BIG 12 MID-SEASON OUTLOOK

Almost halfway through the college football season, and things are looking about as expected.

* Mizzou's defense has been weaker than expected, but the offense is firing on all cylinders. The next two weeks, versus Oklahoma State and Texas, may derail Mizzou's national championship hopes, but they shouldn't keep Mizzou from reaching the Big 12 championship game for the second straight year. There just doesn't appear to be any other challenger in the North, because...

* ...while Kansas has a solid team, they look likely to finish at 8-4 (as predicted here) or 7-5. As expected, adding the tough South teams to the schedule looks to add a few more losses to the Jayhawks' record. They played a ranked team early this year, and...surprise!...they lost. They nearly lost again to Iowa State last Saturday before pulling it out. However, KU looks like a team that should beat the teams it's supposed to beat, and struggle against the better teams. Thus, they look to probably lose 3, if not 4, against OU, Texas, Mizzou, and Texas Tech. The key for KU will be to not let these losses lead to a loss against Colorado, Kansas State, or at Nebraska (where the Hawks haven't won since Lincoln was president).

* Although K-State was difficult to predict before the season began, it's not too difficult to predict now. Tomorrow's game against aTm looks to be the most winnable game left on the schedule. Lose this game, and the Cats don't have another winnable game until the second-to-last game of the season, against Nebraska in Manhattan. By that time, the season may already be in the tank, and an 0-fer the Big 12 may occur. If it does, don't expect to see Prince back next year. There have been lots of rumors over the past couple of weeks that the big donors are ready to buy out the rest of Prince's contract and try to go after Gary Patterson of TCU. It appears Prince has been issued some sort of ultimatum: it's probably "bowl or be fired." The main concern with Prince is not just the appalling performance of the defense, carried over from the collapse last year, but also Prince's inability to bring quality recruits or assistant coaches to Manhattan, making things look bleak for the future no matter how this season turns out.