I'm happy to see KU picked second in the North. I'd rather be there than picked to win it. Nebraska now carries the burden of the team to beat in the North. I'm good with that.
Now Missouri at 3? I can't see that happening. Not after losing the players they did. I see them at 4th or even 5th in the North. Their defense was pathetic last year......and they lost MOST of their defense....now enter in the guys that were backing them up!!
Missouri could end up being the train wreck of the North.
What about your defense?
Total Defense:
Kansas...89th in total defense...396.69 yards per game.
Missouri's...98th in total defense...411.50 yards per game.
Scoring Defense:
Kansas...28.85 points per game.
Missouri...27.21...points per game.
Seems to me that KU's defense was just as pathetic last year.
:snacks:
As i was reading more into the post, she stole my thunder...
I think OSU could give everyone in the south a hell of a good scare. They're flying just enough under the radar.
Not for nothing lady and gents, but NU's scoring D wasn't that great last year either. True NU was much better in total D, but NU was 80th in the nation in scoring defense at 28.54 points/game. Looking at average points per game allowed for similar opponents for each team, MU was the best and KU was better than NU.
MU vs. KU = 29.8 vs. 32.2
MU vs. NU = 28.5 vs. 30.5
KU vs. NU = 35.5 vs. 36.2
I know a lot of us NU fans want to point to the last half of the season as the improvement of the Blackshirts, and yes they did improve but it didn't show up statistically because of the soft non-conference schedule. If you don't include the Big XII Title Game to make the comparison equal, MU was the best Defense of the 3 over the last half of the regular season, 6 games, and the bowl game as well as the last 3 regular season games and the bowl game. NU was the 2nd best in that stretch and KU was the worst. If you add in the Big XII Title game to MU's total, MU was 2nd best and NU was the best.
Team / Last 6 + Bowl / Last 3 + Bowl / Last 6 + Bowl + Big XII / Last 3 + Bowl + Big XII
MU / 26.9 / 26.0 / 31.3 / 33.2
NU / 29.1 / 28.8 / -- / --
KU / 38.1 / 34.5 / -- / --