Big 12
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Colorado
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Iowa St
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Kansas State
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Missouri
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Nebraska
South
Baylor
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Oklahoma
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Oklahoma State
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Texas
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Texas A&M
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Texas Tech
Past Big 12 Predictions:
Week 1 |
Week 2 |
Week 3 |
Week 4 |
Week 5
Week 6 |
Week 7
How'd we do so far? 40-8 straight
up, 18-22-2
ATS
Week
8
Big 12 Fearless Predictions |
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Texas Tech
(4-3) at
Iowa State
(3-4) 3:30 PM EST Saturday
October 21st
Why to Watch: Which team's
floundering season will officially start
to go into the tank? Iowa State has
faced a nasty schedule losing to Iowa,
Texas, Nebraska and Oklahoma over the
last five weeks, but it won by the skin
of its teeth against miserable Toledo
and UNLV teams along with a one-point
win over D-IAA Northern Iowa. A loss
this week likely means the end of bowl
hopes for a team that can't seem to find
anything to hang its hat on. Texas Tech
has shown flashes of oh-my-goodness
brilliance mixed in with oh-my-goodness
tank jobs against Colorado and TCU. With
Texas coming up next week, the Red
Raiders desperately need to stop the
two-game losing slide to get back on
track to get higher in the bowl pecking
order. There should be a ton of passing
and a lot of big plays in what should be
an entertaining game.
Why Texas Tech Might Win: The Red
Raider pass defense has been strong
leading the Big 12 allowing only 148
yards. Iowa State QB Bret Meyer is good,
but he hasn't been efficient relying
more on the home run shot to try to bail
out a mediocre running game. Granted,
the Tech secondary has only faced one
team that throws, UTEP, and got burned,
but the secondary has been relatively
strong all year long. If Iowa State
isn't throwing well, it isn't winning.
Meanwhile, the Cyclone secondary has
been awful with no pass rush from the
line to provide any help, and it's even
worse now with top corner DeAndre
Jackson out for the year with a knee
injury.
Why Iowa State Might Win: Will
good Texas Tech show up or will it be
weird, bad Texas Tech? When QB Graham
Harrell is off, he's really, really off,
and there's absolutely no running game
to fall back on. Iowa State has to hope
Harrell is misfiring and unable to get
on the same page as his great receiving
corps, and it has to find a way to sniff
out plays like Colorado was able to do
last week. The Red Raiders will turn the
ball over, but can Iowa State take
advantage of the mistakes?
Who to Watch: If Joel Filani
scores, Texas Tech usually wins. Fine,
so it's not that simple, but Tech is 4-1
this year when the senior receiver gets
into the end zone, and 0-2 when he
doesn't, and 10-2 over the last three
years when he scores. Coincidence?
Maybe, but while Robert Johnson and
Jarrett Hicks are certainly capable of
burning secondaries, the offense always
seems to hum at its best when Filani is
rolling. Before being held to four
catches last week, he caught 21 passes
for 270 yards and two touchdowns over
the previous two games. He should have a
field day in single coverage, and
Harrell has to find a way to get him the
ball. Meanwhile, Hicks saw his 28-game
streak of catching at least one pass
stopped at Colorado, while Johnson will
likely be back in the mix after being
suspended for last week's game.
What Will Happen: Iowa State
isn't very good. At least, it's not
playing like it's any good. Texas Tech's
offense will get back on track with all
the parts working again.
CFN Prediction:
Texas Tech 31 ... Iowa State 24 ...
Line: Texas Tech -2
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Knights
of Prosperity)
... 3
Texas
A&M
(6-1) at
Oklahoma
State
(4-2) 7 PM EST Saturday
October 21st
Why to Watch: All of a sudden,
after impressive wins last week, this
game becomes critical in the Big 12
race. Texas A&M beat Missouri with a
pounding running game and timely defense
to get back in the hunt. The win showed
the Aggies could play with the league's
best, and now it needs to beat OSU and
Baylor to be 8-1 before dealing with a
three-game stretch against Oklahoma,
Nebraska and Texas that'll make or break
the conference pecking order in some
way, shape or form. Oklahoma State's
season appeared to be slipping away
after losing to Kansas State in the
final three minutes and getting down
17-0 to Kansas in the second half. And
then a funny thing happened on the way
to the abyss; Bobby Reid and Adarius
Bowman turned in the greatest passing
display the Big 12 had ever seen. Bowman
caught 13 passes for a Big 12 record 300
yards and four touchdowns on the way to
a 42-32 win to keep bowl hopes alive.
Now it has to get by Texas A&M if it
wants to be considered any sort of the
threat in the South race.
Why Texas A&M Might Win: A&M
should be able to run all day long.
Oklahoma State had major problems with
Kansas when RB Jon Cornish was rumbling,
but once he got knocked out with an
injury, the KU ground game stopped.
