Media say Nebraska, Oklahoma lead league

By Ryan Wood     Jul 21, 2006

The media have spoken. Nebraska and Oklahoma are the Big 12 Conference’s top two football teams on paper.

The Big 12 preseason poll was released Thursday, with Nebraska favored to win the North and Oklahoma to win the South in a vote of 28 media members covering Big 12 football.

Kansas University, with 85 points, is picked fourth in the North, behind Nebraska (160), Iowa State (128) and Colorado (93). Missouri (82) was picked fifth and Kansas State (40) sixth by a big margin.

The Big 12 South had Oklahoma followed by Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Baylor.

For what it’s worth, the media accurately picked the North and South champions (Colorado and Texas) in 2005, though last year’s poll had five North teams receiving first-place votes.

This year’s has just three – Nebraska (21), Iowa State (5) and Colorado (2).

The winners of the two conference divisions will square off in the Big 12 championship game Dec. 2. This year’s game is at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., before heading to San Antonio for the 2007 season.

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Houston Bowl no more:
You may never notice, but the Houston Bowl has been canceled for 2006, and is being replaced with a similar bowl in the same city.

Financial woes put an end to the Houston Bowl after last year’s game, played between TCU and Iowa State. The end of the bowl after six years wasn’t official until this summer, though the NCAA approved a new bowl in the same location almost instantly.

The new bowl, which remains unnamed, will be played Dec. 28 at Reliant Stadium, and feature the Big 12’s No. 8 team against the Big East’s No. 4.

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Media days upcoming:
Media members from throughout the Midwest will flock to Kansas City, Mo., next week for Big 12 media days.

Four teams will go each day, with Kansas currently scheduled for Tuesday morning. Coach Mark Mangino, tight end Derek Fine, center David Ochoa and defensive tackle James McClinton tentatively are slated to represent the Jayhawks.

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