W2W4 in the Big 12 - Week 9 (by: Chris Flanagan)

[HornSports Staff]

Recap of Week 8:

The big 12 missed the boat
Even though the Big 12 has five teams ranked in the Top 25, with only 1 in the Top 10 (at #10), none of them are in serious contention for the playoffs. TCU is the best chance that the Big 12 has but I don't see them going undefeated the entire way. They still have to play Kansas State, West Virginia, and Texas on Thanksgiving night.

Quite frankly, this was determined in the first week of the season...when West Virginia couldn't beat Alabama, and when Oklahoma State didn't upset the Florida State Seminoles; the league lost it's chance at getting the benefit of the doubt from pollsters.

The saving grace for the Big 12 might be the college football playoff selection committee. If they believe the Big 12 is better then the coaches and media members, the conference could still have a shot at the playoffs. However, it seems like a longshot.

The State of Oklahoma is in flux
Oklahoma State was treading water in the league and relying heavily on their close loss to Florida State for a small amount of national relevance. That reliance ended on Saturday with a rout by TCU. The offense is not as good as it has been in years past and the defense also proved it is not good enough to win games on it's own. It's tough to always produce at a high-level in college because players graduate, leave for the NFL, and get dismissed. Sometimes a program can overcome those losses - this year, Oklahoma State apparently cannot.

Similarly, people are questioning the Oklahoma Sooners. A narrow win over Texas, followed by a loss to Kansas State has pollsters and fans wondering if the Sugar Bowl win was an outlier.

Can Texas run the table?
The Texas Longhorns got a big win on Saturday against the the Iowa State Cyclones. ISU isn't Oklahoma or Alabama but the Horns showed a resilience that they lacked in the first half of the season. The Longhorns have a lot of tough games left on the schedule, including this weekend in Manhattan, Kansas. Being on the road with an early kick off time will make it interesting to see how quickly the Longhorns come out of the gate against KSU.

Flanagan's Big 12 ranking for Week 9:
1. TCU
2. Kansas State
3. Baylor
4. Oklahoma
5. West Virginia
6. Oklahoma State
7. Texas
8. Iowa State
9. Texas Tech
10. Kansas

Analysis
TCU is now the number one team in the league and Kansas State moved up to number two - purple madness has consumed the big 12. After the performance Iowa State had against Texas, I decided to move them up one spot to number 8.


Big 12 game of the week

West Virginia at Oklahoma State (2:30PM CST - ESPN)

I'm expecting a great game in Stillwater. I bet many Cowboy fans would love to have Dana Holgerson back as their offensive coordinator.

For the Big 12 to have a shot at a playoff spot, they need West Virginia to win this game. The problem is that the Cowboys are a good enough team to beat West Virginia. If Oklahoma State wins, that would just continue the perception that the big 12 is not as strong as the other leagues even though people who follow the league know it's very tough.

Other Big 12 Games

Texas at Kansas State (11:00AM, CST - ESPN)

Texas Tech at TCU (2:30PM, CST - FOX) 

 

[Matt Cotcher]

Couple of things....

1. I'm admittedly biased, but Texas at KSU is a much bigger game in the conference than WVU v OkStU. Your power poll agrees with me.

2. I'm not worried about a Big 12 team being in a position to make the playoff. At this point, I haven't seen anything that tells me that a Big 12 team is one of the four best teams in the country.

 

[Topstarr]

what is W2W4 and why

 

[Chris Flanagan]

what is W2W4 and why

What to Watch For. And it's just a quick preview of the Big 12 football games this weekend.

 

[Chris Flanagan]

Couple of things....

1. I'm admittedly biased, but Texas at KSU is a much bigger game in the conference than WVU v OkStU. Your power poll agrees with me.

2. I'm not worried about a Big 12 team being in a position to make the playoff. At this point, I haven't seen anything that tells me that a Big 12 team is one of the four best teams in the country.

1. It was either-or for me. Tech-TCU is not going to be entertaining. It's just not. So I went with "What game would mean the most to the Big 12 in terms of getting a playoff position. WVU losing to Ok State when Ok State lost a ton of points this past weekend would be bad.

2. I agree to an extent. We have a lot of Good teams but not necessarily GREAT teams. I don't trust TCU nor Kansas State. Even if Kansas State wins out, they normally do terrible in bowl games so except a quick out in the playoffs.

 

[Juan]

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[Matt Cotcher]

That T. Boone tweet cracks me up. 

 

[Aaron Carrara]

That T. Boone tweet cracks me up. 

#SOLARWINDMILLS