Big 12 Fearless Predictions, Nov. 8

Lost a bit in the shuffle of all the great Big 12 quarterbacks, Zac Robinson has been as good and as efficient as anyone in the league. This Saturday he'll get a national spotlight game to show what he can do as he tries to get Oklahoma State back into the Big 12 title chase against Texas Tech. Check out the Previews and Predictions for the Week 11 Big 12 Games

Big 12
North Colorado | Iowa St | Kansas | Kansas State | Missouri | Nebraska
South Baylor | Oklahoma | Oklahoma State | Texas | Texas A&M | Texas Tech

Big 12 Fearless Predictions Aug. 30 | Sept. 6 | Sept. 13 | Sept. 20
- Sept. 27 | Oct. 4 | Oct. 11 | Oct. 18 | Oct. 25 | Nov. 1

- Big 12 Predictions, Nov. 8, Part 2 (OU vs. A&M)

How are the picks so far? SU: 65-11 ... ATS: 34-33

Big 12 Game of the Week

Oklahoma State (8-1) at Texas Tech (9-0), 8 EST ABC
Why to watch: For the second straight week, Texas Tech is in the national spotlight, but now it’s the hunted. After last week’s heart-stopping 39-33 win over Texas, the Red Raiders moved up to second in the BCS rankings and have the national championship spot there for the taking. It’s not going to be easy with a trip to Oklahoma next week, followed up by a date against Baylor, and if everything goes well, the Big 12 title game against either Missouri or Kansas. But first, here comes the battle against a high-powered Oklahoma State team that’s looking to make a big name for itself.

The Cowboys got on the radar with a win at Missouri, and then it battled Texas down to the wire in Austin. A win this week would throw the entire Big 12 race into a tizzy and get all kinds of speculating as far as tie-breakers and potential BCS implications. It’s far more complex than this, but realistically, and to make this as easy as possible, if Oklahoma State wins out, it will likely play for the Big 12 championship if Texas Tech goes on to beat Oklahoma, and Texas would likely play for the Big 12 title if OSU wins out and OU beats Texas Tech. Meanwhile, most likely, Oklahoma will end up playing for the Big 12 title if it wins out and Texas Tech beats Oklahoma State this week. If OSU beats Texas Tech, it’ll be tough for the Sooners to win the tie-breakers (the three-way tie-breaker is the BCS ranking) to represent the South in the championship. Easy, right?

For now, just enjoy the shootout between two of the nation’s best teams and two of the better offenses college football has seen in a long, long time. Texas Tech leads the nation in passing and averages 559 yards per game in total offense, while Oklahoma State averages 512 yards per game with an excellent mix of run and pass offense. Expect 1,000 yards of total offense and over 80 points put on the board. Expect video game numbers. Expect a game that should be among the best of the 2008 college football season.
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Why Oklahoma State might win: The Cowboys are better offensively than Texas. With Kendall Hunter and Keith Toston running the ball, there’s a better overall balance, and with Dez Bryant and a healthy Brandon Pettigrew there’s more explosion in the passing game than Texas Tech has seen all season long. The other key will be the punt return game. OSU leads the Big 12 and is third in the nation in punt returns, helped at times by Bryant, averaging 19.5 yards per try. The Texas Tech punting game has been abysmal, not that the offense stalls enough to punt on a regular basis. Every stop will be vital for the Cowboys; they’ll have a huge field position advantage as the game goes on.
Why Texas Tech might win: It’s an ongoing issue for OSU; there isn’t enough of a pass rush. The defensive front is able to manufacture a little it of pressure here and there, but it doesn’t actually get to the quarterback on a regular basis. Considering Texas Tech is second in the nation in sacks allowed, Graham Harrell should have all day to throw. The Cowboy defense hasn’t been close to stopping the better passers, giving up well almost 400 yards to Houston’s Case Keenum, Texas’ Colt McCoy, and Missouri’s Chase Daniel. Harrell should blow past 400 without much of a problem.
Who to watch: Which Big 12 quarterback is the Heisman front-runner this week? It was Daniel for a while, then it was McCoy’s award to lose, and now Harrell is the leader in the clubhouse. Meanwhile, Oklahoma State’s Zac Robinson leads the Big 12 in passing efficiency and is coming off one of the best games of his career throwing for 395 yards and five touchdowns. Having Bryant to throw to helps, but Robinson really is that good completing 129-of-187 passes for 2,082 yards and 20 touchdowns with five interceptions for the year. He’s also a dangerous runner with 341 yards and five scores.
What will happen: Texas Tech will show that it really is the No. 2 team in America. With more of a running game than Oklahoma State will probably expect, the Red Raiders will keep moving downhill all game long while Harrell will be razor-sharp. Michael Crabtree won’t outplay Dez Bryant, but he’ll make his presence felt despite playing through an ankle injury.
CFN Prediction: Texas Tech 41 … Oklahoma State 34 ... Line: Texas Tech -3
Must See Rating: (5 The Non-Stop Election Coverage – 1 The Non-Stop Election Analysis) … 5
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 Saturday, November 8

