Rally cry of the jealous: "KU didn't play anyone"

Fresh off the announcement that KU will be playing in a BCS game, the Orange Bowl, the jealous fans of neighboring universities are coming out in full force.

Take the following email I received this morning from a KSU alum-friend of mine:

"Nobody you've beat is ranked....sorry, but KU hasn't beaten anyone good."

Here's my reply:

"Rankings schmankings.

With this season, there are plenty of teams that beat teams that weren't ranked that now are and vice versa, so that argument doesn't hold any water in my book, particularly this year.

There were what, 17 or 18 top 5 teams this year beaten by unranked teams?

When KU went into Manhattan, KSU was coming off a 20-pt win in Austin over UT. Was UT no good? Was anyone saying that KSU wasn't any good when KU played them?

When KU played Colorado, CU had beaten OU. Was OU any good? Was anyone saying that CU was a bad team when KU played them?

When KU went into College Station, were people chalking that game up as a "gimme" for KU?

Everyone is jumping on that "KU didn't play anyone" bandwagon because it's easy to do and it's a convenient argument.

But it's being way overblown.

You don't go 11-1 over a season in the Big 12 (who has 8 bowl teams, btw) without "playing anyone". No doubt our nonconference schedule was easy (Mangino learned from Snyder, right?), but we DESTROYED those teams and that is what you are supposed to do (just ask Michigan about not taking care of business) and then we went 7-1 in Big 12 play.

KU has nothing to apologize for. They lost to a Missouri team that played as good as they are capable of playing. There's no shame in that. They turned the ball over twice and missed 2 FG's. They convert 2 of the 4 red zone opportunities, then maybe they win and then "suddenly" they are respected because they beat MU? I don't buy it.

When you think about it, you and everyone else that is hopping on the "KU didn't play anyone" bandwagon, would have an entirely different opinion if KU scored 9 more points against MU.

I also know that you would have KSU switch places with KU in a heartbeat."

So go on KU fans. Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the Orange Bowl. And try to understand the arguments from the jealous fan bases of Missouri and K-State.

That's the neighborly thing to do.

Keep Rockin' and Chalkin',

Mic