This is a special time of year for the American people, as families travel from all over the country to be together and share a meal around the dinner table.
Thanksgiving means a lot of things to a lot of different people, but the main idea behind the holiday is an expression of gratitude for a “bountiful harvest,” like the ones that the English colonists and the Wampanoag people shared at Plymouth over 400 years ago.
In my family, Thanksgiving means an early morning of hunting with dad followed by an afternoon feast and NFL Football on the television.
It’s a tradition I’ve practiced for as long as I can remember, but due to extenuating health circumstances in the family, I won’t be able to enjoy the day as I typically would. The temporary loss of that tradition, while painful, sparked the idea of a new tradition for me — the Big 12 Football Thanksgiving Feast.
Just ahead of the action in Week 14, I hope you’ll enjoy this bountiful harvest, provided by the teams that we’ve been so fortunate (or unfortunate?) to watch this season.
The Turkey: The pièce de résistance
2024 Honoree: Arizona State Sun Devils
Whether it’s smoked, deep-fried (do it outside, people), or slow-roasted in the oven, the Thanksgiving turkey is the pièce de résistance of the holiday feast. When people hear the word “Turkey,” they instantly think about that big bird in the middle of the table that can make or break the entire meal.
This year, crazy Uncle Kenny was insistent that he bring the focal point of the menu. Despite several disconcerting remarks and concerns from the traditionalists in the family, Dad obliged and let him give it a try.
When he walked in the door with that crooked grin on his face, a third of the dinner party decided that turkey wasn’t on the menu, but when he removed the tinfoil and unveiled his creation, those same folks immediately second-guessed themselves. Uncle Kenny’s turkey didn’t necessarily look the same as Dad’s, but it had all the familiar ingredients that eventually made it the talk of the afternoon.
Arizona State is far from the traditional Big 12 power of your grandfather’s time. Heck, those schools aren’t even in the conference anymore. However, heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the Sun Devils appear best-positioned to be the league’s champion. With a young, fiery head coach, a stout and opportunistic defense, and an offense led by Cam Skattebo — the biggest “football guy” in the country — this team is the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving spread.
The Cranberry Sauce: It’s Sour… No Wait.. It’s Sweet?
2024 Honoree: Kansas Jayhawks
A good cranberry sauce can take a Thanksgiving meal to the next level, as it’s an excellent addition to several other items on the menu. A dab of this delectable side dish can be the finishing touch to the perfect bite of turkey, or the main thing that you soak up off the plate with the last bit of homemade roll.
But if Aunt Kelly says she’s making homemade cranberry sauce for the first time, it might be something you tread lightly with. There’s a chance that it comes out so tart that it ruins everything it touches, or it could be more watery than suggested and soak everything else on the plate.
This year’s cranberry sauce is an easy choice, as the Kansas Jayhawks started off the season looking like the sourest of grapes, and now they’ve quickly become the most dangerous team in the league. They’ve knocked off three consecutive ranked teams and are now just one win away from a bowl berth after starting the year off 1-5.
If Kansas had just been this team at the beginning of the year — the reliable canned version of what you can go and grab at Walmart — they’d probably be headed to Arlington next weekend.
The Stuffing: The Savory Side That’s Overshadowed By Turkey
2024 Honoree: BYU Cougars
When everybody is cleaning up the kitchen at the end of the Thanksgiving meal, there’s typically a few things that get left over in bunches, or simply forgotten. It’s not because those side dishes aren’t delicious, it’s simply that the folks had already had their fill by the time they realized that there wasn’t anymore room if they want to have dessert.
I’ve seen more gallon bowls and Ziploc bags of stuffing over the years than probably anything else. It’s a vital part of getting the meal right, If it weren’t for the stuffing, the turkey would lack the flavor and moisture that makes it so delectable. The stuffing is a vital part of the meal, but it’s not given the respect or the attention that it probably deserves.
The BYU Cougars are the stuffing of this Thanksgiving feast. The Cougars’ loss to Arizona State last week moved the Sun Devils into the spotlight, and with that, BYU seeming faded into obscurity after weeks of being the Big 12 darling with a 9-0 start. Despite back-to-back losses, the Cougars are one of the best stories in the Big 12 this season, climbing all the way to No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings after being picked to finish 11th in the Big 12 this preseason. The good news for BYU — and the stuffing — is the leftovers will certainly still be there for enjoying, even after the main course is over. Good luck to whoever ends up landing this BYU team in a bowl game.
