Heartland Sports: Texas finishes second, but wins the Big 12 title game
It appears Heartland Sports is hedging on its Texas doubt. The publication has the Longhorns winning the Big 12 championship game despite a 9-3 regular season prediction.
Interestingly enough, Heartland has Texas and Oklahoma representing the league in the New Years Six despite Kansas State finishing first in their regular season standings. Heartland Sports’ Brian Clinton predicts that the Big 12 winning Longhorns will travel to Arizona to face UTSA in the VRBO Fiesta Bowl.
The interesting tiering of teams has Oklahoma going to the Goodyear Cotton Bowl to face off with its former head coach Lincoln Riley and quarterback Caleb Williams of USC. That potential matchup would particularly be must-see TV.
Let’s look at how Heartland Sports sees the Big 12 season unfolding.
Big 12 Champion
Texas
Record: 10-3
Even Heartland can’t help but pick the Longhorns to win the Big 12 conference. That discovery is quite telling. Consensus is building toward a conference title in Austin for 2023.
Runner-up
Kansas State
Record: 10-3
Clinton makes an interesting prediction at this point. He appears to be very high on the Wildcats heading into the season, but can’t get the team past the nine-win Longhorns in the Big 12 title game.
Third place
Oklahoma
Record: 10-2
You would think Oklahoma fans would take a 10-win season and a revenge game against former head coach Lincoln Riley in the New Years Six. There are some suggesting that a playoff berth is on the table, but that seems farfetched. Clinton gives the team a very favorable prediction.
Just outside
Texas Tech (9-3)
TCU (9-3)
It’s going to be difficult for Texas Tech to get to nine wins given its schedule, though we think highly of the team. TCU shouldn’t fall too far from last year based on how much better Sonny Dykes is as a head coach than the rest of the coaches in the league.
Others reaching bowl games
Eight wins: Baylor, Oklahoma State
Seven wins: UCF, Kansas
Six wins: BYU
Oklahoma State jumps out as a team unlikely to win eight games based on how much it lost last season. Kansas, UCF and Baylor have an opportunity to make a surprise push for a Big 12 title appearance.
