“Interesting move Cotton, let’s see if it pays off for them,” the words of Jason Bateman’s character in “Dodgeball” and my thoughts on Mizzou jumping ship for the SEC.
I understand why they did, but a team that hasn’t had a conference championship since 1969 (when it was the Big 8 conference) won’t be getting another one for a long time probably. But they’ll still be a good team, and fun to watch, with dual threat QB James Franklin, who truly embodies the adjective more than any other signal caller in the nation.
2011 was: another solid year, an 8-5 campaign. The offense was great, the run defense good, but the secondary was kind of a train wreck at times. They started just 2-3 but sizzled down the stretch, beating Carolina in the Independence Bowl.
2012 will go smoothly if: Franklin’s throwing shoulder is okay. They need him to be 100% healthy, as the Tigers will be without their top returning rusher in Henry Josey. Kendial Lawrence isn’t a bad plan b though. They also need healthy returns from defensive end Brad Madison and tackle Sheldon Richardson. So as you can see this team is very reliant on the offseason surgeries of their players having gone very well.
2012 will be rough if: there’s not much experience in the DL, and the secondary leaves something to be desired. It would be good if they cut down on turnovers too.
BMOC: WR Dorial Green-Beckham, the top recruit in the nation at WR, set national records for receiving yards and TD catches, WR TJ Moe, Franklin, CB E.J. Gaines
All Name team: LB Kentrell Brothers, LT Elvis Fisher, backup QB Corbin Berkstresser
Bottom Line: They should be better than .500 as 7-9 wins could happen, but is not guaranteed. The Tigers landed in the easier of the two divisions, but they still have a very tough schedule with the move to the hardest league in college football.
Rankings:
Lindy’s- 30, Athlon-31 , Phil Steele- 26
All the 77s
#36 UCF
#40 Penn State
#45 Mississippi State
#47 Northwestern
#67 Southern Miss
#73 Kansas
#76 Minnesota
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Chicago Tribune.com, Fox Sports, MSN, Walter Football and Yardbarker
A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB) You should too