Who Will Win The Big 12?

By Camden Joiner on November 13, 2014

The Big 12 has surprisingly been one of the most competitive conferences in football this season. In fact, it has been so competitive that the eventual conference champion is likely to earn a bid in the College Football Playoff.

The Big 12 is rare in the sense that it no longer has a conference championship game; the champion will be crowned based on their record and head-to-head match-ups. These are the Big 12 championship contenders for the 2014 season.

Image via usatoday.com

Baylor: While TCU is ranked higher in the polls, Baylor is currently sitting at the top spot in the Big 12. Both programs are 5-1 in conference (8-1 overall), but Baylor has the tie breaker due to their head-to-head victory of TCU earlier this season.

During said match-up was a shootout for the ages. With just over 11 minutes left, Bryce Petty threw a pick 6 to Marcus Mallet which put the TCU Horned Frogs up 58-37.

At that moment, admittedly, I changed the channel. But as so many channel changers, including myself, seemed to forget, Baylor head coach Art Briles is one of the deadliest offensive gurus in the NCAA. Also not to be forgotten is quarterback Bryce Petty, who commands perhaps the best spread offense in college ball under center.

The Baylor Bears were unfazed by the 21 point deficit with so few minutes remaining. The Bears’ ensuing drive lasted just under a minute and would result in a touchdown, making the score 58-44. Baylor’s defense held up and upon receiving possession, the Bears scored another touchdown in just under a minute and a half.

TCU’s offense failed to gain any momentum yet again and the Bears would get the ball back fairly quickly. Bryce Petty would throw a touchdown in consecutive drives (this one only lasting :59 seconds) to make the game an even 58-58. TCU’s defense (and offense) completely collapsed down the stretch and Baylor would kick a game winning field goal in the closing seconds to win 61-58.

However, the very next week Baylor would fall to West Virginia 27-41. This dropped the Bears significantly in the polls, but Baylor continued to fight on. They bounced back after their loss with a big win over Kansas and followed that up by blowing out Oklahoma 48-14 in Norman.

It isn’t over for the Bears quite yet; Baylor still has match-ups versus Oklahoma State and Kansas State on the schedule this year.

Image via fansided.com

 

TCU: The Texas Christian University Horned Frogs started the season unranked in the AP Poll (as well as most others). Currently, TCU is ranked 4th in the nation by the College Football Playoff committee.

Since dramatically losing to Baylor, the Horned Frogs have played with a vengeance. The following week after their lone defeat, TCU beat down the Oklahoma State Cowboys 42-9. The following week, quarterback Trevone Boykin had a field day against Texas Tech, putting up 82 points against the Red Raiders.

The Horned Frogs would then travel to West Virginia, where Baylor fell just a few weeks prior. TCU did what the Baylor could not and defeated the Mountaineers 31-30.

Last weekend, TCU had a high profile match-up against the 7th ranked Kansas State Wildcats. Unfortunately for the cable stations it wasn’t much of a game as Boykin and the Frogs defeated the Wildcats 41-20.

Luckily for TCU, their remaining regular season schedule is pretty light. This weekend they travel to Kansas to face the 3-6 Jayhawks. After a bye week, the Frogs go back on the road versus Texas. The Longhorns have been steadily improving, but after TCU’s extermination of Kansas State, I don’t believe Texas will be much of a problem.

TCU finishes at home versus Iowa State, a team that has won just two games all season. Still, the Horned Frogs need some help. TCU could win out (which they probably will) and still lose the tie breaker for the conference championship.

Baylor has to lose a game for TCU to win outright, but as we’ve come to learn this late in the season, literally anything is possible.

Image via kansas.com

Kansas State: Kansas State currently has one more loss then Baylor and TCU, but since their first loss came at the hands of non-conference opponent Auburn, the Wildcats are still technically evened up at the top.

Still, the Wildcats are the least likely of the three to win the Big 12 crown. Kansas State lost badly to TCU last weekend, which dramatically hurt their chances. The Wildcats have to travel to West Virginia this weekend and as Baylor learned, winning there is no easy task.

Luckily for the Wildcats, the Baylor Bears are still on their schedule which gives the Wildcats a chance to knock Baylor out of title contention. However, even if Kansas State does manage to defeat both West Virginia and Baylor, they still would need TCU to lose.

Since the Wildcats just dropped last weekend’s game to the Frogs, TCU would have the head-to-head advantage. While I suppose it’s somehow possible Kansas State emerges with the Big 12 title, it won’t matter much. The College Football Playoff committee won’t be taking a 2-loss Big 12 team any time soon. Hey, the Big 12 championship is cool too, right?

Conference Champion PredictionBaylor

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format