Texas @ #16 Baylor

Saturday, October 30th 11:00 AM CT, ABC

#16 Baylor (6-1, 3-1) faces another big test as they host Texas (4-3, 2-2). Don’t let the Longhorns’ record fool you, they just played two of the best teams in the conference back-to-back (Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) and held substantial leads over both of them before blowing those leads late in the game. If Texas can put together four quarters, they are a dangerous team. That might be part of why ESPN’s FPI slightly favors the Longhorns. However, Baylor has its own share of weapons, as the Bears offense has been clicking on all cylinders since the Oklahoma State game. A big part of that is the run game, something that Texas has struggled to defend as they have allowed over 200 yards of rushing per game. The run game will be there for Baylor, so this game will be about pounding the rock and being opportunistic in the passing game. Baylor is about a 100 yards per game better defense and slightly better offense than Texas. So combine that with this being a home game and I’ll take the Bears. Baylor is favored by 2.5 at the time of this writing, I like Baylor to win and cover that spread.

35-24 Baylor

#22 Iowa State @ West Virginia

Saturday, October 30th 1:00 PM CT, ESPN+

#22 Iowa State (5-2, 3-1) is coming off of a huge, get-the-season-back-on-track win against then top 10 Oklahoma State. They need to keep building on that momentum as they travel to Morgantown to take on West Virginia (3-4, 1-3). The Mountaineers also got a much needed win over the weekend, taking down TCU in surprisingly dominant fashion. The Mountaineers are looking at an uphill climb toward bowl eligibility with five games remaining. Their clearest path includes wins over Kansas State and Kansas, but they would still need to win one of Iowa State, Oklahoma State, and Texas. So obviously, a win here would be huge. Still, the Mountaineers are getting the tail-end of Brocktober, a time when Iowa State and their quarterback Brock Purdy are notoriously difficult to beat. Iowa State is favored by 7 but I wouldn’t be surprised if they run that score up more than that.

38-20 Iowa State

Texas Tech @ #4 Oklahoma

Saturday, October 30th 2:30 PM CT, ABC

Well, Texas Tech (5-3, 2-3) just fired head coach Matt Wells after just 2 ¹⁄₂ seasons even though Tech has a winning record and is one win away from a bowl game. That timing seems odd to me. Nevertheless, the Red Raiders travel to #4 Oklahoma (8-0, 5-0) who just survived a shocking scare from Kansas. Part of me thinks that has to just be playing down to Kansas, but still the Sooners should be a little worried as they still have the top 3 teams in the conference that are not themselves left to play. Still, given the turmoil in Lubbock, Oklahoma should be able to win this game. The spread is 20 points in favor of Oklahoma, which feels a little bit high.

38-21 Oklahoma

TCU @ Kansas State

Saturday, October 30th 2:30 PM CT, ESPNU

TCU (3-4, 1-3) is coming off of a very disappointing loss to West Virginia, which is stirring up people in Fort Worth who are now questioning the future of the Horned Frogs program. Nevertheless, they need to bounce back if they want to recover this season and that starts with Kansas State (4-3, 1-3). The Wildcats just secured a desperately needed, come-from-behind victory over Texas Tech last weekend. If they can beat TCU, they still have Kansas on the schedule and should be able to lock up a bowl berth. Kansas State is favored by 3 in this one. I like the Wildcats to win at home.

24-21 Kansas State

Kansas @ #15 Oklahoma State

Saturday, October 30th 6:00 PM CT, FS1

Kansas (1-6, 0-4) just played its best game of the season by far in a losing effort to Oklahoma. There is certainly some hope after that game that the Jayhawks might be able to build off of the potential they showed. They now travel to #15 Oklahoma State (6-1, 3-1) who suffered a tough loss in Ames to Iowa State. The Cowboys should certainly be able to beat the Jayhawks at home on paper, the question will be if they are mentally up for it coming off of a loss. Oklahoma State is favored by 30.5 points, which is a somewhat ludicrous line given what we just saw Kansas do against Oklahoma. I think the Cowboys win, and probably win easily, but don’t quite cover that spread.

45-17 Oklahoma State

FieldinOfDreams’ 2021 Prediction Record through Week 8: 39-12