The Big 12 is flush this season and won’t suffer from the loss of the Colorado teams. Matter of fact, it helps at the end of the day because every team get s a shot at one another and there’s no questions asked when it comes time to select a BCS squad. The cream will rise in this year’s version of the Big 12 and many people think it will be Oklahoma.

The rest of the conference will happily perform on the “Longhorns Network” as long as the checks don’t bounce. This year’s big surprise will come from another Texas team though, as Robert Griffin will attempt to lead the Baylor Bears to their second consecutive winning season and put them in the running for their first Big 12 title since 1994, when they were the Southwest Conference co-champs.

Here’s a look at how we think things will pan out in the Big 12:

1. Oklahoma 11-1 (8-1 in conference)

Bob Stoops is flush with talent this season and whenever he has these types of position-by-position playmakers he usually comes out with at least a Big 12 crown. The overall goal is probably a little larger than that, with a BCS National Championship as the ultimate one. Landry Jones will be at the helm for a third season and the jaw-dropping numbers he put up last season are probably a preview of what’s to come in 2011. It’s scary to think that he might actually be better when you realize he threw for 4,718 yards last season but he’ll get his top two receivers back in Ryan Broyles and Kenny Stills along with a talented but unproven group of running backs. LB Travis Lewis will lead a defense that will be playing with a ton of emotion and heavy hearts this fall. The shocking death of senior linebacker Austin Box hit the Sooner community hard over the offseason and will no doubt linger throughout the year. They’ll have a chance to prove themselves almost immediately when they travel to Tallahassee for a huge matchup with Florida State on September 17th. They’ll also have to be careful not to let down the following week against Missouri but Stoops’ Crew definitely has the talent to win, and win big. Anything short of a Big 12 title will be a disappointment for this year’s Sooners with a National Championship in the minds of everyone who follows the team. There aren’t too many teams well-equipped to stop them!

2. Oklahoma State 10-2 (7-2)

Blake Weeden and Justin Blackmon might be the best QB-WR duo in the country this season, mainly because Blackmon catches anything in his general direction and Weeden is a mature 28-year old who understands what he must do in order to win games. Mike Gundy is a master motivator with the ability to out-coach almost every other head man in the conference. With T. Boone Pickens money and the recruits flowing into Stillwater, he can now say he has the bodies to out-man almost every program in the Big 12 as well. The Cowboys have enough fire power to win in shootouts but have finally gathered enough defensive speed and depth to make noise on that side of the ball as well. OSU will be in it -along with the three teams in the top four- until the final weeks of the season, which will make for an extremely interesting season in the Big 12.

3. Baylor 9-3 (7-2)

This is our surprise team of the 2011 season. Robert Griffin has been a god send to the Baylor program and this is the year when big time dividends will be paid. Nobody said it was gonna be easy for the Bears who must navigate their way through everyone in the Big 12 in order to put the finishing touches on their rise to relevance inside the conference and on the national scene. Griffin is the type of program-changing player to lead them near the top and it helps that Texas isn’t the powerhouse it was a few years ago. His ability to turn something into nothing is better than Terrele Pryor’s and he may be a better passer than Vince Young at this same point in their careers. He’ll need his teammates to step up around him but they made a statement last season by knocking on the door, now they must knock it down. Baylor has a fine group of receivers led by Kendall Wright and Josh Gordon but will need to be stout defensively, which is where new coordinator Phil Bennett will play a huge role. This is the type of team wise guys hammer early and often, something I urge you to do in order to stay one step ahead of your book.

4. Missouri 9-3 (7-2)

The Tigers lost one Gabbert -last year’s stud QB, Blaine-to the NFL but they might just be replacing him with brother Tyler unless James Franklin can cease the opportunity many think he’ll be given to start the year. Regardless of who starts under center, Missouri is going to be a dangerous team due to their attacking, fast pace style on offense and equally aggressive recipe on the defensive side of the ball. They have to continue to take care of the ball and create havoc on the opposing offenses which they did last year, to the tune of a +11 turnover margin. The recipe is there and as long as coach Gary Pinkel gets everyone to buy into it the Tigers should be in for another very successful season.

