Texas Bowl

Rivalry games fill this weekend’s schedule in the Big 12 while Navy take a trip to Hawaii to play the Warriors.

Big 12 This Week

Thursday November 26th

(11-0) #3 Texas @ (6-5) Texas A&M
The third-ranked Texas Longhorns will attempt to remain undefeated and keep their national title hopes alive as they close out the regular season against Big 12 foe Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night.

Texas is a perfect 11-0, and 10 of the team’s wins have come by double figures. The Longhorns crushed Kansas last weekend in a 51-10 final, and the club has scored 41 or more points seven times. Mack Brown may not have his best team since taking the reigns at Texas, but this group figures to have a chance to play for the national title if it can win this game and next weekend against Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Texas A&M hasn’t been nearly as successful as Texas this season, but the Aggies are bowl eligible at 6-5, and they can even their Big 12 record at 4-4 with a victory on Thursday night. Last weekend, the team halted a two-game skid with a 38-3 romp over Baylor in front of the home crowd. Texas A&M has been wildly inconsistent this season, as it beat Texas Tech by 22 points while also losing to Oklahoma and Kansas State by a combined score of 127-24.

Texas owns a 74-36-5 advantage in the all-time series with Texas A&M, including a 49-9 triumph over the Aggies last season.

Friday November 27th

(8-3) Nebraska @ (3-8) Colorado
Already guaranteed a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game against Texas on December 5th, the Nebraska Cornhuskers first turn their attention to the Colorado Buffaloes in the regular-season finale on Friday afternoon in Boulder.

Since losing back-to-back home conference games against both Texas Tech and Iowa State, the Huskers have run off four straight wins, all versus Big 12 competition. The most recent of those triumphs was a 17-3 decision versus Kansas State last Saturday at home. At 5-2 in the Big 12, Nebraska has taken the title in the North Division of the league and is now ready to face the third-ranked Longhorns.

As for the Buffs, who are still considerably young and are trying to grow together in head coach Dan Hawkins’ fourth season at the helm, they’ve won a total of just three games this season and two of those, against conference foes Kansas and Texas A&M, were by four points or less. The other triumph came against Wyoming (24-0) early in the campaign, but more recently the squad dropped its second in a row and the fourth in five tries in a 31-28 setback to Oklahoma State on November 19th.

In terms of the all-time series between these two programs, the Huskers have a firm hold at 47-18-2 against Colorado. The last meeting took place in Lincoln last season, resulting in a 40-31 victory for the home team.

Saturday November 28th

(9-2) #11 Oklahoma State @ (6-5) Oklahoma
It’ll be “Bedlam” in Norman this Saturday, as the 11th-ranked Oklahoma State pays a visit to long-time rival Oklahoma in the regular-season finale for both teams.

Oklahoma State has won three straight games, and eight of its last nine overall to secure second place in the Big 12 South. It is the Cowboys’ best finish in the 14-year history of the conference, and their six league wins is a school record. The Pokes can actually claim a share of the South Division title if they beat Oklahoma and Texas loses to Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night, but the Longhorns have already clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game where they will face North Division champion Nebraska on December 5th.  OSU slipped past Colorado its last time on the field, 31-28.

A season that began with so much promise has turned into bitter disappointment as Oklahoma currently sits at 6-5 and has lost two of its last three games to fall to 4-3 in conference, which has coach Bob Stoops’ club in a third-place tie with Texas Tech in the Big 12 South. The Sooners’ decline this year has more to do with the fact that Heisman-winning QB Sam Bradford went down early with a shoulder injury.
OU was manhandled in its most recent outing against Texas Tech, losing to the Red Raiders in a 41-13 final.

The all-time series between these two teams stands at 80-16-7 in favor of the Sooners, which includes a 37-8-2 mark in Norman. Oklahoma has won the last six meetings.

(7-4) Missouri @ (6-5) Kansas
The Missouri Tigers will try to cap off a strong finish to the 2009 regular season, as they take on the free-falling Kansas Jayhawks in a Big 12 Conference clash at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
Missouri is coming off last week’s 34-24 win over Iowa State. Overall, the Tigers have won two straight, and three of their last four. They’ve also posted a 4-1 record away from Faurot Field on the year.

On the other hand, the Jayhawks have lost six straight, a first for the program since dropping the final seven games of the 2002 season. Their latest setback was a 51-20 thrashing at the hands of Texas last weekend. Still, a win today would give the team its fifth consecutive season of at least six victories, which would only be the third time that has happened in school history.

Missouri/Kansas is the nation’s second-oldest rivalry, dating back to 1891. The all-time series is deadlocked, 54-54-9, although Kansas won last year’s meeting at Arrowhead, 40-37. The winner of the annual rivalry retains possession of the Bass Drum.

(7-4) Texas Tech @ (4-7) Baylor
The Baylor Bears and Texas Tech Red Raiders will close out their respective regular-season schedules on a neutral site, as the two are set for a Big 12 Conference clash at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

Texas Tech has gone just 1-3 outside of Lubbock this season. But the Red Raiders are coming off last week’s 41-13 dismantling of Oklahoma. The win made the team bowl eligible for a 16th straight season, and it also pushed Mike Leach atop the program’s list of all-time winningest coaches. Although they are not currently ranked, the Red Raiders received votes in both major polls.

Baylor’s 38-3 loss to Texas A&M last weekend effectively ended the Bears’ hopes of receiving their first bowl bid in 15 years. They’ve lost two straight and six of their last seven, with all six setbacks coming by double digits. Baylor has lost three straight at home.

Texas Tech leads the all-time series, 34-32-1, although this marks the first neutral-site meeting between the two schools. Texas Tech has won the last 13 matchups.

Navy this Week

Saturday November 28th

(8-3) Navy @ (5-6) Hawaii
Already locked in to the Texas Bowl at Reliant Stadium in Houston on New Year’s Eve, the Navy Midshipmen now make it their mission to make sure the Hawaii Warriors stay home for the postseason as the two squads collide at Aloha Stadium this weekend.

Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo, a native of Laie’, Hawaii and a graduate from UH in 1989, was a player for the Warriors for a number of years so he is more than familiar with what to expect when he brings his Midshipmen to the shore. The academy has been watching from the sidelines since defeating Delaware by a score of 35-18 back on November 14th in Annapolis. The win was the second straight and the seventh in the last eight outings for the squad.

As for the Warriors, they need to win this and their season finale against Wisconsin next weekend just to become bowl eligible and again take part in the Hawaii Bowl, played right here in Honolulu. Since dropping six consecutive decisions, the Warriors have bounced back with a three-game win streak. The most recent of those triumphs came last Saturday in a 17-10 overtime decision against San Jose State on the road. Once a rarity, Hawaii has actually won two games on the mainland this season, the other coming against Washington State in the second game of the campaign.

Hawaii won the only previous meeting between the teams back in 1999 by a score of 48-41. Against the service academies, the Warriors have a mark of 8-11-1 all-time.