Big 12 Round Table - Now that we know...

This week's Big 12 Round Table once again comes courtesy of Crimson and Cream Machine.

1. Based on what you now know to be your team’s strengths and weaknesses, if the game was on the line do you want your offense or defense on the field?

-- [sarcasm]After hours and hours of painful deliberation[/sarcasm], I'm going to go ahead and go out on a limb by saying I have much more faith in the Mizzou offense than I do the Mizzou defense. I'd much rather rely on an offensive unit scoring an average of 39 points per game as opposed to my defense that has given up 29.5 points per game. I'd much rather have my offensive squad that gotten points out of 44 percent of the unit's possessions rather than my defense who surrenders points on one out of every three possessions. Granted, the defense has come up with some timely turnovers, but with the game on the line, I'd much rather see my field general Chase Daniel on the field than a unit that includes a defensive line that's gotten blown off the line of scrimmage and a defensive back corps that seems hung out to dry on several occasions.

2. If you had to pick a team from the AP Top 10 for your team to play this weekend who would you pick and why (OU & Texas are not options).

-- Let me run through it team-by-team:

- 1. USC: Would be a fun home-and-home, but it could get ugly quick, especially given USC's stable of All-American running backs against Mizzou's porous run defense.
- 2. LSU: One of the few teams in America that I think could nearly shut down MU's passing attack.
- 3. OU: (excluded)
- 4. West Virginia: White, Slaton and Devine would have a field day. Rich Rodriguez makes running in the spread look that easy.
- 5. Florida: According to TimTebowFacts.com, The NCAA declared that Tim Tebow may lose his amateur status because he is a professional ass kicker.
- 6. Texas: (excluded)
- 7. Wisconsin: I'm in favor of a trip to Camp Randall, merely because I want to jump around.
- 8. Cal: I think this would be an interesting matchup, especially at home.
- 9. Louisville: Brian Brohm vs. Chase Daniel. First to 100 wins.
- 10. Ohio State: Given some of the problems Ohio State had with Akron, I think Mizzou could make some noise in this matchup.

- Given these choices, my top picks would probably have to be Louisville, Ohio State, Wisconsin - in that order.

3. You can take one player off your team and trade him for any player in the conference who plays the same position who are you taking?

As much as I love Lorenzo Williams and Ziggy Hood, I'd love to have a big piece of beef to drop in the middle of that defensive line. My personal choice would be Texas DT Frank Okam, whose 320-pound frame would be rather tough to blow off the line of scrimmage and would help with interior run defense. If I'm allowed to trade backups for any single player I want, then let's make it Okam for Mizzou DT Charles Gaines. Other trades I considered included a backup defensive end for Texas A&M DE Chris Harrington and a cornerback for Oklahoma DB Reggie Smith or Kansas DB Aqib Talib.

4. Conference Power Rankings! Rank the teams in the conference from first to worst.

1. Oklahoma - Victory over Miami solidifies Sooners as conference's top team.
2. Texas - Neither impressive nor repulsive in 34-14 win over TCU.
3. Missouri - Home-blog advantage has Tigers one spot ahead of the Huskers.
4. Nebraska - "Lucky" to escape Wake with a W.
5. Kansas State - Does USF's win over Auburn make KSU's loss look worse?
6. Texas A&M - If Fresno State and Montana State have had this much success passing against the Ags, wait until conference play begins.
7. Oklahoma State - Yet another team who looks worse after losing to an SEC Week 2 loser (Georgia).
8. Texas Tech - Even for a system receiver, WR Michael Crabtree is something special.
9. Colorado - Bonus points for playing a real opponent, despite the loss.
10. Kansas - Drop below Colorado based on weak scheduling.
11. Baylor - Impressive win over Rice to be followed by games against Texas State and Buffalo, but I'm still not sold.
12. Iowa State - Poor, poor Gene Chizik. It's a long way from Austin, ain't it?

5. Big 12 Players of the Week – Make your selections for offensive and defensive players of the week for week two.

-- Offensively, ETS takes Sam Bradford, hands down. The redshirt freshman went from unproven to rising star in less than two weeks, especially with the numbers he put up in OU's 51-13 thrashing of Miami. Bradford was 19 of 25 for 205 yards and five touchdowns, effectively embarassing Randy Shannon's "vaunted" new defense at "the U."
-- Defensively, I was hoping to find someone other than Oklahoma DB Reggie Smith so I could avoid a Sooner sweep, but his 61-yard fumble recovery for touchdown helped seal a win for the Big 12 in the conference's premier game of the day.

Okam photo courtesy MackBrownTexasFootball. Bradford photo courtesy Associated Press and Rivals.com