Game Preview: Texas A&M vs. Missouri

And the losses keep piling. We’re going to get crushed again folks. It’ll be almost a dejavu of last week’s game, but possibly worse because of all the distractions that have been surrounding the Franchione controversy. Missouri is a pretty damn good team who played Oklahoma close in their one loss, and I’d put Missouri ahead of Kansas right now. They killed Texas Tech and destroyed an underrated Colorado team that’s poised to make a return to prominence under Dan Hawkins.

What’s more, Chase Daniels is hands down the best quarterback in the Big 12 (If you’re a Texas Tech fan, don’t even think about bringing up Graham Harrell. Please.) In fact, if you were to rank a QB based on a combination of personal stats and team’s success, Daniels would have to be the number one QB in the nation. Dennis Dixon is a close second, but he doesn’t have the eye-popping numbers that Daniels does. Plus, he’s got a stud running back in Jonathan Stewart in the backfield. Tebow is a beast, but he also isn’t in the same stats category when it comes to passing yards, and Florida has three losses. As for Matt Ryan, Ryan is the single most overrated quarterback since Chris Leak. I’ve been railing about Boston College on several of my posts, but they climbed the rankings by beating up on a bunch of patty cakes in the weak ACC, their one impressive win was against Virginia Tech in which they barely escaped, and when they finally play a Florida State team that’s starting to gel but still not a Top 25 team, they fold over. Why is BC even in the Top 10? Why is such a team even allowed to exist? Why is Matt Ryan fawned over as the next Doug Flutie when he’s going to be carrying a 2^nd string QB’s jockstrap in the NFL?

The thing that makes me sad about Chase Daniels’s ascension is that I distinctly remember our 25-19 win against Missouri last year. Both A&M and Missouri were up-and-coming teams in the Big 12, and both Daniels and McGee were seen as precocious sophomores who had bright futures ahead of them. I had the feeling that I was witnessing a critical crossroads, and I figured that the next year the game between the two squads would have significance in the Big 12 title and possibly the national championship.

What a difference a year makes. A year later, Daniels and the Tigers have taken off as I thought they would, and they’re ranked in the Top 10. If they played Oklahoma again on a neutral field, I’m not sure if I’d pick OU. But, as for McGee and the Aggies, this season has been an absolute disaster this side of Nebraska and Notre Dame. And it’s not for a lack of talent, but due to a series of joker moves by the coaching staff on and off the field. Every morning I wake up pissed off because (a) t.u. has escaped through a two-loss season when they should have five losses (I’m convinced that Mack Brown made a pact with the devil after Vince Young left) and (b) we’re stuck with an even bigger clown than Mack Brown and it’s going to cost $8 million just to buy him out. Unfreakinbelievable. Oh, and we’re losing this game 45-10.

Next update: Sunday—The Fire Franchione-o-Meter hits 0.