What-If Wednesday: Texas Loses, Snowy Farmageddon, and Neal Brown Wins
Welcome into our newest feature, we’re calling, “What-If Wednesday”. In this column, I’ll propose a handful of questions that, at this point, have not come to fruition. But IF they do, what will come out of it? What’s the end game?
Join us for this one and let’s have some fun.
What If Texas Loses to Texas Tech on Friday?
Then we are in for a world of fun and chaos on Saturday in the Big 12 Conference. With the Big 12 announcing its tiebreaker scenarios earlier this week, we know that if Texas loses, here’s what it means:
- No team can clinch a bid to the Championship until Saturday.
- Texas can still clinch a berth to the Championship if two of the three two-loss teams (Kansas State / Oklahoma / Oklahoma State) LOSE on Friday and/or Saturday. Texas and the remaining winning team of those three will qualify for the Championship.
- If Texas loses on Friday, and two or three two-loss teams WIN amongst Kansas State / Oklahoma / Oklahoma State on Friday and/or Saturday, there will be three or four teams tied for both Championship berths. Multiple scenarios exist in this circumstance contingent on which teams remain in the tiebreaker pool.
The last line is obviously key, because there are dozens of scenarios for the Big 12 if UT loses, and then two or three of the two-loss teams wins. It could be a completely wild weekend in the league, if Texas loses. Granted, I am not expecting it, but chaos is always welcomed.
What If West Virginia Steamrolls Baylor?
Then Neal Brown is coming back in 2024, no questions asked (he probably already is). And Dave Aranda could really find himself with a warming up, if not hot, seat.
West Virginia is an 8.5-point favorite heading into the game and with a win will be 8-4 in a season that the Mountaineers were picked to finish dead last in the media poll. While they don’t have a staple win this season, they mostly beat the teams they should have beaten and lost to the teams one would have expected. But to think that Brown is a potential Hail Mary vs. Houston away from being 9-3 is pretty darn impressive. Sorry to the Jimbo Fisher fanboys, but he’s going to be in Morgantown in 2024.
And while I expect Aranda to be in Waco in 2024, it will be a topic of conversation in Central Texas for much of the offseason if he finishes 3-9. And it should be. This team is a country mile away from its Big 12 Championship in 2021 and there’s nothing to suggest a turnaround is coming next season.
What if Farmageddon becomes a Snow Bowl?
Then we’re in for exactly the kind of game Farmageddon is supposed to be, as far as I’m concerned. Late November, cold, throw in some snow and wind, and you’ve got Farmageddon in a nutshell.
What else does this mean? Well, I already liked Iowa State to cover the 10-point spread, heck I have is as my “underdog” pick of the week on our Heartland College Sports YouTube channel, but now as the forecast continues to increase the possibility for snow, I like the pick even more.
And depending on how the rest of the games go in the Big 12 this weekend, this game could have Big 12 Championship implications, which would make it even more epic. And in a perfect world, maybe somehow, someway, this would convince the Big 12 offices not to end the streak of consecutive meetings between Iowa State and Kansas State at 110 in 2026, since the game will not be played in 2027.
What an absolute bummer that still is, and Saturday night will prove to be another example of why.
