What-If Wednesday: Big 12 Running Backs, Houston Hoops Struggles and Mike Boynton’s Hot Seat
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 Big 12 Running Backs Start Topping Big 12 Quarterback Play?
Then maybe, finally, the national media will start to notice it’s not 2012 anymore and the Big 12 is not a no-run, Air Raid conference?
It just might take that for some of these supposed college football analysts to wake up and realize what the Big 12 is, and what it isn’t, in football going into the 2024 season.
Heck, Pro Football Focus just released its highest-graded running backs for the season with three future Big 12 running backs on the list.
Arizona’s Jonah Coleman led the way with a 90.9 grade in the 2023 season and was a vital part of the Wildcats’ offensive attack. This past season he turned 128 carries for 871 yards (6.8 yards per carry) and five touchdowns, adding 25 receptions for 283 yards and one score through the air.
Tahj Brooks is next with a 90.1 offensive grade from PFF, and is coming off a 1,538-yard, 10-touchdown season with Texas Tech in 2023. The final player on the list is freshman phenom Jahiem White, who set Morgantown on fire in his first season at West Virginia. Despite logging just 109 carries on the season and being behind CJ Donaldson for the first half of the season, White led the Mountaineers with 842 yards (7.7 yards per carry) and also turned in four scores on the ground.
And that list, somehow, did not even include Ollie freakin’ Gordon!
The Big 12 running back play was far superior to the Big 12 quarterback play in 2023, and I expect that to continue into the 2024 college football season.
What If Houston Basketball Struggles in Year 1 in the Big 12?
Then it should be a wake-up call to Brett Yormark and any other Big 12 University President that Gonzaga should be off the table for any kind of basketball expansion.
I’ve argued against Gonzaga since the rumors began last year, because Gonzaga basketball is not Gonzaga basketball as we know it today in the Big 12. They would no longer be a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, so any path through March Madness would naturally become more difficult.
They’d become a mid-tier program from Spokane, Washington (market number 67). At this point, the value for Gonzaga is not what we perceive it to be today. Gonzaga has had the good fortune of going 30-3 and locking up a Top 3 seed each year. That won’t happen in the Big 12.
And for the record, I don’t think Houston will struggle, necessarily. They can still win the Big 12. But as the Cougars found out on Tuesday night in Ames, this ain’t the AAC.
What if Oklahoma State Basketball Bombs Out in January?
Then Mike Boynton could very likely be on the hot seat.
Oklahoma State‘s remaining January schedule, following their 0-2 start including a blowout loss at Texas Tech on Tuesday, includes at Iowa State, vs. Kansas, at Kansas State, vs. TCU, vs. West Virginia and at Kansas.
If Oklahoma State is 1-7, or maybe 2-6, in league play after the month, will you be surprised? I won’t be.
As far as I can tell, everyone in Stillwater wants Mike Boynton to succeed. He’s a good man and he is easy to root for. However, he is in his 7th season as Oklahoma State’s basketball coach and has a Big 12 record of 47-63 and has never finished higher than 5th in the league, while winning one NCAA Tournament game. At some point, things have to improve, right?
The best thing going for Boynton is that OSU fans have become football fans first, with basketball a distance second. So they’ll keep rooting for a good guy, despite the results.
