TCU at Texas: For
the fourth game in a row the Longhorns will face a punchless
offense. The Texas defense basically stifled Kansas, Texas Tech and Iowa State.
Now they draw the TCU Horned Frogs who work with a freshman quarterback,
substitute running backs and a head coach who views offense the way Mike Leach
regards defense. Suffice it to say that TCU won’t light up the scoreboard.
But neither will Texas. The Longhorn offense is competent,
but little more. Given Texas’ talent on that side of the ball, and the
wunderkind reputation of offensive coordinator Brian Harsin,
that’s pretty pathetic.
This game will be low and slow. The Longhorns have more to
play for, but their listless six-figure fan-base don’t
provide much of a homefield advantage. Still, TCU’s
overall offensive weakness will doom the Froggies.
The Vision: Texas 29
TCU 15
Texas Tech versus
Baylor: The back half of Texas Tech’s 2012 football season is playing out
remarkably like the second portion of the 2011 season, and there’s no reason to
think that will change for the final game of the year. A slumping and battered
Red Raider squad was unfortunate enough to catch a peaking Oklahoma State last
weekend and the results were disastrous. The moment the Cowboys converted a 3rd-and-long
on their first drive, all the life went out of the Red Raiders and the rout was
on.
Baylor, too, is peaking, as evidenced by a three-game
stretch in which they blew out Kansas, scared Oklahoma, and trounced No. 1
Kansas State. In other words, the win over the Wildcats was no fluke; the Bears
have come to life and are playing as well as any team in the Big 12. All the above points to an ugly afternoon for Tech in the Metroplex.
The Vision: Baylor 52
Texas Tech 26
West Virginia at Iowa
State: Since suffering horrendous losses to Texas Tech and Kansas State,
West Virginia has actually played decent football the last three weeks, but
just hasn’t been able to clamp down on a win. The Mountaineers came within a
whisker of beating TCU and Oklahoma, and hung pretty tough with Oklahoma State.
You might think this team is due for a win.
But that’s hardly a sure thing.
WVU travels to Ames, Iowa where they will face the dangerous
but wildly inconsistent Iowa State Cyclones. Paul Rhoads’ team looked dead in
the water following a 15-point loss to Oklahoma and a toasting at the hands of
Texas. The Cyclones arose from their watery grave, however, to demolish what
seemed to be an improving Kansas team.
So in short, this game is impossible to predict. If ISU,
with new quarterback Sam Richardson, is hitting on all cylinders, West Virginia
is in trouble. But if the Cyclones go back into a funk, the
Mountaineer will finally break through.
The Vision: Iowa
State 37 West Virginia 35
Oklahoma State at
Oklahoma: Oklahoma State is probably the best team in the Big 12 right now.
The defense, while unspectacular, is solid. Combine that defense with perhaps
the nation’s best offense and special teams, and you’ve got a team that is very
tough to beat. Indeed, were it not for a highly suspicious call in the “loss”
to Texas, the Cowboys would be in good position to repeat as conference champs.
Oklahoma, on the other hand, looks a bit shaky. The offense
torched the weak defenses of Baylor and West Virginia while the defense
surrendered beaucoup points to the prolific attacks of those two teams. Suffice
it to say that the Cowboys will score heap big points against the Sooners,
while the OU offense does its best to keep pace.
The Vision: Oklahoma
State 45 Oklahoma 40