Ranking the Games

I think that going down the schedule and assigning a w/l to each one is too much of a crapshoot, so I prefer to rank the games from most likely to be a win to the least.

North Dakota State
Army
at Kent State
Colorado
Baylor
at Kansas State (KC)
Iowa
at Kansas
at a$m
at Mizzou
at Nebraska
Okie State

I put my over/under at 4.

It seemed the biggest problem with the previous staff was game planning 'the perfect scheme' instead of the scheme your players could pull off. I've had more than one commentator use the a$m game as an example of that issue. Since the Rhodes staff seems to understand what it means to coach the underdog, we should be at least 2 games better than '08 based on that alone.

A few random thoughts about each game.

I expect NDSU to be close and sometimes heartburn-inducing. The Bison will score on at least one of the following: Pick 6 INT, totally blown pass coverage on an otherwise ordinary play, or a breakdown in special teams leading to a punt or KO return for 6. Anytime you switch to a new system there are bound to be breakdowns.

Army has moved a 6'10" lineman to tight end. Watching the chess match of that matchup will be worth the ticket. We will all remember how effective the triple option can be when run properly (i.e. Nebraska in the 90's), and what a failure it was under Walden.

If the program has improved at all the fact that this is a roadie shouldn't matter. It did matter on the last road trip to a MAC school, a choke job at Toledo.

We've matched up well against the Buffs the last two years and last two in Ames, so why not?

The effort against Baylor cannot be as bad as last year.

Too many unknowns about either ISU or KSU to have much confidence in predicting a win. Playing at Arrowhead lowers our odds.

As usual, ISU will not win this game- the question will be if Iowa loses it. The Best Program To Never Win A National Championship* has a funny knack of getting a case of tight helmet when they leave Johnson County.

KU will play the whole game this year.

a$m has way too much raw talent to lose this one at home. I think.

The most talented Mizzou team ever lost 4 games last year, and lost a bunch of talent. Exactly how much is TBA.

You don't lose 14 in a row in Lincoln by accident. ISU's chance to break that streak may have closed.

OSU could be the #3 team in the B12 South and #5 in the NCAA. Scary good.

Peter

*According to Iowa fan.