Texas Tech, Big 12 Preview & Predictions: Week 8

Former Pittsburgh Steelers’ Super Bowl winning head coach, Bill Cowher, once said that an ugly win is always better than the prettiest loss. I think those are words that every Tech fan needs to abide by after this past weekend’s escape from Kansas. Count me among those that believed that Tech would have this game put away by the halftime. Boy were those of us wrong. There were a few factors that went into this; A. It’s Kansas. At 11AM. Not exactly an opponent that really gets you fired up. B. This weekend is a game against the Baker Mayfield-led #17 Oklahoma Sooners in Norman. That’s a game that fires you up; which made Kansas a trap game. Fortunately, the Red Raiders did not let that trap ensnare them. C. DROPS! DROPS! DROPS! I said it last week, and I will say it again, this receiving unit seems to have a tendency to drop the ball more than any other Tech receiving unit since the Air Raid. With Tech in the position that it is in, style points really don’t matter. Tech won’t be going to the College Football Playoff, so to quote another NFL great, Al Davis, "Just Win, Baby"!

This week’s guest picker is J. Jason Jonas. As of press time, I have not received those picks. Triple J comment with picks for ALL week 8 Big 12 games and I will add them in the article.

If you want to be the guest picker for next week comment below or tweet @ConnerCrisp your score prediction for Tech-Oklahoma. Whoever is closest to choosing the winning margin wins. Ties are decided by me. Check back to this article Monday night and I will have announced the winner by 10 PM

Last week, Alfergus ran the table. I did not. I chose K-State over OU… Congrats Alfie1

Conner Last Week: 3-1, Conner Overall: 38-8 (.826)

Guest Picker Alfergus: 4-0, Guest Pickers Overall: 31-5 (.861)

Saturday, October 24

Iowa State Cyclones (2-4 Overall, 1-2 Big 12) at #2 Baylor Bears (6-0 Overall, 3-0 Big 12)

McClane Stadium; Waco, TX; 11:00AM; ESPN

Kudos to Iowa State . They played much better than I thought that they would. I was pretty impressed that they were able to stay in contention with TCU in the first half. A great turnout in front of their home crowd! This week, they’re staying in contention will not last near as long. I don’t care what the polls say, Baylor is by far and away the best team in the nation, at the moment. I hate preseason polls, more often than not they are wrong about contenders. Remember when Auburn was in the Top 5 this season? Ohio State is only #1 because of last year’s efforts. Baylor will continue to prove why they are the best team in the nation this week… Bears 58, Cyclones 17

J. Jason Jonas' Pick: Baylor 69, Iowa State

Kansas State Wildcats (3-3 Overall, 0-3 Big 12) at Texas Longhorns (2-4 Overall, 1-2 Big 12)

Royal Texas Memorial Stadium; Austin, TX; 11:00AM; Fox Sports 1

Man, did I believe in the Wildcats way too much, recently. I really thought that they could be a part of that middle tier of the Big 12. I should have stuck with my original thought that they would be way down from earlier columns. It’s always a challenge for a team to get back up after getting beat that badly. However, Bill Snyder has the coaching gravitas to do it. Unlike the Wildcats, the Longhorns are on a major upswing. They are coming off a huge win in the Red River Rivalry. (When I was on The Ticket’s Morning Musers show a few weeks ago, I was so worried I would say Wed Wiver Wivalry.) Charlie Strong now has something that he can point to with his players to get them to buy into him as a coach. This week will be another game he can point to… Wildcats 14, Longhorns 27

J. Jason Jonas' Pick: Kansas State 28, Texas 17

Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-2 Overall, 2-2 Big 12) at #17 Oklahoma Sooners (5-1 Overall, 2-1 Big 12) Game of the Week

Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium; Norman, OK; 2:30PM; ABC or ESPN2

This game is HARD TO PICK. If Tech plays as well as they did against top tier opponents like Arkansas and TCU I think that they could be stormin Norman and win. Coming off last week’s narrow win against KANSAS makes me rethink that stance. Offensively, Coach Kingsbury called it "As embarrassing an offensive performance I’ve been a part of". Have I mentioned drops any? On the defensive side of the ball, that unit saved the day. The Sooners are coming off of one of the most dominating wins in that programs history. You know Baker Mayfield will be wanting to stick it to the team and coaches who let him walk. Just like you know the Tech players won’t want let a guy who left the team to join a conference rival beat them. Arghhh, this is a tough one to pick. For no other reason than I am going to be at this game and want to see a crowd hushed like TCU hushed Tech fans late in the going… Red Raiders 31, Sooners 30

J. Jason Jonas' Pick: Texas Tech 51, Oklahoma 41

Kansas Jayhawks (0-6 Overall, 0-3 Big 12) at #14 Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-0 Overall, 3-0 Big 12)

Boone Pickens Stadium; Stillwater, OK; 2:30 PM; Fox Sports 1

The Cowboys have played a lot of close games this season, but this will not be one of them. Kansas played their best football of the season the past week, but they still lost by 10 at home. Away from their friendly confines in Lawrence, there will be not close game in the hostile environment in Stillwater… Jayhawks 17, Cowboys 45

J. Jason Jonas' Pick: Oklahoma State 55, Kansas 13

OFF: West Virginia Mountaineers, #4 TCU Horned Frogs

Remember, if you want to be the guest picker for next week comment below or tweet @ConnerCrisp your score prediction for Tech-Oklahoma. Whoever is closest to choosing the winning margin wins. Ties are decided by me. Check back to this article Monday night and I will have announced the winner by 10 PM.