Scales tip to South
power shiftTexas-OK contingent once again has the edge

By Mike Baldwin

Published: October 7, 2008

Ignore speculation the Big 12 North finally closed the gap against the South.

Led by Missouri’s and Kansas’ dramatic turnarounds, the North won the head-to-head series over the South (10-8) last year for the first time since 2001.

It was an aberration.

The South won’t dominate like it did in 2004 when every South team except Baylor went 3-0 against the North.

But two lopsided road wins the first week of league play was evidence four nationally ranked South teams will swing the pendulum back to the Texas/Oklahoma contingent.

Texas Tech’s romp at Kansas State and Texas’ domination of Colorado proved the scales will again tip to the South.

"There are a lot of great teams in the Big 12,” said Colorado coach Dan Hawkins. "You just have to have big skin, line up and get ready to every week because there’s another great quarterback, another great team coming. You have your hands full every week.”

Especially when a Big 12 North team plays a South team.

During a five-year span from 2002-06 the South owned a decisive 62-28 edge over the North.

To fully appreciate the South’s dominance those five seasons, throw out Baylor’s results and the other five South schools went a combined 56-19 against the North from 2002-06.

It’s not a complete mismatch. The North has two nationally ranked teams. The South, though, counters with four schools ranked in the top 20, three ranked in the top seven.

In the north, Missouri is a legit top 5 national power capable of not only winning the Big 12 title, but possibly a national title and Kansas remains a quality team but the Jayhawks aren’t as potent as last season.

The other four North teams are a work in progress. You could argue improved Baylor is equal to the other four North schools.

One factor working in the North’s favor is Texas A&M has hit rock bottom.

This week will determine whether the North can keep the series respectable. If Kansas State loses Saturday in College Station, and Iowa State loses in Waco, the South will own a commanding edge in head-to-head games.

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