Overreaction Monday: K-State a Contender, OU a Pretender, Big 12 the Best Conference in Football
Every Monday during the college football season, fans of teams across the country return to work and discuss the events of the weekend with their coworkers. Around the watercooler or coffee machine, overreactions are born as suddenly one team is now a national title contender (they’re not) and another’s season is over after a tough loss (it isn’t).
Allow us to sift through the rumors, false allegations, and straight-up nonsense for you this season with overreaction Monday, where we tell you whether you need to cool the jets or you legitimately have something to worry about.
K-State is Back on Track to Be A Big 12 Contender.
Not an Overreaction. I, like many others, wrote Kansas State off after their loss to Tulane in Week 3. It was a horrible loss and the offense through three games looked lethargic and incapable of explosive plays. Then, Adrian Martinez had a game that has catapulted him into the Heisman conversation (+4000) with five total touchdowns and nearly 400 yards of total offense. That version of Adrian Martinez is enough to make K-State a contender, and in a league as wide open as the Big 12, there’s reason to believe that they have just as good a shot as anyone right now.
Oklahoma Is a Pretender, Not a Contender.
Overreaction. If you were under the assumption that Oklahoma was a national title contender in 2022, then that is on you. To expect that from anyone in Year 1 under a new regime is foolish. However, Oklahoma is still among the most talented rosters in football, which means they will likely have something to say in regards to the Big 12 Championship. Oklahoma is now 12-3 in its last fifteen Big 12 openers, with all three losses coming to Kansas State (2012, 2020, 2022). The last two times that happened, Oklahoma turned it around and won the Big 12 to finish the year. Don’t count the Sooners out just yet.
The Big 12 Conference is the Most Competitive League in College Football.
Not an Overreaction. My. Goodness. Through four weeks of football, the Big 12 looks like it might be the most competitive it has been, maybe ever. With Kansas elevating itself to looking like a bowl team, there won’t be an easy out for anyone this season. ESPN’s most recent SP+ Rankings after Week 4 shows that the Big 12 is neck-and-neck with the SEC for average offensive and defensive efficiency through four weeks. This conference is arguably playing the best football of anyone in the country, and now they will start beating up on each other. While the conference may lack a true national title contender, the Big 12 is full of great teams, and that will make for a fun season of football.
Texas is Still the Same Old Team.
Not an overreaction. C’mon guys. Every time that I start to believe that the Longhorns are turning a corner and look like they are a contender, they prove me wrong. No slight to Texas Tech, but the Longhorns had control in this game, and they blew it. Then, when they went down the field with less than 30 seconds left on the clock to tie the game, it felt like they had finally figured it out. Nope. Bijan Robinson fumbled on the first play of overtime and Texas finds a way to lose again. Until Texas figures out how to do the little things right, things in Austin won’t change. Having Quinn Ewers back will help, but Texas looks like the same old team that we’ve seen in year’s past.
Kansas Should be Ranked.
Not an Overreaction. What the hell AP Poll? Kansas is off to its first 4-0 start since 2009, yet they weren’t able to crack the Top 25. Now, were there other teams that deserved to be ranked that jumped in? Sure. K-State’s win over Oklahoma deserved to be rewarded with a Top 25 ranking, but Kansas is undefeated and playing some of the best offense in America behind a quarterback that should be viewed as a Heisman contender through four weeks. Jalon Daniels leads the country in QBR (98.0), and the Jayhawks are the nation’s second-most efficient offense (96.3). Rank them.