The Mashed Potatoes: I Mean, It’s There… But Did Anyone Notice?
2024 Honoree(s): Kansas State, TCU, Texas Tech, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Houston
Mashed potatoes are one of those sides that appear in the Thanksgiving Day spread, but they’re not exclusive to that special day of the year. There’s not really anything too special about mashed potatoes — I mean, they are literally mashed potatoes.
A little salt, a little pepper, maybe some sour cream and they’re perfectly enjoyable — but if someone is talking about how good the mashed potatoes were at the end of the meal, the turkey, casseroles, and stuffing must’ve been awful.
There are several Big 12 teams that share the same “meh” energy that mashed potatoes puts off, as they didn’t really do a ton to stand out this year. Maybe they didn’t live up to some lofty expectations, or they were expected to be terrible, but they were perhaps just a step above that.
Green Bean Casserole: The X-Factor
2024 Honoree: Iowa State Cyclones
My grandma made a mean green bean casserole, which was often the first thing to go empty on the kitchen bar — because everyone in the family knew there weren’t many opportunities to return for seconds on that stuff.
A good green bean casserole is a staple of a Thanksgiving plate. It’s a traditional Thanksgiving side that pairs well with the other dishes, and it is a reasonable way to reset the palate between a bite of cranberry sauce and a piece of turkey or ham.
Matt Campbell’s Iowa State Cyclones are the green bean casserole of the Big 12 Thanksgiving feast. They might be the last thing everyone is talking about at the end of the regular season, if things fall right, and they’re certainly one of the better parts of the meal. Plus, there’s a good chance they get their shot at overtaking the turkey as the best dish of the day — that is, if grandma’s on her game.
The Gravy: The Thing That Covers Everything Else
2024 Honoree: Colorado Buffaloes
Thanksgiving gravy goes well with everything. It’s perfect on turkey, stuffing, rolls, and casserole — if it’s on your plate, it’s probably excellent smothered in gravy. However, too much gravy and you’ll wash out the rest of the meal and everything has that same savory taste. It’s not that it tastes bad or something, but it does take away from the experience as a whole if that’s all you’re tasting.
This year, the Colorado Buffaloes were the easy answer for who is the gravy at Thanksgiving. Anything that happens with the Buffaloes football program is immediately a national story, which is just the nature of having Deion Sanders as your head coach. But, seeing Travis Hunter turn into the Heisman favorite and Colorado become a legitimate Big 12 contender was incredible.
Every time we turned on the television or got on Twitter, CU football was being talked about. Fortunately that’s fantastic exposure for the rest of the league, too. Colorado’s inclusion in the conference has certainly enhanced the flavor of the Big 12 experience, and without them, this year just wouldn’t have been the same.
The Pecan Pie: The Perfect Dessert… But It’s Burnt to a Crisp
2024 Honoree: Utah Utes, Oklahoma State Cowboys
A slice of pecan pie is the perfect way to end a Thanksgiving meal, and when done correctly, it might be the best part of the entire experience. I’ve got some seriously talented people in my family, and two of them make an incredible homemade pecan pie.Last year, I decided I was going to try and replicate their recipe and have some at the house for Christmas time. I had all the ingredients and none of the know-how, and unsurprisingly, I ended up with a terrible, gooey mess.
There are two teams that fit that description this season, but it has nothing to do with a lack of knowledge or experience.
Kyle Whittingham and Mike Gundy are two of the most experience head coaches in college football, and coming into 2024, they were expected to be main contenders in the Big 12 race. As we head into Week 14, though, Utah and Oklahoma State aren’t just a little worse than expectations, they’re the bottom two teams in the Big 12 standings.
Utah (4-7, 1-7) and Oklahoma State are (3-8, 0-8) a combined 1-15 in Big 12 play this season. The Utes at least have an excuse with Cam Rising missing most of the season, but Oklahoma State has remained rather healthy throughout the year aside from Collin Oliver, and they haven’t won a game since September. If it weren’t for Florida State, the Utes and Cowboys would be the laughingstock of college football — so at least they have the Noles to be thankful for this holiday season.
