Oklahoma schools, Texas back atop Big 12 football after wild Saturday

The Big 12 football conference actually didn’t get plunged into further chaos this weekend, with the Oklahoma schools and Texas taking the lead.

If anything was proven on another crazy weekend of Big 12 football action around the conference on Nov. 7, it was the fact that not much has actually changed in this landscape since the preseason. Depending on how the No. 17 ranked Iowa State Cyclones do in the primetime slot taking on the Baylor Bears, the Big 12 could have the four teams at the top of the conference that were projected to be their at the beginning of the regular season.

Heading into the 2020 campaign, the Oklahoma schools and Texas football were the three top teams in the Big 12 in the polls. Iowa State was not far behind that trio either. But outside of a bit of surprising runs from the West Virginia Mountaineers and TCU Horned Frogs, most of the rest of the conference held status quo through a roller coaster ride up to this point.

On Nov. 7 in particular, what further sorted out the Big 12 landscape was mainly results from the Longhorns and No. 14 ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. Texas downed a tough West Virginia team in a defensive struggle that came down to the last minutes of the fourth quarter, by the final score of 17-13.

In a pretty pedestrian showing for senior star quarterback Sam Ehlinger, the Longhorns moved their record to a solid 5-2 (4-2 Big 12) on the season. Ehlinger wrapped up his day with less than 190 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and no picks.

Texas held the No. 22 slot in the AP Poll coming into this weekend, and should move up a good bit further heading into their bye week.

Moreover, the Oklahoma Sooners took care of business as anticipated in a drubbing of the lowly Kansas Jayhawks. Oklahoma and Texas are two of the hottest teams in the Big 12 right now. But the former of those two teams holds the edge in the grand scheme of things since head coach Lincoln Riley got the win back on Oct. 10 in the Red River Rivalry game.

Riley and the Sooners have a huge Bedlam showdown on Nov. 21 against Oklahoma State, which could largely decide the two participants for the Big 12 Championship Game come mid-December.

And then the last bit of action that was impactful so far this weekend around the Big 12 was head coach Mike Gundy and his Pokes taking down the always tough Kansas State Wildcats by a very narrow final score of 20-18 in Manhattan. Gundy’s squad took the game down to the final minutes, where safety Trey Sterling got an interception of quarterback Will Howard to put the finishing touches on the two-point victory.

There’s now going to be a battle of one and two loss teams in Big 12 play heading into next weekend to determine how the conference title game picture looks. The Big 12 did a better job of not cannibalizing itself further this weekend, which is a good sign.

A very slight chance exists for the Big 12 to make the College Football Playoff at this point. Texas and Oklahoma are effectively eliminated from College Football Playoff contention, unless the other Power Five conferences wreak havoc internally in the coming weeks. Oklahoma State might still have the best shot out of the Big 12 to make the Playoff at this moment.