Morning Brew: Big 12 North up in the air

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By Alex Beecher

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Before the season began, a lot of jokes were told in which Bill Snyder figured prominently in the punch-line. The only thing saving Iowa State from similar disrespect was the fact that, frankly, no one cared enough to bother.

Now, however impossibly, Kansas State and Iowa State sit one and two, respectively, atop the Big 12 North standings. Even still, conventional wisdom dictates that this anomaly cannot and will not persist.

Bill Snyder couldn’t possibly resurrect Kansas State football again, this time in only one year. The Wildcats just aren’t talented enough. Sure, they’ve improved. But the bubble will burst when they head to Norman this week.

And Iowa State is, well, Iowa State. Iowa State does not play for conference titles; the sun will rise in the morning; the sky is blue. All three truths seem equally self-evident.

So no, the Cyclones and the Wildcats will not figure prominently in the Big 12 North title hunt. It just can’t happen.

But if not them, then who?

Missouri? Kansas? Nebraska?

All possible, certainly if pre-season predictions are taken to mean anything. After all, it was supposed to be the Jayhawks and Cornhuskers battling for dominance in the Big 12’s lesser half. Maybe, if Blaine Gabbert performed superlatively and Missouri received a few breaks, the Tigers could sneak in a challenge. But we’re well past the point of pretending that anything said about college football in August has any relevance left.

Even granting that, the beginning of the college football season seemed well in line with how things were supposed to go. Nebraska’s offense looked good enough, and its defense appeared dominant. The inverse could have been said of Kansas, owners of an iffy defense and explosive offense. And it even looked as if Missouri might get that superlative play from Gabbert that would enable it to mount a challenge.

Then conference play began, and things got weird.

Kansas beat Iowa State, which beat Nebraska, which beat Missouri. Kansas State destroyed Texas A&M, which did the same to Texas Tech, which embarrassed Kansas State by 52 points.

And so, using the transitive property of sports, we can clearly see that none of this makes any sense. Which is precisely why Kansas State and Iowa State could, easily enough, remain on top of the Big 12 North. Not because either team is particularly good, but because none of their competitors are either. With this degree of parity, the old cliche about everyone being capable of beating everyone else actually rings true. And so the question shouldn’t be “Why Kansas State and Iowa State?” but rather, “Why not?”

— Edited by Jonathan Hermes

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