From a national perspective, it feels like it should be Week 5 of the college football season. From an Oklahoma State perspective, it feels like it should be Week 110 of the college football season.
With November nearly upon us, the margin for error for some of these teams is shrinking. Here’s a look around the Big 12 and the country at some of the best games of the upcoming weekend.
Big 12 Schedule
West Virginia (2-6) at No. 22 Houston (7-1) — 11 a.m. Saturday on FS1
UCF (4-3) at Baylor (4-4) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPNU
Arizona State (5-3) at Iowa State (5-3) — 12 p.m. Saturday on TNT
No. 13 Texas Tech (7-1) at Kansas State (4-4) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on FOX
Oklahoma State (1-7) at Kansas (4-4) — 3 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+
Arizona (4-3) at Colorado (3-5) — 6 p.m. Saturday on FS1
No. 17 Cincinnati (7-1) at No. 24 Utah (6-2) — 9:15 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
Arizona State-Iowa State: With three losses apiece, it’d probably take some doing at this point for either of these teams to make the College Football Playoff. Either would most likely need to win the Big 12, and that would be increasingly harder to do for whichever team loses this game.
After upsetting Texas Tech two weeks back, the Sun Devils stumbled against a Houston squad that continues to build its resume. The banged up Cyclones have now dropped three games in a row after starting 5-0.
Texas Tech-Kansas State: This game looked a lot more interesting in the preseason, but it’s still a sneaky good one.
It looks like Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton is set to return this weekend, and the Red Raiders need to keep him upright for the rest of the season after losing backup Will Hammond to a knee injury last week.
The Wildcats have found a bit of footing after a 1-3 start, with back-to-back blowout wins against TCU and Kansas.
Cincinnati-Utah: This is the Big 12’s game of the week, hands down.
The Bearcats are on a seven-game winning streak after opening the year with a neutral-field loss to Nebraska and are in a prime position to make it to Arlington. Cincy will, though, be without leading rusher Evan Pryor with an ankle injury.
Utah started the year 3-0 but got blown out by Texas Tech. The Utes have since clawed their way back into the Big 12 title picture despite a Holy War loss to BYU a few weeks back.
Other Games to Watch
No. 9 Vanderbilt (7-1) at No. 20 Texas (6-2) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ABC
No. 10 Miami (6-1) at SMU (5-3) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN
Navy (7-0) at North Texas (7-2) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2
No. 18 Oklahoma (6-2) at No. 14 Tennessee (6-2) — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
No. 23 USC (5-2) at Nebraska (6-2) — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on NBC
Vandy-Texas: Texas moved conferences only to again find itself looking up at a program it feels it should be much better than.
The Commodores didn’t look great in their win against Missouri last week, but an ugly win is certainly better than a pretty loss.
Arch Manning is questionable after being on the wrong end of a big hit in Texas’ overtime win against Mississippi State last week.
Navy-North Texas: For starters, OSU fans might want to watch this game to get a closer look at potential coaching candidate Eric Morris, but it’s also a big game in terms of the Group of Five’s College Football Playoff representative, as both of these teams are still in that hunt.
OU-Tennessee: The winner of this game stays in the Playoff hunt for at least another week, while the loser would likely need a little chaos to happen in front of them. This particularly feels like a massive game for OU, as after this week, the Sooners still have to play at Alabama, home against Missouri and home against LSU.
This game also comes with the built-in storyline of former OU quarterback Josh Heupel coaching against his alma mater.
Read this original article at Pistols Firing Blog.
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