Big 12 Football: Week 13's Previews and Predictions

Welp, that didn't last long. Kansas State lasted a whole week as the No. 1 team in the BCS standings before getting routed by Baylor, 52-24.

Kansas State still has a long shot of getting back in the BCS Championship game but the Fiesta Bowl is probably a more realistic goal. 

This week we have some epic matchups, including the Bedlam Series between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Kansas and Kansas State are on byes this week. 

Enjoy the carnage.

Oklahoma State at Oklahoma

This annual rivalry game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State should be tightly contested. No. 13 Oklahoma is 8-2 while No. 21 Oklahoma State is 7-3. 

The Sooners' defense hasn't been very stingy lately, giving up a combined 83 points to Baylor and West Virginia. The Cowboys' defense appears to have improved significantly.

This game is a toss-up for me but I'm going to give the Sooners a slight edge. Very slight.

Prediction: Oklahoma 49 Oklahoma State 48. 

TCU at Texas

After getting thoroughly embarrassed by Oklahoma in mid-October, the Texas Longhorns have reeled off four impressive victories over Baylor, Kansas, Texas Tech and Iowa State. 

TCU is a hard team to analyze because the Horned Frogs seem to under-achieve or over-achieve on a weekly basis. I do like TCU's defense, while Texas' defense leaves me a little unimpressed.

TCU is bowl-eligible but now it's playing for a better bowl. I'm going to go for an upset here even though Texas has soundly beaten two teams that TCU lost to (Texas Tech and Iowa State).

Prediction: TCU 38 Texas 35.

West Virginia at Iowa State

West Virginia (5-5) is still not bowl eligible, but with Iowa State (6-5) and Kansas (1-10) left on its schedule, the Mountaineers should have postseason plans. Still, I'm not too confident that this is the week West Virginia gets its sixth victory.

West Virginia is imploding right before our eyes with five consecutive losses, and is 1-2 on the road and 2-2 if we include a neutral venue at Landover against James Madison.

West Virginia opened as a one-point favorite at Iowa State and now it's a pick game—that sounds about right. West Virginia can't lose six straight games, can it? 

Prediction: Iowa State 28 West Virginia 21.   

Texas Tech vs Baylor (at Arlington)

Baylor (5-5) must be fairly hungover after its 52-24 rout of Kansas State last Saturday but the Bears are still not bowl eligible. The Bears must win one of their next two games against Texas Tech or Oklahoma State to go bowling—that's a tough slate to hinge your season on. 

On the flip side, this is Texas Tech's last regular season game and the Red Raiders are going bowling. At this point, I just think Baylor has more to play for than Texas Tech.

Prediction: Baylor 46 Texas Tech 38