- Oklahoma State (3-0 0-0, Last Week 2)- DNP play this week. They are at the top as they have not lost and have won their games fairly convincingly on both sides of the ball (minus some late game defense issues week 1. Cowboys seem like the team to beat in the Big 12. They play Baylor this week to prove that they are for real.
- Baylor (3-1 1-0, LW 4)- Overpowered the Cyclones in Ames in fairly convincing manner. Blake Shapen doesn’t appear to be the best big 12 QB but he is a reliable one and has not made many mistakes this season. Run game leaves much to be desired. Getting up early on Baylor to force Shapen to make some passes may be the blueprint to beating the Bears. Will try to grab first this week vs the Cowboys.
- Kansas State (3-1 1-0, LW 8)- Hot and Cold team every year makes determining if they are a good team or not very challenging. Adrian Martinez will NOT repeat his Heisman level performance vs OU again if I had to bet on it; however, Deuce Vaughn will make life hell for all Big 12 DCs. I’m not willing to say they are the best in the Big 12(can’t lose to Tulane at home). Big battle against the Red Raiders this week in Manhattan.
- Texas Tech (3-1 1-0, LW 7)- Wow that was an insane game. This team and staff had a game most did not see coming. Donavan Smith ran a good offense that kept us in it the whole time, converting 4th down after 4th down in gutsy fashion. Defense made adjustments at half and stifled the Longhorns vaunted offense (usually average Texas RBS look like Heisman contenders against us, instead of us making a Heisman contender look average). Trey Wolff was awesome in the clutch as well. Travel to Kstate this week to face a very different style of team.
- Kansas (4-0 1-0, LW 6)- I feel bad putting Kansas this low given they have the best record but I just haven’t seen a truly quality win yet. I’m getting sick of saying how good QB Jalon Daniels is but my god this kid is amazing and I have no idea how Kansas landed him. He is your top QB in the big 12 and I’m not sure it’s close. He passed for 324 yards/4 TDs and ran for 83 yards/1 TD. Up next, a scrappy Iowa State team in Lawrence.
- Oklahoma (3-1 0-1, LW 1)- Got manhandled by Kansas State for the third time in four years. Is Venebles’ Oklahoma squad not as good as we thought or are they just cursed by the Wildcats and will win out? Their biggest weakness was certainly their defense who let Adrian Martinez look…really good. Have TCU in Fort Worth as a touch up game before the RRR the following week.
- Iowa State (3-1 0-1, LW 3)- I don’t think they are as bad as this fall appears but other teams performed this week and they lost at home. QB Hunter Dekkers was picked off twice and the defense could not turn the ball over themselves, not a recipe for success. In for a doozy this week against Kansas.
- TCU (3-0, 0-0, LW 9)- Entertaining battle for the Iron Skillet, TCU came out on top of cross metro rival SMU. SMU desperately wanted revenge against Coach Dykes but ultimately fell short as they couldn’t stop TCUs offense when they needed to. Max Duggan performed well but I have no idea if he’s the QB going forward or is keeping Chandler Morris’ spot warm once he comes back. Some may argue I have them too low but they have beaten nobody with a pulse yet. They can change that narrative with a win over Oklahoma this week.
- Texas (2-2 0-1, LW 5)- The longhorns did not adjust at all to what the Red Raiders threw at them. They started strong and could not sustain against 100 snaps by Kittleys offense. Hudson Card actually played a decent game, Bijan Robinson fumbled it away, and Xavier Worthy hobbled his way to some big catches. This team has the talent but the coaching Saturday was not good. Battle for 10th place against West Virginia this week.
- West Virginia (2-2 0-1, LW 10)- Won against historic rival Virginia Tech which is good for their confidence going into the thick of conference play but VT is objectively bad. Nobody really stood out to me in this game, maybe Cj Donaldson? This team is not good so far and their coaching isn’t one that will win them close games. Texas this weekend.
Player of the week: Kansas State QB Adrian Martinez, he was eviscerated by the media after the loss to Tulane and then turned in an elite performance against the Sooners. He could not be contained by the Oklahoma defense which was supposed to be very good, accounting for 5 (4 on the ground) touchdowns. Red Raiders will need to make him throw more if they want to win this week.
Team of the week: Texas Tech, nothing is better than beating your instate arch rival, especially when it’s Texas. Texas Tech outclassed the Longhorns in the second half outside of the 30 second drive to tie it in the end. Not many defenses will shut down Bijan Robinson this year but Texas tech did it
