Much like Texas and Oklahoma will battle for the South Division, Nebraska and Kansas State will, to nobody’s surprise, be duking it out for the top spot in the North.

Nebraska, thanks in part to a much easier schedule than the Wildcats, should prevail. The rest of the division, on the other hand, is up for grabs at every position. Well almost, as the basement may be reserved for Kansas.

1. Nebraska

The Cornhusker’s took care of TCU already this season. It wasn’t too impressive, but that will come. As for the rest of the preseason, Nebraska plays Troy State, Notre Dame and Rice, all at home. The Huskers should and will win all of those.

As far as the Big 12 games go, all of their tough games are at home.

At home, the Huskers have only lost twice in the last 10 years. Oklahoma and Kansas State will definitely challenge the Huskers, but the games will be more than winnable with all the Husker faithful in Lincoln.

What to watch: While ultimately it will come down to the defense to win games, this is Eric Couch’s team. The quarterback will be responsible for both passing and running for the Huskers.

Crouch had 1,119 yards rushing last season with 20 touchdowns. That’s 118 more yards and nine more touchdowns than he had passing.

Crouch will be responsible to lead the Huskers along with their always-strong group of running backs.

Game to watch: Oklahoma. The Huskers lost to the Sooners last season. This Oct. 27 battle of conference powers will leave one team liking their chances, and the other will be searching for answers for a week.

2. Kansas State

The Wildcats chances of repeating as North division champs has one giant hurdle. They play in Lincoln. The Wildcats will have to play their best game of the year, and that may not be enough because the Huskers will want revenge from last season’s loss to Kansas State.

Of course should the Wildcats beat Nebraska, another title will be within reach.

What to watch: Wide receiver Aaron Lockett wasn’t supposed to be the star last year.

The star was supposed to be David Allen, who blew past special teams on his way to punt return scores.

Lockett, however, stepped in for Allen and not only did better than him, Lockett did better than anyone. He led the NCAA in punt return average with a 22.8 yards per return.

This will be Lockett’s year to show his skills. He is also a quality receiver who had 36 receptions and 584 yards. With his multi-talents, the Wildcat offense should prosper as they usually do.

Game to watch: At Nebraska. The Huskers will be hungry for a conference crown, but if the Wildcats can hold their ground they can prove they are the dominate team of the North.

3. Colorado

The next three spots in the conference are all up for grabs as the Buffaloes, Iowa State and Missouri could all shuffle around with a win or two here and there.

Colorado has the upper hand simply because they return 18 starters that showed gradual improvement throughout last season.

If the defense can improve on last year’s defense that gave up 25.8 points per game, they should get themselves back into bowl contention.

What to watch: Jashon Sykes, a first-team All-Big 12 linebacker will be a candidate for the Butkus award and should be the key ingredient in the Buffaloes defense.

He racked up 111 tackles last season, 78 of them solo, good for second on the team.

He was also a force on third downs for Colorado. He has had 13 stops on third down in each of the last two seasons, a team high.

Quarterback Craig Ochs has also shown improvement throughout last season and should help the Buffaloes to a seven-win season.

Game to watch: At Iowa State. The Cyclones won at Colorado last season, but the Buffaloes have dominated Iowa State over the years with 42-12-1 overall record against the Cyclones. If the Buffaloes win this game, they should secure third place.

4. Iowa State

The Cyclones are coming off the best year in school history and a repeat will be hard, but not out of the question. The Cyclones will have to recover from losing several key starters and avoid some upsets, but a return to a bowl following last season’s success is a likely possibility at the end of the year.

The Cyclones will have to beat Missouri and Colorado, and the rest should fall into place. Also look for a big game with Kansas State. Cyclone fans will not soon forget what happened last time the Wildcats were in Ames, so the Cyclones will have plenty of motivation to win.

What to watch: Last year’s leading rusher Ennis Haywood, who racked up 1,237 yards on the ground, will have to be good again to give new quarterback Seneca Wallace time to adjust to life in the Big 12.

Haywood will have to take the heat off the new quarterback because the Big 12 will be much different than junior college. If Haywood gets stuffed, which isn’t likely, then Wallace will struggle.

Game to watch: Colorado. Could move the Cyclones up a spot in the division if they win.

5. Missouri

The Tigers return 14 starters from last season’s squad that finished 3-8. More importantly, though, the Tigers have a new coach and a new attitude that may result in a few more wins.

The Tigers have very winnable road games at Oklahoma State and Kansas and could pull off an upset at Colorado. They also have a couple of easy preseason games and Baylor at home.

Five wins might not be out of the question but this team isn’t quite ready for a bowl, yet.

What to watch: The quarterback battle has heated up. Kirk Farmer looked like the starter coming in, but a broken hand sidelined him and now Darius Outlaw may have the upper hand.

Farmer is often injured and has missed games in the last two seasons due to injury. Outlaw is a mobile quarterback who can throw and run. He led the team in passing yardage with 1,391 yards last year and threw nine touchdown passes while playing in 10 games.

Game to watch: Iowa State. The Tigers are grumpy after losing two straight to the Cyclones. If they can win at home, they might surpass the Cyclones in the division.

6. Kansas

Unfortunately for former Northern Iowa coach Terry Allen, time is running out in Kansas. He was supposed to turn the program around, but has yet to produce a winning season with the Jayhawks.

He is 18-47 at Kansas, and things aren’t going to get better this year. Unfortunately, this may be the end of the line for Allen.

What to watch: Andrew Davison is one of the top defensive backs in the conference. He will be looked at as one of the leaders of Kansas’ secondary, which has been highly regarded over the past two seasons.

Davison had 52 tackles last year and an interception. Kansas’ secondary should be good enough to hold down some passing teams, but don’t expect the Jayhawks to make too much noise in the rush-happy Big 12.

Game to watch: Missouri. It could be the first and one of the only chances for the Jayhawks to get a conference win on Oct. 20.