Would love to see some weekly conference discussion posts, so I’ll try to get the ball rolling in this community with the Big XII. Looks a little different this year, so welcome to the conference BYU, Cinci, Houston, and UCF!
The conference went 10-4 this week.
Without further ado, here’s my tier list and (very cursory) thoughts around the conference this week for the biggest ever (so far) Big XII:
Tier 1
K-State (1-0), OU (1-0), Texas (1-0)
K-State looks very good and took care of business against an FCS opponent (45-0). Senior QB Will Howard brings a lot of experience to the Wildcats offense.
OU blew the doors off poor Arkansas State (73-0). Not sure we learn much from this game. Seemed to me like running up the score is to make up for their poor non-con schedule this year (not their fault).
Texas had a very lackluster performance (37-10), especially in the first half, but Ewers settled in and was pulled very early. Feels like Texas spent most of their time prepping for Alabama next week.
Tier 2
Cinci (1-0), TCU (0-1), UCF (1-0)
Cinci was only favored by 3 scores but won by 6 (66-13). Again, FCS opponents don’t tell us much, but you can’t ignore the performance of QB Emory Jones who threw 5 TDs and rushed 2.
Putting TCU in this tier is probably controversial after a loss, but they had a very real chance of beating the Buffs in the second half (42-45). I nearly placed them in the next tier down, so we’ll see if they bounce back from the loss to justify being here.
UCF looked really good in their Thursday night beatdown of Kent State (56-6). QB John Rhys Plumlee looked very good and I think their style of football will fit in very well in this conference. Welcome back to coaching in a power conference, Gus Malzahn.
Tier 3
Kansas (1-0), Iowa State (1-0), Oklahoma State (1-0)
I raised an eyebrow when I saw Kansas was struggling in the first half. I believe Leipold will bring KU back to regular bowl appearances, and they’re still on track as they eventually rolled their FCS foe (48-17).
Iowa State hasn’t completely gambled their season away yet, cruising to victory after an early pick six in their FCS matchup (30-9). I understand most would have them lower but I think Matt Campbell can turn things around.
The Pokes were pitching a shutout of their FCS opponent, but struggled in the second half to pull away (27-13). I still have questions about the cohesion of that team.
Tier 4
BYU (1-0), Houston (1-0), Texas Tech (0-1), West Virginia (0-1)
Now we’re getting to the struggle bus portion of the conference.
BYU looked tame against FBS newcomer Sam Houston (14-0). I respect the Bearkats for what they’ve done in FCS (and for my friends that went there) but they are 133rd in my FBS rankings. BYU needs more than a pair of Kedon Slovis rushing TDs to convince me they will be bowl eligible at the end of the season.
I watched nearly the whole Houston game which went down to the wire not unlike last year (17-14). Unlike last year, however, was that UTSA was the one really struggling with 3 picks thrown by Frank Harris. The fact that the Cougars hardly took advantage does not bode well for their P5 conference slate ahead.
Texas Tech, why did you schedule this game? Can’t blame them for the weather delay but they did no favors for themselves going on the road so I had them on upset alert. The fighting tortillas limped to a 2OT loss (33-35) which I expect to torpedo morale and their season.
West Virginia wasn’t shutout by an immensely more powerful Penn State (15-38) so they get to stay out of the basement. But with Neal Brown still at the helm, it feels like this is where they belong.
Tier 5
Baylor (0-1)
Okay, where do I begin here? Baylor, this loss is absolutely unjustifiable (31-42). You were 28-pt favorites, and the game wasn’t even as close as the score indicates. The Bobcats dominated the Bears in their first ever win over a P5 team. Kudos to upstart HC GJ Kinne for getting their squad ready. Turns out this transfer portal thing works (they brought the 4th most amount of transfers this off-season). I don’t know how Baylor’s defense could be so bad with a “defensive genius” at HC. (Okay, I know they were missing key players in the secondary, but that doesn’t explain 10 TFLs.) Do better, Baylor.
