Nebraska looking to leave one last legacy, but Big 12 South will have a lot to say about it

Going out on a high note would be the crowning glory for Nebraska, which begins its final football season as a member of the Big 12, and before that the Big 8, Big 7 and Big 6.

After the 2010-11 school year, the Cornhuskers will be conducting business in the Big Ten Conference, ending a 102-year affiliation that goes all the way back to the founding of the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MVIAA) in 1907 along with the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri, the University of Iowa and Washington University in St, Louis.

The MVIAA evolved into the Big Six Conference and, with the consolidation of the Big Eight and Southwest Conferences in 1996, reorganized to become the Big 12. Nebraska has won or tied for 43 conference football championships in its illustrious gridiron history, two of them under the banner of the Big 12.

The Cornhuskers, who were 10-4 on the year last season and 6-2 in conference play, are the reigning champions in the Big 12 North Division. The Big Red came within one tick of the clock of upsetting the University of Texas n last season’s Big 12 Championship Game and claiming their 44th conference football crown and third Big 12 title.

Ranked in the top ten in most of the major college preseason polls and returning 18 starters from a year ago, coach Bo Pelini’s team is the favorite again to represent the North in what will be the final Big 12 Championship Game in football, at least for the time being. With Nebraska departing the conference in 2011 and Colorado moving to the Pac 10 Conference n 2012, Big 12 officials are expected to drop the two-division structure and do away with a conference championship game after this season.

Defensively, the Cornhuskers are as good as they come. The good news is that seven defensive starters return this year, which is the bad news for Nebraska opponents this season. The year before defensive-minded Pelini arrived on the scene in Lincoln, the Cornhuskers surrendered 76 points in a game against Kansas and ranked 114th in the country in scoring defense. Last season, Nebraska led the country in points allowed, yielding an average of only 10.4 a game.

The Huskers should be stronger on offense this year, with nine starters back. Nebraska really couldn’t get anything consistent going on offense last season and struggled most of the year to score points.

Nebraska’s stiffest challenge in the North should come from the Missouri Tigers, who were 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the conference a year ago. Junior quarterback and team leader Blaine Gabbert is back to lead the offense, and the defensive unit is sound with excellent speed, which should enable the Tigers to keep pace with the Cornhuskers and sets up a potentially huge game with division-title implications when Missouri travels to Lincoln on Oct. 30.

The Huskers also get highly-ranked Texas at home this season. The Oct. 16 showdown with the defending conference-champion Longhorns could be a preview of the 2010 Big 12 Championship come early December in Dallas.

Another Big 12 South team that plans to have something to say about who will be battling it out in Dallas for the conference title is six-time Big 12 champion Oklahoma. The annual Red River Rivalry game between the Sooners and Longhorns on Oct. 2 in Dallas will give an important advantage to one of those two teams on the road to representing the South in the conference championship game.

Texas starts a new era this season without Colt McCoy at the controls and throwing to his roommate and favorite receiver Jordan Shipley. But there’s no need to feel sorry for the Longhorns. Not by a long shot. They’re loaded with Texas-sized talent, as always, and will simply reload and continue to prey on everyone else who stands between them and another run at a potential national championship. Of course, to accomplish that, Mack Brown and his boys have their eyes set on notching the Big 12 crown along the way.

Oklahoma returns starting quarterback Landry Jones, who found himself unexpectedly filling in practically the entire season for the injured Sam Bradford a year ago. With a full season of game experience under his belt and a wagon-load of offensive talent around him, the Sooners are a strong bet in some circles to foil Texas’ championship pursuits.

If the Sooners are going to bounce back from an injury-marred campaign last fall, they’re going to have to prove themselves against one of the most difficult schedules in college football this season. In addition to a usually tough conference schedule, with games against Texas, at Missouri, at Texas A&M and at in-state rival Oklahoma State, Oklahoma has consecutive non-conference games with Florida State, Air Force and at Cincinnati beginning Week 2.

Texas and OU aren’t the only teams in the Big 12 South, though, that figure to factor into the race this season. Don’t count out Texas A&M. Senior signal caller Jerrod Johnson, who is a significant threat to run or pass on every snap of the ball and may be one of the most underrated QBs in the country, is expected to make his presence well known this season.

Johnson is a big-time offensive threat (over 3,500 yards through the air and more than 500 net yards rushing last season) who is capable of carrying the Aggies to huge heights this fall. They should definitely be better than their 6-7 record from last year (3-5 against Big 12 foes), which ended in a 44-20 drubbing by Georgia in the Independence Bowl.

Three Big 12 schools start the season ranked in the top ten in both the USA Today coaches’ poll and the Associated Press preseason media poll (Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska) and four more were ranked among the top 50 in both polls (Missouri, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Oklahoma State).

Two new head coaches are beginning their first season in the Big 12 this fall. Veteran college coach Tommy Tuberville takes over for Mike Leach at Texas Tech. Tuberville was last at Auburn, where he compiled a record of 110-60 in ten seasons, including a perfect 13-0 season in 2004. Former Nebraska All-Big Eight quarterback Turner Gill is the new head man at Kansas, replacing Mark Mangino. Gill was the head coach at the University of Buffalo (N.Y.) the past four years.

That's what the upcoming 2010 Big 12 football season looks like from the sidelines. Next weekend they start playing the games for real, and those story lines are bound to carry a few surprises that will ultimately determine how the season actually goes. And that is what makes the ritualistic business of predicting the season so much fun…and so unpredictable.

Here is the Big 12 Sports Examiner’s outlook for the 2010 football season. Watch for my weekly game predictions beginning next week.

2010 Big 12 Conference Football – Preseason Predictions

Big 12 North
(Overall record/conference games)
Nebraska Cornhuskers (9-3, 6-2)
Missouri Tigers (8-4, 4-4)
Kansas State Wildcats 6-6, 5-3)
Colorado Buffaloes (6-6, 5-3)
Kansas Jayhawks (4-8, 2-6)
Iowa State Cyclones 1-11, 0-8)

Big 12 South
Oklahoma Sooners (11-1, 8-0)
Texas A&M Aggies (10-2, 7-1)
Texas Longhorns (10-2, 6-2)
Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-5, 4-4)
Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-8, 1-7)
Baylor Bears 4-8, 1-7)

Team Previews:
Baylor
Colorado
Iowa State
Kansas
Kansas State
Missouri
Nebraska
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma
Texas
Texas A&M
Texas Tech