I had the opportunity to catch up with a few Kansas University football players recently in Hadl Auditorium to talk about some Big 12-related gridiron topics.At 7 p.m. Monday, Missouri will begin the conference’s quest to best its all-time mark in bowl games of 5-3 when it takes on Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. A few KU players began to say they’d be pulling for a Big 12 sweep in the bowl games. The SEC wouldn’t be able to dispute a 7-0 record, especially if Oklahoma defeats Florida in the BCS Championship. Then, the same few KU players tweaked their dream bowl scenarios. Here are the highlights:”When it comes to bowl games, I’m going to pull for the Big 12. The better the teams do, the better the conference looks,” junior defensive tackle Caleb Blakesley began to say, before tweaking his statement. “Except for Missouri (laughs). It’s not that hard a decision. I’ll have to root for Northwestern in that one.”When asked who he’d root for in the Jan. 8 BCS Championship in a Big 12-SEC showdown, senior wide receiver Dexton Fields was quick to respond.”I hope OU wins for the Big 12. I mean, that’s Big 12 and I’m always going to pull for the Big 12,” Fields said, before similarly tweaking his statement. “Probably unless it’s Mizzou (laughs). I can’t (root for MU).”It’s funny what a few seconds of silence conveys once the Tigers enter the minds of the Jayhawks. Senior linebacker Joe Mortensen kept the theme going, saying he was surprised to learn 5-3 was the Big 12’s best showing in bowls.”I think the Big 12’s going to be nice this year and we’re going to be really good. I’m rooting for us. Hopefully, we’ll get a sweep this year,” Mortensen began, before moments of silence introduced the punch line: “If some team loses, though, then hopefully it will be Mizzou (laughs).”So there you have it. Seems like most KU players are pulling for the Big 12 to top its all-time mark of 5-3. Just make it 6-1, not 7-0.Quote of the afternoon went to Mortensen, when asked what would happen if SEC defenses saw record-breaking offenses like the ones in the Big 12 on a week-to-week basis:”They’d have a lot of losses,” Mortensen said. “They’d probably be playing in the Insight Bowl, too (laughs).”Here are some other quotes I thought were interesting:Blakesley said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the spread offense take the SEC by storm in the near future: “There’s been a lot of talk and players have spatted off about how the SEC’s better than the Big 12. My feeling on it is the Big 12 in the past has had some pretty dominant defenses, too, but the offenses have evolved and changed to the spread offense, which is much harder to defend, much harder to figure out and much harder to slow down. And I think in the end, you’re going to start seeing other conferences, like the SEC, have spread offenses and see teams start scoring some points. I understand there’s some incredible defenses in the SEC and there’s some very incredible individual defensive players who just make plays and that’s what they do, but the spread offense is hard for any defense to stop. And once you start seeing it week in and week out, then you’re going to start noticing that hey, these numbers are kind of consistent and average. They seem outlandish at times, but they become average over time.”Fields said there wasn’t an ounce of doubt in his mind which conference was the best in 2008: “Honestly, I think we are the best conference. We may not have the depth, but the top teams in our conference could probably win a few other BCS conferences’ championships. We pride ourselves on trying to be the best. Almost every day in practice, (Kansas) coach (Mark Mangino) talks about how this is the Big 12. That’s the kind of pride you have to have because every game in the Big 12 is not an easy game. I don’t care who you’re playing.”Mortensen gave his take on the controversy of the BCS, and whether there should be a playoff system in college football: “I’m indifferent. I like how the bowl games are important. I don’t know if a playoff would make the bowl games as big of a deal. I like how you go to a bowl game. But I also see how teams (want) an opportunity to play in the national title. They can be undefeated. They can be really good, and it just kind of sucks that a computer has a choice over that, so you really don’t know. You see teams like Boise State over Oklahoma (in 2007 Fiesta Bowl). No one called that. But if they had a playoff, you could have a Utah play against Oklahoma and see if Utah could compete. A lot of people don’t think they could, but you never know. It would be fun to see that. I hope some day, they figure something out to make everybody happy, but they probably won’t.”I’ll leave you guys with a ridiculous video from Saturday’s Meineke Bowl between West Virginia and North Carolina. I hope you all got a glimpse of this catch by Hakeem Nicks, probably one of the best catches I’ve seen all year. Check it out:Random shout-out of the week: Tampa Bay RaysReally, New York? $423.5 million on CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira. Never again will I take for granted the Yankees missing the playoffs. Last year, I was pleased when they missed the playoffs, but I should have held a month-long celebration because it won’t happen again any time soon. New York’s always had hitting, but its starting pitching the past few years has been vulnerable. This year, the rotation looks like Sabathia, Burnett, former Big 12 standout Joba Chamberlain of Nebraska, Chien-Ming Wang and a fifth starter, which could probably be you or me, but will more realistically be Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy. It just makes what Tampa Bay and its $43 million payroll (second-lowest in the league) did that much more special last season.That’s all for now, friends. As always, discuss.