Let's start by taking a way too early look at the Big 12 Standings. Read left to right, a green square means the team won that game. Out of conference doesn't matter, so is ignored. Rankings are for B12 only, and right now, three teams are 1-0, two teams are 0-0, and three teams are 0-1. At this point, there are no tiebreakers, so, although the teams are ranked by wins and losses, teams tied are listed randomly.
Every Big 12 game this week has the potential to be great. Baylor vs Oklahoma State should be the best game in the country, but Kansas State and Texas Tech are matching up, both at 3-1, and after knocking off teams that were prohibitive favorites. Kansas is the biggest surprise in college football, and could put an early end to Iowa State's dreams of winning a conference championship for the first time in program history after only the second conference game. TCU, at 3-0, hosts an Oklahoma team that's shell shocked after getting shoved around on their home turf last week. Kansas State scored 10 points on Tulane, and 41 on Oklahoma. That's why I don't gamble.
Four weeks into the season and Texas fans are like this:
The Longhorns are 3-8 in their last eleven games, and their only win against a P5 school is a five point win over Kansas State last November. They're an eleven point favorite at home against West Virginia, but if they lose it, it will be one win in a full calendar year against a P5 school.
Anyone who's pulling for the new improved Big 12 had a good weekend. The only one of the Irate 8, as they're being called, to lose was Iowa State, and they were playing against another member of the left behind bunch, Baylor. If you count Texas and Oklahoma as SEC, the current B12 members went 5-0 against out of conference opponents. The new kids on the block went 4-0, with Cincinnati and UCF both notching wins over P5 opponents, and Brigham Young and Houston getting wins against G5s.
Texas Tech and Kansas State wanted to give some farewell lumps to Texas and Oklahoma. Wins against these two are important for the future of the conference, and Baylor's future is tied to the Big 12. It would be terrible for this future if Texas and Oklahoma met in the B12 title game and then moved to the SEC.
The Horns and the Sooners are leaving for more money. I get that. Nebraska went to the B1G and makes more money. They haven't had a winning season in five years. They have no natural rivals. They lost their recruiting bases. BUT THEY'RE MAKING MORE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the Nebraska fans are thrilled, I'm sure.
Texas and Oklahoma find themselves in a unique position, now. Both think they're too good to be in the Big 12, and will be moving to the SEC. Nobody in the Big 12 cares what they think anymore, and nobody in the SEC cares what they think, either. Yeah, they care about the fact that they'll make more money when UT and OU show up, but none of them care about the actual teams coming, and they'll have absolutely no persuasive power in the SEC. If they're under the impression they're going to walk into the SEC and start telling everyone how things need to work, they're going to get a rude awakening. Ten of those teams have been together since 1932, and of the four later additions, two went to the SEC partially to get away from Texas.
So, I guess what I'm saying is I'm looking forward to the new Big 12. I just want to photograph a good football game. I don't care about showing up eight hours before the game to watch America's favorite old geezer put on a mascot head. Baylor-BYU is shaping up to be a great rivalry. Best of all, it seems like everyone in the new Big 12 wants to be here.
Every Big 12 game this week has the potential to be great. Baylor vs Oklahoma State should be the best game in the country, but Kansas State and Texas Tech are matching up, both at 3-1, and after knocking off teams that were prohibitive favorites. Kansas is the biggest surprise in college football, and could put an early end to Iowa State's dreams of winning a conference championship for the first time in program history after only the second conference game. TCU, at 3-0, hosts an Oklahoma team that's shell shocked after getting shoved around on their home turf last week. Kansas State scored 10 points on Tulane, and 41 on Oklahoma. That's why I don't gamble.
Four weeks into the season and Texas fans are like this:
The Longhorns are 3-8 in their last eleven games, and their only win against a P5 school is a five point win over Kansas State last November. They're an eleven point favorite at home against West Virginia, but if they lose it, it will be one win in a full calendar year against a P5 school.
Anyone who's pulling for the new improved Big 12 had a good weekend. The only one of the Irate 8, as they're being called, to lose was Iowa State, and they were playing against another member of the left behind bunch, Baylor. If you count Texas and Oklahoma as SEC, the current B12 members went 5-0 against out of conference opponents. The new kids on the block went 4-0, with Cincinnati and UCF both notching wins over P5 opponents, and Brigham Young and Houston getting wins against G5s.
Texas Tech and Kansas State wanted to give some farewell lumps to Texas and Oklahoma. Wins against these two are important for the future of the conference, and Baylor's future is tied to the Big 12. It would be terrible for this future if Texas and Oklahoma met in the B12 title game and then moved to the SEC.
The Horns and the Sooners are leaving for more money. I get that. Nebraska went to the B1G and makes more money. They haven't had a winning season in five years. They have no natural rivals. They lost their recruiting bases. BUT THEY'RE MAKING MORE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All the Nebraska fans are thrilled, I'm sure.
Texas and Oklahoma find themselves in a unique position, now. Both think they're too good to be in the Big 12, and will be moving to the SEC. Nobody in the Big 12 cares what they think anymore, and nobody in the SEC cares what they think, either. Yeah, they care about the fact that they'll make more money when UT and OU show up, but none of them care about the actual teams coming, and they'll have absolutely no persuasive power in the SEC. If they're under the impression they're going to walk into the SEC and start telling everyone how things need to work, they're going to get a rude awakening. Ten of those teams have been together since 1932, and of the four later additions, two went to the SEC partially to get away from Texas.
So, I guess what I'm saying is I'm looking forward to the new Big 12. I just want to photograph a good football game. I don't care about showing up eight hours before the game to watch America's favorite old geezer put on a mascot head. Baylor-BYU is shaping up to be a great rivalry. Best of all, it seems like everyone in the new Big 12 wants to be here.