Kansas State's Leon Patton dashed for
151 yards on the Cowboys, and A&M should
be able to use the thunder and lightning
of Jorvorsrkie Lane and Mike Goodson.
The 276-pound Lane beating down OSU
while the fast Goodson should break off
several big runs on the outside. With
speedy freshman linebacker Chris Collins
out for the year, OSU will have to move
things around in the linebacking corps
at an inopportune time. The Aggie
secondary is just good enough to keep
Bowman under wraps, however ...
Why Oklahoma State Might Win: ...
OSU has the potential to dink and dunk
all day long if Reid gets hot. The Big
12's most efficient passer broke out
last week, but he's been fantastic all
season long growing into an accurate
thrower and a fantastic decision maker.
To use the cliché, the light has gone
on. With 17 touchdown passes and only
five interceptions, with three of them
coming in the win over Arkansas State,
he's been far better than expected, and
now he's starting to use his mobility
more and more to set up his passing, and
not as a crutch. He's everything to
OSU's offense, and if he's hot, A&M
might be in trouble.
Who to Watch: So how good is
Bowman? The transfer from North Carolina
is big enough and fast enough to
entertain thoughts of leaving early for
the NFL, and he's been roaring hot over
the last few weeks. The Kansas game got
him the national attention, but he also
caught seven passes for 166 yards and a
score against Houston. With all the
attention paid to him, watch out for
D'Juan Woods to play a bigger role.
What Will Happen: Texas A&M is
the real deal, but so is Reid. A&M's
offense will be efficient, while the
defense will force a few key mistakes to
get away with the tight win.
CFN Prediction:
Texas A&M 31
... Oklahoma State 27 ...
Line: Oklahoma State -1.5
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Knights
of Prosperity)
... 3
Colorado
(1-6) at
Oklahoma
(4-2) 7 PM EST Saturday
October 21st
Why to Watch: Colorado is riding
high after getting its first week of the
year by shutting down the Texas Tech
passing game in a stunning 30-6 win.
Oklahoma overcame the loss to Texas with
a convincing 34-9 win over Iowa State,
but lost star RB Adrian Peterson for the
year with a broken collarbone and had
off-the-field issues with top LB Rufus
Alexander being arrested and being
charged with disturbing the peace and
interference with official process.
Basically, he was involved in breaking
up a fight. Even though he'll likely
play this week, it was just another bad
thing for a team that's had a rocky
year. With road trips to Missouri and
Texas A&M coming up next, and with a
date with Texas Tech to follow, the
Sooners can't afford a slip this week. A
win for the Buffs would truly mean the
turnaround has arrived and might spark a
great run with winnable games against
Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State
before finishing up with Nebraska.
Why Colorado Might Win: What,
exactly, is Oklahoma going to do for an
offense now that Peterson is out? He was
everything to the OU offense, and in
what now appears to be a huge mistake by
the Sooner coaching staff, there's not
really a game-prepared number two ground
option ready to roll. Worse yet,
Colorado's run defense has been
fantastic all season long and isn't
likely to give up many big gains. That
means the offense likely will revolve
around QB Paul Thompson, but he hasn't
proven he can carry the attack and will
be under intense pressure all game long
by the excellent Buff pass rush.
Why Oklahoma Might Win: Either
Colorado will run the ball, or its
offense won't go anywhere. Bernard
Jackson had an efficient, terrific game
against against Texas Tech set up by
Hugh Charles and the running game. The
OU defense has been excellent against
the pass ever since getting bombed on by
Oregon's Dennis Dixon over a month ago,
and it will pin its ears back and sell
out against the run. If OU doesn't make
mistakes on offense and stops the run,
it should get through the first game
after Peterson without a problem.
Who to Watch: Allen Patrick and
Jacob Gutierrez, your table is ready.
These two have seen plenty of reps in
practice, but now they have to go live
as they attempt to do the impossible and
replace the best player in college
football and nearly 91% of the team's
running game. They're both blazing fast
with Patrick, a former defensive back
and top special teamer, the bigger of
the two, and Gutierrez the more
experienced saving the day against
Baylor last year by running for 173
yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries.
He's coming off a knee injury suffered
in the Holiday Bowl, but the 5-6 junior
is starting to almost back to normal.
What Will Happen: How did OU do
without A.D. when he missed most of
three games with an ankle injury? It
lost to Texas, beat Kansas 19-3, and
beat Baylor 37-30. Colorado won't have
enough on offense to win, but its D will
keep it close.
CFN Prediction:
Oklahoma 17
... Colorado 13 ...
Line: Oklahoma -12.5
Must See Rating: (5 skip the
birth of your first born - 1 Knights
of Prosperity)
... 3
Week
8
Big 12 Fearless Predictions |
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Tickets for These Games