First up, the conference standings:
- #2 Kansas State (9-0, 6-0)
- #12 Oklahoma (6-2, 4-1)
- #17 Texas (7-2, 4-2)
- Oklahoma State (5-3, 3-2)
- #22 Texas Tech (6-3, 3-3)
- Texas Christian (6-3, 3-3)
- West Virginia (5-3, 2-3)
- Iowa State (5-4, 2-4)
- Baylor (4-4, 1-4)
- Kansas (1-8, 0-6)
Power rankings for this week:
- #2 Kansas State
- #12 Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State
- Texas Christian
- #22 Texas Tech
- #17 Texas
- Iowa State
- West Virginia
- Baylor
- Kansas
Kansas State continues to lead the pack; no surprise there. Oklahoma continues in second place, but KSU's lead is starting to look insurmountable. Cowboys, I'm as good as my word. The polls may have dropped you after a loss to the Wildcats; I won't. (But you did get lucky with a Texas Tech loss.) TCU got a quality win in Morgantown, so I reward them with the #4 spot. Frankly, though, I don't think they'll keep it - I expect they'll be leapfrogged by the end of the season by at least one of the next two teams. Tech and Texas are neck and neck for that next slot; up to this point in the season, I think Texas Tech has proven to be a more well-rounded team than Texas, so they're on top of the Longhorns for one more week. I still think UT is going to run into some big problems towards the end of their season, but I'll be happy to move them up if they can prove me wrong. Iowa State is bumped down a bit by UT's rise and their loss to OU, but not too far; I still think ISU has a very good shot at 8 wins this year. West Virginia's slide continues. Baylor solidified its grip on the #9 slot of the Big 12 last week beating the Jayhawks soundly in Waco.
All that said, let's take a look at this week's matchups. Again, we have a 5-game slate for the weekend.
Predictions:
Oklahoma 46, Baylor 26
Texas 33, Iowa State 32
Texas Tech 33, Kansas 22
Kansas State 40, Texas Christian 26
Oklahoma State 39, West Virginia 29
Last week the spreadsheet predicted an 18 point victory for OU over ISU, and the Sooners won by 15. This week the spreadsheet picks OU by 20 over BU in the presumptive blowout of the week. I tend to believe it, and here's why. This game is going to come down to which team gets pressure on the opposing quarterback. Both Jones and Florence have been rattled by pressure this year and have committed crucial turnovers as a result. Last week, in fact, ISU stayed in the game in the first half by pressuring Jones and getting two interceptions on back-to-back OU possessions; their offense, however, couldn't get touchdowns after those turnovers and allowed OU to pull away. Against TCU, Florence pressed and tried to force several passes that simply weren't there. The crucial point, and why I believe the prediction: Baylor hasn't been able to successfully bring pressure all year against an average offensive line. If a team is going to put pressure on the opposing QB in this matchup, it will be the Sooners, and they will win going away.
Texas-Iowa State looks to be the most even matchup of Week 11. The spreadsheet gives the nod to UT by a point. Reason to believe the spreadsheet: if you don't think last week was a fluke, the Longhorns are starting to pull things together as a team. Reason not to believe the spreadsheet: as has been the case all year, UT's, WVU's, and Baylor's numbers continue to track together, and we saw what happened to Baylor against ISU. This is a game to keep an eye on.
Interestingly, the spreadsheet appears to believe that the Jayhawks should reach the elusive 20-point mark against Tech. I'm having a hard time believing that. The spreadsheet is generous here. An angry Red Raider squad smarting from last week's loss wins easily.
KSU-TCU and OSU-WVU look to be handy wins for the Wildcats and Cowboys, respectively. In the former, the thing to watch is going to be Collin Klein's play. Bill Snyder has been keeping pretty mum on Klein's injury in last week's victory in Stillwater; I personally believe that Klein will suit up and continue his almost machine-like perfection on the field. Even if he doesn't, Sam looked solid as his backup. In the latter, just keep an eye on the Mountaineers. That third loss in a row last week in OT against TCU is the kind of thing that can crush the spirit of a former top 5, possible BCS championship contender team. Will they rebound? Will they continue to sink? It certainly won't be all that easy to rebound against an OSU team that hamstrung TCU through three quarters.
Bonus Round: I'm struggling this week to come up with an idea that won't kill anyone. I was going to suggest making a drinking game out of the number of times the phrase "Johnny Football" is said by the talking heads of college football leading up to the Alabama game on Saturday. But I don't want to lose any readers to alcohol poisoning.
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