College Football Playoff: Where we are halfway through the season
Oct 3, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Baylor Bears defensive end Jamal Palmer (92) and defensive end Shawn Oakman (2) and linebacker Taylor Young (1) celebrate the win over the Texas Tech Red Raiders at AT&T Stadium. The Bears defeat the Red Raiders 63-35. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Big 12
AP Ranked Teams: Baylor (2), TCU (3), Oklahoma State (16), Oklahoma (19)
Undefeated Teams: Baylor (5-0), TCU (6-0), Oklahoma State (6-0)
Divisions: None
Conference Leaders:
1. Oklahoma State (3-0 in conference) 2. Baylor (2-0 in conference) 2. TCU (2-0 in conference)
Baylor and TCU were the cream of the crop coming into the season. Oklahoma steadily rose to prominence getting as high as No. 10 in the AP Poll. They quickly got dropped by a woeful Texas squad, but they are still hanging around the conference race and therefore playoff contention.
The new contender is Oklahoma State. It is unclear how real their bid is as they barely beat a bad Texas team, came from behind to get a controversial win against Kansas State, and then needed overtime to beat West Virginia.
Is this a team that just gets it done or will the other shoe fall when it plays Baylor, Oklahoma and TCU. The nice thing about the Big 12 is that Oklahoma State will play each of those teams as the conference has a true round robin format for its conference schedule.
Baylor has been obliterating opponents and has been rewarded by jumping up to No. 2 in the AP poll. The mark against them is that they haven’t played anyone good, yet. We will learn a lot more about Baylor when it plays Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and TCU in three consecutive week starting Nov. 14.
TCU has played a far tougher schedule, but has not looked particularly impressive. It barely survived against Texas Tech and their early win against Minnesota isn’t looking so great now, either. Last week they had to engineer a major comeback against Kansas State to win the game in the last minute.
TCU is playing with fire — has it created calloused fingers that will help them withstand future fires or will they eventually get burned?
Last week’s playoff relevant results
No. 3 Baylor 66, Kansas 7: Kansas shouldn’t even really count as a conference foe. They are B-A-D. But those of us who cheer for MSU know that bad teams can hang around and make games more interesting than they should be. Baylor has not messed around like that at all. The fact that Baylor is crushing folks make MSU look bad by comparison.
No. 2 TCU 52, Kansas St. 45: Is any defense played in the Big 12? Kansas State was unable to hang on to an 18 point halftime lead in this one. In fact K-State had an 11 point lead with 12 minutes left and gave up the lead for good with 1:10 left to play. This was a result that almost really helped MSU and then it didn’t.
Texas 24, No. 10 Oklahoma 17: Texas led the entire game from start to finish. Texas has already lost two of the other contenders — TCU and Oklahoma State. They play Baylor the last game of the season, I highly doubt they have the horses to stay with Baylor. This was a result that helped MSU.
No. 21 Oklahoma St 33, West Virginia 26: Oklahoma State got in important road victory that catapulted them up the AP rankings. It wasn’t a pretty win as they needed overtime to get the victory. This is a result that could have helped MSU but then it didn’t.
Key conference games this week
- West Virginia at No. 2 Baylor
- No. 19 Oklahoma at Kansas State
Next: Pac-12