Welcome to the Heartland College Sports Big 12 football mailbag. This mailbag is for all you football junkies out there who root for a Big 12 school and not only have questions about your team but other teams in the conference as well.
So, join me, grab a can, bottle, or glass of your favorite beverage, and relax as I answer all your Big 12 questions. I want to thank each one of you who submitted a question this week on Twitter and our message boards! I would like to apologize because there is no drink this week. I was dealing with a bad internet outage due to storms on Monday night so I had to wrap on the mailbag late Tuesday morning with a cup of coffee. Cheers!
@CMack0507 asks: Explain the tiebreakers as they currently stand and what is your projection for the teams trying to get to Arlington?
Duke: Me explaining the tiebreakers is like me trying to explain Geometry, and as someone who finished with a C- in Geometry, you wouldn’t like that, but I will give it a shot. Right now, BYU, Iowa State, and Colorado are the only teams with one loss or less, so they are the top three favorites. If Colorado and Iowa State win out, they will both finish with 8-1 records in Big 12 play. Since they don’t play, they will be compared based on win percentage against common opponents. And this thing just keeps on going down the line all the way to a potential coin toss, which would be hilarious. All that you need to focus on now is this weekend, and take it week by week.
I could spend hours going down the rabbit hole of Big 12 scenarios, but we still have a full month of football left so let’s get there when we get there. As for my picks, I still have Iowa State and BYU making it to Arlington, but I would put BYU as my top favorite in the Big 12 to win it all.
@TXhowdy21 asks: What would have to break right for Texas Tech to play in the Big 12 championship game?
Duke: A lot would have to break right, and I mean a lot. The Red Raiders are sitting with a 4-2 record in Big 12 play. That means they are two full games back of BYU, who they aren’t going to catch unless BYU slips up multiple times. Their most significant focus should be on winning out, but they will also need some help to go along with that. First, they would need Iowa State to drop another game so they would have the head-to-head win over the Cyclones because Iowa State only has one loss in conference play. If that happens, things will get interesting depending on how Kansas State finishes out the season. There are simply too many scenarios to go over at this moment, but this weekend should clear up a lot.
@ashpkt asks: Oklahoma State fans have been growing impatient and are now downright furious with Gundy after his latest comments about fans. How hot is Gundy’s seat now?
Duke: I wouldn’t say Gundy’s seat is hot by any means because the man has a rolling contract and is owed a ton of money. The man still has years left on his contract, so that is out of the question. However, his comments on Monday really bothered me. Talking about people who are negative and voicing their opinions are the same ones who can’t pay their bills and take care of their own families and their own jobs. Do you talk about those people being failures? How about taking a look at your coaching staff, Mike?
How about your offensive coordinator, Kasey Dunn, who is making $1 million this season? Is he worth that? Or what about defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo, who is making $650,000? Is he worth that? Neither one of them is doing their job, yet they are making all that money.
Those are the real failures, the ones who are overpaid for doing a bad job. In the real world, with people with 9 to 5’s, we don’t get guaranteed contracts. If you don’t do your job, you get canned, unlike some of these coaches who can get fired and still get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to sit on their asses. Apologies for the rant, but I needed to get that off my chest.
@Reddawg3312 asks: How long did you cry after the Texas Tech win over Iowa State on Saturday?
Duke: I am not going to lie to you; I shed a tear, but it wasn’t because Iowa State lost. It’s because of the post-game interview Joey McGuire gave after the game. He was super emotional, as he should be, after taking down a top-15 undefeated team on the road. There has been a lot said about Texas Tech over the last two weeks, especially about their defense and how they had the worst passing defense in the entire country. But I must give the Red Raiders some credit; they went out and played some of their best football defensively against one of the top two teams in the Big 12. I love coach McGuire because he keeps it real, unlike other coaches, and if you were wondering if that was a tear in his eye, it wasn’t. That’s just West Texas in his eye.Â
