It is crunch time in the Big 12. No one has locked up a spot yet in the Big 12 title game with just three weeks left. So who is going to take a step closer to a conference title this week? Our Big 12 week 11 winners also have some compelling action happening all over the conference. Last week was headlined by the totals, which went 4-1. It was split amongst the actual winners as the straight-up picks were 3-2, while ATS went 2-3.
Season Straight Up: 38-11
Season ATS: 26-24-2
Season Totals: 27-25
Big 12 Week 11 Winners
Oklahoma (-8) At West Virginia
Oklahoma’s defensive performance last week was more of an indictment of how bad the Iowa State offense is. So West Virginia should find a way to score a fair amount of points. However, it appears the bottom has fallen off the Mountaineers. They have lost four of their last five, with an average margin of defeat of 20.75 points. The Sooners should comfortably handle business in Morgantown. The hot seat continues to get hotter for Neal Brown.
Straight Up: Oklahoma ATS: Oklahoma Total 67.5: Over
Iowa State At Oklahoma State (+1.5)
Oklahoma State fans must be begging for one esteemed Big 12 correspondent to quit picking them. The last four picks by yours truly for the Cowboys have been wrong. It is hard to get a read on the Cowboys. Oklahoma State won first of the six of seven games, with their only loss coming in overtime against the undefeated Horned Frogs. But now they have lost their last two games by a combined score of 85-16. The health of quarterback Spencer Sanders is unknown. And while the Oklahoma State defense isn’t anything remotely close to last year, the Iowa State offense still won’t find a way to make enough plays to capture a road victory.
Straight Up: Oklahoma State ATS: Oklahoma State Total 48.5: Under
Kansas (+3.5) At Texas Tech
It is pretty simple for Joey McGuire’s team against the darling Jayhawks. The magical number is five. The Red Raider offense will need to wake up to take down Kansas. Unfortunately for the home team, Lance Leipold’s over-achieving squad delivers Texas Tech its fifth loss in their last six games.
Straight Up: Kansas ATS: Kansas Total 65.5: Over
#19 Kansas State At Baylor (-2.5)
This Baylor team has been building steam over the last three weeks. They have become a literal runaway locomotive. Dave Arranda’s Bears have been averaging 261.67 yards on the ground per game. This game should be a bit of a throwback with the rushing attacks by both of these teams. The momentum Baylor has built up appears to be unrelenting. Whether Adrian Martinez plays for Kansas State or not won’t matter in this one. The Bears keep their winning streak intact.
Straight Up: TCU ATS: Texas Tech Total 52.5: Over
#4 TCU At #18 Texas (-7)
Finally, we arrive at the biggest game of the Big 12 week 11 winners. The undefeated Horned Frogs are going to lily pad down to Austin to keep their perfect record unblemished. The most interesting aspect of this game has nothing to do with the former TCU head coach Gary Patterson. It is a tale of two teams who play two different halves of football at opposite times. Texas has barnstormed out of the gate to start games. But opposing teams seem to figure out what Texas is doing and the Longhorn coaching staff goes “Welp, they figured us out.” The Longhorns have scored 89 fewer points in the second half of games than in the first half.
Meanwhile, since the Oklahoma game, TCU has yet to win a game by greater than 10 points. They have had to overcome multiple games in which they had deficits in the second half of games. And yet, here they are 9-0, and the fourth-ranked team in the country. If anyone gets itchy Twitter fingers because Texas is up 21-0 in the second quarter, maybe hold off until the fourth quarter. 2014 Flordia State vibes are hovering around this TCU program, but the problem here is Texas never has problems getting up for the best teams on their schedule. And while TCU has made a living beating Texas, winning the last six out of eight, the magical run for Sonny Dykes’ Horned Frogs runs out.
Straight Up: Texas ATS: Texas Total 64.5: Under
