The Big 12: Ten Noteworthy Observations Coming into Week Five
The Big 12 barely survived the off-season this year, and if it weren't for Texas, we would be looking at one of the final seasons of Big 12 play this year.
Alas, the Longhorns took the conference upon its broad shoulders and they limped into the year with bruises, broken bones, and deserting teams.
After last weekend's debacle in Texas, there are more questions than answers about the future of the conference that have been laid on the table.
The 'Horns are supposed to be the Fillet Mignon of the conference, but Saturday a mediocre UCLA team wolfed them down like a dollar menu cheeseburger.
So, knees-a-knocking and big games looming, the Big 12, in the eyes of the national audience at least, comes stumbling into week five with its reputation well on the line this Saturday.
Don't Invite Teams From The Dakotas Next Year
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So far from the Dakotas this year, the Big 12 has endured an embarrassing loss in Kansas' 6-3 defeat to the northern state, and had a cream of the crop Nebraska team look as sloppy as possible in a 17-3 victory over the southern state.
Nebraska mustered only 140 passing yards in the game against the Jackrabbits and quick-footed quarterback Taylor Martinez tossed three interceptions.
That was definitely one of those games where the coach pulls out the old "a win is a win no matter how it looks" mantra.
The Jayhawks couldn't even pull out that gem in week one against the North Dakota State Bison. They flopped out of the gate, dropping the game 6-3.
It was the first win for the Bison over a Big 12 foe, so maybe they are finally figuring out ways to win in the southern states.
Maybe next year if Big 12 teams want to schedule a SDSU team, they should take the safe route and make sure it's San Diego State, and not a Dakota team.
Texas Tech Is Entering a Rough Stretch
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The Red Raiders are currently entering a stretch of games where the play only two home games in seven weeks.
They stroll into Iowa State this Saturday, play a neutral location game against Baylor, have a tough Oklahoma State team at home, followed by trips to Colorado and Texas A&M, Missouri at home, and in the distant future looms a trip to Oklahoma.
Just thinking about that is exhausting.
The Raiders, who lost to Texas two weeks ago, will have to struggle to get as many wins as possible in order to keep their bowl hopes alive this season.
With their struggles running the ball so far this season, Tech will have to hope that their defense can grind out some wins in the upcoming months.
With cupcakes Weber State and Houston to round out the end of the season, it looks as if Tech should be playing in a bowl game, but with their next two months, it isn't inconceivable that they could be having a lonely end of the year.
The Conference's Reputation Is on The Line
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This Saturday, the Red River Rivalry has more than Big 12 Championship implications on the line. Texas and Oklahoma are also fighting to save the reputation of the conference.
Texas and Oklahoma are supposed to be the league's premier teams, but they have both been shaky at best.
Texas, as we know, lost last Saturday to a mediocre UCLA team, and Oklahoma had to squeak out a win against a 1-3 Cincinnati team.
In fact the only game Oklahoma won with "style points" would be the win over then number 17 Florida State. Otherwise, the Sooners resume includes the two-point win over Cincinnati, a three-pointer over Air Force, and a seven-point win over Utah State.
Already people are putting down the Big XII as the fourth-best conference this year, behind the SEC, Big 10, and Pac-10.
With doubters all around them, Texas and Oklahoma had best bring their A-game Saturday or the woes will continue for the conference.
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Big XII, Big Fall
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The struggles of the conference have already been noted in the previous slides, but there could be even more problems to come.
As it stands, sixth ranked Nebraska is the best looking team in the Big XII (despite their sloppy showing against SDSU).
They are also on the verge of leaving the conference next year.
So, a team with the possibility of running the table and winning the conference is also the team that will be bolting to join the Big 10 in 2011.
If that doesn't hurt a conference then I don't know what does.
It's bad enough that Texas and Oklahoma hardly look like National Championship contenders, but when the team in your conference who is looking like title hopes aren't far-fetched is leaving, then you have real problems as a conference.
If the Sooners and Longhorns don't right their ships, and fast, then the image of the Big XII could take an even bigger hit, and they could fall behind the likes of the fast rising ACC.
Colorado Is Having a Tough Time
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In successive weeks Colorado has been thumped by a mid-level team in the conference they plan to bolt to and has learned that they will miss our on over six million bucks for bolting to said conference.
Colorado learned last week that it will have $6.8 million withheld from them by the Big XII, this coming only ten days after they went into California and lost 52-7 to the Cal Bears.
