For Karl, Dale & 'MrMazooBlows'(very brave, won't even give his name), just skip this article, it's about a real bowl team & I'm not going to post your snotty, profane & snarky comments, but thanks for your continued readership, I honestly appreciate that part of our relationship. I really do, I'm just not going to post comments that always contain "you suck" or "when did you last win a basketball championship A**H***?" Even someone with a KU education can understand this is a football blog, the title alone should be a dead giveaway. Yes, KU has a great basketball program,a storied tradition of basketball greatness, I get it. Earlier this fall several of you wrote to tell me your 5-0 'Hawks were sure winners of the North Division, I even picked them as such before the season began. Remember? But as the losses began to mount, you threw Mark Mangino under the bus, altho he might have been bigger than most buses. So congrats on your basketball team, I know it's a very good team, but I talk about football, so let's keep the comments to one sport, O.K.? Happy New Year guys!

For regular readers, you've heard me rail about how the national media(except Sports Illustrated) has virtually ignored Missouri wide receiver, Danario Alexander. SI.com named Alexander to their 1st team All-American squad, an honor he richly deserves. He led the entire nation in receiving yards & yards per game. He was 3rd in receptions & 4th in touchdowns. His yards after the catch was way better than anyone in college football. So why didn't Alexander become one of the 10 semi-finalists for the Biletnikoff Award, the highest honor for a college wide receiver? He had to sit at home & watch Notre Dame's Golden Tate walk onto the stage in New York to receive the award. Tate finished behind Alexander in every receiving category with one exception, Tate scored two more touchdowns than Alexander. Alexander wasn't a semi-finalist, so he couldn't be one of the 3 finalists who got to go to New York for the ceremony. Just not fair right? I'll tell you just how ridiculous this award is. After Chad Moller, MU Football director of information, complained to the Biletnikoff Award people about Alexander's snub, they replied with an official statement:

"We are unable to make a change to the semi-final list as it might undermine the credibility of the award."

"Credibility of the award?" How credible is it when Mike Williams of Syracuse makes the semi-finalist list a week after he quits the team? Anyone else have a problem with that? At the time he quit, Williams had 49 receptions good for 746 yards & 6 touchdowns. At the same time, Alexander had 71 catches, 1038 yards & 8 touchdowns. Alexander also threw a 40-yard touchdown pass this season & I'd also like to note, he never fumbled in 4 years at Columbia.

This kid has shown a lot of courage coming back from 2 knee surgeries & a broken arm. As a freshman, he beat out Jeremy Maclin for one of the starting wide receiver spots only to blow out his knee. This allowed Maclin to move into the starting spot & the rest is history as they say.

He's not Maclin-fast, but he's Randy Moss-big & like Moss he catches everything he touches. He can go up with his 6' 4 5/8" height & take down passes others can't reach. At 218 pounds, he breaks tackles & his ability to run after the catch is scary. If he clocks 4.5 at the combine on 2 rebuilt knees, he should make a great pro.

I hope he has a big send-off in the Texas Bowl Thursday afternoon, 8-10 catches for 150+ yards & a couple of scores would be nice. The Navy DB's will have a hard time defending Alexander.

With the graduation of Colt McCoy, Todd Reesing & with Sam Bradford leaving OU, Blaine Gabbert will enter the 2010 season as the Big-12's leading quarterback. The Tiger offense returns everyone except Danario Alexander, Jared Perry, both starting wideouts & guard Kurtis Gregory. I fully expect Mizzou & Nebraska to be the lone title contenders for the North Division. Nebraska looses 'once-in-a-lifetime' defensive tackle Ndamakong Suh & needs a lot of help offensively, but Bo Pelini has the Huskers headed in the right direction.

Playing the Navy's triple option offense can be a nightmare, ask Ohio State or Notre Dame. They have the 4th best rushing team in the country. Obviously, they are very disciplined, make very few mental mistakes & commit very few penalties. The Midshipmen do not, however, throw the ball. How little do they throw it you ask? In the 3rd quarter of the MU-KU game, Danario Alexander caught passes good for 193 yards. That's more yards than any Navy receiver totaled for the entire season. Ball control is their game. Three yards & a cloud of dust as Woody Hayes loved to say. They hold the all-time NCAA record for the most plays in a scoring drive(26!) & time of possession in a drive(14:26, jeez, that's almost an entire quarter!) that was set in the Emerald Bowl. It will be imperative that the Tigers score when they get the ball, they're not going to have a bunch of possessions.

Final score prediction: Mizzou 27  Navy 21

Remember Sheldon Richardson, the defensive tackle that was so highly ranked by Rivals.com(#1 DT & 8th overall player in the country)? As soon as he signed with Mizzou, it became clear he didn't have the grades to play in Columbia, so he was sent out west to the College of the Sequoias in Visalia, California. The idea was for Richardson to grow academically & improve his football fundamentals. He attended summer school & is on schedule to graduate with an Associates of Arts degree in Journalism next December. He would then return to Columbia in January, enroll & be ready for 2011 Spring Football. The Gateway High(St. Louis) grad  has pumped up his bench press 85 pounds since moving west & has put on 15 pounds of muscle. He's been able to keep his 40-yard time under 4.7, amazing for a 304-pound DT. That's what he claims anyway. His parents say he is making good grades & that's what he needs to return to Mizzou & play. He won't use a year of eligibility next season, leaving him 3 full years to play for the Tigers.

If I get time tomorrow, I'm going to check out Texas Tech's 24th-rated recruiting class for 2010, the buzzards may begin to circle over Lubbock quickly & some of these kids may bail on the Red Raider program. I'm going to look & see where else some of them were considering.