Head of the Class – Returning nine offensive starters is the only thing looking good for Baylor this season. While last season seemed to be their best chance to get to a bowl, they couldn’t eke out a single Big XII victory. Having experience on their side - especially on the offensive line - should help, but then again this is Baylor.Underachievers – As I just said, this is Baylor. They always underachieve. New coach Art Briles might have a few surprises up his sleeve. Briles comes from Houston, where he had some success. Now, he has a chance to show what he can do in the big leagues with the team that's consistently the worst in conference.Academic Suspension – Baylor will be lucky to squeak out 2 victories this season, playing in the South against Oklahoma, Texas and the rest. Let’s just stick with the Underachiever Mantra: This is Baylor.MissouriCoach: Gary Pinkel
2007: 12-2 overall, 7-2 in Big 12
Head of the Class – Missouri starts and ends with Chase Daniel. The Heisman contender should be right in the mix for the most prestigious award in college football until the last week of the season. The biggest knock against him this season might be the schedule, as Missouri misses Oklahoma, and the non-conference slate is very weak outside of Illinois. There should be little keeping Daniel from at least repeating as Big XII offensive player of the year.Underachievers – Sean Weatherspoon should again lead one of the best linebacking corps in the country this season. He recorded 130 tackles last year, and with the whole unit returning behind a very veteran defensive line, look for teams to have to take Missouri deep to get anything going against them. While all the talk this year will focus on the offense, the defense will keep this team in the running for an undefeated year.Academic Suspension – It is hard to find holes in Missouri. The biggest challenge might be having lost their center and left tackle on the offensive line, two important positions. If the line gels quickly with its new blood, there is nothing holding Missouri back.NebraskaCoach: Bo Pelini2007: 5-7 overall, 2-6 in conferenceHead of the Class – I'm still smarting from picking Nebraska to win the North last season, so call me a little skeptical putting them at #2 in the division this season, especially with a new head coach. My best bet for Nebraska is that Marlon Lucky will emerge as a dark horse Heisman candidate. While the runners in this year’s class are very good, Lucky has shown he has the ability, and in a new offense focused on running, Lucky is likely to excel. Plus he will take the head off new quarterback Joe Ganz.Underachievers – The defense has to improve. Last year’s squad never looked like the famed Blackshirts and has a lot of ground to make up to get that label back. Adding Pelini at head coach should help, having been an assistant at Nebraska and led the great defenses at LSU. This unit will have Nebraska competing while everyone counts them out.Academic Suspension – Nebraska only returns 11 starters, but that might be a bonus for a team that was just embarrassing last season. Forgetting the Bill Callahan Experience should be easy when so many of the names on the field change. Pelini will also likely run a much more disciplined team, which should stop them from having off-field incidents that went along with the sorry on-field play last season.ColoradoCoach: Dan Hawkins
2007: 6-7 overall, 4-4 in Big 12
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