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With Iowa State off this week and working feverishly to find Tonya Harding and unleash her on an unsuspecting Oklahoma State offense before next week’s game; we thought we would take our first stab in a long time at predicting the rest of the Big XII matchups. So here we go.
#2 Oklahoma State @ Texas Tech – 11 AM CST – ABC
The popular upset pick of the week again seems to be Oklahoma State traveling on the road to the house of a dangerous offensive team. This time it happens to be a Texas Tech team that has been outscored 93-27 in their last two games. Now they have to deal with the Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon Blackula combo. For as bad as the Texas Tech defense has been the Oklahoma State defense hasn’t been much better but generates enough turnovers to justify not putting 12 or 13 on the field just to slow teams down.
A shootout is just waiting to happen in this one as the Oklahoma State defense is coming off a game where they were shredded every possible way and was just one bad pass away from either overtime or a possible two point conversion. Texas Tech should get some points against a talented, but out of place and frequently tired defense but will get Tubbervilled in some way late. Oklahoma State makes all their free throws late and survives two late three point attempts by Texas Tech.
Oklahoma State 70, Texas Tech 65
#16 Texas @ Missouri – 11 AM CST – FX
Since shellacking Iowa State in October, Missouri is 1-2 with their only win coming against a listless aTm team and needing a missed field goal and overtime to do it. Needing to win two of their last three games to become bowl eligible, the Tigers face a Texas team that is starting to hit their stride offensively. Guess that hire of Bryan Harsin may have turned out good for them. Who knew?
Texas ranks 11th nationally in rushing with Missouri immediately behind them at 12th. Where things separate is defensively, where Texas ranks 9th nationally against the run and Missouri ranks 60th. Don’t expect a ton of passing in this game, especially from the Longhorns, and expect the Tigers to hang around until they start to break down in the 3rd and 4th after tackling Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron all day.
Texas 35, Missouri 24
#25 Baylor @ Kansas – 1 PM CST – No TV (KU stream… maybe?)
No TV, no preview. At least not a well thought out one. Black Jesus takes out the remnants of a Kansas defense that has shown life but has to be close to quitting after tough breaks the last few weeks. Baylor clinches a bowl spot for the second year in a row.
Baylor 72, Kansas 27
Texas A&M @ #14 Kansas State – 2:30 PM CST – ABC
You cannot really call this an upset if the ranked team wins but there is still the perception out there that a 5-4 (3-3) aTm team is "good" and worthy of respect. Clearly something has gone wrong in College Station with the offense being mostly one dimensional and the defense doing their best Jekyll and Hyde impersonation. Kansas State is coming off one of their best offensive performances under Bill Snyder 2.0 and now ranks 19th nationally in rushing yards (and a measly 111th in passing yards).
Although aTm ranks 20th against the run nationally they are still going to struggle to stop a Collin Klein that has shown he can shotput the ball near open receivers. The Aggies rank DEAD LAST in passing defense and are going to Manhattan against a team riding a wave of confidence after nearly upsetting the #2 team in the country. This has the makings of another repeat performance for Kansas State despite their poor pass defense ranking of 117th. Aggies are going to struggle to get to 6-6 this season while Kansas State is looking at a potential Alamo Bowl berth.
Kansas State 38, aTm 35