Kansas @ Baylor

Saturday, October 22nd 11:00 AM CT, ESPN2

Baylor (3-3, 1-2) is looking for a bounce-back game in a big way after suffering a frustrating loss in Morgantown last weekend. They host Kansas (5-2, 2-2) for homecoming. The Jayhawks put up a good fight in their game against Oklahoma, but ultimately couldn’t keep up offensively with Oklahoma returning starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Kansas still being down start quarterback Jalon Daniels. Backup Jason Bean played alright for the Jayhawks, throwing four touchdowns but also two interceptions. The Bears have their own quarterback injury issues, as Blake Shapen went down in the West Virginia game with an apparent head injury. So there’s a lot of uncertainty in this game. I think if either team gets their starting quarterback back, I would probably lean toward them. If neither does, I think Baylor still has a base level better team than Kansas, with Kryon Drones playing admirably last weekend in Shapen’s absence. At the time of this writing, Baylor is a 9 point favorite.

45-38 Baylor

West Virginia @ Texas Tech

Saturday, October 22nd 2:00 PM CT, FS1

West Virginia (3-3, 1-2) picked up a much needed win against Baylor last week. They now look to string together some more conference wins as they travel to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech (3-3, 1-2). The Red Raiders are coming off of a bye week, with their prior game being a hard fought loss against Oklahoma State. The Mountaineers have a more consistent offense coming into this one, while Texas Tech has about a five point better defense. With that, this game is pretty close to a statistical toss up. With the game being in Lubbock, I like Texas Tech to win this one. The Red Raiders are favored by 4.

31-24 Texas Tech

#20 Texas @ #11 Oklahoma State

Saturday, October 22nd 2:30 PM CT, ABC

#20 Texas (5-2, 3-1) survived a tough outing from the Cyclones last weekend in order to move within one win of a bowl game. #11 Oklahoma State (5-1, 2-1) is in a similar position after losing a overtime heartbreaker to TCU. The Cowboys showed that they have the offensive talent to hang with anyone, but that their defense might have a tendency to let up late in the game. Both teams have really solid quarterbacks, with OSU’s Spencer Sanders posting a 13 touchdowns to 3 interceptions line so far this year. Texas returned quarterback Quinn Ewers from injury two weeks ago, and he has led the Longhorns to two straight wins. So far, Texas has a much better defense than the Cowboys, holding teams to a 9 points lower average. With all of that, Texas is a 3.5 point favorite. However, Boone Pickens is a notoriously difficult road environment to play in, and I just don’t see the Cowboys dropping two games in a row.

35-31 Oklahoma State

#17 Kansas State @ #8 TCU

Saturday, October 22nd 7:00 PM CT, FS1

The battle of the Big 12 purples! #8 TCU (6-0, 3-0) scored a huge, come-from-behind victory over Oklahoma State this past weekend, an outing that saw the TCU offense rack up 510 yards. #17 Kansas State (5-1, 3-0) had a bye week last weekend, following their 10-9 win over Iowa State. Scoring 10 points is surely not going to get it done against TCU’s very potent offense. In that sense, this is a battle of opposing strengths, as Kansas State has just under a 10 point better defense than TCU, while TCU has a 17 point better offense than Kansas State. That being said, TCU’s defense is good enough to trip up the Wildcats a few too many times and give them some separation. TCU is a five point favorite in this home game, with the winner strongly controlling their destiny in the Big 12 title race. TCU is the much more proven team to me at this point.

38-20 TCU

FieldinOfDreams’ 2022 Pick ‘Em Record through Week 7: 34-13