Big 12 Roundup: an unexpected face at the top after week two
Well, that was a fun weekend, wasn’t it? We had a couple of ranked teams drop home games to teams from the Sun Belt Conference, and the Sooners won their matchup by 30.
Not only that, but the Sooners moved up in both the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and the AP Poll from No. 7 to No. 6 following Texas A&M’s loss to Appalachian State.
Despite Oklahoma’s solid start, their lack of conference games keeps them from the top of the Big 12 standings. Early in the season, only two teams have played a conference game. Kansas traveled to Morgantown to face the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Jayhawks moved to 2-0 with their overtime win over West Virginia.
These are not the Jayhawks of yesteryear. They aren’t going to challenge for the Big 12 title, but they aren’t the pushovers they once were. Lance Leipold, take a bow.
Since the Jayhawks are the only Big 12 team with a win in conference play, they are leading the Big 12 after Week 2. Since no one in the Big 12 is playing another Big 12 team in Week 3, the Jayhawks will remain on top of the conference standings for at least another week.
Texas, I owe you an apology. I said that your game against Alabama wouldn’t be close, and that the Tide would roll all over you. That didn’t happen. Before his injury, Quinn Ewers looked like an absolute gamer against a very talented Alabama defense. Hudson Card didn’t shrink when brought in to replace Ewers.
Had Bryce Young not made an extremely athletic move to escape a sack in the final moments of the fourth quarter, the Longhorns would’ve handed the Tide their first nonconference loss on the road since Nick Saban’s first year in Tuscaloosa. To reiterate: I was wrong. The Longhorns were phenomenal on Saturday and deserve their spot in the Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25.
Before Week 2, the BYU Cougars had never hosted a top-10 team as an independent. Now, they are perfect in those circumstances. The Cougar faithful had the Baylor Bears on edge all night, and BYU showed it can run with some of the Big 12’s top dogs.
Texas Tech didn’t keep the fans off the field. The Red Raiders defeated the No. 25 Houston Cougars in overtime in a high-scoring thriller, 33-30. Those cactus emojis might be working. Not for nothing, Oklahoma has to play Texas Tech in Lubbock this season for its final regular season game.
Kansas State smacked around Missouri, and Iowa State won the Corn Bowl. Not what they call their game but go with it. It was Matt Campbell’s first win over Iowa as head coach. Oklahoma State beat down Arizona State and TCU hammered the Tarleton Texans.
It was a good week for the present and future of the Big 12. Both future Big 12 members facing current members turned in great performances.
Whenever OU and Texas do decide to leave, the Big 12 is going to be just fine. The race for the Big 12 title is on.
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Texas hangs with Bama, Kansas knocks off West Virginia: Big 12 Power Rankings after week 2
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