College Football

2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: The high-powered Red Raiders were at it again in 2007, picking up huge chunks of yardage and lighting up the scoreboard with what appeared to be very little effort. Texas Tech put up 40.9 ppg, relying almost exclusively on a passing attack that averaged a national-best 470.3 ypg. Coach Mike Leach's club shot out of the gate by winning six of its first seven games, including routs of both Iowa State and Texas A&M in Big 12 play. Losses in three of their next four however, brought the Red Raiders back to Earth. A 34-27 win over Oklahoma got the team back in a positive frame of mind as it finished the regular season 8-4, 4-4 in the Big 12. Tech was rewarded for a solid campaign with an invite to the Gator Bowl against ACC foe Virginia. The Red Raiders prevailed in that contest, 31-28, giving them wins in four of their last five bowl games. Tech hasn't won a league title of any kind in more than 50 years, and while 2008 could be the year the drought ends, plenty needs to go right for that to happen.

2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: Wins in their first three games, including a thrilling 47-45 overtime triumph over Fresno State, had the Aggies feeling pretty good about the prospect of making some serious noise in the Big 12. A 34-17 loss to Miami-Florida had brought the team back to Earth, but wins over Baylor and Oklahoma State to open conference play gave credence to the fact that the Aggies were heading in the right direction. From there however, A&M lost four of its next five games to fall to 6-5 heading into the regular season finale against bitter rival Texas. The Aggies responded by beating the Longhorns, 38-30, earning them a shot at the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Alamo Bowl. That game wound up in favor of PSU, 24-17, meaning A&M finished 7-6 on the year.

2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: Texas head coach Mack Brown has enjoyed a highly successful first decade in Austin, amassing an impressive 103-25 record and winning a national championship. That said, the 2007 season was one of guarded optimism as there was certainly talent on the UT roster but there seemed to be lacking that certain something that has labeled the Longhorns as perennial favorites to capture the Big 12 South title just about every year.

2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: The Cowboys opened the 2007 season with a 35-14 loss at SEC power Georgia, but instead of settling in for a long run of futility, the team responded with victories in three of its next four, including a 49-35 triumph over a potent Texas Tech squad. An easy win over Sam Houston State followed, but the Pokes lost the next time out in a heartbreaker, falling at Texas A&M, 24-23. Coach Mike Gundy's club responded with back-to-back wins over Nebraska and Kansas State, setting up home showdowns with Texas and Kansas, both of which resulted in defeat.

2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: One of the top teams in the country just about every year, the Oklahoma Sooners continue to pile up the wins and claim their share of Big 12 titles. Coach Bob Stoops' club got off to another stellar start in 2007, pounding non-league foes North Texas, Miami-Florida, Utah State and Tulsa by a combined 246-47.

2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: 2007 turned out to be the final year of Bill Callahan's tenure as Nebraska's head coach, and longtime fans of the program will tell you it was well overdue. The Cornhuskers had long been one the Big 12's top teams, but during Callahan's reign the team had continually underachieved. The '07 campaign started out well enough with the Huskers beating both Nevada (52-10) and Wake Forest (20-17). A 49-31 loss to USC followed, but Callahan's troops rallied to win their next two against Ball State and Iowa State, respectively.

2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: Riding one of the most potent offenses in the nation, the Tigers ran roughshod through the majority of their schedule in 2007, going 12-2 and winning the Big 12 North Division title. Lighting up the scoreboard to the tune of nearly 40 ppg, coach Gary Pinkel's squad jumped out to a 5-0 start before taking on Oklahoma in its second conference game of the season. A 41-31 loss to the Sooners served as a motivator for the remainder of the campaign, and at one point the Tigers were actually ranked No. 1 in the nation. A 36-28 win over unbeaten Kansas set the stage for a rematch with Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, but unfortunately for Missouri the result was the same, this time a bit more lopsided as the Sooners rolled to a 38-17 triumph.

2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: A 10-point loss to Auburn was certainly not the way coach Ron Prince and the Kansas State Wildcats wanted to start the season, but the team refused to let that setback get them down as a three-game win streak followed. The final game in that run was the Big 12 opener at Texas, and K- State shocked the Longhorns in a 41-21 final. The 'Cats split their next four games and at 5-3 held out hope for at least a winning season and a favorable bowl bid. Unfortunately, four consecutive losses to close the campaign, including a 45-29 defeat at Fresno State in the finale, meant the Wildcats would be staying home while several of their Big 12 brethren had their seasons extended.

2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: The Kansas Jayhawks really came into their own in 2007, winning 12 times and coming within a single game of playing for the national championship. Behind one of the most potent offenses in the country and a defense that suffocated more than one opponent, the Jayhawks steamrolled their way to 42.8 ppg (second-best nationally) while allowing just 16.4 ppg (fourth- best). KU's first two games, albeit against weak competition (Central Michigan and Southeastern Louisiana), saw the team score a total of 114 points while giving up just seven.

2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: Gene Chizik's first year in Ames was anything but successful, although the Cyclones' head coach prefers to look at the glass as being half full. "A year ago I obviously answered a lot of questions and they were all really hypotheticals for me because I really didn't know what we had. I didn't know what our football team was going to be like on Saturdays. Everything was an educated guess."