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The Big 12 is bad. The Sun Belt is 3-0 against the conference. The league’s best team, per the polls, is either the one that lost to Kansas State—losers to the Sun Belt—or Texas—a team that needed a 15-0 run in the last 3:30 against mediocre Texas Tech to force overtime and win.
As always, these are predictive. If the rankings were based on resume, they’d be quite different.
Travis and I will Facebook Live on our page at 6:30 on Thursday. Even if you don’t have Facebook—respect if that’s the case—you can watch us on that page at 6:30.
1) Oklahoma- Yes, they lost to Kansas State. But Spencer Rattler made a few mistakes and is in his first season as the starter. I trust Lincoln Riley to figure out the offense.
The defense remains a major issue. Skylar Thompson missed a lot of throws. The Wildcats could have won by more.
2) Baylor- The Bears lost a lot on defense, but as Travis noted:
High-level takeaways from Baylor's first game: I'm much higher on the Baylor D than I expected, and lower on the offense.
— Travis (@Travis_Roeder) September 28, 2020
Not just the results, but the inputs. When you look at the details, the coaching and technique has sunk in on D. They know what they're doing.
If Charlie Brewer throws like he did in October last season, then the Bears can win the league. But I also might be taking too much away from beating Kansas.
3) Oklahoma State- The Cowboys have done well on defense. I don’t care who is playing QB, they haven’t pulled away in either of their first two games, including against an awful Tulsa squad.
4) Texas- The Longhorns are No. 1 on some folks list. Not mine. They were lucky as can be to beat Texas Tech—a two point winner against Houston Baptist the week before.
Texas also has a really high risk of the bottom falling out if they take a couple losses. Tom Herman’s seat could not be hotter.
5) Kansas State- Chris Klieman is one heck of a coach. The roster isn’t quite there yet, but they’re the best team at responding to setbacks.
6) West Virginia- The Mountaineers played Oklahoma State close, and Neal Brown is a fantastic coach. They’ll be a real challenge for Baylor this week.
7) Iowa State- Brock Purdy threw the worst interception I’ve ever seen on Saturday. The Cyclones were able to survive. They’re another Big 12 team with strong moments; I expect they’ll have plenty of low ones too.
8) TCU- The Horned Frogs could also move up, especially with the QB situation fluid. Tom Herman gave a ludicrous quote about Gary Patterson, so if he needed any more incentive to beat Texas, he has it.
9) Texas Tech- Their offense is great. The defense is bad; some things stay the same even in the weirdest year of our lives.
10) Kansas- The league is bad, so maybe they can win a game.