Overreaction Monday: OSU Done, Baylor Surging, TCU Running the Table
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 water cooler 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).
Let us 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.
Oklahoma State’s Big 12 Title Hopes are Done After Their Beatdown in Manhattan.
Overreaction. While the 48-0 drudging at the hands of K-State wasn’t pretty, the Cowboys still have more than an outside chance of reaching the Big 12 Championship game. First things first, OSU will need to win out. That much is simple. With two losses in conference play, the Pokes are in a three-way tie for third place with Texas and Baylor, two teams they’ve already beaten this year. The second thing that needs to happen is for K-State to drop at least one, if not two more games. A loss to Texas this week would force K-State into a four-way tie for second place, that is if Baylor and Oklahoma State win this week as well. The Big 12 is proving to be a brutal league that beats up on itself every week, and that will likely continue. All of this is a moot point however if Spencer Sanders is injured and we will likely have to wait and see about his availability until this week’s game against Kansas.
Baylor Looks Primed to Return as a Big 12 Contender.
Not an Overreaction. After three losses, it appeared that Baylor might be in for a disappointing season and that might very well be the case considering how high expectations were coming into 2022. However, to write the Bears out of the Big 12 Championship would be a mistake, especially after how they looked in a 45-17 win over Texas Tech. With two losses in conference play, Baylor still has to play Oklahoma, Kansas State, TCU, and Texas, and winning out would give them at least a share of second place. Sure, winning out will be easier said than done, but if it does so it will likely be in the Big 12 championship. The only hang-up in their way right now is Oklahoma State, who would have to lose one more game along the way to break their tie with the Bears. There’s still a really good chance that Baylor plays itself back into contention, and that will have to start this week against Oklahoma.
TCU Can Run the Table and Have a Perfect Regular Season.
Not an Overreaction. For a few weeks, it felt like those that follow the Big 12 were waiting for TCU to fall back to Earth and lose a game to fall back into the pack a bit. However, Sonny Dykes and the Horned Frogs have continued to roll to 8-0 and show no signs of stopping any time soon. Max Duggan has been terrific for the Frogs and if he continues to play the way that he has over the first nine weeks of the season, it will be hard to see anyone else taking home the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year award. The question is, can TCU finish the season the way they’ve started it? Four games remain on the Horned Frogs’ schedule: vs. Texas Tech, at Texas, at Baylor, and vs. Iowa State. I think they are more than capable of winning all of those games, and if they do, they’ll play themselves into a College Football Playoff berth with a win in the Big 12 Championship.
