The Big 12 is an interesting conference. For one, there’s only 10 teams in the conference. And with the end of the Big 12 football regular season looming, we will break down what the postseason holds for each team in the Big 12.
As we know, the Big 12 is already guaranteed five teams to play in postseason this season. But, will anyone make the playoff? Probably not, but there is still hope. As the Big 12 teams have beat each other up this season, it has knocked many teams in the Big 12 out of playoff contention. But yet again, the Big 12 is set up for a successful postseason… In bowl games.
- Oklahoma: Oklahoma has had yet another successful season. Under the leadership of future MLB superstar, Kyler Murray; the Sooners are giving the CFP Committee a run for their money. If it wasn’t for a unfortunate loss to Texas in the Red River Showdown, Oklahoma would be an undeniable contender for the CFP. Oklahoma has a big matchup with West Virginia in Morgantown on Saturday. The stakes are high for both of these teams and what it could mean for the Big 12 Championship. One thing Oklahoma has struggled with throughout the year is defense. The Sooners fired their Defensive Coordinator, Mike Stoops, midway through the season and recently just gave up 40 points to Kansas. At home. Ouch. My prediction is that Oklahoma is one of the first teams out of the Playoff. Unless, they take care of Business against West Virginia, and whomever the play in the Big 12 Championship.
- Texas: TEXAS IS BACK! Oh, wait, or are they? The Longhorns have had an interesting season. But it seems as if they have made a step in the right direction. The Horns sit at 8-3 with losses to Maryland, West Virginia, and Oklahoma State. They still have a shot at the Big 12 Title though. They face Kansas this week. And knowing this Jayhawk team, they’re prime for an upset. Sam Ehlinger will be available even after he aggravated a shoulder injury he suffered earlier this year. The best case scenario for Texas is if they can win the Big 12 Championship and then be possibly considered for the Fiesta Bowl.
- West Virginia: With a gutsy coach in Dana Holgorsen, the Mountaineers are in a good position to make a good bowl game. The Mountaineers are also in a position to enter the Big 12 Championship. With an 8-2 record the Mountaineers face one more challenge to end their season. A meeting with the Oklahoma Sooners. If the West Virginia Defense can show up, they should win the game. It will be a shootout, but that should not effect the ability of this WVU offense. West Virginia should make a good bowl game. This is a good team who had their playoff hopes shattered with two upsetting losses: Iowa State and Oklahoma State.
- Oklahoma State: Oklahoma State is a solid team. With a giant at QB in Taylor Cornelius as well as other weapons such as Tylan Wallace and Justice Hill, the Cowboys are poise for production. Quality wins such as West Virginia and Texas should help them come time for Bowl Selections, but with losses to Texas Tech, Kansas State, and Baylor they may be in for a unpleasant surprise. If Oklahoma State can take down TCU this week they should be in a good place. Finishing at 7-5, I see the Cowboys facing off with South Carolina in the Liberty Bowl.
- Iowa State: Ok Iowa State fans, don’t get too ahead of yourselves now. Nevermind, you already did. Matt Campell is a good coach and all, but you aren’t quite there. Iowa State will end up in a smaller bowl this year due to their early season issues and play a team such as N.C. State.
- TCU: TCU has returned to the mix of maybe becoming bowl eligible. After a win over Baylor the Horned Frogs only need one more to become bowl eligible. But this game comes against Oklahoma State. So, if TCU can get the job done they should end up in a smaller bowl such as the Cheez-It Bowl. It will be tough though, because for a Big 12 team, TCU can’t seem to score.
- Kansas State: K-State is too inconsistent. They wont’t make a bowl. To do so they would have to beat Iowa State. Which won’t happen because K-State can’t seem to play well back to back weeks.
- Texas Tech: Tech is also inconsistent. This partially has to do with their issues at quarterback. Bowman is a great QB and so is Duffey in my opinion. But Tech will have to probably use what will be their fourth string QB this weekend against Baylor in the Texas Farm Bureau Insurance “Shootout.” They might want to consider changing the name of this game after these teams combined for a grand total of 15 points this last week. Both in losses. It will be interesting, but Baylor or Tech will end up in a bowl game.
- Baylor: As I said, Baylor can’t seem to score, but they play a Texas Tech team that is scratching and clawing to keep a Quarterback. Even if Tech does have to start their 4th String guy, Baylor may still find a way to lose. We’ve already seen an example of this last week when Baylor played TCU. The bears faced the Horned Frogs third string QB and still found a way to lose. One thing the bears may have going their way this week is the fact that Tech does not have the same caliber defense as TCU.
- Kansas: It’s ok, Les Miles is coming with his SEC defense and your offense looks great. I mean they put up 40 on OU.
