GREAT game! Now on to the Fiesta Bowl to face the (much hated) Oregon Ducks. Probably best game out of all of the bowl games!

Texas

Well, since the horrid loss to Baylor two weeks ago, it's come down to this. Win Saturday against UT in Manhattan and K-State is the Big XII Champs (shared with OU if they happen to beat TCU Saturday -- GO TCU!).

I have no doubt that this Cat team is going to be ready and play one of their better games of the year. How can they not be with all that is right there for them? With a senior-lead team and two weeks to prepare and heal, this is going to be a slaughter.

Another little item that's at steak is the Heisman Trophy. Collin Klein has dropped in the polls since his performance in the Baylor game (I don't believe it's justifiable, but whatever). His season-long performance as a whole has earned him the top spot. Finish with a great game against the Longhorns and he'll be right back in the discussion for the #1 spot and the trophy.

I, for one, think he DOES have a remarkable game. Coach Snyder knows what's at steak as well for his favorite player of all time. Any chance Klein can score a TD, he will (meaning TD runs from inside the 10 for #7). I say with the weather cooperating as well for a December 1st game, Klein goes out and throws for over 300 yards, rushes for 75 yards and accounts for 6 TD's.

HEISMAN... KLEIN!

The defense will be facing yet another backup QB in Baby McCoy. UT fans say he can't throw more than 10 yards downfield, so look for KSU to stack the box and hold the Longhorn running game to under 200 yards.

Texas: 17
Kansas State: 55

*Yes, once again I will be in the stands for this one. I can not wait! Should be a good time.

Well shit. Was I wrong about that one.

Well, I missed predicting the score for the TCU game, but I did feel K-State was going to win the game. Great effort by the defense, I have to say. Hope they repeat that performance against Baylor in waco Saturday night.

Unfortunately, K-State suffered a couple of injuries during the TCU game. Safety Ty Zimmerman is said to have injured his ankle and is out for the season. If so, it'll end a great season and his streak of playing in games since he was a redshirt freshman. He's been pretty solid all season and this injury hurts a bit. But not as much as Baby Lockett's injury.

He was SPECTACULAR in the return game all season and becoming Klein's favorite deep ball target. Here's to hoping he's only out one game (or heck, not out at all).

Now onto Baylor...

They have THE worst defense in the nation. Everyone and their mother has been scoring points on them and moving the ball all over the field. I have NO WORRIES that K-State will get their points; Hubert and Pease will have a huge game -- hoping for both over 100 yards. Limit Klein's running, but DO have him run a few times to keep the defense honest.

The big test is K-State's defense against Baylor's offense. I believe I heard they are the #2 defense in the nation. But then again, OSU's offense was #1 when K-State played them and the Catds did fairly well. K-State has to limit the big pass plays (something I would feel more comfortable with if Zimm was in there).

I don't see a let down from this senior-led team (Klein and A. Brown will have no part of that).

It might be an interesting game if Baylor stays in there for the first half, but I see the Cats getting out to a 24-10 halftime lead, then winning the game 45-21.

GO CATS!!!!!!!!!!

Oklahoma State

I was pretty damn close on the Texas Tech prediction. K-State got more points that I said they would, so that's cool.
Now onto the OSU Cowboys, which I overlooked last week. They only have 2 losses on the year (at Arizona and at Texas). And they should have won the Texas game (bad call).

This team is coming into Manhattan with some good wins and some great offensive #'s. Their true freshman QB is playing for the first time on the road (in the Big XII).

Hard to doubt that K-State is going to take care of business once again. What creeps in my mind is that OSU was KSU last year with their undefeated record going into Ames and walking out with a loss. Here's to hoping this doesn't happen to KSU this year.

The Big XII's leading rusher is coming to town (Joseph Randle), so stopping the run is a huge must for the Cat defense.

This game WILL be closer than the Texas Tech game.

OSU: 27
KSU: 38

*BTW, I am going to the game and have never been so excited to see the Cats play. The last game I saw in person was the home opener of 2011. And that was non-conference shiat game.

This is a HUGE game. So I WILL be yelling the entire time OSU is on offense and WILL not have a voice on sunday. Guaranteed.

Texas Tech (in Manhattan)

Well, I was DEAD wrong about the West Virginia game (and damn glad I was). I don't know if I can doubt this team since it's lead by Collin Klein.

This Saturday is the biggest test remaining for the Wildcats for the 2012 season (save bowl game). Texas Tech comes in with one loss and ranked in the top 15. Their only loss was to Oklahoma in Lubbock 41-20. In that game, Texas Tech QB Seth Doege threw 3 interceptions and gave OU around 380 total yards, plus TT got a late TD to make the score seem more respectable.

Tech just played TCU to a 3 overtime game where they won 56-53. TCU (with their 2nd string QB) got a total of 516 yards! AND TCU turned the ball over 3 times!

K-State at home in the friendly confines of BSFS will get the "W" on Saturday. If Texas Tech pressures K-State to throw the ball on offense by putting "8 in the box", Klein will do just fine. Confidence is at the all time high for the Heisman leader. Against WVU he was 19-21. I realize that TT's defense is a whole lot stronger than WVU, but I don't believe they can totally shut down K-State's offense.

