The Big 12 Conference is putting its toe in the water a little bit further when it comes to conference games this week.
In fact, one of those toes will be dipped across the pond in England as Arizona State and Kansas play the conference’s first game at London’s Wembley Stadium. It’s the sort of tentpole event that commissioner brought your mark loves, even if it does put quite a bit of extra weight on the two teams participating.
It’s the last slate before we go full bore into league action. Here are four teams with the most to prove this weekend.
Houston and Texas Tech
Ordinarily I don’t combine teams. But since Houston and Texas Tech play each other this Friday and both have something to prove it makes sense.
For Houston, winning this game would be validation of all the preseason hype that it got in July and August and deservedly so. Head coach Willie Fritz has done a masterful job of building Houston into a team that can be competitive in the Big 12 in less than three years. But to make it to Arlington the Cougars must win games like this— games where they’re an underdog, games where they’re going to face a hostile crowd and games where the national spotlight is on them. There’s no way around it. That’s what they have to prove.
As for Texas Tech I think some folks are trying to throw dirt on the Red Raiders a bit too soon. Some looked at their wins Abilene Christian and Oregon State as underwhelming and perhaps that’s the case. But the development of a team over the course of this season is never linear. There are always steps forward and steps back and I think the first two wo weeks of the season represent that for Texas Tech.
The Red Raiders are considered the favorites in the Big 12. To keep that status, Texas Tech has to win games like this. As much as the fan base groused about the game being moved to Friday night, they’ll be there in Lubbock. The question is are the Red Raiders fine-tuned enough to beat it to beat a hungry Houston team? That’s what I need to see Texas Tech prove.
Arizona State
Arizona State is among those teams I have lumped in the “I think they can” group. In other words, I think the Sun Devils can be Big 12 contenders if enough things go right for them. A lot of things went wrong against Texas A&M on Saturday, but the good news is there’s plenty of tape for head coach Kenny Dillingham and his staff to work with to get Arizona State ready for their trip to London to face Kansas.
That’s the trick. These foreign trips are going to become more of a thing for the Big 12 because Yormark sees them as a differentiator. The Sun Devils need to prove they can beat teams like Kansas, teams that I think are a bit less talented than them, because those are the games that keep you out of a conference championship game.
This would have been a road game even if it was stateside for ASU. Can it handle the environment and the additional pressures? If Arizona State wants to emerge from that that “I think they can” group, this is a game they have to win.
West Virginia
I’m not of the belief that the Mountaineers must win their game with No. 25 Virginia to prove something to me. But what the Mountaineers need to show is that they can be competitive against a Top 25 team on the road.
Virginia has handled its business so far, most specifically that 34-8 win over NC State. The Cavaliers are building up to being a true contender in the ACC. So, what does West Virginia have to do to prove it to me?
I think the Mountaineers must keep this a one-score game for most of the contest. I think they must show me that they can limit the turnovers away from home and that their defense can play better than it did in the second half against Coastal Carolina.
If the Mountaineers can show me those three things I don’t necessarily care that they lose the game. That will show me they’re ready for Big 12 play because that first game of the slate against Oklahoma State is going to be a doozy.