I know there are some Big XII fans in here, so I’d love to know everyone’s thoughts! And if anyone’s interested in taking over posting these, let me know.
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I’m curious how we’ll be looking back on TCU’s loss to Colorado as the season goes on. In a vacuum it’s hard to tell to what degree they underperformed, versus to what degree Colorado is for real.
Yeah, it’s not great that TCU’s last four games going back to last season involve three losses and a lot of points surrendered even in the win (though 31 in an OT game vs KSU wasn’t THAT bad), but if CU just ends up a 5-6 win team and competitive, this was not necessarily a disaster so much as a realty check and a reminder that last year’s run had a LOT of close calls.
If everybody else starts blowing out Prime and his transfer kids, then it’s going to look bad for the Frogs’ chances to right the ship this season.
Colorado vs Nebraska I think will give us a good idea how good TCU is. A better idea than TCU vs Nichols St will at least
As a TCU fan, I would like to point out that by point spread, Baylor in fact had the worst loss of Week 1. Please laugh at Waco, not Fort Worth.
I don’t have a lot to add to deep discussion but Texas Tech losing made me feel bad, but Baylor losing like that was a bit of a balm. Curious to see next weeks slate turns out
I would have put KU in the second tier. KU didn’t really struggle as much as they had a bad luck fumble and a failed 4th down conversion around midfield that allowed MoState to get 10 easy points. KU never punted and that was with our backup QB playing as our conference player of the year starter was out.
It really doesn’t matter as we will be in the first or second tier after we beat Illinois tomorrow
Ah yes, I forgot to put that in my write up. I did notice Jalon Daniels was out (not sure what the injury was though) so I had to place them a tier lower than I would have otherwise.
It really doesn’t matter as we will be in the first or second tier after we beat Illinois tomorrow
I love the early season optimism. Should be a fun game! I’ll be rooting for the Jayhawks (just not in late September, especially as that might be the only Texas game I’ll be able to make it to)
I think UCF performed well this week. We’ve got some things to clean up before Boise but I’m pretty optimistic. As long as JRP stops hurdling defenders that is.
OSU is going to have some serious identity issues to work out over the season. 3 QBs played last week and nobody truly stood out. The defense also struggled with some chunk plays and neither side of the line looked very good. The good news is these problems are no doubt somewhat due to the chemistry issues which SHOULD improve as the season goes on. Low chance we actually compete for the conference but we should have enough talent to stay out of the basement.
I predicted this before the season and feel validated in saying it now after the week one games.
Despite losing 5 starters due to gambling, ISU will be far better than last year and make a bowl game. We have a new offensive line coach and I think it will make all the difference in our offense. Unfortunately due to how much of a shit show El Assico is, we won’t really know how good ISU is until conference play starts. By recruiting metrics this is the most talented team in team history. If they are properly coached they will be good.
TCU will finish bottom half this year. They’re basically an entirely different team than last year. They also have Kendall Briles on staff so I will cheer for them to go 0-12 which sucks because they used to be one of my favorite teams and fan bases in the conference.
I still think TTU is legit this year, and the loss to Wyo doesn’t change that. Wyo might be a solid 10 win team.
WVU is going to be fighting Baylor for last real quick. A nothing game against Duquesne and an almost guaranteed loss to Pitt will have the fan base in rabidas hell going into conference play. We could beat TTU, then I don’t see an “easy” possible win until the final game against Baylor. We very well could end up 3-9. I don’t think we will, but the result wouldn’t be surprising.
Shane Lyons enduring legacy will be extending Neal Brown off a 6 win season just for him to get worse. Fucking moronic.
Love the discussion post, hopefully there are some actual b12 fans that can chime in as I mostly watch y’all as a palette cleanse after the sec slate. I love that b12 is competitive from top to bottom and I can’t wait for the lines between tiers to become more and more blurred.
