics are intriguing for several reasons. Maybe Texas and Oklahoma State can fulfill their lofty preseason expectations because of veteran offensive lines. And Baylor's experience -- even after losing starting tackles Jason Smith and Dan Gay from last season -- could be a huge factor in the Bears making their first bowl appearance since 1994.

The other item that strikes me is the lack of experience from Oklahoma and Kansas. The Sooners will have the least returning experience in the trenches of any team Bob Stoops has ever coached there. It will be interesting to see how that factors into their hopes of being able to claim an unprecedented four-peat of Big 12 titles.

And early North contender Kansas will have the least offensive line experience among any Big 12 teams. How will that play a part in the Jayhawks' hopes of claiming their first undisputed North title?

The national average is 61 games of experience, meaning only Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas are above the national benchmark.

(Hat tip to the Dallas Morning News).