The new faces of the Big 12

              College football is about to start this weekend on September 1^st, which means one of the most exciting conferences, the Big 12, is about to get started.  I have already said that this blog will discuss teams of the Big 12, but it is not going to be about all the teams every week.  It will be what is the most intriguing story of the week.

                Let us talk about the team that I want to talk about, the Kansas Jayhawks.  Some people like me, believe that they can do some damage in the Big 12 Conference this year.  I believe they are flying under the radar, because the last few years on the field both sides of the football team have been underperforming.  This should change with the new head coach Charlie Weis and a different quarterback.  Their weakest position on offense has been their quarterback play.  The last two quarterbacks that have been starters have not performed well.  They have been indecisive on what to do when the football is in their hands and they have had defense lineman sack them.  Most quarterbacks know to throw the ball away, but last year it looked like they did not care by the way they carried themselves on the field.  There was no part of the offense that had strength to it because they were dominated all the time by the other team’s defense.  This is why the offense this year, from what I have seen has more team unity than in the last two seasons.  Now, the defense looked good at times, but at other times they seemed to lay over and not fight to win the game.  This is not the defense’s fault because the coach should have motivated his team to play harder.   

                I believe the Jayhawks are underneath the radar because of Charlie Weis.  He has a really good demeanor about himself and carries himself well.  He does not put up with players causing trouble, and expects them to come to practice and work as hard as they can.  This was evident in the spring football game.  Their fan base can tell they have a lot of respect for their new head coach.  Some people may think he is washed up as a head coach, because he did not do well as a head coach in the past.  I do not believe this to be true.  He takes time to help a player when they are struggling, which helps them earn respect. 

                It is going to be interesting to see how this team does but things look promising.  The key thing to look for is to see how they do when they play their first game this weekend and the others to come this year.  I believe they will be a threat and a team to watch.  The other thing about the Big 12 Conference this year is there will be a lot of competition.  There are two new teams to the conference and they are West Virginia and TCU.  When they play their first games in the Big 12 they will show they are contenders in the Big 12.

                West Virginia will be a contender, because their offense and defense are competitive.  Their offense is a big threat to all the Big 12 teams, because West Virginia has a quarterback that could lead them to a national title as long as things go the right way.   The couple of other things about them is the fact that the offense and defense both feed off how the other one does and they keep fighting.  They will make the conference stronger, with more competition.

                The other team that will make the conference even better is TCU.  They played against big opponents in the last couple of years and have been doing very well.  TCU will be able to contend with the tough opponents in the Big 12, such as Oklahoma, Texas and Oklahoma State.  They will accomplish this by playing as a unit.

                It is going to be fun watching the Big 12 conference this year, because the level of competition has increased and is stronger.