Big 12 North race scrambled while South appears set
November, 9, 2009
Nov 9
10:30
AM ET
Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin
As one Big 12 divisional race appears nearly settled, the other division is scrambled heading into the final three weeks of the season.
Texas can nail down its first Big 12 South title since its 2005 national championship season with a combination of two victories, two Oklahoma State losses or one Texas Tech loss. The Longhorns have the tiebreaker over all of the major remaining contenders in the South with previous victories over OSU, Tech and Oklahoma. It's looking almost certain that the Longhorns will represent the South in the Dec. 5 championship game.
The North became a little clearer after Kansas State’s victory over Kansas and Nebraska’s upset over Oklahoma pushed those two teams into the driver’s seat in the division. The Wildcats (4-2 in conference play) have a half-game lead over the Cornhuskers (3-2). Both have a one-game lead over third-place Colorado (2-3) and a two-game lead over the three other teams with four losses.
The Wildcats can wrap up their first division title since 2003 with one more victory and two Nebraska losses. KSU can take another step by beating Missouri on Saturday before finishing the season Nov. 21 at Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers have a difficult finish with road games against Kansas and Colorado sandwiched around the game with KSU that should help settle the division.
Colorado is in third place, but one loss would give the Buffaloes seven defeats for the season and knock them out of bowl eligibility. They would likely have to sweep their remaining conference games at Iowa State and Oklahoma State and the season-ending game against Nebraska. They would also have to hope that KSU lost both remaining games against Nebraska and Missouri, because the Wildcats already have the head-to-head tiebreaker with a victory over the Buffaloes earlier in the season.
So as of this week, Texas and KSU appear headed to the championship game. It would be an interesting game from a historical basis as no Big 12 North team has played better against Texas in the history of the league than the Wildcats. KSU is the only North team to hold an advantage over the Longhorns with a 4-2 record since the Big 12 began, including a current two-game winning streak where the Wildcats stunned the No. 4 ranked Longhorns in Manhattan in 2006 and the No. 7 ranked Longhorns in Austin in 2007.
As one Big 12 divisional race appears nearly settled, the other division is scrambled heading into the final three weeks of the season.
Texas can nail down its first Big 12 South title since its 2005 national championship season with a combination of two victories, two Oklahoma State losses or one Texas Tech loss. The Longhorns have the tiebreaker over all of the major remaining contenders in the South with previous victories over OSU, Tech and Oklahoma. It's looking almost certain that the Longhorns will represent the South in the Dec. 5 championship game.
The North became a little clearer after Kansas State’s victory over Kansas and Nebraska’s upset over Oklahoma pushed those two teams into the driver’s seat in the division. The Wildcats (4-2 in conference play) have a half-game lead over the Cornhuskers (3-2). Both have a one-game lead over third-place Colorado (2-3) and a two-game lead over the three other teams with four losses.
The Wildcats can wrap up their first division title since 2003 with one more victory and two Nebraska losses. KSU can take another step by beating Missouri on Saturday before finishing the season Nov. 21 at Nebraska.
The Cornhuskers have a difficult finish with road games against Kansas and Colorado sandwiched around the game with KSU that should help settle the division.
Colorado is in third place, but one loss would give the Buffaloes seven defeats for the season and knock them out of bowl eligibility. They would likely have to sweep their remaining conference games at Iowa State and Oklahoma State and the season-ending game against Nebraska. They would also have to hope that KSU lost both remaining games against Nebraska and Missouri, because the Wildcats already have the head-to-head tiebreaker with a victory over the Buffaloes earlier in the season.
So as of this week, Texas and KSU appear headed to the championship game. It would be an interesting game from a historical basis as no Big 12 North team has played better against Texas in the history of the league than the Wildcats. KSU is the only North team to hold an advantage over the Longhorns with a 4-2 record since the Big 12 began, including a current two-game winning streak where the Wildcats stunned the No. 4 ranked Longhorns in Manhattan in 2006 and the No. 7 ranked Longhorns in Austin in 2007.
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