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Continuing on…

College:&#160 The University of Kansas Jayhawks.

THE SPATULAGODDESS:&#160 Is this the PFW or the Big XII report?

VENOMOUS:&#160 Patience, love.&#160 Last one, promise.

THE SPATULAGODDESS:&#160

Anyway, Rock Chalk Jayhawk takes the place of the UBeefalo Bulls this year because…well, because that’s where Turner Gill is now.

As you will recall, KU hired Turner to take the place of Mark Mangino, who resigned under pressure.

Gamerosters.com has this to say about the Jayhawks:

Talk about a tough team to figure out. The Jayhawks started 5-0 last season before imploding and losing coach Mark Mangino. New coach Turner Gill may have what it takes to get the Jayhawks back on track, but this year might be too soon to expect a big turnaround. There is basically no quarterback experience at all on the roster, but the team will return the entire offensive line and a good running back in Toben Opurum. The defense struggled last year and lost three key players. The good news is Kansas missed both Texas and Oklahoma and should be able to be competitive in nearly all conference games.

I think they’ll be a little better than that.&#160 Turner has a knack for getting the best out of what he has, as evidenced by his tenure at UBeefalo.&#160 Look for KU to shock some folks this year, and for Turner to be there for a number of years to come.

College:&#160 The University of Wisconsin Badgers.

For a couple of years now, the Humble Devildog has been a participant in the PFW as a commenter on the team we affectionately know as “Bucky”.&#160 (And hopefully, he will again – in fact, HDD, if you’re out there, check in, please.)

Bret Bielema returns for a third (third?) season as head coach, and brings back Scott Tolzien for his senior season at quarterback.&#160 Tolzien will have an impressive receiver corps in Nick Toon, Isaac Anderson & Kyle Jefferson with Jake Byrne at the tight end spot.

Defensively, Bucky will do what Bucky always does – hit and hit hard.&#160 The defensive line is young, with nary a senior in the depth chart.&#160 Leadership will be forthcoming from the linebacking & defensive backfield with players like Culmer St. Jean, Niles Brinkley and Jay Valai leading the charge.

Gamerosters.com predicts a 6-2 year & a 3rd-place Big 11 10 finish.&#160 (Incidentally, anyone ever notice that there’a an “11” in the Big Ten’s offical logo?&#160 Or am I behind the curve on that?)

Pros:&#160 The Dallas Cowboys.

Super Bowl XLV is going to be played just down the street from me at Cowboys Stadium.&#160 Wade’s Cupcake Boys&#153 are angling to be the home team.

Tony Romo is back for his fourth full year as the starter, and as usual he has Marion Barber, Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton shouldering the offensive load, Miles Austin for a full year as a starter and Roy Williams trying to keep stuff from clanging off his hands.

This year, though, Romo has a new weapon – rookie receiver Dez Bryant, the 25th pick in the draft out of Oklahoma State.&#160 If Bryant can develop into an NFL-caliber receiver, the dream offense this team seemingly hasn’t really had since the Aikman days could finally come to fruition.

And they won’t have to worry about quite as many false start penalties this year, as Flozell Adams was let go and subsequently signed with Pittsburgh.&#160 Doug Free takes over at left tackle, with newly acquired Alex Barron as his backup.

Defensively, it used to be that, if you controlled Demarcus Ware, you controlled the Cowboys.

That was before the light came on in Anthony Spencer’s refrigerator.&#160 Along about the middle of the season last year (i.e. the New Orleans game) something clicked, and Spencer became the monster Cowboy management were hoping he would.&#160 Along with Bradie James, Keith Brooking and rookie Sean Lee, the linebacking corps is solid, and the strength of this team.&#160 Jay Ratliff anchors the defensive line, and Mike Jenkins & Terrence “Bust” Newman still play too damned far off the receiver to be anything of a force.

The special teams are okay, except the Cowboys are still in need of something resembling a reliable kicker.&#160 Not sure David Buehler can handle it, although he might not make a bad linebacker – the kid can tackle.

All that said, they’ve been picked in many quarters to at least be playing for the right to play at home in about 180 days or so, so we’ll see.

The PFW will return on Friday for the first games of the year.&#160 (No, I don’t give a fat rat’s ass if they are&#160 preseason – it’s live football, dammit.)

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