Kansas State @ Kansas
Saturday, November 6th 11:00 AM CT, FS1
Another year, another Sunflower Showdown that should be just as lopsided as any other game in this series over the last decade. Kansas (1-7, 0-5) showed a lot of promise in their loss against Oklahoma, before squandering any potential to build off of that momentum in a 55-3 loss to Oklahoma State this last weekend. Meanwhile, Kansas State (5-3, 2-3) has been trending in the right direction after starting conference play 0-3, beating Texas Tech and TCU in back-to-back weeks. Those wins resulted in back-to-back firings of the opposing teams’ head coaches. While Kansas certainly won’t fire Lance Leipold with a loss here, there is very little hope for the Jayhawks in this one. Kansas State is favored by 24 at the writing of this article, which feels about right.
38-14 Kansas State
#12 Baylor @ TCU
Saturday, November 6th 2:30 PM CT, FOX
#14 Baylor (7-1, 4-1) picked up a great win against Texas over the weekend, further improving the team’s potential for a very special season. That win was fueled by excellent rushing on offense and stout rush defense on the other side of the ball. The Bears now travel to Fort Worth to take on a Gary Patterson-less TCU. Jerry Kill, who was the head coach of Minnesota before P. J. Fleck now takes over as the interim head coach. TCU’s defense has been getting gashed all year and their only offensive prowess has been running the ball (something Baylor just proved they are exceptionally good at shutting down). This should be a blood bath, but rivalries can be weird. Baylor is favored by 6.5 in this one. I expect them to cover and win by double digits.
31-13 Baylor
#11 Oklahoma State @ West Virginia
Saturday, November 6th 2:30 PM CT, ESPN
#11 Oklahoma State (7-1, 4-1) put on an absolute clinic against Kansas last weekend. While that is typically not all that impressive, given the Jayhawks’ near defeat of Oklahoma the Cowboys dominant win is worth noting. What is potentially more worth noting is West Virginia’s (4-4, 2-3) upset win over Iowa State over the weekend. I and many others had written off West Virginia when they dipped to 2-4 on the season, but they have rallied and secured two straight wins. Another win here would be huge for their bowl aspirations (and would help out Baylor’s conference championship hopes immensely). Oklahoma State is favored by 3 in this one, but given how well the Mountaineers played offensively against the Cyclones last weekend I’m going to take WVU.
24-20 West Virginia
Texas @ Iowa State
Saturday, November 6th 6:30 PM CT, FS1
The amount of envy I feel as a Baylor fan for Iowa State (5-3, 3-2) getting to take on Texas (4-4, 2-3) the weekend after the Pole Assassin Monkey saga made headlines is indescribable. If you’ve been living under a rock and those words don’t make any sense to you, here is a summary of what has been one of the wildest stories to ever come out of college football. Obviously, Baylor had a great time dismantling Texas in the second half last weekend and plenty of memories were made, but the meme potential of this looming matchup off the heels of Monkeygate is astronomical. Combine that with temperatures that could dip down into the 40s and a night game atmosphere in Ames and Texas is charging toward trouble. Even though Iowa State laid an egg in Morgantown over the weekend, the Cyclones certainly have the weapons and rushing attack to take advantage of Texas’s signature second half softness. Iowa State is favored by 6.5 points as of the writing of this article, and unlike their last matchup with West Virginia, I don’t think the Cyclones will be monkeying around in this game.
38-30 Iowa State
FieldinOfDreams’ 2021 Prediction Record through Week 9: 43-13