The third week of conference play arrives, and like last week we've got some good ones lined up in the Big 12.
Texas Tech @ Texas A&M
Texas Tech stumbled to get past Nebraska, blowing a 4th quarter lead and missing a PAT in overtime, needing a late interception to win it. But A&M has been pathetic all season and there's no reason for that to change here! Harrell, Crabtree, and Woods should all be getting multiple TDs for our fantasy owners out there.
Nebraska @ Iowa State
After being embarassed by Virginia Tech, Nebraska came out ready to play against a stronger Texas Tech team, and their effort nearly led to an upset. Iowa State has been inconsistent all season, and by "inconsistent" I mean anywhere from complete disaster to only kinda crappy.
Baylor @ Oklahoma State
Can anyone say Trap Game? Oklahoma State is coming off a huge emotional road win over then-#3 Missouri, and next week they will travel to Austin to take on the now #1-ranked Longhorns. Baylor's Robert "Cream" Griffin III has been a nightmare for opposing defenses, giving his best performance last week going 21-24 for 278 yards and 2 TDs. After dropping a game to UConn, Baylor will need to beat both Nebraska and Texas A&M and then upset either OK State, Texas, Texas Tech, or Missouri in order to be bowl eligible! Talk about bad luck with your scheduling; they've already lost a game to then-#1 Oklahoma. Anyway this may be the Bears' best chance for such an upset, so keep an eye on this one.
Kansas @ Oklahoma
Last season, the Jayhawks were fortunate not to face Oklahoma and went 12-1 partially due to an overall lack of quality opponents. This season that is not the case... worse, this season's Kansas is clearly not performing at the same level that the team did a year ago. Oklahoma can't be happy about losing a game in which their QB threw 5 TD passes; expect a fired up Sooner team this Saturday. This one could get ugly.
Kansas State @ Colorado
Here are two teams who really have not played to their potential, and yet, they combine for a 7-5 record. Though it's early, in a competitive Big 12 conference, this game could have ramifications for bowl eligibility. KSU's next three opponents are Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri - they need to win the games like this one. Meanwhile CU is on a 3-game skid and it will be interesting to see how Matt Ballenger is used as Cody Hawkins has not been getting much productivity out of an offense with a solid RB corps.
Missouri @ Texas
Even as a Longhorns fan, I did not expect Texas to actually win last weekend as Oklahoma played so well to get to 5-0. (and how good does their 25-point victory over TCU look after last night?) However, Texas showed that they were the more versatile team - and they'll need that to beat a Missouri squad that is much stronger at the special teams positions than the Sooners. I would not want to face a Mizzou team all fired up from a home loss, and that is just what Texas is getting after OSU pulled off the upset! This should be a great game; hopefully the home field advantage and line play can swing it for the Horns :-)
