Baylor @ West Virginia

Saturday, October 3rd 11:00 AM CT, ABC

Baylor (1-0, 1-0) is back in action after kicking off the season and Dave Aranda’s head coaching career with a win. The Bears looked really good, ESPECIALLY Trestan Ebner. As we are all surely aware, Ebner torched Kansas for four touchdowns including two kickoff returns, a rushing touchdown, and a receiving touchdown. If Ebner can keep his production anywhere close to that, the Bears should be an extremely tough out this season. The only problem is, as good as Baylor looked, it was against Kansas who looks atrocious this year. Thankfully, we get a road test against a decent West Virginia (1-1, 0-1) squad that should tell us a lot more about this team. West Virginia won their season opener, easily defeating Eastern Kentucky. They then lost 27-13 in Stillwater last weekend. While the Mountaineers lost by a pair of touchdowns, it was close until Chuba Hubbard broke a late game touchdown run. From the looks of it, the West Virginia defense is tough but the offense has its flaws. Baylor had three of its starting offensive linemen out against Kansas. Aranda believes Xavier Newman-Johnson will be back this Saturday, with Blake Bedier and Jake Burton still questionable. Any help on the offensive line should bolster what already looked like a good unit against Kansas. Baylor is favored by 2.5 points. I like the Bears in Morgantown.

31-24 Baylor

#9 Texas vs. TCU

Saturday, October 3rd 11:00 AM CT, FOX

#9 Texas (2-0, 1-0) is still undefeated truly by the skin of their teeth. Quite honestly, the Longhorns absolutely should have lost to Texas Tech last week if not for a spirited comeback and perfect onside kick. Regardless, against a team that barely beat Houston Baptist, Texas can’t feel great about that game. They need to show up stronger against TCU (0-1, 0-1). The Horned Frogs looked alright against Iowa State but, like in recent years, couldn’t really get in an offensive groove as they switched quarterbacks mid game. The TCU defense ought to provide some trouble for the Texas offense, but that Horned Frogs offensive line really needs a drastic improvement. Iowa State’s defensive line was teeing off on the TCU quarterbacks all game. Texas is a 12 point favorite, which feels pretty accurate. The Longhorns probably win this game by a couple scores.

35-21 Texas

#17 Oklahoma State @ Kansas

Saturday, October 3rd 2:30 PM CT, ESPN

As is tradition at this point, Kansas (0-2, 0-1) is still not good at football. There are younger players that are showing promise, so Les Miles might still be able to turn things around. But the Jayhawks offense has looked listless in their first few games minus select drives. #17 Oklahoma State (2-0, 1-0) has been in some fairly close games against Tulsa and West Virginia. I think the Cowboys might be overrated. But, they are certainly good enough to get the win in Lawrence as 22.5 point favorites.

42-10 Oklahoma State

Texas Tech @ Kansas State

Saturday, October 3rd 2:30 PM CT, FS1

Talk about opposite weeks. Texas Tech (1-1, 0-1) had Texas functionally defeated and absolutely squandered it. On the other hand, Kansas State (1-1, 1-0) pulled off a massive coup, coming back from 21 down to defeat Oklahoma in Norman. With such different emotions to ride, one has to wonder: Will Texas Tech be down in the dumps or motivated to bounce-back? Will Kansas State be too distracted celebrating to focus in practice this week and win this game? Or will they use that game to boost morale and their production? Kansas State is a 2.5 point favorite. I think this game being in Manhattan pushes the needle in favor of the Wildcats.

20-14 Kansas State

#18 Oklahoma @ Iowa State

Saturday, October 3rd 6:30 PM CT, ABC

#18 Oklahoma (1-1, 0-1) suffered a devastating early loss to Kansas State, in a strikingly similar fashion to their loss to the Wildcats last year. They now have to recover and travel to Ames to take on Iowa State (1-1, 1-0) who got a much needed win over TCU after their opening loss to Louisiana. Brock Purdy looked better in their game against TCU, minus quite possibly the worst interception I have ever seen. Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler looked pretty rattled against Kansas State, especially in the second half. Part of that looked like freshman happy feet, the other portion was the OU offensive line falling apart. If they don’t quickly improve, Iowa State’s defensive line is primed to tee off on Rattler after putting together 7 sacks against TCU. OU is favored by 7, but I like the upset alert in Ames. Two losses in a row by OU would put Lincoln Riley in entirely uncharted territory.

28-27 Iowa State