K-State's defense last week showed that they can defend a "throw-first" offense. I've heard that TT's offense isn't like the old "Air Raid" offense from Mike Leach. With Arthur Brown in the middle, I trust the D against the run (not to mention the pleasant surprise of the D-Line).

Prediction:

Texas Tech: 24
Kansas State: 45

West Virginia

H U G E game on saturday as the Cats travel to Morgantown, WV for the game of the year. west Virginia lost last week to Texas Tech in their "trap game" while the Cats got the V in Ames in their's. Had the Mountaineers won last week... DANG... this would be even bigger.

As it stands, if K-State happens to win this one, it definately places them in the drivers seat to win the Big XII AND get a shot at the National Title.

Yep... I just jinxed it.

I've been going back and forth on this game as to how it will end. A co-worker of mine who is a WV grad told me he truly believes K-State will go in and win. I guess I have had my heart stomped on way too many times to have that sort of confidence going into the game.

WV weakness is their pass defense. K-State's weakness is their passing offense. Dangit! Plus K-State's pass defense isn't all that great and WV has some pretty good passing stats with Geno Smith back behind center.

If this one was bring played in Manhattan, I'd probably be guessing a K-State win, but as it turns out, instead it's a 7p kickoff on national TV (Fox) in Morgantown.

I see a close one with WV winning.

KSU: 34
WVU: 37

ISU vs KSU (Friday B4)

Like every week, I change my mind from what I think the Cats will do. Monday I thought I-State would beat the Cats. I now believe (predict) K-State to win.

The game still frightens me, but I guess all of them do to some degree.

I think the first half will be close but Cats pull away late.

KSU: 34
ISU: 24

KU & ISU

Well, I was really damn close at guessing the score of the KU game, right? Never thought KU would get a safety against K-State (that's usually reserved for K-State to do to KU).

Don't know what the problem was with the KSU defense against KU, but was damn glad they came out in the 2nd half and corrected mistakes. The first two drives for KU were worrysome and looked like Charlie Weiss had a good gameplan. But in the end it was the same-old-same-old.

I realize it was KU defense, but damn did the KSU offense look good. Untouched TD runs by Hubert and Klein. Nice TD pass to Baby Lockett. I sure would like to see Daniel Sams throw the ball in mop-up duty, but it sure is damn fun to watch him run!

Now it's onto ISU up in Ames. If the kids didn't have a butt-locker-load of soccer games this weekend, I sure as hell would be in the stands (just as I have been for the past few KSU/ISU games in Ames). Heck, might be a good thing I am NOT going since I have seen the last two there with KSU losses (2005 and 2007). 2005 game was just PAINFUL to watch (45-17 loss) and 2007 was pretty much a drunken mess (31-20 loss).

As with most K-State games, I start the week thinking one thing is going to happen, then completely switch as I think more and more about the game.

My Monday afternoon self thinks Iowa State has a good chance at an upset of the #6 Wildcats. They just beat TCU in Fort Worth (albeit TCU was w/o their starting drunk QB). But ISU's defense is pretty damn good.

As of now (and I can and probably will change) I say:

KSU: 24
ISU: 27

A look back at OU... and looking forward to KU

Well, never saw that outcome for the OU game. Even with OU "giving" K-State points (as they say) with the turnovers, that was just a complete AWESOME game! People are talking about how it ranks up there with the 2003 Nebraska game when K-State won up there for the first time since 1968 (if memory serves). And yes, I was there.

But I do seriously hope that OU beats most of their opponents (not enough to overtake KSU somehow). I want people to say "Yep, K-State was that GOOD to go down to Norman and win."

Next up for the Wildcats is KU (hold your laughs please). This is year 1 for the Jayhawks under Coach Charlie Weis. They are coming into the game this year with a 1-3 mark, having lost their only Big XII game this year against TCU (in Lawrence).

The Jayhawks are DEFINATELY playing better than what they were churning out under Turner Gill, but that's not saying a whole lot. They were PATHETIC the last 2 years.

I wouldn't bet on Coach Snyder letting his team overlook the bad KU team coming into Manhattan for the 11a kickoff on FX. I am betting the Wildcats will be focused and get a win with a decent sized margin.

My prediction (besides PAIN for the KU team)...

KU 10
K-State 56

2012 - Game #4 (at Oklahoma)

Well, after starting the season with 3 non-conference wins, the Wildcats travel to Norman, OK for their Big XII opener. Could they play at a tougher place to start conference play?! If this game was in Manhattan, I'd say it's a fairly evenly matched game. But, if you listen to the sports people on the radio, they say "Oklahoma doesn't lose at home." Ummm, a crappy Texas Tech team beat them there in 2011. (So you're telling me there's a chance). They key is to establish the run early, and if there is any success with it, there's that one in a million chance. Another big key is the K-State secondary. They've not played all that well yet and let teams throw all over them. If D-Line can shake Laundry (what a nice first name) Jones, he becomes a much worse throwing QB (see UTEP game this year). I'd love to say the Cats will win this one, but the odds ARE stacked against them in this one (and I have had my heart crushed SO MANY TIMES when K-State plays down there). I'll say final will be: OU 42, K-State 21. *BTW, was @ K-State game @ Oklahoma in 1997 when K-State won. Actually don't remember too much about the game & trip. I blame it on the alcohol.