Baylor (3-6) at Texas (8-1), 12 EST
Why to watch: After a murderous four-game stretch against Oklahoma, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech, with all four teams ranked in the top 12, the Longhorns get as much of a week off as they’ll see before going to Kansas. Baylor might be vastly improved under first-year head coach Art Briles, but this is still isn’t on par with the superstars Texas has dealt with over the last month. The Bears last beat the Longhorns in 1997, and it hasn’t even been close since. Texas might be on a letdown alert after last weekend’s last-second heartbreaker to Texas Tech, but there’s still everything to play for. By winning out, and hoping for a Red Raider hiccup, the Big 12 South title is there for the taking. At least, being the representative in the Big 12 championship is still a possibility, and playing for the national title is still in the mix. Baylor has to beat Texas, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech to get bowl eligible. No, that’s not going to happen, but the Bears can be a major spoiler.
Why Baylor might win: While the Texas pass rush still has athletes and playmakers to worry about, the loss of Brian Orakpo to a sprained knee should help the Bear passing game. The offensive line has been decent all year, but it struggled a bit in pass protection over the last several weeks. The Bears, thanks to QB Robert Griffin, have a rushing element the Longhorns haven’t had to deal with yet, at least not to this level. Baylor has to keep the chains moving, it has to control the clock and it has to use Griffin to keep McCoy off the field. Outside of a late pass last week against Missouri; Griffin doesn’t turn the ball over.  
Why Texas might win: The Baylor secondary is still without its starting corners, Antareis Bryan (quad) and Dwain Crawford (ankle). Chase Daniel threw at will completing 30-of-38 passes for 318 yards, and McCoy should be able to do the same. Baylor doesn’t have enough of a pass rush to throw McCoy off his game, and even with Quan Cosby hurting, the Texas receiving corps should be in for a big day helped by the emergence of …
Who to watch: … redshirt freshman Malcolm Williams. Texas has a nice mix of decent veterans and young, rising superstars at receiver. Williams stepped up with Cosby went down, catching four passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns highlighted by a breathtaking 91-yarder. While he’s not a No. 1 target quite yet, he has the size and speed to pose major matchup problems in one-on-one coverage.
What will happen: Texas is too tough and too together to suffer a major letdown. Baylor will come up with a play or two here and there to get everyone excited, but McCoy will be a surgeon.
CFN Prediction: Texas 48 … Baylor 17 ... Line: Texas -25.5
Must See Rating: (5 The Non-Stop Election Coverage – 1 The Non-Stop Election Analysis) … 2.5
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Iowa State (2-7) at Colorado (4-5), 1:30 EST
Why to watch: As both Iowa State and Colorado are finding out, it’s a bad, bad year to try to rebuild in the Big 12. ISU is the league’s worst team this year, losing seven straight since a 48-28 win over Kent State back on September 6^th. The offense has gotten progressively worse, while the defense hasn’t had a prayer against the better Big 12 offenses. A 38-10 loss at Baylor didn’t help the confidence level. But the Cyclones were supposed to be in transition; Colorado was supposed to start making a move. A 14-13 win over Kansas State has been the lone oasis for a Buff team that’s lost five of its last six games since an overtime win over West Virginia, and with the league’s worst offense, it’s been having problems trying to keep up the pace so far. Even so, with two wins in the final three games, Oklahoma State and Nebraska are up next, the Buffs will go bowling.
Why Iowa State might win: The Colorado offense just doesn’t score. It doesn’t matter if it’s garbage time of the first quarter, against Texas A&M or Texas, the offense just doesn’t put points up on the board. It’s not like Iowa State’s defense is doing anything, it’s the worst in the Big 12, but it should finally get a little bit of a break. In what could be a close game, turnovers should mean everything, and Iowa State doesn’t make too many.
Why Colorado might win: The Iowa State defense allowed Baylor’s Robert Griffin complete 21-of-24 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. Texas A&M’s Jerrod Johnson completed 31-of-39 passes for 381 yards and four touchdowns.  Last week, Oklahoma State’s Zac Robinson completed 20-of-29 passes for 419 yards and five touchdowns. Basically, the Iowa State secondary can be beaten, and while Colorado has shown nothing, absolutely nothing, to suggest that there’s a passing game waiting in the wings to be unleashed, this should be the game when there should be some semblance of production.
Who to watch: Colorado leading rusher Rodney Stewart is out for the year after suffering a broken leg off a horse-collar tackle last week against Texas A&M. That means it’s up to uber-recruit Darrell Scott to start playing like the No. 1 running back in the country he’s supposed to be. He has the quickness, the breakaway speed, and the talent, and now it all has to come together. So far he has only rushed for 257 yards and a touchdown on 66 carries.
What will happen: Colorado will finally get its offense moving a bit, at least by its own standards, while the Iowa State passing game will go next to nowhere. The best Cyclone weapon, for the second straight week, should be Leonard Johnson, who set the NCAA record against Oklahoma State with 319 yards of kickoff returns.
CFN Prediction: Colorado 31 … Iowa State 17 ... Line: Colorado -10
Must See Rating: (5 The Non-Stop Election Coverage – 1 The Non-Stop Election Analysis) … 2
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Big 12 Predictions, Nov. 8, Part 2 (OU vs. A&M)