Big XII Coaching Boards - Week 1

For more information on the coaching boards, click here.

1 Bob Stoops
Oklahoma W
Stoops did what Oklahoma does with over-matched opponents, win and win big.

2 Mack Brown
Texas W
Fla Atl's Howard Schnellberger and his team were talking trash about UT. The line on this game was lowered and some people were expecting a Texas struggle. Mack Brown did not allow for a letdown against an inferior opponent, nor let the Longhorn's anger/emotion get away from them. A very impressive win that will go down, improperly, as just another cupcake game.

3 Gary Pinkel
Missouri W
I still am a little hesitant about having him this high. He's built a foundation at Missouri and appears to be reaping the rewards, plus the administration stuck with him even when he was well below expectations during the Brad Smith years, but I think that when the other Big XII powers finally right the ship, Pinkel's team will flounder back to the pack, and thus so will he.

4 Mike Leach
Texas Tech W
I didn't see Tech's game last week. Didn't read about it, so I can' t say too much about Leach's team's performance. I think Tech has become a player in the Big XII South, which is probably why I give him a little more credit than Pinkel, but right now, Pinkel has made it to a Championship Game, while Leach has not. I really think this could change this season.

5 Dan Hawkins
Colorado W
Hawk's team dominated their in-state rival, which has been back-and-forth over recent years. While I don't think Colorado is ready to compete for the North just yet, I do think that Hawkins might finally making the Buffs relevant again.

6 Mark Mangino
Kansas W
I'm not going to comment again on Kansas or Mangino until they play an actual opponent.

7 Bo Pelini
Nebraska W
Pelini kept the Cornhusker machine going, at least when it comes to season openers - Nebraska has started off 1-0 for the past 23 seasons. The Blackshirt D wasn't exactly impressive, giving up 350 yards (340 through the air) and 24 points, but the offense put the game out of reach by the half. Pelini's got his work cut-out for him with 07's worst defense, and giving up that many passing yards isn't great with the abundant QB talent that the Big XII has. With San Jose and New Mexico States over the next few weeks (and VT at home to follow), we may not know too much about Pelini until the October showdown with Missouri.

8 Mike Gundy
Oklahoma State W
State won a big opener in Seattle last week, as Washington State's new offense was no match for the Cowboys' D. Ok St held Wash St to less than 200 total yards of offense, and Gundy got a big win. With this schedule, Gundy should likely have an undefeated record going into Texas A&M in Oct, and probably even a week later against Missouri. But with this schedule, he won't move up in these rankings unless he can get to Texas game unbeaten.

9 Ron Prince
Kansas State W
Ron Prince likes cupcakes.

10 Mike Sherman
Texas A&M L
I struggled with whether to drop Sherman following the loss to Arkansas State, but he holds this position for now. It was an opening game, and he's getting the -benefit-of-the-doubt, but any more struggles against (what's assumed to be) inferior opponents and Sherman will drop. This still seems like a Al Groh/Dave Wannesdat hire as opposed to a Pete Carroll/Nick Saban one.

11 Art Briles
Baylor L
Baylor lost. For now, I still like Briles. He did good things at Houston (probably should have stayed). But he's closer to moving above Sherman than falling below Chizik.

12 Gene Chizik
Iowa St
Hooray, Iowa State beat down on South Dakota State, which is made its debut as a D-IAA, and played it's biggest name opponent since 1984. That's right, Iowa State is the Jackrabbits biggest name opponent since the Raiders won a Super Bowl. Chizik won't move higher unless he can beat Iowa on Sept. 13.