The Big 12 Conference is now playing games in November. It’s where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.
One undefeated team remains. The Utah Utes could be the Big 12’s best ticket to the College Football Playoff come December.
The BYU Cougars and the Texas Tech Red Raiders are in trail mode. Both have a conference loss, and both have their eye on being the Utes’ opponent in Arlington.
BYU gets a chance to shake up the race when they face the Utes on Saturday in what should be the marquee game of the weekend for the conference. Plus, there’s a host of two-loss teams lying in wait in case chaos reigns the final month.
So, who’s stock went up and who’s stock went down? Let’s look at the big movers across the league.
Stock Up
Iowa State (Just The Offense)
After getting absolutely rolled by Arizona in Week 8, the cyclones returned home for Halloween and who knew what was going to happen? The Cyclones beat the Oklahoma State Cowboys in an old fashioned Big 12 shootout, 51-49, and the offense was off the charts.
Running back Aiden Flora rushed for more than 200 yards and quarterback Jaylen Raynor — a week after being benched — threw for more than 300 yards. The offense absolutely lit up the Cowboys. And it STILL took a game-winning field goal as time expired to claim the victory.
You really can’t give the Cyclones defense any props in this game. It was absolutely burned by the Oklahoma State offense. But the Cyclones offense? They racked up nearly 600 total yards. They came to play. We’ll get to Oklahoma state’s defense in a minute.
Colorado
Let’s give Colorado some props. The Buffaloes finally got that first Big 12 win of the season, defeating Kansas State, 27-24. The Buffs won’t go winless in Big 12 play. But they were the last team in the conference to claim a league victory.
Colorado also did it against a Kansas State team that didn’t have its starting quarterback, Avery Johnson, who is out with an injury and could be out for the rest of the season. But hey — a win’s a win. And Colorado desperately needed that.
I’m not sure how much that cures what ails Colorado, but it does give them a good feeling going into this week’s game against Arizona State.
Baylor
Welcome to the Big 12’s most convulsive team. A week ago, the Bears were on the stock down list after losing to Kansas when the Jayhawks blocked a potential game-winning Baylor field goal. The loss led to Dave Aranda’s firing and the promotion of Joe Klanderman to interim head coach. Those are the kind of situations that allow a season to go completely off the rails.
So what do the Bears do? They go into Orlando on a Friday night and they don’t just beat UCF they absolutely beat them down, 41-9. Figure that out? Is Klanderman really the answer in Waco? I doubt it. I think it was a combination of those players wanting to play hard after losing their head coach and UCF coming down from a high after beating BYU.
But it looks good and with three ranked teams left on the schedule, Baylor needed that win to have a shot to be bold eligible.
Stock Down
Oklahoma State (Just The Defense)
The Oklahoma State defense has done just enough to win games this season. And in losses, the unit didn’t play well but it didn’t allow the team to run away and hide. Well, the Cowboys’ luck defensively ran out against Iowa State on Saturday.
The Cyclones steamrolled that defense. But it wasn’t just the fact that the Cowboys gave up nearly 600 yards in total offense and 51 points. There were an unusual amount of busted assignments and missed plays that really stuck out.
The unit is not as talented as the Cowboys offense and that offense will keep Oklahoma State in games. But defensive coordinator Skyler Cassity and his unit have a challenging week ahead against Kansas State. He’s going to have to change some things and fast. Because that can’t happen again.
Arizona State
Well, maybe not every team in the Big 12 can reload from year to year. Arizona State seems to be proving that player continuity is going to matter a bit more to the Sun Devils than it might to other programs.
Arizona State played BYU tough on Saturday but lost 27-20. Did you know that Arizona State is one of seven teams in FBS that has not won consecutive games this season? The Sun Devils have been back and forth like a metronome all season.
Another thing to note? Three of their four losses came to teams that were ranked at the time. The only one that wasn’t was Baylor. This program’s just meandering around right now and that’s not a great look for head coach Kenny Dillingham when everybody wants to connect him to the Florida State job.
UCF
I know the Knights were coming off that huge win over BYU in Week 8. But you just can’t do that. You can’t let coming down off that high be that pronounced. Losing to a Baylor team that was licking its wounds after Dave Aranda’s firing is a bad look. Losing that badly, 41-9, it’s impossible for me to wrap my brain around.
I could have lived with UCF losing that game. But not by 32 points. If Alonzo Barnett III is ready, then head coach Scott Frost needs to play him. It’s not just because the Knights are pursuing a bowl game. It’s because Barnett’s eligibility ends after this season. This is his fifth year. There’s really no reason to vacillate between quarterbacks if Barnett is healthy.
