Big 12 Insider: Week 12 in the Big 12

The 12th week of the college football season has come and Week 11 is over, but it left us with an interesting impression of how things are going in the Big 12.  We saw the Kansas State Wildcats out last the Aggies in overtime to win and keep themselves in the polls.  Oklahoma State won big and is clearly the best team in the conference. 

The Longhorns lost to the Missouri Tigers and this was somewhat of a surprise.  Now Texas has some critical games coming up that they need to win if they want to earn a bowl bid.

Let’s take a quick look at the four games that took place this Saturday and how things ended up.

As previously mentioned, the Longhorns fell to the Missouri Tigers 17-5 and weren’t able to generate anything on offense in the game.  Once you shut down the Longhorns rushing attack they don’t have the passing attack to make up for it and this is what we saw happen to them on Saturday.

Kansas State and Texas A&M played one another tough and it ended up taking four overtimes before the Wildcats won 53-50.  This puts Kansas State in a good position for a stronger bowl game and gives them some momentum heading into their game against the tough Texas Longhorns.

There was another overtime game in the Big 12 this Saturday as the Baylor Bears beat the Kansas Jayhawks 31-30.  The Bears are that much closer to a bowl bid while it appears as if the Jayhawks are locked into another losing season.

Oklahoma State blasted the Texas Tech Red Raiders 66-6 and have cemented themselves as the number two team in the nation.  In just three weeks they will face their toughest test of the season as they face the Oklahoma Sooners in what will be the game of the year in the Big 12.

The Sooners and the Cyclones had the weekend off.

Teams that are ranked in the Top 25 Poll include Oklahoma State at number two, Oklahoma is fifth, Kansas State is 16th and Baylor is 25th.

In the USA Today Coaches Poll, Oklahoma State is ranked second, the Oklahoma Sooners are ranked fifth and Kansas State is ranked 17th.

In the BCS rankings, Oklahoma State is second, the Oklahoma Sooners are fifth, the Kansas State Wildcats are 13th, Baylor is ranked 22nd and Texas is ranked 23rd.

Let’s take a look at the games coming up this weekend (and one on Friday) and see who might come out on top.

The Friday night game will feature the red hot Oklahoma State Cowboys against the Iowa State Cyclones.  The Cyclones have been playing well but the Cowboys are the second hottest team in the nation right now and the Cyclones don’t really stand a chance against this powerhouse team.

The Texas Longhorns and the Kansas State Wildcats are going to play one another this Saturday and it appears as if the Wildcats may have the edge in this game.  Kansas State is getting some nice production from their offense but may find some trouble going up against the Longhorn’s defense.  But if the Wildcats can shut down the Longhorns rushing attack then they will win this game.

Kansas and Texas A&M will get together for a game between two teams that haven’t met their own expectations (or those of their fans) this season.  There were many that felt that the Aggies would be a much better team this year but that just hasn’t happened.  You could probably count on a win by the Aggies here to at least draw them closer to the possibility of a bowl bid.

We will see the Red Raiders of Texas Tech take on the Tigers of Missouri this weekend and after their win against the Longhorns Missouri might be ready to win another one and put themselves in position to get into a bowl game.

The Oklahoma Sooners will play the Baylor Bears this Saturday in what many predict will be a pretty nice win for the Sooners.  Oklahoma needs to keep pace with the Cowboys who are currently leading the conference and if they falter at any point the Sooners will be there to pick up the pieces.