The Big 12 had a very busy offseason dealing with expansion talk, having a conference championship game, and the fallout from the Baylor University scandal. The conference was hoping that when the season started, they will be able to focus on just football, but after the first two weeks, things aren’t looking too good for the conference. Big 12 teams haven’t done very well when it comes to college football lines this season, but there is still time for some of the teams to turn things around.
After two weeks, Texas, West Virginia and Baylor are the only undefeated teams in the conference, which is something a lot of football insiders didn’t expect. Going into the season, teams like Oklahoma and TCU were considered the best schools in the conference and the teams with the best chance of making the College Football Playoffs, but as things stand right now, it would be difficult for either team to make the playoffs.
So far this season, the Big 12 is 4-5 against all competition. Oklahoma, the preseason favorite to win the conference lost their first game of the season to the University of Houston, a team that has hopes of becoming a member of the Big 12, but was shunned during the offseason.
Oklahoma State lost to Central Michigan on a last second touchdown pass, and TCU lost at home to Arkansas. Other conference members that have lost this season include Iowa State, Texas Tech, and Kansas, leaving the Longhorns as the top ranked team in the conference.
Some of the Big 12 schools that are hoping that conference play will improve their chances of making the playoffs will be disappointed because it might do them more harm than good. The conference has a 1-5 record against Power 5 conferences, with West Virginia being the only team to defeat a Power 5 team.
The Big 12 is also 3-3 against the Group of 5, after losing to Houston, Central Michigan and Ohio.
One Big 12 team that gets to redeem itself and improve its chances of making the playoffs is Oklahoma, who will face Ohio State this weekend. The Buckeyes are ranked 3rd in the country, so a win by Oklahoma will get them back into the playoff conversation.
A loss however, will give the Sooners their second of the season, which means they can kiss their playoff hopes goodbye. Texas will travel to California this week to take on the Golden Bears. While the Longhorns look better on paper, they are a young team coming off two bug victories and can make the mistake of underestimating their opponents.
If Texas wins, they will improve their odds of making the playoffs, but if they lose, it will be more difficult to make the playoffs because they still have a few tough games left on their schedule, and won’t be able to afford any more losses.
Since no two-loss team has ever made the playoffs, and only two made the BCS championship game, all the Big12 teams that have losses know they can’t afford to lose another game, which is why it will be interesting to see how the teams do when they start playing conference games.
