How can 'Pad and his cult following act like it's easy to win in Manhattan, Boulder, Stillwater, or College Station? Texas couldn't beat A&M in College Station in '07. Oklahoma couldn't beat Colorado in Boulder in '07. Heck, Texas lost at home to K-State that year. Also, it's hilarious watching K-State fans try to put down Va Tech, like they're some mediocre ACC program. Va Tech has won 10+ games for five years in a row... they're in the midst of their own "DoD." Speaking of the ACC, take a look at that conference. Every program except for Duke has been solid over the past few years. Florida St, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Maryland, UNC, Wake Forest, Clemson, Miami (FL), NC State, etc. That's no cakewalk. In fact, I think it's better from top to bottom than the Big East, Pac 10, and Big 10. I don't care what anyone says. Now, back to ku's '07 schedule... 6 out of the 13 games were against bowl teams, including two teams that finished in the top 10. The team featured a top 20 NFL Draft pick at CB, a 2nd-team AA at LT, and the Big 12 DPOY at DT. They also lost a 1,000 yard rusher in Brandon McAnderson, and a couple NFL Draft picks in Marcus Henry (WR) and Derek Fine (TE). The '07 team was superior to the '08 team. There's really no denying it.
Now, did ku fans expect the '08 team to be better than 8-5? I'd say most ku fans would have predicted 9-4 or 10-3 if you include the bowl game. ku was actually pretty close to 9-4 if you look at how close that South Florida game was. ku had a chance to win at the end, but Reesing threw an INT and South Florida made a last-second FG. If ku beats Nebraska in Lincoln, they win the North. So while '08 wasn't the type of season that ku fans were hoping for, it wasn't a complete failure, either. ku was able to beat both K-State and Mizzou, and went to its first ever back-to-back bowl game. Laugh all you want, but K-State didn't create "DoD" overnight. Call me a homer all you want, but ku and Nebraska are the favorites to win the North in '09. No one in the North brings back a QB with as much experience and talent as Reesing. No one in the North has a receiving corp like ku. Sure, ku's schedule is tough, but like I said, I expect ku's defense to be much improved next year. ku's offense will be tough to stop, and if the defense is as improved as I think it will be, ku's going to be really, really good.