5. Texas A&M 7-5 (5-4)

I’m not as high on the Aggies as other prognosticators are coming into the season for a number of reasons. Despite having won their last six games of the season with quarterback Ryan Tannehilll at the helm I don’t see them carrying the momentum all the way into the 2011 season. Big 12 DCs will now have tape of Tannehill and will have their game plans geared toward him more than he’s ever felt. It doesn’t help that the Aggies schedule is a brutal one and everyone in the conference will be excited to give them a going away present now that they’ve decided to leave the Big 12 for greener grass in the SEC -reason #742 not to do college previews until the week of the opener, if not the week before the conference opener! A&M will have a great backfield but can get too pass happy at times, which could prove to be their downfall. The loss of Von Miller on the defensive side cannot be understated, as he single-handedly blew up plays last season. The horses are there for the Aggies but I don’t necessarily believe in the trainer. Mike Sherman hasn’t gotten over the hump since taking over this program and is a paltry 19-19 since arriving.

6. Texas 7-5 (4-5)

It’s unbelievable to think that Mack Brown and the University of Texas might have a 2-year run to start this decade in which they might not be over .500. It’s amazing what a record breaking quarterback can do for a college program and ever since Colt McCoy left town, the Longhorns have been feeling withdrawals. Garrett Gilbert’s struggles were well documented last season and the road doesn’t get any easier this season. The Longhorns are extremely young and brighter days are surely ahead but this season will probably be another tough one in Austin. There will be shades of greatness from the likes of DE Jackson Jeffcoat and RB Malcolm Brown but the other Big 12 programs will take their shots while they can because, like always, Texas will be back sooner rather than later.

7. Texas Tech 7-5 (4-5)

Tommy Tuberville didn’t bring a different culture to Texas Tech after taking over for Mike Leach but then again he would have been hard pressed to do so considering the spread sets the Red Raiders used in the past have work and the culture has been a winning one. Tuberville did make a commitment to defense though which is never a bad thing, except when you finish 114th nationally! There will probably be much of the same this season without much help coming in besides a few Juco transfers. Their biggest defensive asset might be RB Eric Stephens ability to keep the ball on the ground and give the Red Raiders an equal attack offensively. Only time will tell, but Tuberville will be up against it for another year in Lubbock.

8. Kansas State 4-8 (2-7)

There is one virtual guarantee when trying to figure out what Kansas State’s identity will be this season and it’s more of the same from 2010. KSU is going to run the ball down their opponents throat and attempt to control the clock with a collection of backs that should each offer different skill sets. Sophomore Bryce Brown is a Tennessee transfer that should offer immediate relief after the loss of the dynamic Daniel Thomas to the NFL. The Wildcats might not be too tough defensively but they might have the best ground game in the conference.

9. Iowa State 2-10 (1-8)

A lot of guys like Phil Steele have to make chicken soup out of chicken shit but -since we’re not looking to sell magazines at this point- we don’t have to do that. The Cyclones won a couple of games they shouldn’t have last season but 2011 is going to be a different story. ISU will have a extremely difficult time beating UConn -which I don’t think they will- so never mind taking on a Texas team that will be desperate for a victory in the midseason.

10. Kansas 2-10 (0-9)

Kansas should become an independent football team and play the rest of the BCS schools that only care about basketball. Think about what a good -or at least fun to create- league it would be. UConn, Duke, Indiana, Purdue, Vanderbilt, Minnesota, Wake Forest and Kansas along with North Carolina and Tennessee in order to make it somewhat relevant. The conference champion would have rights to the basketball tournament while the top five teams would own home games against the bottom five during the hoops season. Maybe, just maybe, then someone would care about football at those schools.