It’s Week 4, and here we go. The Big 12 Conference has five league games on tap this weekend. By the end of the weekend, every team in the conference will have played at least one league game.
There are some great games on the docket, and just about every team playing this weekend has something at stake. But a few more teams have a little bit more at stake than others. Here are four teams with the most to prove this weekend.
TCU
The Horned Frogs have won two games since their debacle in Dublin against North Carolina. Those wins have been over Grambling and Arkansas State. Both games were in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs won by a combined score of 94-14. That’s a nice bounce-back.
But I need to see TCU do it against a Big 12 team. I need to see TCU do it on the road; it’s its first true road game of the year. I need to see TCU do it at the Bounce House in 80-degree humidity in the middle of the day against a team that — oh, by the way — it lost to at home, 35-34, two years ago.
TCU has plenty to prove this week, to me and to the rest of the league, if it truly wants to be the dark horse team people keep asking me about.
More: TCU vs. UCF Prediction, Pick and Odds
Arizona
The Wildcats are 2-1 going into their road trip to Washington State. Now, the Cougars are 1-2 and already have a road loss to Kansas State (34-7) and an Apple Cup loss to Washington (24-10).
So what does Arizona have to prove? That the Wildcats can win on the road. The Wildcats lost their only road game, 28-17, to BYU. They led that game at halftime too before getting shut out in the second half. The other two wins are at home.
Arizona must go to West Virginia, Texas Tech and Kansas State. The Wildcats need to win at least two of those to contend for the Big 12 title game. Arizona needs to prove it can win on the road.
More: Arizona vs. Washington State Prediction, Pick and Odds
Cincinnati
The Bearcats might be the least impressive 3-0 team in the conference. Cincinnati beat Boston College, who had to scratch out a win over Maine last weekend as a near-40-point favorite. BC only beat Rutgers by seven after losing to Cincinnati in the opener. Cincinnati’s win over Miami (OH) worries me, even though it’s a rivalry game because it was a one-score game and the Bearcats were seriously challenged a week after soundly beating Western Carolina.
Incredibly, Saturday’s game with Kansas State is Cincinnati’s fourth straight game in Cincinnati (the Miami game was at the Cincinnati Bengals’ home). Yet I think Cincinnati has more to prove than Kansas State going into this one. For instance, prove to me that the 410 yards in total offense given up to Miami isn’t a sign of things to come?
More: Kansas State vs. Cincinnati Prediction, Pick and Odds
Oklahoma State
I’ve been trying to figure out who has more to prove between Oklahoma State and West Virginia because I think their game is the most intriguing one of the week. The winner could end up ranked come Sunday and have a stealthy inside track to contending for the Big 12 Championship game.
After much thought, I think it’s OSU for two reasons. First, the Cowboys’ only loss was on the road, and this is their second road game. Morgantown is a tough place to play, and head coach Eric Morris knows that well from his days as a Texas Tech assistant coach. If OSU wants to make a run, it has to win these games.
Second, WVU’s running game is going to be hard to deal with. Between quarterback Michael Hawkins and running back Cam Cook, the Cowboys will have to play tight assignment football. That went great against Oregon and Murray State. Is it repeatable against a Rich Rodriguez offense? That’s what I’m curious about.
More: Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia Prediction, Pick and Odds