Now that's adding insult to injury.
The Buffaloes are now missing out on a substantial amount of money for a lower-tier BCS school to move to a conference where the will most likely be mired in the lower half of the standings for years to come.
It's not a good day to be a Colorado Buffalo.
Brandon Weeden Has Come Out Of Nowhere
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Oklahoma State's 26-year-old junior playing quarterback has come from relative obscurity to become the gunslinger leading Dana Holgorsen's spread offense.
Brandon Weeden hadn't played a meaningful snap of football since his senior season in high school in 2001. From there he was drafted into the New York Yankees farm system where he was a minor league pitcher for the next five years (he could throw a 97mph fastball until he inexplicably lost his gas).
He enrolled at OK State in 2007 and has risen through the ranks (third-stringer last year) to become the man (HE'S 40!) leading Mike Gundy's offense.
Weeden has thrown up ridiculous numbers and is chucking the ball at an astounding rate. He is second in the nation in passer rating at 186.3 (just 1/100 of a point behind Northwestern's Dan Persa) second in touchdown passes with 11 (behind Matt Barkley's 12), he is ninth in yards/attempt an 9.7 and fourth in completion percentage at 73.3%.
He has done this while throwing only two interceptions and being sacked only three times.
This coupled with the fact that he has 2008 First Team All-American tailback Kendall Hunter to hand the ball off to could spell good things for Oklahoma State this year.
They could even emerge as a dark horse candidate to win the Big XII South.
That being said...
Oklahoma State-Texas A&M Could Be Better Than Any Saturday Game
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This Thursday two of the most mysterious teams in all of college football meet in what is sure to be an explosive match-up.
I call them mysterious, because the two teams have filled up on cupcakes leading up to this game, and it is extremely difficult to tell whether these two teams are for real.
Oklahoma State is second in the nation in points scored with 57/game, A&M is right behind them at 41 per game.
The Cowboys have thrown up 65 points twice while the Aggies have only allowed 43 points total this season.
The two teams combine to average 1100 yards of offense per game.
This game will either expose one team as a fraud, or be a gun-slinging battle to the very last second, either way, points are going to go up on the board by the fistful.
You should need no more convincing to watch this game, it's going to be huge.
Baylor Could Go Bowling
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Look out for the 2010 edition of the Baylor Bears, they mean business.
The Bears have charged out of the gate with a 3-1 start and don't look like they plan on slowing down any time soon.
Baylor has allowed a high of 13 points to teams not named TCU, and have just been a physical, brutal football team to play.
Baylor has a quarterback in Robert Griffin III who has both an able arm and able legs to keep the Bears in games, but their big asset is their defense, which has allowed only 16.8 points per game.
With games against Kansas and Texas Tech in teh next two weeks, it is not inconceivable that they could be 5-1 going into the second half of the season, and a win away from being bowl eligible for the first time since 1994.
Kansas State Is Playing Solid Football
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Coming into their bye week, Kansas State finds themselves sitting at an impressive 4-0 with two more than satisfactory wins already under their belt.
K-State opened up Big XII play two weeks ago by pulling away from Iowa State in the fourth quarter to win 27-20. Two weeks prior they beat UCLA by nine 31-22 (you know, that UCLA team that just put a hurting on Texas?).
The Wildcats have been finding ways to grind out games while not being overly impressive in any specific category. They rank 100th in passing yards/game, 23rd in rushing yards per game, 50th in points per game and 46th in points allowed per game.
Overall they have been doing just what it takes to win ball games, and if they continue to do that they will have no problem making their first bowl game since 2006.
Who knows they may even come out of their bye week guns-a-blazing and take down the Cornhuskers on ESPN under the bright lights of Bill Snyder stadium and become a candidate for Big XII North Champion. Stranger things have happened.
Texas May Not Be Texas' Best Team This Year
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It's no secret that Saturday's loss to the Bruins was anything short of embarrassing for Mack Brown's Longhorns. What nobody is talking about, however, is that they may have fallen off their Texas-domination pedestal, at least for the time being.
With Texas' loss to UCLA, and TCU's win over Oregon State at the beginning of the season, it is difficult to make the argument that Texas is the best football team in the state.
Until they lose, and with the schedule that is in front of them that doesn't look very likely for now, TCU should be considered the best college football team in the state of Texas.
Who knows, maybe if the Longhorns get everything back on track, and TCU goes undefeated, we could see a battle for Texas supremacy at the end of this college football season.
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